About Tiara Times

Tiara Times (TT) is all about us who live in Tiara Damansara. TT tries to update Tiarans (let's call ourselves us that) about the happenings in this condominium. The happenings can be on anything. We just would like to hear from you. Whatever input we get from you is fine, since our aim is to get Tiarans who live here to interact, to get to know one another, to do things together, to laugh together - in short, be one big happy family!

If you have a comment about the general conditions of Tiara, the cleanliness, the facilities, security or vehicle access or parking, please also write in. However, if you have specific complaints about your unit or another unit, please direct those complaints to the Tiara Management Office.

TT will have a box in the Management Office for residents to drop their articles in. Or you can email your articles to tiaradamansara@yahoo.com

Please put your name, contact number and email address in your article. If you would like your article printed in TT but prefer to use a pseudonym, you may do so.

We really look forward to hearing from you. Surprise us and inundate the mailbox and / or email-box with articles.

Volume 2 Issue 5

Tennis Court Re-opens

Good news for Tiara residents!
The refurbished tennis court is now ready for play. As an added bonus, a new practice wall has also been built within the court area.

The court had been closed since January 16th 2007 for major repairs. It started with the tearing up of the surface,which experienced settlement. Then the crusher run was replaced and compacted to receive the new premix. A “Petro-Mat” was laid over the entire surface and the premix laid and compacted. The new premix was then allowed to cure for 14 days during which the practice wall was built.
At the end of the fortnight, “Tech Tone”(the playing surface) was applied to the court surface. After conducting ponding tests, the final colour coating was laid and the lines painted. All specifications of the court conform with International Tennis Federation standards.

Residents can book the court by personally going to the King’s Gate guardhouse or calling 7956 2811. Residents of each unit may book the court for one hour a day, not exceeding twice per week, with bookings done no more than three days in advance.
This is to ensure fairness to all residents. For those needing more clarification please check the Rules and Regulations board at the tennis court.
Happy playing!

MBPJ Health Check

Congratulations are in order for the residents of Tiara Damansara Condominium. On February 6th 2007, 12 members from the Health Department entered the premises of Tiara to perform a 100% check for mosquito breeding grounds.

A resident in Tiara was down with dengue and hospitalized, hence the check by a health officer, an environmental officer and 10 anti-malaria inspectors and staff. Entering after 9am, the check took a couple of hours, as personnel combed every square inch of Tiara's 12 acre site, searching for possible dengue mosquito breeding grounds.They found nothing.
However, the serviceman cleaning the swimming pool had left the door of the pumphouse next to the ladies' toilet open. A couple of inspectors went ten feet underground to check for possible breeding sites, and, unfortunately, larvae were found.

A compound of RM300 was issued to Tiara under the Destruction of Disease-bearing Insects Act, 1975. Building Manager Paul Baktha appealed for a lesser fine since no one could possibly have foreseen the existence of larvae ten feet in the underground pump room. He was successful in getting the fine reduced to RM100. A chemical, Abide, a powdered stuff, was then released into the water to destroy all larvae.

Tiara Council 2007

The Annual General Meeting of Tiara Management Corporation on February 3rd 2007 at the Function Hall saw the election of eight councillors for the new Tiara Management Council team.

Those elected for office for the year 2007 were, in alphabetical order: Dr. Asma Ahmad Shariff, Ms. Goh See Meng, Mr. Harith Ahmad, Ms. Lily Tan, Datuk Lim Sun Hoe, Ms. Margaret Lim, Mr. K.Surendran and Mr. Willy Boo.

At its first monthly meeting held on February 10th 2007 at the Tiara Meeting Room, each councillor was tasked to head a portfolio. Sub- Committees under their portfolio had to be headed by them as well.

With13 portfolios for 8 councillors, it was apparent that some would have to hold more than one portfolio. The 13 portfolios were: Sports and Recreation; Tiara Times; Finance and Accounts; Landscape; Pest Control; Cleaning Services; Social; Cafeteria; Legal; Administration and Human Resource; Maintenance and Engineering; Security and Safety; Parking.

Some related portfolios were then banded together so that a total of 8 would be formed. The following portfolios are headed by:

1. Dr. Asma Ahmad Shariff - Sports and Recreation
2. Ms. Goh See Meng - Editor, Tiara Times
3. Mr. Harith Ahmad - Finance and Accounts
4. Ms. Lily Tan - Maintenance and Engineering
5. Datuk Lim Sun Hoe - Landscaping, Pest Control and Cleaning Services
6. Ms. Margaret Lim - Social and Cafeteria
7. Mr. K.Surendran - Legal, Administration and Human Resource
8. Mr. Willy Boo - Security, Safety and Parking

Swimming Pool

For quite some time now Tiara's swimming pool has been in dire need of major repairs and upgrading. After 15 years, the wear and tear has started to show. Despite servicing three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the pool still turns green once in a while. This is due to rust formation from the reinforced concrete bars at the base. Rust slips through the gaps between the tile joints and missing tiles, causing rust to deposit at the gaps.The filtration system at the pump house is only able to remove these residue to a certain extent whilst the remaining rust gets deposited in the sand filter system, causing the system to underperform. Structural repairs need to be done urgently.

Since the pool is quite heavily used in the evenings and weekends, many concerned Tiarans (swimmers and parents of children using the pool) have voiced their complaints to the Management for swift action to rectify the situation.

Contractors have been sourced to repair and refurbish the pool. It is high time rectification works are done on the pool for the benefit of the residents.

Employee Rights

Most employees in Malaysia are ignorant of their rights and obligations at the workplace. When they encounter problems at the office, such as victimisation by their employers, they will usually seek help from their friends (who may be equally ignorant of the law), or from lawyers (who do not come cheap), or from the Labour or Industrial Relations Departments (which involves logistic and emotional inconvenience).

As an alternative to the above, the website www.employee.com.my which was launched on June 19th 2006, will address problems faced by employees with workplace legal issues.

It is open to all employees in Malaysia, and best of all, it is free! Just register as a member, write in your workplace problem, and you will be provided with an answer, stated its Advisor. Just log-on to www.employee.com.my and follow the simple steps.

Tiara Classifieds

The first advertisement for Tiara Times appeared in the Feb.15th 2007 edition of the newsletter. For those wishing to place advertisements, the rate is RM10 for a minimum 4 lines of 8.5cm wide. Each additional line will cost RM2.

So, for those who have items to sell, or a service to provide, do send in your advertisements to the Management Office.

Uncle Loh

With the festive Chinese New Year approaching, a Tiaran, KBS, wanted to offer some cheer to Uncle Loh (who was highlighted in the Dec.16th 2006 and Jan.13th 2007 editions of Tiara Times).

She drove me as we went to his haunt near the Mediviron Clinic in Paramount Garden on February 13th 2007, with a goodie bag in hand. However, he was nowhere to be found. A nurse at the Clinic informed us that he was further down the road, near the eating stalls. We trudged over but he was not there.

We then enquired from a Chinese lady who was trying her luck at a Toto outlet whether she would know about the homeless man ."Oh yes, he is at the 7-11 shop behind here," she enlightened us. So we headed that way, and sure enough, Uncle Loh was there.

Shirtless and dressed only in a blue pair of cotton shorts, he was singing a Chinese song at the top of his voice, with his arms flailing in the air, like a conductor leading his orchestra.

"Uncle Loh, we are here again, with some food for you," we greeted him as we stood next to him. We handed him home-cooked porridge of minced chicken, button mushroom, diced carrots and greens. KBS had tar pau'd a plastic container full of chicken, omelette and greens as well, besides handing him a bottle of mineral water and biscuits. In keeping with Chinese tradition, we gave him a few kum (mandarin oranges) and an angpow each.

Uncle Loh grinned from ear to ear, so happy was he with the gifts. "Thank you, thank you, you are so kind to give me so many things. Do come to the Church tomorrow and listen to a talk," he invited us. We thanked him for his invitation, saying we would drop in on him again after the festive period, with Chinese New Year cookies for him.

As we walked back to the car, the lady who had informed us where Uncle Loh was, told us that it was sad that although he had well-to-do siblings and relatives, no one offered to look after him or give him some space in their homes.

As we drove back to Tiara, we felt sad that there were so many homeless and destitute who have no idea about festive cheer since Life had dealt them a harsh hand.

Essay Competition

It is that time of the year again when students and others can send in essays and win prizes by parti¬cipating in the Commonwealth Essay Competition. This was brought to my attention when a proud father handed me an essay written by his 12- year old Chempaka School daughter, and asked what I thought of her efforts.

“Excellent,” I proclaimed, after reading through her essay on "Everything suddenly went quiet." Not only was the standard of English high, and the sentence construction good, her essay also showed a maturity beyond her tender years.

For students and residents here in Tiara wishing to send in essays as well, the website on instructions how to compete can be downloaded at: http://www.rcsint.org/essay/

The Competition is divided into four different age groups, termed Classes, and each Class offers a choice of 5 topics, plus the Commonwealth Question. Since the aim of the Competition is to reach a diverse student body across the Commonwealth, there are options for both academic and creative minds.

The four Classes are for students born between:
1.1988 - 1990 (Class A)
2.1991 - 1992 (Class B)
3.1993 - 1994 (Class C)
4.1995 or later (Class D)

Some of the interesting topics which can be written about, and which are really quite easy, comprise:
• Welcome to my family.
• A world without aeroplanes.
• Is the majority always right?
• You are ruler of your country for a week. What would you do?
• Your two favourite toys come alive and take you on an adventure.

The Commonwealth Question is open to all candi¬dates. If a candidate chooses to answer this question, there is no necessity to submit any other essay. Prizes are given for a winning entry on the Commonwealth Question in each of the four Classes. This prize is in addition to the main prize offered for each Class.

So,put on your creative caps and send in your entry. Who knows, Students In Tiara Condominium Boleh!

Thunder Mushrooms

It had been a cold night, after raining a good part of the late afternoon and evening, but the rains eased off towards the earlier part of the morning of January 21st 2007.

I opened my bedroom window at 8.50am the following morning, and a carpet of white on the ground met my gaze. This was the third time Thunder Mushrooms had sprouted right beneath my bedroom window and balcony. Thunder Mushrooms in Chinese, Cendawan Busut in Bahasa, and Termitomyces Albuminosus, its scientific name.

I knew these mushrooms were edible and not poisonous. I had eaten them many times before. My first time was when a friend, Lady Julie, cooked some of these together with prawns, sliced chicken (or even sliced pork with some fat on it) and bamboo shoot. An excellent cook, the dish was delicious. Her gardener had picked the Thunder Mushrooms and bamboo shoot from her own garden in Section 5, Petaling Jaya.

When Lady Julie and Sir Ken Scriven went to visit their daughter in UK, I stayed at their home for a month, to look after their dogs. During that stay, I picked mushrooms twice, harvesting those on the ground just outside the living room, but not daring to venture further below, where there was a drop of about ten feet.

Apoo, their Indian gardener, had encountered a King Cobra twice, when he picked the mushrooms below. Lady Julie told me his encounter: Apoo saw a sea of white Thunder Mushrooms below the drop, and he made his way down to pick them. When he looked up, a King Cobra was eye level with him, in its poised position to strike. Apoo "chatted" to it, though he was quivering in fright, telling the Cobra, in Tamil, that he was but a poor gardener harvesting some food for his family, and to please leave him alone and not harm him, not moving at all as he spoke. He seemed to have gotten through to the snake, since it slithered away, leaving him unharmed.

Having heard this, I kept to the ground above and never dared venture further down.I feared the King Cobra not understanding me if I spoke to it in Chinese,or English...

Out of curiosity, should any Tiaran have had Thunder Mushrooms sprouting outside their units, I would be happy to hear about it. Surely,in our sprawling grounds, other parts may also have had such mushrooming of the Cendawan Busut, also known as the Termite Mushroom.

I got in touch with Dr. Wan Hassan, a specialist in Tropical Agriculture, Food Science and Technology as well as Nutrition and Animal Husbandry, and the author of several coffee table books, with another just hot off the press in January, entitled Healing Herbs of Malaysia. After listening to my description of the mushroom, he told me that it was the Termitomyces Albuminosus, and when conditions were right, they sprouted. Despite his 25 years with the Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI) as a research scientist and a Director, he said that MARDI had yet to discover what the conditions were which would make the wild growing mushrooms sprout. Hence this species was not cultivable.

That morning, I managed to gather two large plastic bags of the Thunder Mushrooms and packed them for friends who had given me standing orders to reserve these for them should I harvest any. I kept back a portion to put into fried rice, for the Nepalese guards.

Over the next few days,I fried some in butter and had them for breakfast. Excellent.

Our Administrative Assistant, Puan Salmah Ahmad, knows about these Cendawan Busut. In the villages she has lived in, in Kuala Selangor as well as the Felda Scheme in Sendayan in Seremban, she has harvested bags of them, countless times. She said that ten minutes or so after thunder struck and heavy rains poured down, she would take two or three ten-kilo beras plastic bags and pick the mushrooms outside her home.

However, not all mushrooms can be eaten. And mistaking a toxic species for an edible look-alike can be fatal, cautioned Professor Emeritus Datuk Ahmad Nawawi Ayob. The Professor, who has spent most of his life studying the Fungi Kingdom, is a connoisseur of mushrooms and an advocate of cultivated varieties.His favourite, though, is the Cendawan Busut of Peka Ayam, aka the Termitomyces Albuminosa, the Thunder Mushroom. This species of mushroom have a symbiotic relationship with termite nests, he added.

"The older generation of kampung folk know these well, as do the orang asli," the Professor stated, "but the thing about mushrooms is that you must know them expertly. If you don’t, just buy them from the supermarket or market," he advised.

Mushroom poisoning happens throughout the year, throughout the world, "So if you dont know your mushrooms, don’t even think about touching them," summed up the mycologist. This is because mushroom poisoning, officially known as mycetismus, can be fatal. The toxins from poisonous mushrooms are lethal, causing nausea, vomitting, cramps, diarrhoea, disrupt the entire working of the nervous system as well as cause hallucinations. They also cause cellular destruction, liver damage, kidney failure and death - usually occurring within hours.

But the edible varieties are nutritious. They are a cheap source of protein, contain all the essential amino acids, are high in unsaturated fatty acids, low in calories and good for roughage as well. Popular varieties imported or cultivated include the famous Shiitake, Paddy Straw, Enoki and Button.

Mushroom cultivation is a good business too since it grows very fast and harvests are frequent. They also fetch a high price.

Volume 2 Issue 4

GONG XI FA CAI

The Tiara Damansara Management Council wishes all Chinese residents a very happy Chinese New Year. May the incoming Year of the Boar bring you good health, prosperity, peace, contentment, abundance and happiness.

The Tiara Management Office will be closed for the festive holiday from Sunday, February 18, 2006 until Tuesday, February 20, 2006. The office will reopen as usual on Wednesday, February 21, 2006.

A Chinese New Year get-together is in the works. Headed by Margaret Lim, Head of Social and Cafeteria portfolio, the gathering has been planned for March 3rd, 2007, at the poolside, starting at 8pm.

Volunteers are needed to assist in the organization of the get-together. Interested parties please call Margaret at 7954 0855 or 012-906 7033. Your assistance is much appreciated.
For those who are driving outstation to be with loved ones, please drive carefully.

Before you balik kampung, ensure your apartment is secured and carefully locked up. It would also be a good idea to have lights which can be timed to come on automatically at specific hours in the evening.

Stop your newspaper delivery, so that they do not pile up outside your front door - a sure giveaway that you are away.

Statistics show that property crime always rise during festivals, when intruders are aware that most residents have gone away.

In the case of Tiara Condominium, since it has been found that most break-ins are committed by insiders, unless you are confident that your neighbours are trustworthy, perhaps it is best not to let others know you have gone away.

Security Matters

Heads I win, tails you lose! Looks like some coins have only one side! The side that suits the complainer.

This was the case when a man came to the King's Gate Guardhouse. He wanted to walk in. When asked for the unit number of the place he wanted to go to, he replied that he did not know what it was. A request for him to call the unit owner elicited the same response - he did not know.

The alert guards saw him carrying a plastic bag containing a hammer, screwdriver and pliers, and for safety reasons, did not allow him in. He might have been a genuine handyman coming to rectify some household defects but rules are rules since the safety of residents in Tiara cannot be compromised. The Guards have a strict procedure to follow, and not allowing a stranger in without a proprietor's permission or prior instructions to the Guards is one of them.

So it is unfair for the proprietor concerned to tick off the Guards for not allowing the workman to walk through. The proprietor should have given the handyman the necessary details, like unit number or house or mobile phone number to call, before being allowed in.

It does not help at all when irrational remarks are made,like "Only rich people with luxury cars are allowed in without any condition, whilst poor people are turned away." As explained by the Security Officer on duty, "All are treated equally and we have to adhere to standing instructions." So, such petty statements are not only unfair to the Guards but diminishes the security of Tiara.

We hope that in future residents will refrain from unpleasantries and allow the Guards to go about their duties. Should any complainants be unsatisfied still, they are free to report the matter to Management for attention.

At The Sixth AGM

The 6th Annual General Meeting of Tiara Management Corporation, postponed from the previous Saturday through lack of quorum, was held on Saturday, February 3rd , 2007. It was also one of, if not the most dramatic, AGMs ever held. The turnout for the meeting was better than at previous AGMs with more than 50 attendees, most of whom were proprietors.

Even from the beginning, as a precursor of things to come, the Chairman's post was contested. Mr. Jonson Chong, who was proposed by Ms. Goh See Meng, and seconded, was challenged by Mr. Mohd. M .A. Bakar (a.k.a Mike) who was proposed by Mr. Shuk Loh, and also seconded. Next came the question of whether to vote by show of hands or poll. Mr. Shuk Loh, quoting the Strata Title Act , demanded a poll. With the help of a bloc of proxy votes, Mike was elected Chairman of the AGM.

Once the meeting got under way, there were the normal questions from the floor.

Datuk Lim Sun Hoe questioned the purported pilfering of about RM12,000 by the former Accounts Executive, the subsequent compensation by the insurance company and why neither was reflected in the audited accounts. However, there were no satisfactory replies.

Questions were also raised on the justification in the increase of rental parking rates as well as the proposed Sinking Fund. It was decided that both these matters be re-looked into by the incoming Council.

The proposal to hire our own in-house guards was also brought up. Keith Kok (Head of Security) explained the security guard situation and the justification for having such: a hefty saving in costs for Tiara. This matter was also left for the new Tiara Management Council to deliberate and decide.

The swimming pool was in bad shape due to the old tiles, pumps and filters giving way. Major renovations to upgrade the pool was decided to be left to the new Council to look into.

Debate on the limits the Council could spend and whether there was any budget were also raised.. It was left to the Council to prepare a budget.

Minutes of Council Meetings should be highlighted on notice boards whilst minutes of the AGM were to be circulated to all proprietors within a month of the AGM. (For more details of the AGM, refer to the minutes which will be circulated soon.)

Two security guards were present at the AGM and although there were some heated exchanges of words between residents no untoward incidents took place. In fact, there was even laughter when a resident shouted at another seated resident to keep quiet and "sit down !" to which the other resident stated that he was already seated.
The action became more interesting when it came time to elect the Council Members for 2007. Mr. Shuk Loh proposed that the number be limited to eight members. Mr. Jonson Chong counter-proposed that it be twelve or even the maximum fourteen. After some debate from the floor on the merits of having either eight or twelve, the issue was brought to a vote, again by poll. With the bloc of the proxy votes, the proposal for eight Council Members won.

At this juncture, several people, dissatisfied with the proceedings thus far, walked out.

The AGM proceeded with the voting in of the eight Council Members. Fifteen were nominated, including twelve of the thirteen current Councillors (one declined to be nominated). After the vote counting was done, six of the current Council Members were retained: Ms. Goh See Meng (who received the highest number of votes), Mr. Harith Ahmad, Ms. Margaret Lim, Ms. Lily Tan, Datuk Lim Sun Hoe and Mr. Willy Boo. Rounding up the eight were Dr. Asma Ahmad Shariff and Mr. K. Surendran, both serving for the first time.

Tiara Times extends congratulations to Tiara Management Corporation's elected Council Members for the Year 2007.

Also At The AGM

Also, at the AGM, some attendees commented on Tiara Times. These are just some of the comments made:

I hope it is not too late to tell you that you are doing such a wonderful job at Tiara Times. Keep up the great work ... we are indeed blessed to have a newsletter of this quality. – Renu

A very good newsletter, very interesting. – Mike.

I must congratulate you on producing such a wonderful newsletter. The articles are so interesting, not like most boring newsletters in general detailing what one should not do and info in general about what is being done or will be done in the near future. Just boring updates.
– LYF

Thank you for spending so much time giving the residents here such a good newsletter. I am particularly fascinated by the profiles on Tiarans. I must say that we do have many talented people in Tiara. – May

How do you manage to produce two issues of Tiara Times monthly? You must be spending many hours of your time doing it. We are so very fortunate to have someone so dedicated to bring out such a high quality newsletter. My whole family enjoys reading the articles and look forward to every issue. Thank you very much for your effort. – Mr Lim

Tiara Times is a very good and commendable newsletter.
– Suren

Police Presence in Sec.17

Section 17 was in the news again, recently. Though not for the right reasons. An increase in snatch thefts, robberies, break-ins and muggings has left residents in Section 17 fearful about their safety. Certain parts of Section 17, though, seemed more vulnerable .

Residents in Jalan 17/31 and 17/33 have been the worst affected, with criminals going on a brazen looting spree. Burglaries were not only committed in broad daylight but even outside homes or their compounds while the residents were home. That is how daring robbers have become.

Not only are they fast and efficient at getting their hands on stolen items, but they have with them the necessary tools to get into houses as well - so even grilled windows and doors seemed no barrier to them.

Drains, where robbers can take cover in before pouncing on unsuspecting residents, and the lack of street lights have amplified fears for people living in Jalan 17/31 and Jalan 17/ 33. A friend, Ms Tan, who owns a semidee in Jalan 17/33, had her home broken into 5 times since she moved in many years ago, though the crimes were all committed within 3 years. In one of the incidents, her 85 year old father,who was visiting from Johor Baru, was slashed by a well dressed man complete with tie who entered the compound on the pretext of asking for road directions. Her father had to be rushed to the hospital with his arm half dangling down.

Petaling Jaya OCPD, Asst Commissioner Mazlan Mansor stated that the Police had arrested several burglars and snatch thieves in the area (one of which was assisted by our own Tiarans, Nigel Green and Jamsari - see Jan .4th issue of Tiara Times ) and invited Section 17 residents to call him should they face any problems. He can be contacted at 019-6000293 / 79662222. He added that the Police would "provide the necessary security and do our best with the resources we have to prevent crime in the neighbourhood."

In fact, the Police have now set up a Mobile Police Van near the Section 17 wet market, opposite the Caring Pharmacy, eating places and the gaming outlets, where pedestrian traffic is heavy. Residents can reach them 24 hours by dialling 78742222.

Postman Blues

Pos Malaysia is back in the news again, albeit in a negative light. The local newspapers have also been highlighting the inefficiency and carelessness of the postal services.

Today (Jan 18th, 2007), I received a postcard from my cousin in Singapore, post dated Dec. 4th, 2006, informing me that my cousin from UK was in town, one month and four days after it had been posted! So, the cartoon in a recent edition of the Star, showing the drawing of a snail in the Pos Malaysia logo, was most apt. Maybe Pos Malaysia should change their logo...so at least their customers would be forewarned that their mail may take some time to arrive at their destination...

Since I have a history of misplaced letters and wrong letters dropped into my box with the postal authorities, I have a list of postal personnel I can contact to impart my displeasure at such occurrences. In one instance, there were three wrong letters dropped into my box, so I handed them to the postmen when he came on his next round, and he took them back, but not before I gave him a "lecture" on his carelessness.

Despite this, letters continue to be dropped into the wrong letterboxes. It is just human error, though this should not be an excuse given by Pos Malaysia. Letters dropped into wrong boxes often incur inconvenience. Like for instance, when share dividend cheques are lost in transit, and the shareholder has to go through so much effort before a replacement cheque can be issued.

I have also been the unfortunate victim of a cheque lost in transit. An income tax refund was not replaced till seven years later, after a couple of trips to the Income Tax Department, seeing various personnel there, and being assured they would look into the matter. That was how long it took me to get the money back, just because of a postman’s carelessness.

So, please be civic minded, Tiarans, and drop back letters not meant for you, into the correct boxes, or hand them to the Tiara Management Office to be dropped back correctly.

Ann’s Birthday Party

Unlike her past birthdays, Ann Gabriel did not have a single son or daughter with her for her birthday on December 18th, this past year. Eldest daughter, Dr. Sharmini Gomez, was in Switzerland with her family and husband, Dr. Terence Gomez, who was posted there over a year ago on a UN assignment.

And younger sister Ann, named after her mother, had flown there with her husband and daughter to spend the Christmas holidays with her sister.

Son Paul Gabriel was in Caracas, covering Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's trip to Venezuela for the Star in his column "Jottings from Caracas."

Anita Gabriel was baby-sitting for her sister and brother-in-law, who were at a function. Anita, one of seven "outstanding Malaysian women honoured for their contribution towards raising awareness of female-related cancers" was recently presented with the PRUlady Achievement Award by Prudential Assurance Malaysia Berhad in Kuala Lumpur.

Another son and daughter were abroad as well.

In lieu of her children's absence, Ann invited some friends from Tiara and from her work place, Educare, over for a get-together.

Son-in-law Robert Schuster from the US roasted a leg of lamb and made a mashed potato dish to go with it for the party. And in keeping with the taste buds of Malaysians, Robert jazzed the gravy with a "pedas"touch to go with the lamb. His dish was given the thumbs up by guests See Meng, Irene, Nini and Uma. Not-shy-one See Meng helped herself to three helpings of lamb, and everything else with it! "Any time better than Lafite Restaurant," she exclaimed. By the time she had the trifle dessert, which was laced with cherries, orange slivers and peach slices, she was positive she was more stuffed than a stuffed Christmas turkey.

With wine flowing freely, Ronald and Gopi kept entering the kitchen to refill their glasses. They were in safe hands, they said, since they had a back up and very sober driver in Pushpa, wife of Ronald.

For those who fancied Malaysian fare, there was fresh chappati, curry, and egg sambal, done earlier in the day by Kalvinder Kaur, (who was featured in the November 18th, 2006 issue of Tiara Times) who had been requested to do some dishes for the birthday bash. Kal had to babysit so could not attend, whilst sister Baljeet had gone to Penang earlier in the day – that left two guests short and more to go around for the others.

After a sumptuous feast, the guests started regaling one another with snippets of their life. Newlyweds Nini and Gopi Krishnan, an IT System Administrator, said he knew his wife for eleven years before popping the question. He took so long since, in IT terminology, " I had to get to know and learn about her, and study her likes and dislikes. After all, this is a once-in-a-lifetime decision, so one has to be sure not to make a mistake," he opined.

But he did not propose to her on bended knee. "We were on my motorbike when I asked her whether she would marry me, and from behind, I could only hear her say, 'What, what ,what?' I was afraid she would say no," he admitted. But new bride Nini had been smitten. "Every day, for one year, when I came to the office (they worked in the same set up) there was a rose on my table. And though he had nothing to do in that part of the office, he would make it a point to have some excuse to make his way there daily to say 'good morning' to me."

He had this advice for people who wanted to know the secret of a great marriage – after only three months of marriage, was he qualified to give such views, someone asked. "Well, I feel that one can’t go wrong if one keeps a line of communication open all the time between spouses. I never fail to greet my wife and ask how she is, every single day. I always have time for her, and sit and talk to her. I believe in communication. And that, to me, I feel, is the secret of a good marriage."

The rest of the guests threw in their share of life experiences as well and the evening was punctuated with peals of laughter at the amusing anecdotes, whilst everyone concluded in the end that Malaysia was the best country in the world to live in.The merrymaking went on till the wee hours of the morning before the guests went their separate ways.

Many happy returns of the day, Ann, and we look forward to another such occasion next year.

Tiara Classifieds

EDUCATION SERVICE AT TIARA
1) Home Tuition for Primary School and Lower Secondary in the mornings, Monday to Friday,
Call: 012-2436381 or 03-79577349

2) Creative Writing Class for Children. Lets bring out the Shakespeare in you! Age: 5 to 12 years old.
Call Renu (012-3737349)

EVENT PLANNERS
Thematic Birthdays, Manicure & Pedicure, Saree Tying, Bouquet Arrangement, Mehndi Art , Private Parties (Engagement; Special Occasion),Cultural Events / Entertaiment ,Vegetarian Food ,Party Costumes. Contact No; 012 – 3737349 / 012-2436381/ 03-79577349 (eventscity @gmail.com)

Volume 2 Issue 3

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting (AGM ) of Tiara Damansara Condominium which was scheduled to be held on Saturday January 27, 2007 did not have a quorum.

Thus, the AGM has been postponed to:
Saturday, February 3, 2007 at 2:00 p.m.
At: the function area next to the squash court.
As this is a postponement, the AGM will proceed regardless of quorum.

All registered owners / proprietors are encouraged to attend. Non-owner residents are also welcome. Light refreshments will be provided.

Farewell, Thelaga

February 7th, 200, will be our temp Thelaga Muniandy's last day in Tiara Management Corporation.

How fast the time has flown, but Thelaga is happy to have served the short stint with us. "This job is so different from the one I held the last time, where my administrative post did not give me the chance to meet people. I enjoyed working in Tiara, which was a totally new job experience for me, and in such a different environment too. I learnt so many new things and was given the chance to engage in customer service, interacting with people of all ages and positions, from students to office workers, corporate officials and senior citizens, which was such an interesting change for me," she said.

She described her working colleagues Kang Boon Guen and Jamsari Ismail as helpful and wonderful people, whilst Paul Baktha "was always guiding me, encouraging me in my work and is such a nice boss." The sentiment is reciprocated as Paul described Thelaga as "reliable, responsible and pleasant."

Though it has been only a few months, "I have come to know so many people, many of whom seem like I know them for a long time already." Thelaga will leave this place with very fond memories.

A Tiaran has asked for her work resume and she also has a couple of job offers, "but I have not decided on anything as yet," she added," and will keep in touch with some of the people here even after I leave."

Farewell and we wish you all the very best for the future,Thelaga.

Welcome Back, Salmah

Meanwhile, Welcome Back, Salmah. It is good to see you looking so well, glowing and trim after your two-month absence.

How did she manage to return so slim and svelte after having a baby only 2 months ago, I enquired.

It was not difficult at all, "like the birth of my baby, it was an easy birth with no labour pains too," she said. "I tied layers of cloth around myself, tightly,and that did the trick," adding that she was also very grateful to the many Tiarans who gave her advice and moral support before the birth of her baby. "Being the very first time, I was naturally very scared, but thankfully, it was such an easy birth," she said.

She still has some diet constraints to bear in mind, like not taking spicy foods, tea, fish like kembong, chicken, prawns and crabs since she is breastfeeding. "But I can take detox tea which I buy from the Chinese sinseh shops"
Her lifestyle is different now, she adds, since it is entirely centred around baby Adam Faris, who, at 2 months (as of this writing) weighs a hefty 7 kilos, slightly more than double his weight when born. "He is chubby and long, at 59.5cm, like his father is tall."

She is very happy and life seems rather complete, with a child. But "saya ada tanggong jawab," she confided. She spends a few hundred ringgit extra a month now that there is an addition to the family. She has to pay the babysitter, buy milk and diapers every month, but Adam brings so much joy and happiness to her and her husband.

Adam is left in the care of her neighbour' s mother, from 7am - 6pm. The neighbour has a newborn about the same age as Adam too, and three other children. Salmah has to leave her baby early at the babysitter's since she has to drive her husband, Hairi, to office, which for him starts at 8.15am. After dropping him she is at Tiara way before office starts at 9am.

Welcome back to Tiara, Salmah.

The Grand Old Lady of Petaling Jaya

She may be old, but she is hot, very hot. "She" refers to none other than Madam Tiara Damansara Condominium, the Grand Old Lady of Petaling Jaya.

Aged 15, considered old by building standards, Madam TDC, as we shall refer to her, is the oldest, besides being the very first condominium, built in Petaling Jaya. As such, this is the season of aches and pains, which most elderly people may have, too.To keep her in prime health, repairs and maintenance works are ongoing 365 days a year, give or take a few days off during festive seasons.

After 15 years of existence, Madam TDC needs continuous upgrading, repairs and improvement to some of her existing facilities and infrastructure. Whilst replacement and repairs are expected to be considerable, in view of so many years of wear and tear, maintaining the continuity of basic services like security, cleaning, landscaping, pest control, sewage, leaking roofs,etc, have to be borne as well.

To keep her looking neat and clean, there are sweepers and cleaners to maintain the grounds, roads, landings and staircases. There are Jamsari and Man Chu to see to minor repairs, whilst pest control services, cutting the grass, fogging, etc. are carried out regularly but contractors. Refuse collection services have been contracted out to Vision Well Trading and Engineering, landscaping to Semaian Intan Maju and C.M.Chan Services cleans the swimming pool three times weekly, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

ASW Tech-I Bhd, which is of IWK standards, services our condo twice monthly, whilst Enctech Services Sdn. Bhd. ensures our vehicle entry and exit access system is in working order, except, of course, when, due to uncontrollable forces like lightning strikes, breakdowns occur.

All these services, naturally, incur costs, and the Tiara Management Council has tried its very best, with the financial resources it has at hand, to manage the condominium with the maintenance charges paid by residents. At 18 Sen per square foot, Tiara has one of the lowest maintenance rates in Petaling Jaya. Compared to Bangsar Puteri Condominium (33 Sen), Prima 16 (25 Sen), Prima 16 Second Chapter (27 Sen), Trellises (25 Sen), Villa Flora (22 Sen), Astana Condominium (30 Sen), Kiara Park (22 Sen), Kiara Green Town Houses (22 Sen), many of these have to pay for Sinking Funds as well.

Bangsar Puerti levies 7 Sen psf, Prima 16 and Prima 16 Second Chapter 3.5 Sen, Li Villas 2 Sen to the 19 Sen for maintenance charges, Trellises 2 Sen, whilst Astana residents foot 5 Sen psf for the Sinking Fund.

With the limited resources we have, prudence has to be practised to stretch the Ringgit. Unless it is totally necessary to do a major overhaul, TMC goes along with repairs which are lasting though not necessarily aesthetic. Like repairs done to the road within the premises, when premix is used to fix potholes as and when they occur. Resurfacing the entire stretch from King's Gate to Queen's would cost a staggering RM250,000.

The last year had been a very busy one for Tiara, in terms of new and upgrading works. Among the projects installed, commissioned or upgraded were the sewage treatment plant, cold water piping works (phase 2 and 3, with a total 25 blocks attended to), extension and repairs to the cafeteria, water tank cleaning, 3-phase wiring for the male and lady sauna, tennis court, relocating speed bumps, the main refuse chamber, roof leaks for 29 top floor units, flood /security lights at the perimeter fencing, increasing the height of the perimeter fencing in certain areas to tighten security, interlocking tile footpath from King's Guard Post to the gym, drainage system behind Queen's Gate,water filtration system, waterproofing / elevated suction tanks, new water bulk meter at JBA water mter and anti termite treatment.

In addition to these, for good security,Tiara had to fork out a good sum for the 24-hour Nepalese security team guarding Tiara.

Late next year, 5 years after the initial repainting of Tiara, Madam TDC may need a facelift (after all, she would be 16 then, and in need of a repainting job) - and this would not come cheap, since her upgrade would incur RM600,000, a hefty sum by any standard.

Meantime, the lady is holding its own very commendably. Her occupancy rate is very high, with about half a dozen empty units only. Should any unit be up for sale, it is grabbed shortly after, and many estate agents in Tiara report having several people on the waiting list to buy, at market price of course, should units be available.

Why is Madam TDC so much in demand, despite being what, in human terms, may be deemed "over the hill." Well, to begin with, Madam is situated in a prime location, very central in terms of Bangsar, Brickfields and Sentral, SS2, Subang Jaya, Kelana Jaya, Section 5, next door to Section 16, is leasehold, low rise (which translates to having a low density), has a rather unique car park system which is on road level (unlike many highrise condos which have underground carparks), has a reputation for being very quiet, and last, but not least, a dedicated Management team which works hard to keep the Lady in great form and cares for her good health, in terms of finance and condition.

Even clients seeking to purchase units here have told estate agents that they have heard that Tiara has a very responsible Management team in its Councillors. And to a great extent, that is why the Lady continues to thrive and hold its old among many upstart condos...

Condo Newsletters

How many condominiums in Petaling Jaya send out regular newsletters? Not many, it would appear.

Of the approximately dozen condos surveyed, eight have no newsletters at all (Tivoli Villa, Prima 16, Prima 16 Second Chapter, Li Villas, Trellises, Villa Flora, Kiara Green Townhouse and The Residences). Of these, Tivoli Villa will be attempting to launch its first newsletter in a fortnight's time, around February.

Of the rest, Astana Condominium, just across the road from Tiara, and which shares the same address as us (33,Jalan 17/1, 46400 Petaling Jaya) issues a newsletter once a year , Kiara Park has two issues per year, whilst Bangsar Puteri may have four or five editions a year, but all these newsletters are about condo matters.

At two issues a month, maybe we should have the tagline, Tiara Times Rocks!

Festive Get-Togethers

TMC is all for reviving the festive get-togethers in Tiara...if the original aim of the idea is adhered to. Mooted 2 years ago by TMC, the aim was to create a spirit of camaraderie and to get Tiarans to know one another.

The idea was for residents themselves to organise the festive gatherings. For example, for Chinese New Year, some Chinese residents should get together to organise the get-together. They could rope in their Chinese neighbours or other residents, who in turn could rope in their friends as well, to organise the festivity. TMC is even agreeable to contribute up to RM500 to the organiser for food, balloons, angpows for the children, even prizes should there be games.

For a start TMC councillors started the ball rolling, using their own money to organise the get-togethers. But it was found, after a few gatherings, that this defeated the purpose of the mooted idea, since the same faces turned up all the time. Not that there was anything wrong with this, of course, but this defeated the aim of getting Tiarans to interact and get to know one another.

Since this was not happening, and TMC members had to keep on organising the get-togethers, it was decided to do away with the festive get-togethers. After the announcement was made in Tiara Times, two residents, "Disappointed" and "All for Get-Togethers," (see Dec. 4th, 2006 issue of Tiara Times) expressed their sadness over the cancellation of future get-togethers.

At a recent TMC meeting, the Councillors were agreeable to the idea of resurrecting the get-togethers after hearing the views of “Disappointed” and “All For Get-Togethers”... but residents themselves should do the organising. This, after all, was the original idea for having such functions.

So, for the forthcoming Chinese New Year, if some Chinese residents are game to organise, TMC would be happy to throw in their support. It actually does not require large sums of money to hold such gatherings. It requires teamwork and a generous spirit of giving of one's time.

There is plenty of time too to organise the party. It need not be done on Chinese New Year of course, since most Chinese would have returned to their "kampungs" to be with their elders. Set a date a fortnight after, either March 3rd or 4th, 2007, for the get-together, when everyone should have returned to Tiara.

Let us be muhibbah and organise this for our Muslim, Hindu and Christian neighbours. And for Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas, the others would surely reciprocate by organising the get-togethers when their turn comes.

So, do take up the challenge for those who would like to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a bang! How about “Disappointed” or “All For Get-Togethers” joining hands and organising, for a start...

Tiara Classifieds

There has been a suggestion from some residents for a Classifieds Section in the Tiara Times (not unlike The Star's Classifieds) for people in Tiara wishing to sell a service or personal item.

At the last TMC meeting, it was agreed that this would be a good idea. A fee of RM10 per insertion in Tiara Times was agreed upon. So, do advertise in our Classifieds section what you would like to sell - a service (like catering for parties,appliance repair, babysitting, tailoring, if you are adept at this,) or a personal item (like your car, dishwashing machine, fridge, computer, furniture, paintings, lovely handbags which you have too many of, second hand clothes, but which are virtually new, since you hardly ever wore them, your baby's crib, since the child has outgrown it) – in short, something like what a flea market offers. Advertisements for rent or sale or your condos or vehicles are also welcome.

While Tiara Times does not have the circulation of the daily newspapers, we do have a niche market – the residents of Tiara Damansara. Who knows, your potential buyer could just be a few doors away.

You can put in your advertisement by visiting the Management Office. Put in your contact numbers and your unit number (optional) and your advertisement.

Rainforest in Subang Jaya

It turned out to be a most interesting late morning. Together with my Singaporean house-guest, Betty Kingsley, and her cousin Ping from the US, we had taken a taxi to SS19/1K, Subang Jaya to visit a Cancer Care counsellor, Khadijah. Betty had spoken so much of her rain forest garden, knowing Ping's and my love of nature, that we decided a trip to see it would be worthwhile. And we were not disappointed.

With slightly over 2,000 s.f. of land left for the garden after extending her double storey corner link, it was amazing the number of plants, trees and shrubbery which was grown within that space. At the entrance of the home, on both sides of the gate, stood two huge birds nest ferns. Husband Johan Yeong said that he saw these birds nests discarded on the roadside nearby, "and before you could say 'jangan', he had picked them up and taken them home to be planted," said wife Khad. Today, from the mere foot high nests he brought back lovingly from the roadside, they stand a gigantic 10 foot high.

"They are so easy to grow. In fact, you don’t have to take care of them.They grow by themselves", explained Johan.

We oohed and aahed as we entered, looking at the number of shrubs, trees, ferns and potted plants bordering the entrance before entering the rain forest proper. There were tall royal palms, coconut trees, three fig trees ("I planted only one fig tree, but bird droppings after eating the figs gave us 2 more," said Johan) and 7 species of other palms, among them the Norfolk Island Pines and the Candlestick Palms. Bougainvilleas, staghorn ferns, yellow palms, thunbergia vines, periwinkle, butterfly plants and various heliconia brightened the "forest". On the ground grew cekur hitam and sambung nyawa, used as ulam with rice and supposedly good for diabetes. Birds nest ,water cabbage (crocus), monstera, caladiums (keladi) and local ginseng, together with poinsettia, geranium and the ubiquitous banana trees, ginger and pandan proliferated the garden.

Because of the quick growth of the plants and vegetation, it was a losing battle trying to keep the land free from weeds and undergrowth, explained Johan, whilst Betty was of the view that a "well maintained garden is not the way Nature grows." Though manicured lawns and neat gardens seemed to be the purview of the rich, who could afford gardeners to maintain the grounds, "somehow it is not as pleasing as Nature at its natural best," she added.

Betty should know. Back in 2000-2001, when she lived in Starseed Sanctuary, in Noonamah, on the outskirts of Darwin, her garden was one of the sites selected by the national Australian Open Garden Scheme Committee, to be showcased to the public for two weekends in 2001 and 2002, and allowed to charge an entrance fee for viewing. Said Betty: "I planned the food garden to show that an edible garden, maintained with no toxic pesticides, can be as beautiful as any ornamental garden, and myriads of paying adults came to view it."

Also grown were pecah beling (or hak meen cheong kuan in Chinese) and keladi tikus. When boiled and drunk, the pecah beling drink is reputedly good for keeping kidney stones at bay. MARDI (Malaysian Agricultural Research Development Institute) is at the moment doing research on the pecah beling and keladi tikus for cancer treatment.

"And what is this plant?" I asked, pointing to what was explained to me as the Indian borage, which was good for coughs, when boiled with water, and also used in pasta.

Sitting on the lounge chairs facing the rainforest, we also took in the flight of the burung murai, kelicap, tekucur and merbok. Johan explained that these birds dropped in on their garden in the mornings as well as late afternoon. "I think our garden is on their flight path, so they come to feed on the figs and bananas and berries here."

One of their 14 cats came up to nuzzle itself against my leg. When informed I was not partial to cats, it was shooed away. "My cats are all potty trained," and in the evening, I set up their cardboard boxes for them to sleep in," said Khadijah ,who adores her cats.

Except for some mosquitoes flitting around - but which homes in Malaysia are mosquito-free - it was a most enjoyable and constructive time. Topping up the fascinating outing was lunch at Medifoods, a vegetarian restaurant, in SS18/6, Subang Jaya.

Now,when some people complain that they do not have sufficient land in their homes to grow things, well, if Johan and Khad can do it, so can you.

Volume 2 Issue 2

Tiara Times First Anniversary

Happy Birthday to Tiara Times, which celebrates its first year this month. In January 2006, Tiara Times came out with its very first issue. And though supposedly a monthly, the last few months of 2006 saw it churning out two issues every month.

Tiara Times has grown into a bi-monthly, thanks to all you Tiarans who sent in letters and articles exhorting your views about situations and conditions here in Tiara. Of course, we cannot continue with this trend unless we receive a lot of articles and letters from residents here. Hopefully, this is not a flash in the pan and Tiara Times will be able to continue at the same frequency it has been going great guns like the past few months.

For all those who consented to be profiled, a big THANK YOU. Perhaps many are unaware that getting someone to profile is not an easy exercise. Some have said that they "prefer to be low key and not be profiled." Yet a few others have stated, quite categorically, that they "are too boring to be interviewed," that "no one will be interested in me, lah."

Let me be the judge of that. No one is a boring person (as opposed to being a 'bore', which has a different connotation altogether) or has led a boring life. Their lives may not, perhaps, be as colourful as Michael Jackson's, as successful as Bill Gates', as busy as many highflying captains of industry, as adventurous as embedded journalists or as dangerous as that of stuntmen - but I am positive everyone is sure to have had interesting or unique experiences many would not have gone through.

I would be delighted to be given names and contact numbers of people to profile. Be sporting. Let my work be made easier. I don’t mind the many hours put in to getting Tiara Times out - if I am given some assistance. Otherwise, without me knowing everyone in Tiara, not even l0% of residents here, it is an uphill battle for me to get people willing to be profiled. How about it, Tiarans?
In fact, I would even welcome profiles done by residents. There are hundreds of articles one can write about: an article on your mother, father, close friend, a person you admire, your cute baby brother, etc. Tiara Times may even offer some prizes for interesting and well written profiles. So, do send your profiles in. Make me happy. Give me some time to shake legs, smell the flowers in Tiara or even swot flies!

Tiara Times would also like to thank all Tiarans who sent encouragement by complimenting Tiara Times, on the "interesting and well written profiles", the "high standard of English", the "goings-on in our condo so that we are kept abreast of happenings here", as well as "good opposing views on situations here."

In fact, some Tiarans also sent in jokes and riddles as well. However, because of space constraints we have not been able to print any of these. Perhaps in future issues we may have an insertion or two.

And for those of you who have any suggestions, would like to tell us what you would like to read, or how to improve Tiara Times, we are all ears.

We welcome articles about yourselves. After all, we have said, and repeated, that Tiara Times is YOUR newsletter, so send in some items regarding yourselves and your loved ones, a friend, a hero you admire, things which annoy you...in short, anything.

How about the birth of your newborn, or a baby brother for a sister; that award you won; the excellent meal your mom cooked - and provide TT with the secret recipe; a talented and prominent friend whom you had over to your place; your observations about things and situations; that exciting trip you had jungle trekking or experiencing things that go bump in the night perhaps... the list of things which can be written about is endless.

If you continue sending in your contributions, life for us in Tiara Times would be so much easier - for which we thank you, profusely.So, if you would like another year of Tiara Times, do help us by sending in your articles.

Until then, all the best for 2007 and may the days ahead be constructive and pleasant for all of us here in Tiara .

The Widow’s Mite

Despite not having much herself, B.S.K. (her initials, since she would prefer to remain anonymous) is my idea of the Parable of the Widow's Mite, generous and having the welfare of the less privileged at heart. She rang me and walked to my unit in Q Block from her unit a few blocks away, with some money, biscuits and other tidbits.

"Please hand these food items to Sylvia Hyams and please give her this money," she said. So I took the items and angpow to Sylvia when I went with other Tiarans and some members of the Evergreen Club of SS4, Petaling Jaya to send some Christmas cheer to the Hyams family on December 18th. (See story in previous issue of TT)

A few days later, BSK told me that she rang the Phillys Caring Home and spoke to the care-giver, Phillys Pillay, asking what the inmates needed. She was told that the old residents of the Home needed cabbage, lean pork, sardine or fresh sausages. She would go marketing for these items for them one of these days,she said.

And on January 5th, I took BSK to Paramount Garden to locate Uncle Loh. Luck was with us, since not only did we find easy parking but a lady there pointed out the man outside the Mediviron Clinic. Walking up to the elderly man sitting on the pavement,we asked whether he was Uncle Loh. Indeed he was, he smiled, brandishing a crisp new RMl note which someone had just given him. He was as pleased as Punch.

What would he like for lunch, we enquired. Char Kway Teow at the stall over there - pointing to the stall - would be nice. "And could I have everything - the koo chye, cockles, but not too hot, please," he requested. He informed us that it would cost RM3.50, "and please put it into a white plastic box for me." For his drink he wanted soda,"in the blue can, and a plastic bag with some ice. It is so hot today," he explained as he sat shirtless in his shorts.

Trotting off to get his lunch, we soon returned with it, and Uncle Loh tucked into his kway teow immediately, since that was his first meal of the day, at noon. "But if I was not given this, I have a dollar to buy something to eat," he confided.

I asked how old he was, and was told 67. With more questions, I was informed that he once worked in Singapore, a long time ago, getting a salary of S$270, before it was dropped to S$230, after which a relative took him to Kuala Lumpur, where he has been ever since. His sparse education did not enable him to get a good job, "but I get by. I take a shower every day, and I can sleep there," he said, pointing to the former Ruby Theatre grounds. In the day, he is often outside the Mediviron Clinic, "since no one disturbs me here. Over there," pointing to a place further on, "people harasss me, so I prefer to be here."

His full name is Loh Yew Nan, he said, and wrote it down for us in English and Chinese. Next to him were his worldly belongings, a couple of folded towels, some old newspapers, part of a torn exercise book and a bottle of water.

All along, as we sat on the pavement talking to him, a couple of men watched us with beady eyes less than five feet away. We were afraid of leaving him with more money, fearing the men may snatch the notes from him, so we left him with a few RM1 notes, with the promise that we would pay him another visit soon.

May you be blessed, BSK, for your kindness to all these disadvantaged souls mentioned in the December issue of Tiara Times.

Uncle Loh

After the brief mention in the December issue of Tiara Times about Uncle Loh, an elderly homeless man living on the streets, it is heartwarming to read that there are some caring Tiarans who actually took the trouble to look out for him. This is what a Tiaran emailed to Tiara Times:

This morning after my New Year's Eve party ended at about 3am, I drove by to the Paramount Garden area with a couple of others to see if Uncle Loh was around and whether he wanted anything to eat. I found him outside the Mediviron Clinic, and asked him if he had eaten. He said he would like some meehoon and failing that, rice.

I said that the shops were shut but I would see what was available at the 7-11 outlet across the road. Uncle Loh requested Mirinda Orange and if there was no meehoon or rice, he would like a sardine bun or any pastry.

I managed to get him what he wanted and he thanked us as he dug into the bun hungrily. We asked him whether he would like to go into a nursing home but he said he did not want to. He was happy to sleep on the streets, he added, explaining that he had a place to shower and a sleeping area available to him at the old Ruby Theatre grounds.

So we left him to his meal since he was not interested in our attempts to help get him into a nursing home.

Footnote:

Uncle Loh's case is not an unusual one,as in several other countries, especially the US, there are many such people. These people, though destitute, value their freedom and independence and refuse to be institutionalised. They may be labelled as tramps or hobos. The women equivalent are labelled as 'bag ladies.'

Letter To The Editor - Tiara Times Fan

Dear Editor,

Thank you for the interesting profiles and articles about residents who have services to offer us here in Tiara. I have been following the issues and have even compiled a file for Tiara Times. Please keep up the good work.

We now have Kalvinder, who can cook for us should we need chilli and other dishes; Nina, who does massages, manicures,pedicures and nail art; Param, a handyman; Chan, who repairs computers; Sunny, a reflexologist; Shukor, a resident artist; Margaret Lim, an experienced nurse; kindergarten teachers, Ann Gabriel and Renu; and even will writers, Jonson Chong and Linnet Lee.

In the May, Issue 3 edition of Tiara Times, "A Tiaran" stated that it would be nice if we knew Tiarans in other professions (like lawyers, doctors ,nurses, tuition teachers, IT experts,etc) so that we can call upon their services and give them business should they be required. After all, charity does begin at home and Tiara Damansara Condominium is home to us Tiarans.

A Tiara Times Fan

Letter To The Editor - Parking Rate Increase

Dear Editor,

I was shocked to read in the last issue of Tiara Times that Management will be raising parking rental rates up to a whopping 50% to RM150 for covered lots. This is almost as high as the 60% toll raise for the highway nearby. I can understand the rates being increased but 50% is a bit too much! Management, please reconsider.

No to parking rate increase.

The Grasscutter

On December 7th, 2006, at 8.37am, the whirring blades of a grasscutting machine woke me up from my slumber. It was time to get up,anyway, so I opened the bedroom windows and looked down.

The grasscutter, whom I later found out was Ilham Jefri (34), was meticulously at his trade, plying his machine from left to right, trimming the grass. He painstakingly ensured that every blade of grass even an inch higher than the accepted height, was bladed down. Unlike some other cutters I have observed, who keep advancing, never stepping back, Ilham walked back to look at his work, and advanced forward only if he felt satisfied everything was trimmed neatly. It is not often that workers are so painstaking about their job.

In fact, last month, a couple of other residents living in units fronting the green lung, remarked that the trimmed lawns around Tiara this time seemed to be especially well done. I asked Jamsari (our Security Officer and Building Executive) whether there had been a change of grasscutter, since this cutter did a neater job - to be told that a new grasscutter had indeed been assigned the task last month.

It took Ilham twelve full minutes to trim the stretch the length of my unit - that was how painstaking he was about doing a good job.

Ilham hails from Sumatra and has been a grasscutter for the last 10 years. He can’t remember how many blades he would have broken before mastering his trade - "maybe 150," he guessed. But it certainly was a sizeable number before he became adept at it.

Married to Safrida, they have 3 children, Norliza (l0), Arriffin (5) and Santi (3 months) and live in Kampung Kayu Ara in Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya. He works a full day, and on his off day, he sometimes cuts grass for homes in Damansara Jaya for extra money.

Since his task is manual, he eats a lot of rice with fish daily. Lunch is packed for him by his sister-in-law, since Safrida works part time as a domestic helper and cleaner.

Thank you, Ilham, for a job well done.

Obituaries

The Tiara Management Council regrets the passing of Mr Marc Phillippe Le Vasan (53) of a heart attack on December 12th, 2006. Mr Le Vasan, whose wife and 2 children live in UK, lived in Tiara for 2 years.

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Our condolences too go to Ms. Renugathevi d/o Velayutham on the death of her grandmother, Mrs. Nagarathnam (93), of old age, on December 8th, 2006. Renu, who was profiled in the December 16th issue of Tiara Times, said that all her family members were beside her at her passing and that till the end, she was lucid and reciting powerful Hindu mantras. Mrs Nagarathnam leaves behind her husband of more than 6 decades, aged 91.

Renugathevi added that she regretted her grandmother's passing before the article about her in Tiara Times came out, because "she would have been so proud to read that all the positive points stated in the article about me was due to her, for it was my Granny who instilled all these values in me."

Her grandfather, she stated, would miss his late wife badly,and "so will I ."

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On January 5th, 2006, the last remaining uncle of Goh See Meng (of Q16) passed away, at the age of 85. Datuk Wong Peng Long, one of ten brothers and seven sisters, was a humanitarian involved in many charitable activities. He also had a hand looking after the camps in Johor for Vietnamese refugees fleeing the country by boat more than 3 decade years ago

The last time See Meng saw her uncle was nearly a year ago when she went to pay her Chinese New Year respects to him and aunty Millie Wong. Her uncle leaves behind 2 sons and 2 daughters, one of whom flew in from Arizona on the evening he passed on.

A Special Christmas Party

Not many Tiarans may know that nestled between the tennis court and the function hall/squash courts is a facility for special children. Some of these children live in Tiara though there are others who come to use the facility here, which was started in July 2005.

According to a report, these children have improved their talking , playing , writing, colouring, reading and other skills because of "dedicated parents, good teachers, great programmes, consultants/advisors and other therapies."

On Saturday, December 23rd, 2006, in keeping with the festive spirit, the City Church KL sponsored a Christmas Party for the special children, their parents as well as some invited guests.

The 150-strong City Church, headquartered at the Sunway College Auditorium, set up large and colourful paper cut-outs of Christmas trees, stars and snowflakes as a background at the function hall of Tiara Damansara. Children sat on chairs or the floor, on carpets, as their parents kept an eye on them.

Then at midday, Pastor Mark Barughese started the festivities going by giving a short speech. He saluted the parents of the special children, stating that the volunteers who came today gave of their time and effort for the young ones "maybe one day in the year" whereas parents, the actual care-givers , gave of their time 365 days of each and every year. "They are great parents to be entrusted with these special children," he said.

How did the Tiara facility come to the attention of the City Church KL? Jochebed Jayasooria, who comes to the facility to help out, mentioned it to her church members, who were all for sponsoring a Christmas gathering, to bring cheer to the parents and their little ones. The enthusiastic helpers, all decked out with red Santa hats and red T-shirts, made various sandwiches, fried meehoon and even vegetarian noodles, cocktail sausages with cucumber cubes on sticks, chicken drummets, chicken wings, cake and orange drinks and had gifts for every child.

The first to receive a gift was Johan, a toddler - it was his very first Christmas party. Yen Chern, 5, had 2 gifts, a small package and a big one. Teasingly, I asked the young boy whether I could have one of his gifts. Without a moment's hesitation, he handed me the large gift. I was very touched.

Santa Claus (a.k.a. Reuben David) was in great form, prancing all over the hall as he made contact with every child and handed them gifts. He was nonplussed why he had been requested to play Santa "since I am not chubby, and had to pad myself up a lot to gain some weight." I explained that maybe it was the sign of the times - even the girth of Santa was affected by the Malaysian economy !

Besides the usual evergreens, Here Comes Santa Claus, Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Santa even led a train of squealing children and church members on a Conga. There were also groups of children hopping on one leg as they sang Ring-A-Ring-O’Roses before everyone went falling down, when peals of laughter riveted around the hall.

Standing out among the crowd were three African students, all members of the Church. Students of Sunway College, they came to know about the Church since services were held in the College auditorium. Elizabeth Ouma, Anna Kirbadi and Gshter Murrthi, all from Kenya, are students in Hospitality, Tourism and Bio-Med respectively. We hit it off at once when I mentioned Kenya was my favourite country in Africa, which also was my favourite continent.

I regaled them with my adventures sitting in a 4-seater plane gliding over the African Rift Valley as we chased a herd of elephants with Phil Leakey, his German pilot and American banker, on our way to his hotel - built entirely with wood - in the bush; Tree-Tops, a hotel atop a big old tree, where Princess Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen on the death of her father whilst holidaying there; flying above millions of pink flamingoes over Lake Nakuru; seeing game at the Kenya National Game Park, and watching a million Kenyans marching along to Uhuru (Freedom) Square in solidarity for Jomo Kenyatta from my hotel room on a top floor of the Nairobi Hilton.

The occasion came to an end an hour later, but not before Jochebed (a supervisor of the Early Autism Project Malaysia, which started operations in September 2006) informed me that Brenda Boehm, a consultant from the US-based Wisconsin Early Autism Project, was now based in Malaysia, and that autism awareness in the country would now play a bigger role here. For those wishing to contact Jochebed Jayasooria, she can be reached at: 012-3648686.

Closure Of Tennis Court

The tennis court will be closed from Tuesday, January 16^th , 2007 for approximately seven weeks to undergo major repairs.

The date of reopening of the tennis court should be sometime in February and will be announced later.

Any inconvenience caused is much regretted

The Management

Volume 2 Issue 1

Sylvia’s Merry Christmas

Her favourite Christmas carol is Blue Christmas, but for Sylvia and her children Douglas, Elizabeth, Peter and Charlene, it was certainly not a blue day for them on December 18^th , 2006.

Thanks to the mention in the December issue of Tiara Times, some residents pooled their charitable instincts together and donated angpows, Christmas gifts, meehoon, Maggi mee, Milo, coffee, tea, large tins of biscuits, con­densed milk, Nestum, milk, canned soup, sardine etc. A resident also made a special kerabu which Sylvia and Elizabeth love.

Together with some members of the Evergreen Club of SS4, Petaling Jaya, a round dozen people made their way in three cars to Sylvia's home in Taman Medan, Old Klang Road at 2.30pm.

St Nicholas, better known as Santa Clause, was there "in person" too, in Nicholas the guitarist. Once inside the bedsit of her home, carols rang out -including, of course, Sylvia's favourite Blue Christmas. This was in memory of her father, who passed on a long time ago - "but whom I remember every Christmas," she explained.

Tea brought by the wellwishers was served at the end of the carolling.There was ikan bilis sambal and tuna sandwiches, fresh curry puff and home-made cake as well.

"Christmas won’t be bleak for us this year,"smiled Elizabeth. Sylvia expressed her gratitude to her wellwishers for their monetary donations. "We will use part of this to offset our water bill and hope water will be restored to us soon. We have endured five days without water since we were not able to pay the bill."

Have a comfortable Christmas Sylvia, with your loved ones, and may 2007 be a kinder one for you.

Post Script:

After the wellwishers left, son Douglas rushed down to Syabas to settle half the RM 1071.38 cents bill from part of the angpows received. Water was restored that very day.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting (AGM ) of Tiara Damansara Condominium is scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 27th , 2007 at 2:00 p.m. at the function / BBQ area next to the squash courts. If there is no quorum on that day, the AGM will be held the following Saturday, February 3rd , 2007 at the same place and time.

The notice of meeting, agenda, Annual Reports and audited accounts will be distributed to owners a week before the meeting. Owners who would like to bring up other agenda matters, please contact the Management Office before January 12th , 2007.

Tiara Rental Parking

This is a reply to the Letter to the Editor on Tiara Rental Parking which appeared in the last issue of Tiara Times.

Management is well aware of the situation in the Visitor Parking Lot near Queens Gate (QG VPL) described by "Still Waiting". To fully understand how this came about, let us delve into the history of the QG VPL.

Previously, all parking in Tiara (other than owned lots) were converted to rental lots; thus there was not a single visitor parking bay in Tiara, resulting in complaints by some residents during the AGM. As a result Management created the QG VPL, which was implemented in late December 2005. Fifteen lots were created for visitors to park, at RM1 per every two hours.

Initially, the VPL was for visitors only. Residents were prohibited from parking there. The usage of the VPL was monitored and it was soon apparent that it was under-utilised (only a maximum of five lots were occupied at any one time). Some residents questioned why the lots were left empty, especially overnight while residents had to park outside.

Thus it was decided to allow residents to park at the VPL but paying the same hourly rate as visitors. As this was quite expensive, only a few residents used the VPL to park overnight every night. Some of these residents then suggested that instead of paying on a daily basis, that they be allowed to park there on a monthly basis.

In March 2006, Management decided to allow this and set the rate of RM150 per month (based on 10 hours per night, 30 days a month). This was based on the understanding that the lots could be taken back by Management at any time. It was decided to open up five lots for this purpose and offered to residents on the Waiting List in their order on the list. Most of the residents on the List declined the offer – possibly due to the high price of RM150 compared to covered lots (RM100) and more than double that of uncovered lots (RM70). As there were not many takers, this facility was extended to those who already had rental lots but who were willing to pay the RM150 to park there.

Thus, since March 2006, five of the 15 lots in the QG VPL were allocated for this purpose and the rest for visitor parking. But the QG VPL still remained under-utilised. Part of the reason was that the QG VPL was too far for people visiting units in King's Crescent.

So, in October 2006, Management decided to "take back" the five uncovered rental lots closest to King's Gate and convert them to visitor parking. To "compensate" those who were renting the rescinded lots, five lots were "taken away" from the QG VPL- and the rental parking lots were reshuffled all the way from King's Gate to those near Queen's Gate (five of them). For these five who were relocated to the QG VPL, not by their choice, but by Management’s decision, Management allowed them the same rental (RM 70) as they had been paying before.
This explains the current situation in QG VPL where five lots are for visitors at RM1 per two hours, another five at RM150 per month, and the remaining five for the reshuffled renters at RM70 per month.

While this situation may appear like setting a high price “for those who could afford to pay more to jump queue”, (to quote “Still Waiting”) it was not so. The current situation, as can now be seen , was the result of two separate but related decisions. The renting of lots at RM150 per month was not an issue until the reshuffling exercise, which resulted in the disparity.

Management is aware of this disparity and is looking into the situation and working on rectifying it soon.

At the last Management Council Meeting in December 2006, the Management Council decided to increase the rental parking fee from RM100 to RM150 per month for covered lots and from RM70 to RM100 per month for uncovered . This includes the ten uncovered bays in the QG VPL, which has been standardized to RM100 per month.

All these bays will be considered rental lots and each unit will not be allowed to have more than one rental lot anywhere in Tiara regardless of type (of rental lot).

However this increase will take effect only in the next quarter, starting in April 2007. All other conditions remain the same as stated in the Rental Parking Agreement.

Tiarans Catch A Thief

On November 14th , 2006, a resident of Tiara, Nigel Green,was about to turn into the Tiara Damansara entrance when he noticed a man fleeing from a Police patrol car. In his desperation to escape the long arms of the law, the man had crashed the motorcycle he was on, at the traffic light near Tiara.

Nigel saw Jamsari, Tiara' s Security Officer / Building Executive, outside inspecting the grounds. Picking Jamsari up in his car, Nigel shot through the red light, honking at the other cars to give way as Jamsari shouted at the top of his voice, "Berhenti! Berhenti! Don’t move or I will shoot you. This is Police, Police!" as Nigel drove towards the fleeing thief.

As they closed in, Jamsari pounced on the thief, holding the struggling man as the Police patrol car drew up. The thief, an Indonesian, was handed over and taken into custody.

Rental Parking Reshuffling Exercise

The Tiara Management Council tries, to the best of its ability, to be fair and transparent in the handling of issues and grievances in Tiara Damansara. Monthly meetings of the TMC are held to address existing issues. It is understandable and to be expected that some residents may not be happy with some of the decisions made. It is impossible to please every single resident in a community of about a thousand. Below is an instance where we explain our actions to show transparency, in correspondence (which has been shortened due to space constraints) between a resident, Susan, and Head of Car Park, Willy Boo.

S: With reference to your letter dated September 7th 2006 pertaining to the reassignment of car rental parking lots, I was made to understand that I have to give up my current rented parking lot (Y20) and be assigned another lot at Y26A. Much as I support Management’s implementation of this exercise, I was disappointed to discover that there seems to be an unfair approach in the reassignment exercise.

W : The accusation of favouritism and partiality is often the swiftest criticism made when an unfavourable decision has been made, resulting in the aggrieved party writing from the “victim” point of view.

S : To illustrate what I mean, below is the comparison made on the reassignment of the rented parking lots between me in Block Q16 and other residents in Block Q18 and P2.
Block Old Lot New Lot
Q16 Y20 Y26A
Q18 Y19A Y23A
Q18 Y21A Y20A
P2 Y21 Y22

Since my parking lot (Y20) has been moved to Y26A, (12 parking lots away from the original lot), it is fair to assume that residents with rented parking lots in Y19A, Y21A and Y21 should also be moved sequentially with the same number of lots away from their original lots (ie. to new lots in Y26, Y25A and Y25 respectively). However, I was reassigned a rented lot 12 lots away whilst the residents of Y19A, Y12A and Y21 were reassigned new lots not far from their original lots. I am very baffled by this system of re-allocation.

W: Don’t be. There are many things in life more baffling. I can appreciate that perhaps it was the lack of proper or adequate assessment of specifics that the resident wrote her say. I would like to dispel this erroneous viewpoint by displaying the fundamental guides- the nuts and bolts, so to speak- that were used in the reassignment

S: I live in Block Q16 and now I have to walk all the way to Block Q10 to get to my new lot, while the other residents in Block Q18 and P2B were assigned to lots not far from their units. Is this a fair and equitable approach to the reassignment?
I am sure you can see my point of view and why I would appreciate an explanation from the Tiara Management Council as to how this "random" system of re-allocation was decided. I have always respected the decisions made by Management as they have always been fair and reasonable. However, I cannot maintain my usual regard for Management in this respect because there is no justification or logic in the way these parking lots have been reassigned.
I do hope that this is not because certain residents are favoured more than others, hence the preferential treatment.

W: You highlighted that you now have to walk about 2¾ blocks to almost Q10 to your new lot. Allow me to clarify that both Q18 and P2 need to walk about 2 and 2 ½ blocks respectively to their new parking lots as well. So you see, the residents you highlighted need to walk also in the range of 2-3 blocks to their reassigned lots, approximately the same distance you have to walk.

This demonstrates there is no preferential treatment. It further justifies the methodology that was used in the reassignment, would you not agree? In conclusion, the point to note is not how far the new parking lot is located from your old one but rather how far it is located from the tenant's residing block.

I would also like to mention that 5 residents who were affected in the re-allocation exercise now have to walk 5-6 blocks to their reassigned lots. Even though the norm is a distance of 2-3 blocks, they kindly obliged without drama, much to Management’s gratitude and appreciation. Before any suspicious mind goes wandering, I would like to explain that the cause of this is largely due to the peculiar layout of Tiara Damansara and the location of their residing blocks. Hence, it may be appropriate to conclude that they are "victims of circumstances".

S: Being a resident and also unit owner of Tiara Damansara, it would not seem unreasonable that I be given an explanation why the above reassignment has been done in such a manner and urge Management to come up with a more equitable approach to the reassignment exercise.

W: To further assure you of our transparency in this reassignment exercise you are welcome to meet with Management and query the method employed.


POST SCRIPT: By now Susan has been reassigned a lot just 1¾ blocks away. This is largely due to the effort taken by Management in going that extra mile for Tiarans when an opportunity arises and circumstances permit.

The Wedding

It turned out to be a wonderful outing, an afternoon and evening of good speeches, hilarious games and events by the MC, and things going on schedule.

Before starting out for the church ceremony of Jeshurun Nimbalker and Rachel Mirunalini, the elder daughter of Mr. Paul Baktha, the Building Manager of Tiara Damansara Condominium, and his wife Theresa, Ow, who was driving us to the church, studiously looked at the map provided in the wedding invitation.

We made good timing, but on reaching the locality where the church was slated to be, we were a bit hesitant which turning to take. But Lady Luck was with us. Right before us, one car in front, was a bridal car. Instinctively we decided to follow, certain it would be heading towards St. Peter's Church in Bangsar. We were not wrong.

As the bride waited in the car before making her appearance down the aisle, we ladies bolted into the church, leaving Ow to find parking. After all, that is what a gentleman is supposed to do whilst the ladies, dressed in their Sunday best, shaded their heads from the rain and tripped in, avoiding puddles of water on the ground.

The church ceremony began at 5:38pm. As the four orange saree-clad bridesmaids and their immaculately attired escorts entered (among them, Paul’s son Adrian), led by a confident and smiling flower girl, and the bride's sister, Margaret, carrying the thirumanggalyam on a maroon velvet tray, bringing up the rear, the packed congregation rose to their feet. To the subtle strains of Here Comes the Bride, a smiling bride, resplendant in her lovely white saree, walked down the isle with her father, Paul Baktha.

After the bride was received by her groom, the pastor, Reverend Canon Jason Selvaraj, led the service. The congregation sang hymns followed by scripture readings by relatives before the pastor gave his sermon to the couple. Reverend Jason said that he had specially selected a quotation appropriate for the occasion: “Congratulations on the termination of your isolation and may I express an appreciation of your determination to end the desperation and frustration which has caused you so much consternation in giving you the inspiration to make a combination to make an accumulation to the world's population."

He also advised the couple to have an open communication with each other and not shut the other out. For, he said, “it was often said that in the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens; in the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens; but in the third year, both speak ... and the neighbours listen!” Whilst true love was about open communication, it should not be to the extent that the neighbours listened!

After the couple were proclaimed man and wife, the congregation spewed outside the well-kept church grounds to chat and gaze upon the lighted cascading fountain with its many- hued hibiscus plants ringing it, prompting a Tiara Management Council member to suggest that maybe various hybrids of our national flower be planted within Tiara.

Another TMC member, Keith Kok, carrying his daughter, together with his wife Wan Yue, were among the congregation. However they were not able to attend the dinner since they had their own romantic dinner for two to go to – December 2nd happened to be their sixth wedding anniversary, and they had booked a table at Checkers in Damansara to celebrate. They were in Penang but had returned to Kuala Lumpur to attend the church ceremony. Congratulations on your wedding anniversary, Mr and Mrs Keith Kok.

The dinner at the Gnanabai Sarojah Memorial Hall of the church was crammed with fifty tables. Outside and inside, orange and white balloons festooned the dining area and orange roses filled with white babies breath stood on columns along the aisle, lending an air of grandeur. Orange was the theme colour, and the bride entered the hall in an orange saree after the church ceremony. All bouquets displayed orange roses as well.

By the time dinner began the guests were famished, though it had not been a long wait at all. The MC for the evening, Charles Antony, had the audience in stitches, which prompted Ow to comment that "this is definitely the happiest wedding party I have ever attended."

There were fun games, to the amusement of the guests, who roared with laughter. An aunt from the Solomon Islands, who gave a speech, described Rachel, who is a Research Controller at MAS, as "honest, trustworthy, patient, with a giving spirit, who gives of her time conducting Sunday school classes as well and a model child at home."

Besides the aunt from the Solomon Islands, relatives flew in from the US, London, Penang, Singapore, and others drove in from Sungai Petani, Ipoh and Johor Bahru.

The multi-talented groom, Jeshurun, an engineer with Intel, serenaded his new bride by playing the electric guitar as well as the keyboard.

Guests were called on stage to participate in the games, which had ladies prancing around their male partners (who had to act as trees) and even crawling through their legs, to gain prizes. Others had to dance to win the hearts of their lady partners besides showing off martial arts skill in their defence. It was hilarious.

But all good things must come to an end, and so at 10.30pm, guests took their leave after a wonderful evening of fun and laughter.

We wish you, Rachel and Jeshurun, all the very best in your married life. And may Paul and Theresa Baktha become grandparents in the not too distant future.