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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Non-paying residents in gated communities deserve respect

I REFER to your stories on gated and guarded residential areas.
For the record, I have no objection to the implementation of such schemes.
However, I consciously chose to buy a property which does not require me to pay any monthly security fees.
As a non-paying resident, I did not protest against the issuance of house tags which automatically discriminates the non-paying from the paying residents; and if one were to read beyond the tag, it also “informs” a would-be robber(s) that this particular house is “unwatched” as it is fundamentally right to assume that security will tend to look out for or focus more closely on tagged houses!
When boom gates were installed some years back at the two entry and exit points of our neighbourhood, I did not protest however much the inconvenience. Neither did I recall any protest from the rest of the non-paying residents.



These boom gates remain closed to traffic throughout the day and are opened only during specific times that coincide with school sessions.
I abide by their “rules” when they gave out car stickers; otherwise I get stopped and checked by the security guards if I were to come home after midnight.
The residents’ committee and its paying members must acknowledge and appreciate such cooperation from us non-paying residents for not objecting to the implementation undertaken thus far to make the community a safer place for all.
Bear in mind at all times that every resident has the freedom to choose whether to subscribe to the gated and guarded scheme. No one can impose that right on us, insult or humiliate in any way, those of us who do not pay for the gated and guarded scheme.
We non-subscribing residents have equal rights to stay without prejudice, shame and fear as the rest.

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