The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Final Part (Accessibility)

The Good

Finally, we have come to the part which I cannot wait to share with everyone. What is so good about Genting Tiara?

Alright. As there are so many good things that I can talk about, this post shall also be divided into several sections: Accessibility, Amenities, Value & Health.

Accessibility:

For ease of reference, I shall talk about accessibility using basically 2 departure points - the city centre of Kuala Lumpur and Karak Highway toll plaza. The destination is Genting Tiara, of course. The constants used - normal non-jam traffic flow & normal driving within speed limit. All other reference points will only add to more confusion especially when variable traffic flows (depending on peak or non-peak hours) can greatly affect ETAs (Estimated Time of Arrival) by as much as + 30 mins or more if it rains.

Ok, regardless of what you may have seen or heard, it basically takes 30 mins drive from city centre of Kuala Lumpur to Genting Tiara. From the Karak Highway toll plaza to Genting Tiara, it takes 15 mins drive and the entire stretch of road is built wide and brightly lit at nite by white LED street lamps to ensure maximum safe driving experience for all road users. Total distance from Karak Highway toll plaza to Genting Tiara guardhouse entrance is only a mere 19.7 km to be exact.

Accesses to Karak Highway toll plaza are aplenty. To name a few popular accesses, one can easily use Jalan Batu Caves (no toll), Jalan Sentul (no toll), Duke Highway (no toll depending on entry point) and Kesas Highway (no toll depending on entry point), all joining into MRR2 (Middle Ring Road 2) which shortly leads into Karak Highway.

So, depending on where one resides in Klang Valley (i.e not residing in or near the above stated roads and highways), one will need to add 15 - 30 mins extra drive time to calculate total travel distance from home to Genting Tiara. That would mean total travel time of 45 - 60 mins for those not residing near the city centre of Kuala Lumpur.

Now, compare the above to our daily driving within the Klang Valley from work to home which usually takes up no less than 30 mins and which most likely would include passing through at least 1 toll plaza and through a certain amount of traffic congestion. Doesn't that make travelling to and from Genting Tiara look somewhat similar to our normal driving days? The only difference being one destination seems to resemble a hot sweltering oven in a polluted concrete jungle cooled down only by air-conditioners consuming huge amounts of electricity (bad for the environment, bad for the wallet) while the other destination is a naturally cooled home some 2,000 ft above sea level nestled within the major green lung of Peninsular Malaysia - the lush and refreshing rainforests, and yet so near to the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur and nearer yet to the ever popular 'City of Entertainment' - Genting Highlands Resort.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Part 2

The Bad

There are currently a few bad things that can be spotted in Genting Tiara. I highlight the word 'currently' as I feel that most of these unfavourable things will disappear once more owners get together and once a proper management team is set up to run the place.

Let's begin from the entrance and then all the way in.

Currently:

a) the supposedly beautiful signboard cum water feature located on the left before the entrance to Genting Tiara is not working (or perhaps just not turned on?) and is in need of a fresh coat of paint. The signboard is one of the most important features of Genting Tiara as it is one of two first things to be noticed by anyone who comes to Genting Tiara. The other being the guardhouse.

The signboard must at all times, come day or night, be highly visible, visually captivating and pleasantly welcoming to reflect the refreshing, serene and harmonious lifestyle any resident, potential resident or visitor can come to expect from Genting Tiara.

A fresh coat of paint, a good quality pump and some appropriate lightings shall do wonders to the aesthetics of the signboard. All these do not really cost much but they will certainly breath life back to the signboard. Question is, WHO is going to do it and WHEN?

b) As mentioned, the other obvious thing noticeable when entering Genting Tiara would be the guardhouse. Externally, the guardhouse looks like a 2-storey narrow watch tower which is quite acceptable visually. However, upon closer observation, a few things see lacking:-

1) Entry/Exit is via access card but entrance boom bar is faulty. Currently, it is manually operated. Thankfully, the exit boom bar is working fine;

2) Crucial component - CCTV not installed. It would be optimum if 3 CCTVs can be installed at guardhouse entrance. One to capture images of vehicles (including registration numbers) coming into the area, one to capture images of driver and passengers inside incoming visiting vehicles (windows would have to be wound down) and one to capture image of visiting drivers' driving license and image of any legal identification tag/document for all other visitors. As for the exit, 2 CCTVs should be sufficient. One to capture image of faces and one for image of vehicles (including registration numbers); and

3) Insufficient security personnel. Currently, the guardhouse is manned by only 1 security guard. There should at least be 2 guards, both equipped with walkie-talkies. While 1 is stationed in guardhouse, the other can patrol the entire area at pre-determined intervals and both must rotate duties. In case of any unwanted trouble, one can backup the other.

c) While most bungalows in Genting Tiara maintain their compounds fairly well, certain units have allowed tall weeds to grow and two units can be seen with picket fences which are partly broken. Perhaps the owners do not come by Genting Tiara as often as they wish, perhaps the owners are not particular about the condition of their houses, perhaps these units are uninhabited. Whatever the reasons, the owners should be responsible for the proper maintenance of their properties. This not only ensures a pleasant and harmonious living environment, it will also guarantee the continuous appreciation in the value of all properties in Genting Tiara.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Part 1

Have a feeling this is going to be a 3 part post i.e Good, Bad & Ugly of Genting Tiara. I like to start off with the bad things first and end on a good note.

The Ugly

None. Hahaha. . . . ! Ok, bad joke. But seriously, the only ugly things I can think of at this moment would be the topography of some of the bungalow lots and the type of ground that some of the bungalows would eventually sit on.

While it is understandable that most lots lie on slopes (well, it is a hillside development), some of these slopes can end with quite sharp drops. Hence, careful planning and extra cash would be required when building the dream bungalows on such lots to prevent any occurrence of soil erosion. Fortunately, on site observation at Genting Tiara revealed that most lots with such drops already have bungalows built or are having bungalows under construction and all of them have had the drops properly reinforced with retaining walls. As long as proper retaining walls are built, this should not be a problem at all to those who are going to construct their houses on these lots. Only difference being, a little more $$$ is needed for the retaining walls. Sometimes, we just cannot have the best of everything but it would be these lots which offer the best unobstructed views of the scenic rainforest hills of Genting and the beautiful night view of Genting Highlands resort city.

Most would expect the land that they buy to be a piece of earth/soil. Well, SURPRISE! Certain lots (thankfully just a handful) actually consist of rocks. Yes, an entire plot of land sitting on solid rock. Downside - more planning and $$$ needed to perhaps level the piece of land and to build the foundation of a house. Piling works are definitely going to be a lot easier on soft earth than on hard rocks. Upside - no worries of earth settlement : )

Brief Introduction To Genting Tiara

Perhaps I announced a tad too early that my next post shall be 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' before even publishing a post on a brief introduction to Genting Tiara. I shall not dig into the history of Genting Tiara because honestly, I do not have sufficient information to support me to do a write up on what had previously happened to this beautiful project, causing things to progress rather slowly and only picking up its pace these past months. A little knowledge may be more dangerous than zero knowledge on this area, so I shall play safe and assume zero knowledge. Okay, here goes the extremely brief one-sentence introduction to Genting Tiara:

Freehold bungalow lots of various interesting shapes and sizes set approximately 2,000 feet above sea level amidst the tranquil rainforest at the foothill of Genting Highlands that allow owners to live their dreams of building and residing in a landmark so serene, so filled with fresh cool air yet so easily accessible from the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur.