PETALING JAYA, Jan 22 — While garbage and even furniture are indiscriminately thrown from upper floors in other low-cost flats, residents of Desa Mentari Block 3 here manage to keep their homes clean.
A glance around the block along Jalan PJS 5/12 showed the block to be just like any old low-cost housing ― slightly worn with paint flaking off the walls and signboards missing a few letters.
But a closer look revealed something more about this cookie cutter block. Its cleanliness is above par.
On Malay Mail’s visit last week, the giant city council-issued trash can was full. But the area around it was clear of garbage. There were also no signs of splatter on the ground to indicate refuse chucked from the upper floors, as might be the case at other high-rise housing where residents often cite out-of-order elevators as an excuse.
Businessman Mohamad Zaqwan Harun, 46, who has been staying there for 14 years, said it took years to change the mentality of the people and that today’s Block 3 became what it was due to the teamwork of its some 2,000 residents.
“Some of us came from ‘setinggan’ and when [we] finally have a proper place to live in, we treasure it so much and we want to keep it clean at all times,” he said.
“It is definitely not easy. In the beginning, whenever the residents’ association or the joint management body organises a gotong-royong or a get-together, not many would participate.
“But after a while, they see that things around here were starting to change for the better and started to take part.”
Zaqwan said residents would meet as frequent as twice a month to discuss the well-being of its community and conduct gotong-royong once a month to ensure the surrounding area of the block is kept tidy.
“Whenever we do our gotong-royong, at least half of the residents here would participate and it is so encouraging to see that kind of teamwork. Stay-at-home mums, mostly, would also get their children, from as young as five, to participate,” he said.
“The children see it as a fun activity where they can meet their friends who live two or three floors above, while the parents use the time to bond with their peers and neighbours.
“The residents here actually look forward to it. I think it is a good habit and a good practice for the children to catch on.”
Block 3 is one of 10 blocks of affordable housing by the Mentari Group of Companies here that was sold at RM35,000 back when it opened in 2003.
Zaqwan expressed his regrets over the attitude shown by residents of other low-cost flats who took cleanliness for granted and would simply toss their trash out the window with no regards for their neighbours.
“I think if you consider your neighbours as your family, you would think twice about simply tossing your trash out. It can easily hit someone, or worse, it can cost a life like it did with that 15-year-old boy,” he said.
He was referring to schoolboy S. Sathiswaran, who struck on the head by an office chair thrown from an upper floor of a public housing block in Kuala Lumpur and died.
Zaqwan’s neighbour, Mageswari Bamboo who resides on the 14th floor, said there was no excuse for people living on top floors to be chucking their rubbish onto the ground floor.
The 56-year-old woman said that although the lifts there sometimes did not work, she would use the staircase to throw away food waste to prevent it from stinking up her home.
“It was tiring initially but I think it has become habitual now. My sons and I would take turns to go down everyday and throw the rubbish out. Actually, it is not that troublesome, especially when you do it often,” she said.
During the visit, Malay Mail spotted two residents walking down from level 10 and carrying with them a garbage bag in each hand.
Mageswari said although the city council had some by-laws to penalise certain offenders, it was just a temporary solution because it would not stop irresponsible people.
“You cannot always count on the city or municipal councils to take action. If you want permanent change, it has to come from yourself,” she said.
Former civil servant Subramaniam Munusamy, 51, who lives on the ground floor, said he hoped the tragic incident of Sathiswaran would serve as a reminder to others to behave responsibly and to remember that every action had consequences.
“Today it may be someone’s boy but if this attitude continues, tomorrow, it may just be yours. I think strong relationship within a community plays a strong part here,” he said.
“Keep reminding each other to behave like a responsible tenant and treat the neighbours with respect, just like we do here.
“We may have our differences, but bottom line is, we all just want to live in a clean and non-hazardous environment so we work towards achieving that common goal.”
