About Me

I have done a lot of things in my life and have also worked in many different jobs to make a living and to experience life. This blog is just some of my musings, sometimes funny, sometimes inspirational, sometimes sad, sometimes angry, sometimes simple but all the time, it's just me.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Living in a nice neighbourhood with pariah neighbour

When I was in Miri the last two and a half years or so, we always had relatively very nice neighbours.

The neighbourhood was also nice considering there were only a few houses and a beach in front of the house.

In Kuala Lumpur, I live in the old neighbourhood of Bangsar, a suburb of KL which sits very near to the city center but in the north east side of KL.

This neighbourhood started some 30 years back from an old rubber estate.

Those days, the houses ranged from RM20k to RM40k and the teachers, lawyers, clerks, etc. that bought houses in these area were considered "idiots" to buy a house in such an area.

Some of these people are still living in these houses that they bought for RM20k. Only thing is, now the houses are worth above RM1 million.

The property values in Bangsar have gone up and up and up. I bought this house about 4 years ago and the property is worth 40% more than when I bought it.

During the great financial crisis, the property values everywhere dropped but in Bangsar it went up, although at a lower pace.

20 years ago when I rented a room in Bangsar while working as a beat journalist, the house prices were around RM250k. And 10 years ago around RM500k.

When I first bought a place here, I immediately fell in love with the house because of the garden. The house was a little run down and wifey had to do all the design work and renovation work to make it look like it is now.

I also knew that the neighbourhood was nice but never appreciated it because I kept hearing about snatch thefts and car jacking.

I also knew I had a bad neighbour, a pariah neighbour - why, why, why did I have to end up with pariahs next to me.

Recently with my walks with Al E, I have began to appreciate the neighbourhood more.

People actually say "Good morning" or "Good evening" when the walk by.

There are a lot of dog walkers, dog lovers in this neighbourhood.

There are a lot of dogs in this neighbourhood.

There is still some snatch thefts, and some car jacking but this is a wonderful neighbourhood.

Again, why, why, why could I not have neighbours like Param and Piara, Bernd and Dorit, Dr B, Mack and Deb, Datuk and family, JJ and family, all other friends living all nearby. (Well JJ is living nearby). But why do I end up with pariah neighbours.

I think I should convince my friend to invest in some land nearby but far enough in the hills, or jungles, or somewhere near the beach but not developed yet.

Build simple chalets and houses as weekend homes. Have barbeque's and bonfire chats and listen to the jungle and listen to all our weird eclectic music, have some tangechi's (the drink and not little sister's).

But in the mean time, we will just have make time for one another where we are, we take care of each other, we care for one another, we have fun, we listen, we celebrate, we comfort one another.

Take care and be well.

1 comment:

Ser said...

True...you have finally learned to appreciate our KL home. Thanks to AL-E and the daily walks with him. Nevertheless, no thanks to neighbour at No.7 (Note: True blue PARIAH...)