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Disappointing 'Malaysia Baru' at local authority level

COMMENT | I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Chinese friends Gong Xi Fa Cai and hope that they will have a healthy and prosperous year ahead.

Having led a residents association (RA) for many years and having had many members of Chinese descent in my RA, it gives me great pleasure to wish them well and at the same time try to address some of their concerns in this brief piece.

Many Malaysian Chinese that I know are very much into healthy living, constantly exercising to keep themselves fit and try hard to stay in good shape. 

Every morning whenever I take a walk in my locality, I tend to meet many of them, men and women, who jog, cycle or simply walk for several kilometers.

I also see them regularly in our park, local sports complex, golf club and Damansara Community Forest on Sundays. Contrary to a common belief that their main concern is purely business is far from the truth. 

To me, their dedication to healthy lifestyles, sustainable living and protection of the environment is pretty obvious.

Lately, my lengthy conversations with them have also revolved around healthy politics and I can sense that they are also concerned not just about our local and national economy, which they are deeply involved in, but also about the realities and perceptions of our new government, which they supported in the last GE14.

Cleaning up of the government, as advanced and constantly harped on by many Pakatan Harapan politicians, is rather meaningless when the realities at the ground level have not changed at all.

Improvement across the board, at the three levels of government - federal, state and local authorities - is no longer desirable but a promise that must be kept and constantly shown to the people at large, commented a close friend who has been involved in the business of supplying bulbs and lights; in a rather bright conversation we had when we met (pun intended).

Local authorities

Efficiency, cannot be treated as an isolated case or a pure coincidence, quipped another friend who has retired as a bean counter for a large multi-national who is now dabbling in ‘koi’ fish trade. In other words, the reality must be there to be experienced; that is the true meaning of ‘change’, he continued.

One may argue that the new government suffers on the basis of bad publicity or wrong perceptions.

However, unless one can see the changes taking place, especially at the local level, I am afraid the status quo has remained, after almost nine months of the new government, said a friend who is involved in solar energy and whose minor office modifications, applied for according to the local authorities SOP, also took nine months to receive a final approval.

This is not good for his business and the business of many others, the Bumiputera businessperson included.

Thus, cleaning up of the government, for instance, can be interpreted in so many different ways.

At the state and local authority levels, it can mean many different things too.

Cleaning up of the previously corrupt government procurement systems can be one of them. Have that been put in place? At local authorities level?

Cleaning up of the approving system (i.e. how the government decides on certain budget and project approval) is another.

Yet, cleaning up of the corrupt practices, as to how certain land development projects are evaluated and approved, for example, is also the prime concern of many residents associations (RAs).

The Kiara land development proposal, adjacent to TTDI, which became a hot issue during GE14, is a classic case in this context, when a Harapan minister made a decision contrary against the wishes of the locals.

Improving traffic flow and tackling traffic congestion are other areas of expectation from the residents of the Harapan government, an issue that has so far received scant attention and scrutiny at the local authorities level.

Taking ownership of their local congestion problems and looking at ways on how to improve them will go a long way in improving the image of the Harapan government.

And yet, the simplest form of them all, cleaning up the streets, freeing clogged drains and getting rid of rubbish in areas within the jurisdiction of the local authorities, are still but a major concern that has not been addressed satisfactorily.

Perception or reality?

Whether it are in Selangor, the state that has been managed by Harapan for a second term, or the new ones such as Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Perak or Kedah, many of their local authorities have not shown any signs of improvements in their services to the public who pays local taxes. This state of affairs have obviously affected the image of the Harapan government.

Services at the local authority is something which the local people can easily see and observe. Knowing that these authorities are now managed by Harapan, any improvement no matter how small, is attributed to Harapan politicians and its nominated councillors.

Similarly, when services worsen and yet the local taxes continue to be collected and spent, it is seen as inefficient part of that same government.

So many RAs, including mine, are asking, where are the improvements with the Harapan-led government today?

At RA level, as much as we are fully aware that local authorities are not functioning well, we are never called in to assist. By right, we should, as we represent the bulk of the residents and understand their predicaments.

We are also fully aware that one of the major issues that is deeply entrenched herein is none other than corrupt practices itself. 

My bulbs and light supplier friend can shine a bright light on these unwanted practices, and so can a score of other property developers that have many dealings with these RA’s personnel.

Certainly, this is not the type of public-private partnership (PPP) that the federal government has in mind when the policy was introduced sometime ago.

It is an issue which the Federal Territory Ministry as well as Housing and Local Authority Ministry should look at seriously and they have to move fast in order to rectify the unwanted practices and their management image problem.

Otherwise, the year of the pig (2019) will only confirm the non-halal perception and practices within the Harapan government.

Gong Xi Fa Cai.


ROSLI KHAN is the chairperson of the Damansara Residency Residents Association (DRRA).

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

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