COMMENT | Why does Harapan want to destroy abundant life to bury the dead?
COMMENT | Okay, imagine that your city has only one beautiful nature reserve, with hills and forests, where people can go hiking to detox from urban stress. This place is even better than Bukit Gasing in Petaling Jaya because it also has mirror lakes for kayaking or simply relaxing. It's almost like living on the doorstep of Tasik Kenyir in Terengganu.
Now, imagine that you are the city council or state government overseeing this oasis. Do you protect and enhance this place, for the enjoyment of your taxpaying residents? And to add value to your city, boost property values and attract tourists?
Or do you destroy the goose that lays the golden eggs because you are hell-bent on "developing" every last square foot of land? Imagine chopping down Bukit Gasing to build houses and condominiums.
The place I am talking about is the last patch of forests and lakes left for the folks of Klang and Shah Alam. Yet, the Pakatan Harapan Selangor state government wants to turn this pristine area into, you're not going believe this, a graveyard!
The residents of surrounding neighbourhoods have lovingly cared for this little forest, creating a green sanctuary...
COMMENT | Okay, imagine that your city has only one beautiful nature reserve, with hills and forests, where people can go hiking to detox from urban stress. This place is even better than Bukit Gasing in Petaling Jaya because it also has mirror lakes for kayaking or simply relaxing. It's almost like living on the doorstep of Tasik Kenyir in Terengganu.
Now, imagine that you are the city council or state government overseeing this oasis. Do you protect and enhance this place, for the enjoyment of your taxpaying residents? And to add value to your city, boost property values and attract tourists?
Or do you destroy the goose that lays the golden eggs because you are hell-bent on "developing" every last square foot of land? Imagine chopping down Bukit Gasing to build houses and condominiums.
The place I am talking about is the last patch of forests and lakes left for the folks of Klang and Shah Alam. Yet, the Pakatan Harapan Selangor state government wants to turn this pristine area into, you're not going believe this, a graveyard!
The residents of surrounding neighbourhoods have lovingly cared for this little forest, creating a green sanctuary, building little hiking trails with nothing more than cangkuls, spades and dedication. And they have done all this for free, without any big money "peruntukan kerajaan" (government allocation) for "kontrek" and "projek".
Semua mau sapu ah?
These folks have formed the Shah Alam Community Forest (SACF), an advocacy group trying to conserve this place. Its 52 hectares are equal to 129 acres, (just a bit bigger than Winnie the Pooh's "Hundred Acre Wood"). There are another 120 hectares, supposedly now allocated to PKNS, making a total of 172 hectares.
Before anyone repeats that tired old Mahathir-era trick of labelling forest lovers as "anti-development", there are lots of flat land around here which has already been developed. This includes the townships of Alam Budiman, Bandar Nusa Rhu and the UiTM Puncak Perdana campus.
Can't they leave a small bit of the hills for nature? Semua pun mau sapu? Do they have to grab everything?
You know how housing developers like to persuade you to pay more by claiming their projects are "eco this" and "green that". But here we already have a majestic natural forest - why destroy it?
Won't it be better for the health of nearby residents if they could trek or kayak here regularly? Just as Bukit Gasing has been a blessing for people in Petaling Jaya? Won't it improve values of nearby properties if the lakes and forests were preserved for public use?
In fact, the potential of this area was acknowledged back in 2009 with the "The Bukit Cherakah Expedition", a project by SP Setia (developer of Setia Eco Park which lies next to this forest), nature groups WWF and MNS, and the Selangor Forestry Department.
Their brochure was entitled "Our Green Legacy" and the stated goals were to create "a haven for eco-tourists to immerse themselves" and "protecting the rich biodiversity so that children of the future will not be deprived of its beauty."
These wondrous woods hold an amazing array of wildlife, as recorded in a "citizen biodiversity survey" by SACF. For one, there are feathery friends such as kingfishers, woodpeckers and hornbills. Yes, one doesn't need to go to Sarawak to see hornbills, as they are found right in Selangor!
Other denizens of the forest include spectacled leaf monkeys, colourful frogs, various lizards and strange insects.
"There are white-handed gibbons, who move in small family groups and sing duets to each other in the morning, which hikers may be able to hear," says Dr Lim Teckwyn, who has 20 years experience as a forestry researcher. He adds that tapirs also live here, though sadly one becomes roadkill almost every year.
Normally, one has to travel all the way to Taman Negara in Pahang or Danum Valley in Sabah to see wild animals. But here they are, right on the doorstep of Klang and Shah Alam.
Why does the Harapan state government want to destroy all of this life? Just to bury dead bodies? Surely, there is another land for graveyards? Unless this is just a cover story for the true purpose of housing development?
Healthy lifestyles
The area has grown in popularity, and there are large crowds of young (and young-at-heart people) here, especially on weekends, says SACF president Jyn Yeow.
Jyn, who lives nearby, says: "I used to travel 30 to 60 minutes to Bukit Kiara (Taman Tun Dr Ismail) or Saga Hill (Cheras) to hike before Alicia (Teoh, the SACF secretary) introduced the forest on my doorstep in 2013."
This writer himself came one weekend to trek around an astounding mirror lake surrounded by forest, along with lots of other nature lovers. The lake has a picturesque name - Tasik Rimba Bayu - which means Forest Breeze Lake. Don't confuse it with the new township dolled up with fancy landscaping called Bandar Rimbayu near Kota Kemuning, Selangor. The lake here is the real deal, with "ori" forest.
172 hectares is a small area la. Does Selangor need to ravage this place too? There is already a property glut and downturn in Malaysia. We have to rethink our suburban sprawl of ever-expanding rows of terrace houses which depend on cars (and more tolled highways) to move around.
What happened to the slogan of TOD or Transit-Oriented Development? Shouldn't we be thinking of higher density apartments within walking distance of LRT or MRT stations to meet both our housing and transport needs?
If you want to help save this place, please help lodge an official "bantahan" (objection) to the proposed road that is the first step to cutting down the forest. The deadline is Sept 26. Please follow the instructions here.
Meanwhile, we have to ask: hasn't Harapan (or was it Mahathir?), when it was controlling the federal government, already fallen short on their environmental promises? When they allowed Lynas and its radioactive wastes to continue operating? When they approved yet another coal power plant when they had promised to move towards renewable energy?
When the then Harapan Perak menteri besar (who has since jumped to the darker side) allowed logging of forests despite protests from the Orang Asli? When the current Harapan MB of Selangor tried to cut down the Kuala Langat Forest Reserve earlier this year? Haven't they already done enough damage?
As for this forest, why not create a new nature tourism attraction that adds value to all the surrounding housing areas and to Selangor? Why not call it Taman Negeri Klang (Klang State Park)? Klang has a reputation for being a grungy, gritty place.
Why not change its image into a nature destination? Wouldn't that be something befitting its status as a "Bandar Diraja" (royal town)?
Note: This story is to be continued, with a look at how politics (as usual) was the root cause of this mess.
ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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