An associate of ours was just telling us about the travails of living in his condo. He has been staying in this particular place, somewhere in Petaling Jaya, for the past 3 years since it was completed and handed over by the developer.
The condo is situated right next to a very busy highway (as most condos in Petaling Jaya are, strangely enough). He realized this when he bought the place, so he decided to buy the block furthest away from the ground level highway. There were 3 other blocks between his and the highway, and all blocks were at least 20 storeys high.
In addition to that, he bought the highest floor available at that time, the 18th floor (there weren’t that many units left at that time). But the unit is still facing the highway, as the other side faces some villages and oxidation pond, he chose the former.
But after 3 years of living there, he can only conclude that all that wasn’t enough. In the day time, the sound of the vehicles is still loud, even with the so called sound barrier wall erected by the authorities. It is loud enough to disturb you while watching TV, he says.
The other thing, which is even worse is the dust. He says if he leaves the windows and sliding door to balcony open, within a few hours his bedroom and living is covered in dust. If it goes on for a few days, the dust becomes thick and unhealthy. He isn’t at home during the day (except on Sundays), so it doesn’t affect him but he says you can imagine his neighbours who have families in all day.
At night when he sleeps, he has to keep the windows shut and air-conditioning switched on all night. So he pays a lot for the electricity.
He’s also beginning to complain about his neighbours who are starting to rent out to foreign workers, and how the maintenance of the place is going downhill, but that probably for another day...