COMMENT | Is my city slowly sinking and crumbling?

COMMENT | I consider Kuala Lumpur my city because, although I am from Johor, I have lived in the city for around 30 years, which is already a big majority of my life.

I remember going to and from school from Bangsar to Brickfields taking the Number 5 Sri Jaya bus in the early 1990s. That same bus is also the one that brought my friends and me to the Dayabumi and Central Market areas on Saturdays to hang out.

When I first became a reporter in the early 2000s, I used to drive around the streets of Kuala Lumpur in my old Proton Satria going to events and press conferences, doing interviews, and vox pops.

Then when I started making documentaries, the city still provided me with so much interesting content which revolved around politics, culture, history, and so much more (Hidup hidup! Hidup Bersih!).

In fact, one of my last projects was a documentary about the history and culture of downtown Kuala Lumpur (Petaling Street, Central Market, and Masjid India area) in collaboration with Think City and The Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur.

The film recently completed a screening tour around the country and will go online at Fatbidin.com soon!

Okay, now that my main objective of plugging my film has been achieved, I shall go to the actual point of my article which is to talk about how distressing it is for me to hear about the sinkhole tragedy in Masjid India and the subsequent emergence of other sinkholes around Kuala Lumpur.

My heart goes out to the Indian woman, who fell into the sinkhole and is still missing, and her family.

Unsustainable development

What has happened has opened a Pandora’s Box of the development of Kuala Lumpur, a city that has been in existence since the early 1800s.

The city is one of the most rapidly growing cities in Southeast Asia. The amount of skyscraper developments is tremendous and the skyline has changed drastically since I started working until today.

The city has been building and building, from skyscrapers and flyovers to tunnels and train tracks. But the question now is, have all these developments been done properly taking into consideration if the infrastructure of the city can accommodate it?

This is particularly so for the infrastructure that lies underground because this is what we don’t and can’t see on the surface.

There have been calls for the Kuala City Council (DBKL) to release the underground maps and blueprints so we can better understand the situation. They have yet to respond, although they have made statements assuring the public that the city is safe.

Even then, they have called off the Merdeka Eve celebrations in the city, citing that it is out of respect for the victim and her family.

I think that this is a good opportunity for the new mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, to take on this challenge to show that she has the city’s well-being in mind and is also the best person to do it (and that the role is not just a ceremonious one!).

Being the first woman mayor, I hope that she can do a good job (probably much better than a man, if I may say so!).

These sinkholes could be caused by a myriad of reasons, from man-made to natural environmental causes.

The right experts need to be brought in such as geologists and engineers to study the situation and also to take measures so that incidents like this don’t happen again.

There might be a need to strengthen existing underground infrastructure or even manage environmental effects.

Many other issues need addressing

I can’t claim to be an expert on the situation, but I can see the immediate attention and concern that needs to be given to this issue. It can potentially be something very dangerous for the city and the people who live and work here.

The issue cannot be just easily swept under the carpet and hope that attention will slowly fade away and people will forget.

It is unfortunate that something like this had to happen and it has caused an innocent person to become a victim, for the issue to be brought to the forefront of public discourse.

There are many other issues that need to be paid attention to too, such as the frequent floods, uprooting trees, as well as drainage and sewerage problems. This could be related and needs to be managed.

And with that, I guess the city has welcomed our new mayor to her new position. I wish mayor Maimunah the best of luck and to guide and administer our capital city as efficiently, professionally and emphatically as she possibly can.

This is our city and we want it to be the best city that we live and work in. I, for one, will be paying attention.

ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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