ON an evening boasting a dull grey sky, hinting of an impending shower, my daughters and I took a drive to Jalan Petaling in search of purple roses. It was close to 6pm with the evening sun slowly shying away among the dark clouds.
We turned into Jalan Tun Perak after passing the closed Parliament and Lake Gardens. The entry into the city was shockingly gloomy.
Artless, absurd and incomprehensible graffiti invited us into the city. As we turned into Jalan Tun HS Lee, our view was several run-down old shop lots, in need of much repair and maintenance.
Showered with fading paint and overgrown ficus, vines and fungi, such a sight would put anyone in disbelief that this area is part of our nation’s capital city. Albeit the efforts of Alam Flora in keeping the streets clean, the unkempt buildings and their sad images camouflaged the beauty of our capital city.
Vagrants are still seen along the streets. I wondered why no action has been taken to house them with some dignity and care. In addition to this, a food kitchen could be seen busily distributing food to a long queue of free food recipients. Is this what a capital city should boast of – dilapidated buildings and citizens uncared for?
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is clearly displaying ignorance and disinterest in keeping to its promise of providing 24/7 care for the capital city’s beauty, lacking gusto in maintaining the city’s upkeep. Instead, it prefers to only pull itself together and tend to the bleak and beleaguered Kuala Lumpur when there is a grand event such as the Commonwealth Games, SEA Games or during election season. This brings about unnecessary stress and pressure to the beautification team as it has been yanked out of its comfortable seat, and also unnecessary expense for DBKL to repair, replace and refurbish whatever aspects, which could have been avoided had they been regularly maintained.
Malaysia is marked on the world map as a tourist destination, and these are the “attractions” that our capital city boasts – unkempt buildings adorned with unsightly graffiti, unhygienic hawker stalls, streets filled with puddles of dishwater thrown from these stalls, and homeless folk as the “welcoming committee” for visitors to our nation.
DBKL must descend from its ivory tower and sort out these glaring, saddening sights. Give the graffiti artists the opportunity to change their scribbles into pieces of art. Rope them into beautifying buildings and streets with themes of flora and fauna as well as famous people and places; aspects related to our country that form the attraction of our tourism industry. Each street can have a theme, and with this, we will address two issues – providing jobs for our budding artists and overseeing the beautification of our city.
Seremban can be looked upon as an example, where almost every old building has been spruced up with a painting, even the back lanes and portions of shoplots and streets have been canvassed with beautiful art.
Syabas to the Seremban Municipal Council (MBS) for such efforts. Can we not convey the same if not bigger syabas and pat on the shoulder to DBKL? Perhaps DBKL would be able to seek advice from MBS and take similar steps in refurbishing Kuala Lumpur, and hence each sleepy town like Klang, Ipoh, Kuantan and Langkawi may follow suit to provide greater tourism attractions and bring in an income for the nation, too.
DBKL must also undertake a painting project to work with building owners through tax or assessment holidays, encouraging them to paint their properties as we need to splash some brightness and cheerfulness on the current bleakness of the city. All abandoned buildings must be camouflaged with murals or paintings on them, thus deflecting the negativity of the structure.
Monitor every street hawker operator and restaurants that are close to the main roads and ensure no one’s run-off water gets onto the streets. Enforce such a regulation, and impose a fine if it is not strictly adhered to.
Remove hawkers who are not observing any rules. Ensure that tables and chairs are clean and properly covered to sit at. Insist that the cooks behind the wok and food servers put on aprons at all times. This will give greater confidence to customers, both local and international, to patronise the stalls.
DBKL must have a 24-hour technical squad to oversee repairs of potholes, broken and fallen signboards, faulty street lights and traffic lights, as well as other faulty matters left over from the weekend or public holidays.
A city never sleeps, what more our capital? This team must comb every nook and corner of the city regularly to safeguard its beauty and safety.
The unpleasant sight of vagrants must also be addressed without fail. They are not to be chased off but instead handled with care. They must be sent to homes where they are fed and provided with basic needs.
I sincerely hope DBKL will investigate this in a humanitarian way to ensure these vagrants are not pushed from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya or Klang, but placed in homes or hospitals in a proper manner.
My visit to Kuala Lumpur last weekend should have been a value-added visit. It is my sincere hope that the Federal Territory Ministry and DBKL will work on the above feedback in a serious manner, thus restoring the safety, beauty and serenity of our capital.
Although my feedback is based on my visit to only Jalan Petaling, Jalan Tun HS Lee, Jalan Bandar and Jalan Tun Perak, the action taken should not be restricted to these areas only. It should be carried out for the whole city, thus bringing a sea of change.
We must be ready to welcome the post-Covid-19 era, which is going to be robust and dynamic. This is an opportune time and moment to repair, restore, repaint and rejuvenate the capital of Malaysia, bringing more tourism, dynamism and hope for our nation. – The Vibes, April 7, 2021
Ravindran Raman Kutty is a communications and reputation management expert who has worked in multinational and government-linked companies as well as government agencies
