Volume 1 Issue 2

The 5th Annual General Meeting

The 5^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Tiara Damansara Condominium was called for on Saturday February 18, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. However, as only 12 people turned up, there was no quorum, and the AGM was postponed to the following Saturday, February 25, 2006 at 2:00 p.m.

The turnout for the rescheduled AGM on February 25, was relatively good – about 40 people turned up. After a question and answer session on the audited accounts, the audited accounts was approved. This was followed by the reappointment of the auditors.

Next, three motions were put to the floor. A motion to install a CCTV security system for about RM89,000 was not approved.

However, a motion for a centralized water filter system and the related cleaning of the main tank at Astana and each individual block’s tank was passed unanimously. The cost for the centralized water filter system and the cleaning of tanks was about RM90,000. Tiara residents can look forward to cleaner water.

Another motion for a termite control system was also unanimously passed at a budget of RM90,000. This termite control system will be installed in stages, starting with the critical blocks first.

During the presentation of the Annual Report 2005, there was another question and answer session from the floor to the management. Among matters brought up and discussed were the visitors’ parking, the tennis court and security. For details of the discussions during the AGM, you may see the draft minutes of the AGM at the Management Office.

During the meeting, an owner, Mr. Keith Kok mentioned that he had stayed in Tiara since the beginning and during the time when Tiara was managed by the developers, he did not see improvements. However after the Management Corporation took over (5 years ago) there had been a lot of improvements. He proceeded to thank the Management Council (present and past), which was then followed by a round of applause.

Finally, the election of council members for 2006 was held. All nine existing council members were retained. Two former council members, Datuk Lim Sun Hoe and Ms. Lily Tan and two new members Mr. Keith Kok and Mr. Willy Boo were also elected. For the full list of council members, please refer to the sidebar.

The meeting was adjourned at about 5:20 p.m

Hello, Residents Of Tiara Damansara

The Tiara Management Council (TMC) is trying to revive its newsletter, Tiara Times, for residents (owners and tenants) and make it more frequent – with bi-monthly or even monthly issues. But for this to happen, the Editorial Committee would need articles from you.

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!

As such, we would like to hear anything – well almost – from you. Tell us about your wedding anniversary, the scholarship your child obtained, the gold medal your child won at a sporting event or an elocution contest, even your job promotion, a fantastic recipe you got from a great restaurant or a friend and wish to share with others, a holiday trip you went on and which you feel you would like others to enjoy as well, your big lottery or numbers strike (so that we can help celebrate with you at our Canteen, at your expense, of course!), a skill you have which others may need and call you for an appointment (like reflexology, catering a dish for a function), a club you may like to form and get Tiarans with similar interests to join in (like philately, rock climbing, trekking, cooking, playing Bridge, chess, etc), your nature outings (watching the stars, eclipses, the fireflies ....maybe even a Bigfoot sighting?), a joke to share - in short, almost any topic is fine.

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.

TMC has noted that when socials are held for Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, the Mooncake/Lantern Festival, Deepavali or Christmas, the turnout of Tiarans is normally very small. Not more than 50 turn up for the festivities and sometimes, as few as 30.

Surprise us by turning out in force. Let us know your attendance so that there will be sufficient food for all. Let's all eat, drink and be merry and get to know other Tiarans so that we will have even more friends.

If we get to know our neighbours better, our units may even be safer to live in. This is because, as we have discovered, break-ins are often inside jobs and not always committed by outsiders. Often, we have found that the units broken into, the residents/tenants are out or have gone outstation. This knowledge is known to the burglar, who is then bold enough to take his own time to sift through the entire unit, and maybe even have a bite from the fridge before making his way out.

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, in case the Editor may wish to call and clarify a point or two. Only the Editor will have access to your articles so if you don’t wish your name to be published, your anonymity will be respected. 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 box and / or email-box with articles.

Until then,

Goh See Meng

Editor

Of Image And Value

In the Annual Report for the Year 2004, Tiara Management Council (TMC) had a main objective: that of trying to increase the property value of the condominium from RM210 to RM300 per square foot by the end of 2005, a Herculean task.

To quote them: "To achieve this objective, the property had to be kept in good tenantable condition, resuscitate the amenities and improve the facilities and quality of living in our community – and all the while with an eye on the limited resources that was available to the Management Corporation."

Over time, TMC, with the limited financial resources available, have had on-going remedial, maintenance, resuscitation and upgrading works done continuously.

These improvements in the image and living conditions of residents of Tiara Damansara after it took over from the developers were noticed by several proprietors. In the recent 5th Annual General Meeting held on February 25th, 2006, a proprietor, Mr. Keith Kok, said it all when he stated that he had stayed in Tiara Damansara since the beginning and during the time when the condo was managed by the developers, he did not see improvements. However, after Tiara Management Corporation took over 5 years ago, he has seen "a lot of improvements". Keith thanked the Management Council for their good work and his statement was followed by an appreciative round of applause from all present.

Though the Management Council is still trying its best to raise the value of the property up to the RM300 p.s.f. mark it set itself to achieve, proprietors and tenants have their part to play in this too.

Tiara Damansara must be seen to be an up-market condo, clean, in good repair and pleasant to live in. Residents have to play their role in keeping the premises clean. Residents should not litter the grounds but throw rubbish in the proper place, which is the refuse bin, not outside the refuse bins. Waste bins at the entrance to the units are not meant for household waste and unwanted food items.

Residents should try not to hang their carpets, sheets or other items to dry or air on the fencing or outside their balcony .This is an eye-sore and severely degrades the image of our up-market condominium.

Each unit in Tiara Damansara has a drying area for drying clothes, so it would be appreciated if residents use this instead of displaying their washing for all to see (but not appreciate).

The Tiara Management sent out a circular on November 22nd 2005, informing residents not to store any kind of material under stairwells or obstruct common corridors.

The rationale behind this circular is not only to give a good clean image of Tiara Damansara, but more important, to ensure fire safety precautions and procedures as materials stored under stairwells and common corridors are fire and emergency hazards.

Let us not wait for a mishap to occur before we start clearing these areas.

Prices in Tiara have certainly picked up since those days when no one seemed interested in purchasing units here because no fresh coat of paint had been given for more than 10 years of its existence, giving the condominium a low cost flat image, with peeling paint, dilapidated amenities, rusty pipes, and worn out covered car parking lots.

Recently, a 2+1 bedroom unit was transacted for RM280,000, making it RM310 p.s.f, whilst another went for $270,000, or RM298 p.s.f. However, a 3+1 unit with a built-up of 1323 sq. ft. was transacted three weeks ago for $300,000, making it RM227 p.s.f.

The sale price of a unit depends greatly on how well it has been maintained, whether there have been renovations done and the level of the unit.

Another factor affecting the sale price would, naturally, be the cost of the unit when it was originally bought by the seller. If he had bought it at a low price, he would be happy to sell for a price above what he paid for it. But if he paid a hefty price for a unit, he naturally would ask for a higher price.

Tiara Damansara has all that it takes to make it an up-market and popular condominium. Its locality is central. It has shops, markets, eating stalls and restaurants only a few minutes drive away. It is quiet and peaceful and has full condominium facilities – swimming pool, tennis court, sauna, children's playground, walking tracks, canteen, BBQ pit, function hall, squash courts, 24-hour security and launderette.

Many outsiders have passed good comments about it. Even proprietors have confessed that they "love staying here and will not dream of moving anywhere else".

So, as Tiarans, let us all continue to play our role in maintaining the image of our condominium.

Chinese New Year Get-Together

Tiara Management Corporation held their Chinese New Year get-together for the residents of Tiara Damansara on February l0th, 2006 at the poolside.

Fried meehoon, fried rice, sandwiches, sausage rolls, satay and mixed vegetables were served, with orange cordial for drinks. Mandarin oranges were contributed by Charlie Loh, a contractor .With so many to go around, those who attended not only had more than one but also took home a couple more at the end of the get-together.

Tiara Management Councillor and Head of Human Resources Margaret Lim distributed angpows, balloons and lollipops to the children present.

A slight drizzle failed to dampen the spirit of muhibbah and comradeship among the approximately forty people present. Tables and chairs were duly carried from the open air into the shelter of the canteen premises and the merrymaking continued.

The Tiara Management Corporation looks forward to the participation of more residents and tenants at such social events in the future.

From The Editor

I wonder how many of us here in Tiara Damansara can say we know even 10% of the resident population. With an estimated 1000 residents, (there are 351 units, and if we take an average of 3 people to one unit, this would bring the total to 1053), does any resident know about a hundred others here? That would be interesting, and I would like to hear from that person. (I can be contacted either by dropping a letter into the Tiara Times box in the Management Office, or emailed at tiaradamansara@yahoo.com.

From my observation, less than fifty residents normally turn out for socials held by the poolside for Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Christmas, the Lantern Festival or Deepavali. This makes it less than 5% of the residents here, which is a pity, since the Tiara Management Council makes an effort to try and get residents to interact.

We have such an interesting mix of people living in Tiara, from retirees, pensioners, dentists, flight attendants, engineers, doctors, students, consultants in various fields, teachers, doctors, real estate agents, dieticians, reflexologists, lecturers, nurses, architects, secretaries, lawyers, travel agents, accountants, IT specialists, people in advertising, company directors, restaurant managers, directors of companies, educators, bankers, pedagogists and businessmen.

As such, Tiara Times (TT) will highlight a few residents in every issue. If you would like TT to write about you, or a friend, do drop me a note,with the relevant contact numbers, and I will call for an interview.

Meanwhile, in this issue, we will highlight the parents of the latest addition to Tiara Damansara.

Latest Addition

On March 8th.2006, Sunny Tan and his China-born wife An Cui Mei became proud parents of little Baby Tan, Tiara Damansara's newest and youngest addition to our community.

When I met him to congratulate him on the birth of his baby daughter, (on March 10th) I was told that the baby had yet to be named. Baby Tan was born at 11.40am and weighed 3.45 kilos at birth. Currently, Sunny's mother and a pui-yeet (lady experienced in looking after newborns and ladies who had just delivered) are attending to Cui Mei.

Sunny bought a unit in Q16 block about 2 years ago. A trained reflexologist with many years of experience, he owns a set up — Regene Reflexology, at Lot 316 on the 3rd floor of the Jaya Shopping Centre in Section 14, Petaling Jaya.

He has 4 trained reflexologists working for him. My friends from Singapore and UK visited him for reflexology and found his workers' services extremely satisfactory. The rate for a half hour body massage at the shop is RM30, whilst a foot reflexology costs RM28 for a 40 minute session.

Cui Mei specialises in massages for women to rid body aches, neck and shoulder discomforts and lower back pain.

Sunny also trains others in this technique.

For people wanting a massage or reflexology , Sunny can be contacted at 012-6173227.

In the meantime, congratulations once again, Sunny and Cui Mei, and enjoy the Little One.