Moving in

“Rugi kalau awak masuk kuarters. Awak punye elaun perumahan banyak. Elaun wilayah, elaun perumahan wilayah, elaun perumahan. Elaun perumahan aje dah dekat RM400 tau,”

“Tapi saya takde transport. Lagipun saya tengok dalam slip bulan ni elaun perumahan saya RM250 aje,”

“Itu sebab Selangor masih lagi bayar gaji awak. Maybe sampai Februari nanti Selangor bayar. Tapi kalau awak nak masuk kuarters jugak saya boleh sain kan,”

My Head of Department is a Malay fellow from Serdang. Apparently he just got transferred here last year although I never did ask whether it was by his own decision or not.

I moved into my quarters on 20 Dec 2011. This place is old. Well, not pre war type old, but certainly older than those quarters in Putrajaya. It has 3 bathrooms. The plumbing looks new though and the toilet bowls are pristine white, so they must be new. It’s fully furnished but there is a distinct lack of a kitchen stove and certainly no big black metal oven that won’t look out of place in here (so I can scare little children by saying I’m gonna roast them inside it).

There are 4 rooms. These rooms are by no means big but there are still 4 of them for one of me. It’s scary. This place has the character of a scary movie set. There are 6 flats in this particular building. I think there are 1 or 2 unoccupied ones. Mine is in the top floor. At night I sleep with the corridor lights on.

 This door is heavy. Which is a good thing because it always closes behind me. But it can also be a bad thing if it closes behind me without me having the keys. 

 Furniture is provided but I suspect that the mattress was left by the previous occupant.

 All the windows have this metal netting. I guess its meant to prevent kids from climbing out from the 3rd floor because it sure as hell cant keep mosquitoes out at night

 This is the second corridor - for hanging laundry. This photo is looking back at the kitchen.

For what it's worth the pipes look new. They're even approved by SIRIM.