The house once a home

Yesterday I passed my old house again. I was sad to see it in a very dilapidated state, with overgrown vegetation and some rubbish strewn about and neighbours’ cars hogging the street in front of it. It has been one and a half year since I sold it and it remained unoccupied. The owner made no bones about buying it as an investment, but what shocked we was when he put up a price RM570,000 more than the price he paid me for it. Well, good luck to him.

The house was probably the best investment I have even made, bought in 1988 and 22 years later sold at more than ten times the original price. I paid just under half of its price from my savings and took a 15 years loan on the rest. But the house paid for itself with its ever increasing rental and I paid up the loan in just under 8 years. What a blessing.

From the time it was completed the house was always rented. I finally moved into it in October 2002 after my return from Peru. I did some major upgrading (not renovation) and spent half the amount of the price of the house in 1988. I lived in it for just one three years before my transfer to Switzerland. Itt was quite a blissful period though I must have upsetted my neighbors with my frequent complaint about their endlessly barking dogs!! But it was downright inconsiderate of them not to teach their dogs some manners!

The dilapidated state of the house now complimented the dilapidated state of the neighborhood with its endless renovation works, abandoned houses, bumpy road, cars indiscriminately parked and rubbish piled up everywhere. For the life of me I could never understand why the residents tolerated such a situation. They seemed only concerned with what is in their compound and could not be bothered with the rest of the rot. When I lived there I was always chasing after Dewan Bandaraya and Alam Flora to ensure they do their services for the neighbourhood.

I am glad I moved away. The place does hold some memories and was in fact very strategic and convenient location-wise. Anwar Ibrahim used to live a few doors away for me and at the height of his imprisonment we were frequently subjected to inconveniences when there were monthly gatherings of his supporters at his house, and especially during his daughter’s wedding. On that occasion I remember complaining to the police guard on duty that we could not even drive back to our house due to the street around his house being blocked with all sorts of vehicles and tents even days before the actual event. (Wan Azizah did write to the neighbours before the wedding apologising for the forthcoming inconvenience to the neighbourhood and inviting us to the wedding reception). The policemen merely said they could not do anything about it at the risk of being accused of discriminating against Anwar! In frustration I packed my bag and went back to JB for the long weekend!

I have lived in many houses in my lifetime, and in 9 different countries and I always made sure the house I live in was a home. Each house had its special memories. I have now lived in my present house for 15 months – still not quite yet my dream house but a truly wonderful gift after all my years of working. Alhamdulillah.