pakdoktergolfblog: Is the economy finally turning around the corner?....

view from pakdokter's 'residence in the sky'...

When pakdokter decided to purchase this 'residence in the sky' at KL Sentral in 2001, some of pakdokter's friends wondered why on earth did pakdokter want to leave the elite neighbourhood of Damansara Heights to Brickfields. Some of the discouraging comments pakdokter heard then were that Brickfields is an 'Indian' area and that it is full of gangsters! Wow....pakdokter did not realise that Kuala Lumpur has designated areas for 'untouchables'.....

If only these friends knew that pakdokter was actually born in Brickfields. In fact the house where pakdokter was born in ( as stated clearly in pakdokter's birth certificate) is, today, actually still standing and being occupied by the deserving government servant. Sure, pakdokter grew up with many Indian families in the neigbourhood. 1Malaysia was already the culture then way back 58 years ago. And many of the kids pakdokter grew up with in the neighbourhood then are today famous and well known successful lawyers and doctors.

So, pakdokter had actually decided to buy this 'residence in the sky' in this 'gangster' area for a very sentimental reason. It was like a 'coming home' again for pakdokter. And apart from this pakdokter had also made a calculated guess that it would be a good investment. Pakdokter had noticed in earlier trips to Tokyo that all major developments in the city actually took place around the main train stations. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Tokyo etc are all major train stations and around all these stations are located all the main shopping malls, hotels and expensive apartments of Tokyo. In fact most of the malls and hotels were developed and owned by the rail/train companies actually ( something which our KTM should be emulating and making profits from instead of bleeding with operational losses every year in the way that it is being managed now). Pakdokter envisioned then that KLSentral would in 10 years or so become the 'Shinjuku' of Kuala Lumpur.

And pakdokter was correct! Today pakdokter's investments in properties in KLSentral have all almost doubled in value with regular good returns. And for the past 6 or 7 years, pakdokter and family have thoroughly enjoyed the privacy of 'condo-living', feeling assured of our security and benefited from its 'connectivity' which spared us the horrendous traffic jam of the city if pakdokter had to drive to downtown city centre.

And come every Merdeka Day and New Year's Eve, pakdokter and family ( and friends ) would get a 'grand-stand' view of the spectacle of fireworks that light up the city skyline on these festive days....

the Chan Ah Tong Street government quarters with the Suasana Sentral and Suasana Loft condominiums in the background..

the house where pakdokter was born is the second from the top end of this row..

Of course pakdokter had to endure the ceaseless noise from the ongoing development and construction of new office blocks and condominiums around pakdokter's residence the past 5 years. Most of them were completed last year and early this year.

When the global economy came to a halt late last year, pakdokter thought at last there would be a respite from the din of the construction activities in the neigbourhood. And the increasing notices of properties being offerred for sale at a discount here forewarned the coming of difficult economic times ....

But suddenly 2 months ago, the lots directly in front of and the one to the right of pakdokter's residence saw the invasion of lorries and cranes signalling the beginning of the construction of a shopping mall and more office and residential towers.

So, is the economy finally turning around the corner again?....

commencement of work for a new shopping mall with serviced apartments and hotel..