dear neighbours,

as most of you are probably aware, the 2009 Greenlane car stickers have already been made available for purchase by your respective line leaders/representatives.

while doing their duties voluntarily, these line leaders have garnered some encouraging and some not so encouraging feedback from residents.

the main not so encouraging feedback that has been channeled to the committee members is that some neighbours choose not too participate due to the fact that they feel that the guards have not been performing. and to make matters worse, word has come by us that some residents even try to convince others not to participate in our security services using that very same excuse.

heck if everyone lives by that rule, very soon, we are not going to have enough funds to employ any guards for our neighbourhood. And let us remind you that the crime rate IS on the rise AND (so far) having the guard as a possible deterrent is actually paying off. Though I wish to repeat that they are not 100% perfect.

I can accept the fact that some residents choose not to participate - but leave it at that - dont lar go and blame it on the level of security service. although I wish we could get more support, I do know that it is everyone's own prerogative to choose.

again I say (to get this off my chest), to use the reason for not wanting to join in is MAINLY due to the fact that the guards have not been performing (to me) is not a fair statement. honestly, by saying that, one might actually say that the committee members have not been doing their job properly by employing a 'so-called sub-standard' security service provider firm - which (again) I say that it is not a fair statement.

please allow me to clarify, given the level of participation AND collection, we have our hands tied with regards to the available choices of security service providers that we can find due to ever increasing costs. every month, we struggle to even pay the fees to fulfill the very minimum requirement in terms of security service (i.e. to have one guard during the day and 2 guards during the night). I mean, if money is not an issue, trust me, we will do our level best to get the bests guards that money can buy/hire. Nevertheless and having said that, given our minimum criteria set, I'd say our guards aren't too shabby. Though we WILL continue to strive to ensure that they improve their level of service.

true, the guards aren't the best, but we could make their jobs easier, if we all helped around a little bit instead of just criticising them (some guards even get cursed at). By helping, I mean (aside from the collection part) slow down when entering the area (how does one expect the guard to do the necessary checking when many of us just zoom past them ... please please do not yell at the guards for every fault you can find, but rather give constructive comments and to do our own part where we can, etc.

the committee and other caring neighbours has done our level best to assist by putting up the guard house, a guard post at the back, a barrier gate (which needs a little tweaking here and there) as well as other things highlighted in the December Bulletin. all of this has been done in the best of interest of improving security ... and some say it is not enough? wow ... they must set the bar really high and then choose not to assist us (their own neighbours) in meeting their high targets. wow indeed

I humbly apologise if I have offended anyone as it is not my intention to do so, though I must reiterate, "if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem".