Hi steph, good on you for writing this letter. It's a shame the council hasn't responded. The question of street trees and trees in public spaces is very interesting. Also the process - there are so many choices, who gets to make the decision? I feel a post coming on ...

Stephanie, Congratulations! It is a great feeling to know that what you have written is published in a daily newspaper where your opinion can be viewed by millions. Good Job, Cheers! :)

Now, about MPPJ, - no calls from them since your plight was highlighted in Sept 09? That's a long wait. Did you directly complain to them? Maybe they didn't read the English dailies.

Wonderful letter!! Do continue to write to them :) I'm glad they published it and I hope that MBPJ does something about it!

great job! keep writing and hope that you become a regular contributor on such columns ;-D

Catmint, yes! trees in public places is an interesting subject as that's where we live in. The choice that the city council makes today will determine what we are going to have in years to come.

Autumnbelle, I just hoped that they read The Star and noted this letter somehow on my plight for better choice of trees for PJ folks. Regarding my dead tree, it has been taken care by the city council's assistant who does on-site supervision who I called to cut off branches earlier.

Deborah, Jules, thank you for your support! Our surrounding is important for our daily life ;-)

I really feel for you. I would like to suggest few things - Wait and see if anything happens by end of this year. If nothing is done, just get your fav. sapling and plant it there.
Or you can continually write directly to them for the new tree to be planted but chances are it may be delayed or ignored.

Take for instance, one time ago in my place there where these type of trees planted by my streetside, but lack of care & all, the neighbouring residence started planting their own fruit & flowering trees. Now there are mangoes, water apples, rambutans & jackfruit at their respective plots.

Great job! Very much appreciated! Hope they will respond soon.

thank you so much for your encouraging comments, It will still take more than 6-8 months to get the construction completed so by that time i'll be learning about more techniques and more options.

Thanks once again :)

Have a great day

James, I am afraid that would be the case. Thank you for sharing about those residence's fruit and flower trees. They really know what's best for them :-)

Zindagi, hope that the construction would complete faster so that you could work on your project as soon as possible. Happy learning and gardening!

City councils are not always the greatest planners. Someone has to keep them motivated.

I'm sure you miss your tree, it's sad it died. It is nice with green trees around ones gardens, even here where we don't really need shadow. Perhaps you should make a topiary outside your house, it will not bring that much shadow, but it's fun doing.. Have a lovely weekend now :)

At least you're doing your bit, Steph. Keep it up!

Good for you, writing the letter.
Here we have "tree wardens", much like a dog warden who picks up stray dogs, the tree warden drives around and decides which trees must go.
He posts a notice on the trees to be cut a few days in advance and then they're gone.
Sadly, it takes much time & effort to try to stop and many trees providing cool shade to pedestrians on long walks are cut and taken away.(sigh)
Brad

Prospero, Mia, Kanak, Brad, nice to know your thoughts on this issue :-D

Did you ever get some cinnamons from that tree before it's dead?

Possible MBPJ staffs never read English newspaper ;P

VueJardin, it is great to hear from you! Yes, it does have some berry like fruits. MBPJ may have missed reading my letter on that page ;-)

Wow! Good job Stephanie! Even though you haven't yet heard from the city council, your letter is published in the paper. That's the first step! It feels great when we know what we are doing is making a difference :) I hope the city council will take notes of your points soon.

Thanks Sandy!

I doubt MPBJ read that letter and thus no respond from their PR dept. Or they don't bother. Sometimes it's really frustrating to see the poor performance of our council. In Subang Jaya, the residents are very vocal and we have the USJ.com to express our grouses. And that sort of keep the council on its toes. Now they have improved a lot. They take residents complaints seriously and sometimes sent a letter to confirm that complaints have been addressed.