Nine months ago, I checked in to TTS5/2 (AKA Edusquare). I got a nice corner room upstairs, which is a bit hot in the evening (when the sun shone in directly through the windows), but it has a nice view at any time of the day. The roof downstairs extended just directly below my window, and I immediately dreamt of crawling out of the window, lying there on the roof at night, staring at the stars. I would soon realise the stupidity of this idea - the guardhouse was just barely 6 metres away, and I hate to think what they would do if they see me climbing through my window in the middle of the night.
My room, September 2008.The room seemed perfect to me and I found myself loving the place more than I expected. Maybe because it marks the turning point of my life - entering university. Maybe because I enjoyed the company of 13 housemates who are so different from my KTAR ones. Or maybe it's just because I spent 6 days a week there for the past year.
I take the stairs so oftenly I couldn't even count the number of times I use it in a day. I even noticed that there are an odd number of stairs (19, I think), so I always step on the bottom most one before taking them two at the time, so my final step would land on the top floor.
Soon, the place became more homely than I could ever call my house in Klang.
Upstairs, September 2008.For the past 9 months, I did many things in my little room. I clogged up my toilet boil. Not once, but twice.
That little room was where I did the three things I never thought I'd do.
I even witnessed the walls surrounding the house grow by more than a foot some time ago.
The conference table where the few of us sat and discussed serious matters, like why Char Siew Pau cried in the movies but Man Tou didn't.
Time passed by, and things must change. Some noticeable changes of the house include the amount of notices that accumulated over the months.
Click on the image for a bigger shot.
Light bulbs popped. By the time I finished my second exam, all but three light bulbs of the common area upstairs were broken.
Of the many ornaments we already had (our house was used as a showhouse before we shifted in), we still managed to get one more.
The Chinese Calligraphy writing in the living room, written by me some two or three months ago. Missed focus here (got the couch instead!), but I still thought this picture looked a bit modernistic.
I wrote the four words for my dreaded subject Malaysian Studies some two or three months ago as part of a group assignment. It isn't my best work, but it definitely is one of my favourites because of the unforgettable experience of producing it.
As time went by, my room got messier.
My room, 15th June 2009.
But other than these things, many others stay the same.
We took care of the house well. Our place was simply one of the cleanest (male) houses in Edusquare.
How bad can the other houses be? Well, let's just say my friends are surprised we still have both of our TV sets - theirs were stolen long time ago. We don't use the TV though. Reception was poor, and I tried to hook it up to my laptop with no success.
The living room upstairs, September 2008.
The living room upstairs, 15th June 2009.
Anyhow, sooner or later, we'll have to go. The truth of having to leave never really set in until the accommodation office called me last Friday to arrange for a checkout appointment.
Suddenly I realised that I had to say goodbye to my room. Suddenly I realised that the house would be nothing but memory to me in a few days' time. Suddenly I realised how much I've bonded with my room.
My bed and my stuff beside it.
There was the colourful curtains, which served so well as the backdrop of so many of my photos, the most notable one being my Facebook profile picture.
My table - the curtains posed for the photo before our goodbyes.
That night, I brushed my teeth and was off to bed for my last night in Edusquare. After switching off the lights, I noticed the cloudless night sky outside, filled with twinkling stars.
I toughened myself up and crawled out of the window. It felt smaller than I anticipated. I laid my feet on the cold porcelain roof tiles, made sure they're strong enough to support my weight, and lied down.
It wasn't as good as I imagined.
The streetlights were too bright, and I couldn't see the stars as clearly as I hoped. The roof tiles were hard and uncomfortable. The occasional appearances of traffic were noisy and annoying.
Few minutes later I crawled back in and went to bed.
The next day, I had everything packed away and looked around my room.
That's everything I had in my old room.
The room was irrecognisable. Blank, still, quiet and cold.
And it looked exactly the same when I checked in 9 months ago. Everything was gone. Evaporated. The soul. The liveliness. Everything. It's like your best friend had an amnesia or something.
Nevertheless, when I carried the last of my bags out of my room, I couldn't help but stole one last look of my room.
I'm not going to forget this last peek of my room so soon. Coincidentally, this shot turns out to be my favourite among the pictures of my room. Ex-room.
I heaved a heavy sigh, and moved on. That last peek of my room I'm certainly not going to forget so soon.
Goodbye, Edusquare. May the next batch of occupants take good care of you.
June 20, 2009 at 12:17 AM
hey thanks for putting this up. i think this is my best UNMC related post yet. not sure how many will visit this blog in the summers tho lol
happy holidays!!!
June 20, 2009 at 3:10 AM
This is a beautifully written post. Im so many miles away from Uni, in my homecountry...But Im missing the place (and my room, frnds, everything) so much now! lol
June 21, 2009 at 2:12 PM
I could never imagine someone praising the accommodations, but hard to denial your room is good only because it is new.
you should not praise a company like Pioneer Century that provides the worst accommodation to students in the world. where on earth can ou find anything worst than this.
i stayed in EDU, on campus new and old halls and TTS 4 before. so i guess i can comment on all of them.
i;m not a rich guy and the only reason i stayed in EDU was Pioneer Century told me 'there is no more rooms available but we have some in EDU which is 480, 520 or 800! the 800 very good!'
i took the 480 of course! then few days later my friends told me 'bitch you got cheated man! my shared room have an empty space' then another guy told me he stay the 440 on campus which is two single to a bathroom. he told me his neigh is empty too. i felt so cheated.
when i moved on campus to the 440 after 5 delays. having being told next week 5 times. Tioman hall, the water filter is infested by algae, the pots are rusted, the stove sounds like it could explode anytime. the cold storage is like one from Resident Evil or maybe worst. There is a good side however, and that is you shared your dining room with dogs, lots of them.
Kampas hall, seems same with tioman, just a little better only because it is new.
few weeks later, my friend wanted to move in too. this is what he was told, 'we got no more 440 rooms in tioman, langkawi or redang, very sorry ya. only pangkor got. if you want tioman, 600 room got!' the fact? i and 3 other friends stay in 440 rooms without a neighbor. i don't even know the rest??!?!?
TS 4? expensive but everything is well upkeep. good neighbor hood, nice environment, big rooms, good facilities and so much more(not promoting them but it can not be denial)
Pioneer Century is a pure evil company that only thinks about money! thats all they think of MONEY MONEY MONEY and MONEY!!!! they lie and cheat in order to get MONEY! why those the university cooperate with this type of company anyway?!?
June 21, 2009 at 10:25 PM
well i'm not saying Pioneer is a 5-star company (I don't remember praising the company in the post!). and my room is NOT perfect. but that doesn't mean i can't love my room right?
or maybe because i'm not that hard to satisfy. i don't know why i ask so much from myself but so little from others haha
June 21, 2009 at 10:28 PM
to the 2nd poster:
i'm glad you find this post beautiful. i'm satisfied with it, both the writing and the shots. i personally think it is one of my best in recent months. my lack of time and inspiration is killing me =(
June 21, 2009 at 10:46 PM
is not easy to satisfy or not. i am a person who values my money and not just waste money!
if i knew there was TTS 4 earlier i wouldn't even bother to stay with with pioneer.
no need to denial but you are rich.
from the pictures, i know what kind of room you are in. and that kind of room, like the seniors said, only rich people or people who are cheated stay that kind of room. (those who are told ' no more room only EDU there got.)
June 22, 2009 at 2:27 PM
...
all hail the anonimity of the internet
June 22, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Thank to owl_order for the story...
I hope, the others will share your story also..
So, we can keep in touch during this summer..
Thanks...
June 23, 2009 at 9:26 PM
haha, ignore that person la wei.. He probably got screwed up by the management there and need to put it out on someone..
Just your unlucky day HAHA
June 28, 2009 at 2:34 AM
pioneer sucks!!! ask all first batch n 2nd batch of malaysia campus.... they suck a lot...
July 4, 2009 at 10:45 AM
anyone who do not agree that pioneer sucks is just a liar...
July 7, 2009 at 6:05 PM
haha...
exactly..they just want our money..
very2 expensive..
July 20, 2009 at 12:24 PM
actually wats the different...
im still blur and dunno which one to choose...
how much is the room tat u pay for???
July 23, 2009 at 10:53 AM
this one is rm480. it's the cheapest room in Edusquare, but it's still costlier than renting a room in the private housing area. it is possible to get a much bigger room with private bathroom for like less than RM300
some people rent an entire house for a little over rm1k, and share it between a few friends.
it's all up to you.
July 23, 2009 at 12:18 PM
i see....this will be a single room with air cond???actually im quite confused by the place name...those langkawi redang hall...same wit this one u showin?
July 23, 2009 at 2:34 PM
ah no. the five on campus halls (redang, tioman, langkawi, pangkor, kapas) are just names for halls. for all halls there are several types of room of different configurations and prices.
edusquare is located off-campus, five minutes walk away. all rooms in edusquare are single rooms with A/C. The RM480 and RM500 options come with a bathroom shared between 2, the other one has a private bathroom.
why am i talking like a pioneer employee =S
July 23, 2009 at 7:59 PM
oh i see...but i think stayin in campus might be better rite???btw can i have ur msn? wanna ask u more....or u can add me in danny_daniel225@live.com
hope to see u...
August 7, 2009 at 10:33 AM
What's upsetting most with pioneer is that they have this unofficial agreement whereby if you want to keep your room so that no other students will get their hands on it, you could 'reserve' the room, meaning that you pay for the whole term where you're not actually staying in the room (ie. during semester breaks) which is about 3 months or 4 which is a realllly waste of money. all in all, it's a case of bribery! you bribe the company just to secure your room!
i'm having trouble with getting a 440 room from pioneer right now. they told me that there are no rooms available in tioman, langkawi or redang and there's a new company that took over pangkor and kapas. i simply cannot accept their excuse that there are no available rooms in the halls of residence pioneer now owns. i checked out in the middle of june, at first when i came to nottingham i had to stay in a 4 sharing for 3 months even when my seniors and my friends told me that there are actually 440 rooms available, pioneer kept on telling me that they're under maintenance, not ready, etc etc so many ridiculous reasons and when i finally pestered pioneer for the 440 room, walked into the accomodation office with a tired face and lo behold! waddaya know, there is a room after all! i stayed there for even barely a month and i applied for the same type of room for next semester just a few days after i checked into the 440 room and guess what? i don't get the room. they're now telling me off campus is avalable. i cannot understand how the only students on campus right now such as the july intake and the postgrads can occupy the whole space of the 3 halls pioneer now owns. it doesn't make sense to me. when pioneer moved the students from my intake on campus, they delayed and delayed everything saying there's no room, ect etc so how can it be that just a few weeks after i check out of my old 440 room, all the sudden pioneer quickly moves in the other students when it was us, they did everything slowly? i don't trust pioneer at all.
and the new company is troublesome as well, blood suckers too. they expect us to pay the deposit (which is understandable) AND pay for the month of august just so that we could get the room. we're not rich people. and we're not blessed with special priveleges like some people. this is unfair treatment. it's not a first come first serve basis anymore. it's now a first bribe first served basis.
August 7, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Anonymous:
students always complain about the uni's outsourced services, read accommodation and retail/food.
well about the reserving thing through the summers, i believe they can't do anything, because some students, like me, really do stay in school for the summers. it's hard to know for sure if a person reserves a room for the coming year or simply just to live in it. for others, well, no comments haha.
not sure about the new company though. with two competing companies, let's hope things will be better in the future.
August 14, 2009 at 6:29 PM
Has anyone got the contact details of the new company managing kapas and pangkor hall? Thanks
August 14, 2009 at 11:28 PM
Contact details for the new management of Pangkor and Kapas
Company name: Perintis Kencana Sdn. Bhd.
Company phone: 03 8924 8087
Mobile phone: 017 328 1444 (Mr Sazaly)
Office is located at Kapas Hall, I5A02
August 25, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Uhmm...can anyone tell me whether there is any "kekisi" on the windows of the rooms in all those halls? I am a bit concerned about the safety of the halls.
August 26, 2009 at 1:14 AM
Pioneer cheats you even after they give you the room...a source willing to be left unknown showed me pics of two rooms in tioman 2 in langkawi n 2 in redang...the guy was a volunteer in the open day and one family went their n they showed them the rooms...everything is brand new and shiny...my room am scared to put books n the desk for fear it might break...cheats
August 26, 2009 at 10:11 AM
by "kekisi" you mean grills? all on-campus accommodation have grills installed for the rooms in ground floor. for those upstairs, i don't think so.
when i was in edusqare, i didn't have grills either (i was upstairs, the rooms downstairs have them), but i think they have grills fitted for all rooms in edusquare by now.
August 26, 2009 at 1:34 PM
Lol...yeah..grills! How about the security? I mean, without the grills..won't it be a bit dangerous?
August 26, 2009 at 1:37 PM
well for off campus accommodation, there are reports of break-ins to the rooms upstairs. that's why i heard they're installing the grills now
thankfully, no lives have been lost to these burglaries yet.
August 27, 2009 at 7:59 PM
on campus now fully booked?
August 28, 2009 at 10:12 AM
no idea.
August 31, 2009 at 8:05 PM
the company that operates kapas and pangkor halls say they're fully booked. pioneer say they're all booked. but postgrads are wrapping up on september 5th so fingers crossed maybe there'll be rooms available. just maybe.
September 4, 2009 at 11:57 PM
Let just say that pioneer is not all the best, but they really did something too. I myself stay at Edu too last year, the 500 room. You probably think I am rich, but I am telling you it is worth way more than the 480 room. From all I know the 480 is simply a big room with 2 pieces of woods to make the hall way to the door and toilet, while the 500 room actually come 2 different size. the bigger one is like 16~18sq ft, which is told by the pioneer, but what I see is that it is almost twice as big as the 480. why not for extra 20rm, as long as you requested it, I did actually, with other condition. I pay no money for the air-con, may be I endure heat better than others, or simply because my window facing north east, thus no sunlight in my room after 10am, as a result of my request.
But really pioneer is charging a lot. The time I got here for foundation, which is 2006, they give me a single room in TTS5 for 500, which now cost 600++. They have been increasing the price every year.
And I also doubt their so called first come first serve basis, for all I know is that friend of my stay on campus for 2 consecutive year without reserve the room, n though I summit my form during April, I never seems to get on campus, and most likely I wouldn't get it this year either.
September 5, 2009 at 12:09 AM
yeah. i didn't know how big the rm500 room is until after i shifted in. the extra rm20 is really worth it.
as for the 1st come 1st serve basis, with hundreds and hundreds of applications within a few weeks, sometimes the employees just want to get it done, and don't care how it is done. i'm not sure, i'm just saying.
September 5, 2009 at 12:41 AM
probably as you said, plus they have some other priority to sort out.
I was staying at TTS5 before moving to Edu, so I can a chance to look through the window when the building are done.
September 29, 2009 at 10:00 PM
Pioneer is just a sucks company... which only knows to suck student's money without giving the valuable services....
You would understand the sucking system that they implemented when you are checking out... sucking up your "damage deposits" without any mercy...
Edu Square is really a nice hostel for student.
However,it's just nice in term of looking but not in safety...damn...
As I know, there were more than 10 theft cases happening in Edu Square in just one year... I personally also lost my sport shoes...
What the suckss....
September 30, 2009 at 12:56 AM
erm, they refunded all my deposits in full. in cash. on the spot. my checkout was actually quite smooth and i'm happy with it.
September 20, 2011 at 8:46 PM
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February 4, 2015 at 1:27 PM
A PhD student was cheated by UNMC. full story at www.malaysiakini.com/letters/280014
August 7, 2015 at 4:01 PM
Just about to join the 2015 September intake for MSc.. what's my best choise for accomodation? Is on-campus any good?
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