When Cynthia Hor saw the signs of land erosion on the hill which her apartment faces, she thought she would do her civic duty and report it to her local council.

“I thought okay, I’ll write in to the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), no harm done, doing my civic duty, right?

“This was against my friend’s advice, ‘don’t get yourself into so much trouble,” she said to Malaysiakini today.

But she was concerned the erosion could potentially cause a landslide, and there were houses at the bottom of the hill which would be affected, so she went ahead and lodged a complaint with MBPJ...