There were only two units left.
That is the moment Encik Zainuddin remembers most vividly when recalling how he became one of Puncak Jalil’s earliest residents.
More than twenty years ago, while searching for a home, he came across a newspaper advertisement in The Star. Curious, he decided to visit the development. When he arrived, the sales team told him only two units remained. One of them, in Phase 9C, would soon become his family’s home.
Developed by Talam Transform Berhad, Puncak Jalil was conceived as an affordable residential township, offering landed homes in a strategic location. For many young families, it represented an opportunity to own a home while remaining connected to Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding townships.
At the time, Encik Zainuddin was already living in a condominium in Seri Petaling. It was convenient, close to Kuala Lumpur and suited his family’s daily routine. But like many young families, he wanted something more permanent without sacrificing the lifestyle they had built. His children were already attending school around Bukit Jalil and Seri Petaling, so moving too far away was never an option.
He explored several nearby townships before making his decision. While weighing his options, Puncak Jalil stood out for offering affordable landed homes in a strategic location. Close to Bukit Jalil and Seri Petaling, it gave young families like his the opportunity to own a landed home without giving up the convenience of being near work, schools and everyday amenities.
When he drove into Puncak Jalil, he knew he had found the right place.
“I liked the area immediately,” he recalled.
For him, it was never simply about the house.
It was about the location.
Even then, before many of today’s road connections existed, he believed the township occupied a strategic position beside established communities. The link roads had yet to be completed, but he was confident they eventually would be. Like many early homeowners, he was investing not only in a property, but in the future of the township itself.
The Puncak Jalil he first encountered was very different from the one residents know today.
He remembers entering the township along a temporary access road lined with trees. The undulating terrain became affectionately known among early residents as the “roller coaster road”. Traffic was light, the surroundings were peaceful and the township still felt like a place waiting for its story to unfold.
The wait, however, was not long.
His house was already nearing completion when he made the purchase, allowing his family to move in within about a year. Around them, other phases were steadily welcoming new homeowners, each beginning their own chapter in what was then a young and growing residential township.
Looking back today, he smiles when describing those early years.
Travelling to work in Petaling Jaya was straightforward. The roads were smooth, traffic was manageable and his daily routine rarely changed. He could send his children to school, return home, prepare for work and still reach his office without difficulty. It was a pace of life that reflected a township still in its formative years but already delivering on the promise that first attracted him.
Like many of the families who arrived during those early years, Encik Zainuddin was not simply buying a house.
He was choosing a place where his family could grow.
More than two decades later, that decision remains one he has never regretted.
The township around him has continued to evolve. Roads have expanded, neighbourhoods have matured and generations of families have since made Puncak Jalil their home. Yet the reasons that convinced him to buy have remained remarkably consistent: its strategic location, its accessibility and the opportunity it offered ordinary families to own an affordable landed home within easy reach of Kuala Lumpur.
Sometimes, the story of a township does not begin with grand masterplans or construction milestones.
Sometimes, it begins with a family walking into a sales gallery, discovering there are only two units left, and believing in a place before everyone else does.
In Part Two of the Puncak Jalil Heritage Series, Encik Zainuddin reflects on how infrastructure, connectivity and community transformed Puncak Jalil from a promising new development into the thriving township residents know today.