Updates

PETALING JAYA (July 19, 2019): As a former resident of a people’s housing project (PPR) with his young family then, Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) Secretary-General Datuk Sri Mohammad Mentek understands the hardships PPR residents go through and hence appreciates any contribution from the private sector to improve the lives of PPR residents.

“I have stayed in PPR Seri Sarawak in Kuala Lumpur before when I first became a civil servant. It was a one-bedroom unit with built-up of around 600 sq ft, together with my wife and two young children aged three and four years old,” he told EdgeProp.my after officiating the ground breaking of EdgeProp.my – Paramount Property Sayangi Rumahku campaign today. “Little did I know I would one day be standing here today officiating this event as the Secretary-General of the ministry,” he said to the audience’s applause.

During that one-and-half years stay in the PPR, Mentek felt there were so many things that could be done to improve the overall environment of public housing.

“It’s a multi-racial community where everyone is looking after each other although the living environment wasn’t that good, for instance, there isn’t a proper place for the children to play or for people to have some sports or recreational activities,” reminisced the 55-year-old who is now one of the key officials in the ministry.

He noted that public housing nowadays has improved with bigger built-up sizes (700 sq ft with three bedrooms, and in future, the built-up size will be increased to 900 sq ft), but the relationship between residents is not as close as 20 years ago.

“Community building and empowerment are important as the residents should take care of their living environment and make it a harmonious and vibrant community,” he said.

With the private sector’s contribution through their corporate social responsibility project and government’s infrastructure building, it could speed up the process of community empowerment, making public housing schemes a more liveable and sustainable places to live.

PETALING JAYA (July 19, 2019): Paramount Property Development Sdn Bhd will be spending an estimated RM200,000 to makeover rundown outdoor sports courts at three public housing (Projek Perumahan Rakyat or PPR) projects in the Klang Valley under the EdgeProp.my-Paramount Property Sayangi RumahKu campaign.

Speaking after the ground-breaking ceremony of the campaign in Lembah Subang 1 today, Paramount Property CEO Beh Chun Chong said: “This program is very meaningful and in line with our corporate mission that is changing lives and enriching communities for a better world”.

The company is also looking at revitalising similar old and dilapidated sports courts in other PPRs in future. “We have not capped the budget… We are looking for future opportunities for similar programmes,” he added.

The Sayangi RumahKu initiative is undertaken jointly by EdgeProp Malaysia, Paramount Property Development and Nippon Paint Malaysia in support of the National Community Policy (Dasar Komuniti Negara or DKN) formulated by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) to improve the lives of the B40 group. 

The private sector initiative is expected to benefit close to 16,000 residents living in 4,116 units in Lembah Subang 1, Seri Cempaka and Perumahan Awam Seri Kedah.

Meanwhile, Nippon Paint Malaysia general manager of marketing (paint company) Tay Sze Tuck said the company wants to bring in something positive to the community.

“In conjunction with Malaysia’s upcoming National Day, sports court designer Melissa Lo has recommended that we paint the courts with colours from our national flag,” said Tay who was also at the ground-breaking ceremony.

“As the colours here [Lembah Subang 1] are quite neutral, the warm and striking colours [of the court] will stand out. It will deliver a message of unity and patriotism to the community here. We also hope that the colours could draw people to come together and have positive engagement,” he added.

The ceremony was officiated by KPKT Secretary-General Datuk Sri Mohammad Mentek, National Housing Department (JPN) director Murali Jayabalan, KPKT Deputy Secretary-General (Policy) Datuk Dr Mary Wong, Nippon Paint Malaysia general manager of marketing (paint company) Tay Sze Tuck and EdgeProp Malaysia managing director and editor-in-chief Au Foong Yee.

PETALING JAYA (July 19, 2019): The Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) is targeting to set up 21 Muafakat Komuniti offices (community consensus offices) at public housing projects all over the country by this year, including in East Malaysia, said KPKT Secretary-General Datuk Sri Haji Mohammad Mentek.

According to him, two such offices have already been set up and KPKT has been engaging with state governments on the setting up of more offices.

The Muafakat Komuniti offices are one of the initiatives under National Community Policy, which is meant to empower the local communities to encourage the residents to involve themselves more in community activities such as to manage and care for the common assets in the community.

“We [the ministry] have certain allocation for the set-up of the office, officers from KPKT will be assigned to the office to assist the community to kickstart the community activities,” he told EdgeProp.my after officiating the ground breaking event for EdgeProp.my – Paramount Property Sayangi Rumahku campaign.

He noted that the objective of community building and community empowerment could not be achieved without the involvement of the residents in the housing community.

He said the Muafakat Komuniti offices could serve as a bridge between the government, private sector and the public housing community to work together to improve the lives of the residents.

“The activities may not only be limited to refurbishment of common facilities, it can be education activities like tuition or handicraft classes that could benefit the residents,” he added.

The EdgeProp.my – Paramount Property Sayangi Rumahku campaign is a joint effort by EdgeProp Malaysia, Paramount Property Development Sdn Bhd and Nippon Paint Malaysia.

This is also a private sector initiative to support the National Community Policy (Dasar Komuniti Negara or DKN) formulated by KPKT).

PETALING JAYA (July 19, 2019): Residents of three public housing schemes under the EdgeProp.my-Paramount Property Sayangi Rumahku campaign are glad to have the sports courts at their respective People’s Housing Projects (PPR) that have been left in dilapidated conditions for a long time, revitalised under the Sayangi Rumahku campaign.

Sayangi Rumahku is a private sector initiative which is being undertaken jointly by EdgeProp Malaysia, Paramount Property Development Sdn Bhd and Nippon Paint Malaysia.

Under the project, the outdoor sports courts of the three PPRs, namely Lembah Subang 1 in Petaling Jaya, Seri Cempaka in Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur and Perumahan Awam Seri Kedah in Gombak Setia will be rejuvenated with a whole new look but with their functionality intact.

Targeted to be completed later this year, the courts will then offer a colourful, fun and safe place for the 16,000 residents living in the three PPRS to exercise, have fun and bond with each other, which will provide them a better and healthier lifestyle.

Community leader of PPR Lembah Subang 1 Aziz Hasim said the courts in the PPR have been in a state of disrepair and have not been in use by the residents for a long time.

“This is a good project as, after the courts here are repaired, children will have a safe and proper place to play again instead of wandering around,” he told EdgeProp.my at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Sayangi Rumahku project held at PPR Lembah Subang 1 today.

Meanwhile, community leader of PPR Seri Cempaka Kamaruddin Hamid said that the project will not only benefit the children but the residents as a whole.

“Through this project, what is broken will be repaired and become a place for the residents, especially the children to play and social,” he said.

In order to ensure the longevity of the courts after they are repaired, Kamaruddin said the residents at PPR Seri Cempaka have plans in mind to tackle the issue of maintenance in the long run.

“Our court has been repaired for three to four times before this. But this time we want to change the mentality of the residents to make sure that they appreciate the repaired court.

“We are planning to roll out an awareness program to educate the residents on how to use the things that have been given to us and appreciate them. On top of that, we will also outline a set of rules for the usage of the court, such as the opening time and registration of users,” he elaborated.

Sayangi Rumahku is an initiative in support of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government’s Dasar Komuniti Negara (DKN) or National Community Policy.

Among the objectives of DKN is to foster a sense of belonging and responsibility among the PPR communities so that the residents will take ownership of the common property, shared facilities and space while having mutual respect and care for each other.

Also present at the event were KPKT secretary-general Datuk Sri Mohammad Mentek, deputy secretary-general (Policy) Datuk Dr Mary Wong, National Housing Department (JPN) director Murali Jayabalan, Local Government department director-general Datuk Noor Ihsan Che Mat, EdgeProp Malaysia managing director and editor-in-chief Au Foong Yee, Paramount Property Development Sdn Bhd CEO Beh Chun Chong, Nippon Paint Malaysia general manager of marketing (paint company) Tay Sze Tuck and head of project marketing Datin Wong Meng Lee.

PETALING JAYA (July 19, 2019):  Residents of public housing schemes in PPR Lembah Subang 1, PPR Seri Cempaka and Perumahan Awam Seri Kedah in the Klang Valley will soon see the sports courts in their communities undergo a makeover under a private initiative under the EdgeProp.my – Paramount Property Sayangi Rumahku Campaign.

The campaign will be undertaken jointly by EdgeProp Malaysia, Paramount Property Development Sdn Bhd and Nippon Paint Malaysia, and will benefit close to 16,000 residents living in the 4,116 homes in these PPRs.

A ground-breaking ceremony officiated by Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) Secretary-General Datuk Sri Mohammad Mentek at PPR Lembah Subang 1 today marked the start of the campaign and the refurbishment works which are expected to be completed this year.

The Sayangi Rumahku campaign is in line with the National Community Policy (Dasar Komuniti Negara or DKN), which was launched by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in February this year. It aims to empower the lives and improve the living environment of the B40 group.

Formulated by KPKT, DKN is a feature of the National Housing Policy or Dasar Perumahan Negara 2018-2025.

In his speech, Mohammad said the sports courts of these three PPRs will be transformed and have colourful and vibrant new looks while maintaining their existing functionality.

“One of DKN’s objectives is to nurture a sense of belonging to their community by improving the common facilities and the common space safety, hence, encouraging residents to come out from their homes and have more community activities.

“While encouraging PPR residents to be more united and care about their community, KPKT also hopes such community-initiated activities could help nurture community leaders and volunteers from among them who will go on to continue improving their living environment,” said Mohammad.

Besides the sports court refurbishments, KPKT also plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) to run a programme to train PPR residents who are keen to become sports coaches for badminton and futsal for example, to train the younger ones in the community.

“Through such efforts, we can indirectly cultivate a healthy lifestyle while fostering the spirit of unity and togetherness through sports among the PPR residents regardless of their age, race and religion,” said Mohammad.

The ministry is also mulling an Inter-PPR Sports Carnival which aims to integrate community relationships between one PPR and another PPR via sports activities.

“In other words, when we live together, we can continue to live, play and solve problems together in harmony.

“I also hope that this sports court can be utilised as best as possible, so that is not neglected to be a white elephant or be damaged by irresponsible parties,” he added.

Meanwhile, EdgeProp.my managing director and editor-in-chief Au Foong Yee said DKN’s objectives and the plans involving government, the private sector and community are well thought out and truly a life-changing policy for the B40 group.

“EdgeProp.my has been working hard to rope in real estate industry players to support DKN. Despite the current trying times, we are pleased to receive good support. We hope more companies could join us in this very meaningful journey,” Au added.

Meanwhile, Paramount Property Development Sdn Bhd CEO Beh Chun Chong said the company is honoured to be part of this initiative to raise the standards of living in the PPR community.

“Specifically, we will be involved in the upgrading of sporting facilities to encourage a healthier and more active lifestyle amongst the residents, especially the youth.  This is in line with Paramount’s vision of ‘changing lives and enriching communities for a better world’,” he noted.