What constitute a low cost flat? Its basically the price of RM25,000.00 whereby the actual cost has been partially subsidized by the government. The floor space is usually 600 sq. ft. to 650 sq. ft. The number of bedroom is three; due to social and family needs such as privacy for the male and female children. The toilet and the bathroom are separated for convenience and there are also a kitchen and a living room. This is quite comfortable for a family of an average size of 5 to 6 persons. Sometimes the price may be around RM42,000 for some reasons like it was built by a private developer.
The flats in Section 19 are considered low cost because they were build to house relocated squatters from some parts of Shah Alam. But there were other residents who were not relocated squatters as they were regular house buyers looking for affordable homes. When I did my in-depth interviews to collect qualitative data for my thesis, I was told that there were some issues with the community integration due to the anti-social behaviours of some of the relocated squatters. The relocated squatters were mostly Indians who had to move into the low cost flats due to the demolition of their squatter homes. They were given compensation and also given the priority to buy the low-cost flats. I would like to stress that not all the Indian residents were commented negatively. There were also well behaved Indian residents but most of the grouses were caused by some Indian individuals. The most common complaints were that some of these individuals came home late at night or early morning in a drunken state and made such a ruckus that woke up the other residents. Sometimes there were loud fights between these individuals. And the other residents were not keen to do anything like stopping the fight or giving advise or even reprimand the young ones because there were incidents of cars being scratched or the car tyres purposely punctured. These had caused much stress for the community, strained the neighbour relations and reduced the well-being of the residents.
The flats occupy 5 levels with the ground level empty where people parked their motorcycles and also where the children can be seen playing together or racing on their bicycles. I was told that there were frequent motorcycle thefts because it seems that it is quite easy to steal motorcycles. There was an incident where a lorry came at night and thieves would carry the motorcycles and leave with a full load. When I checked with the police data it confirmed that the highest number of motorcycle thefts happened in flats area.
These are walk-up flats and there are no elevators. People have to carry their stuffs, furniture, groceries and small children up the stairs. Residents hang their laundry on the window panes and sometimes the large garments hang downwards and looked so unsightly.
They even hang their laundry on the grounds such as on fences and on playground equipment. Yet many just hang their laundry outside their front door along the corridor.
Even then this practice if done carelessly blocked the passage way for other residents. There were also old sofas that were placed along the corridor which made the place looked messy. Another problem that the residents have to faced daily are the ugly graffiti on the walls and the pillars on the ground floor. This clearly is not a nice environment that we want to see everyday.
This shelter for the communal garbage bins was added later. Earlier, there was nothing to shelter the bins and when it rained the stench was so foul that residents living closest to the bins had to close their windows. This shelter did solve the problem of uncivilized residents who would throw their rubbish, their old stove and sometimes broken glass from level 4 or 5.
Where is the telephone?
There are many residents who did not like their flats dirty, messy or ugly. They just have to tolerate all this. If they can afford to buy more expensive homes in a nicer environment they will most probably move. I have talked to many residents living in flats in Shah Alam and Klang and mostly said the same thing.
Although these residents have to put up with the issues of unruly and inconsiderate neighbours they also said that they are not all that unhappy with their living environment. They feel quite happy that they have easy access to facilities like the surau, the kindergarten for their small children, primary and secondary schools for their school-going children, grocery shops and many many more.
The surau nearby
The kindergarten which is just a stone's throw away
The grocery shop located on the grounds of the flats
A gerai or a small eatery just next to the grocery shop
Of course this looked like a playground but it is not a good one because it lacked so many playing equipments. And there is also the problem of vandalism.
There is much more to be said about the quality of life of the residents in these type of flats but I will continue with this topic later on.
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