Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Minutes of AGM Held on 23 April 2011

Paul Leong, the Chairman for Canal Gardens Residents’ Association  (CGRA) 2010/11 called the meeting to order at 7.00 pm. He thanked all residents, Victor Tay, Carrie Chua, Carey Chow, Mohd Fikri, Fauzi Othman all from Hicom-Gamuda Development Property Services (HGDPS), JT Chong, CGRA’s  legal advisor and CGRA committee members for their presence and support......(click here to read the full document)

“Maturing” Gracefully

Meet our Canal Gardens seniors that gather every evening to exchange gossips, stories and banter around. Their meeting place is the abandoned guard post at the end of road E next to the canal. They come from all walks of life with ages ranging from 60 to 85 enjoying their twilight years.

Who are they? We have Mr Wong, the tailor, Mr Tan, the headmaster, Mr Lim, the school teacher, Mr Lee, the tin mine manager, Mr Lau, the home renovator, Mr Lew, the furniture maker and Mr Liew, the public servant. Making up the group are Mr Ngai, who worked in an iron foundry, Mr Thong, who worked in an air-conditioner factory, Mr Yee, who worked in a tyre shop and not forgetting Mr Choo who used to run a mini-market in Alor Star.

They are usually dressed more casually. For today's photo session, they dressed up.
Old folks do want to look good too in front of the camera!

Some walk. Some come on bicycles.
When the photograph was taken, Mr Ling (red t-shirt) & his wife, were walking by and were persuaded by a chorus of boisterous ‘old’ folks to join in.  From Taichung, Taiwan, they come to Malaysia every once a year to visit their daughter who teaches at the Taiwanese School in Bukit Rimau.

Taiwanese, Mr & Mrs Ling, cajoled into taking a Group photo while walking by.

A home-renovator, a tailor and a public servant sitting together.


Some bring along their grandchildren. Others bring along their dogs.
Instead of walking their dogs, they stop and talk, causing
their dogs to wander on their own.


The meeting place started with one of them enjoying the cool of evening breeze and somehow the gathering grew. They come from different dialect groups and speak different tongues (Hakka, Teo Chew, Mandarin, English, Hokkien) though most can converse in Cantonese. The strange thing is, though not all can converse in Cantonese, the lingua franca of the group, but somehow they get by.

If you happen to take an evening walk, do say hello to them. You can say it in any dialect or language you are comfortable in. If you wish to get a food review like the food of the latest coffee shop that opened recently across the road from Canal Gardens, talk to them.