16 theSun | TUESDAY OCTOBER 28 2008

speak up!

letter
letters@thesundaily.com

Ways to make
Jalan Ang Seng, which is used daily
by tens of thousands of pedestrians
heading to and from the Bangsar LRT
Toughest fight
» Scene: Dome, still change it to
or MidValley. KLCC. December 2008.

Brickfields better Immediate efforts should focus

WITH reference to reports on the
statement of support by Deputy Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for
the proposal to turn Brickfields into a
“Little India”, I request the authorities
to reassess any such idea.
Suggestions to turn Brickfields into
a “Little India” arise out of ignorance
of its dimensions and cultural mix.
The place is far from being an ethnic
Indian colony or ghetto. On the other
hand, it is true that Brickfields has
suffered an identity crisis since the
name was taken off its roads, a prob-
lem compounded by the carving out
of KL Sentral from former KTM land.
Brickfields stretches from the Klang
River on one side to Jalan Bangsar and
Jalan Travers on the other, and from
beyond the Kuala Lumpur railway
station to before MidValley Megamall.
Roads that formerly carried Brickfields
in their names (now replaced with
Tun Sambanthan) are one indicator of
these boundaries.
It is true that many ethnic Indians
live, work and do business there.
So do a good number of Chinese,
Malays and others. In addition to Hindu
temples, it has a large Buddhist temple
as well as churches, and Muslims bury
their dead there.
Brickfields has a multi-mode
transportation hub in the form of KL
Sentral, which is in stark contrast
to its terribly inadequate roads and
bad parking habits. Government
efforts should be focused on
improving the experience of the
hundreds of thousands of pedestrian
and vehicular traffic as they pass daily
through the congested district.
Brickfields has food stalls and high-
rise hotels, government offices and
private businesses, broadband and
the arts, national and international
schools, residents and transients. It is
more than a high-density residential
and commercial district.
Clearly, its population generates
mountains of garbage, as can be
witnessed in merely two examples,
at the Jalan Tun Sambanthan 2/Jalan
Thambi Abdullah 1 junction and along
on bringing up to standard the
rubbish collection and cleaning of
public places. And, is the distribution
of garbage bins for public use all that
difficult or expensive?
While planning initiatives could
come from the authorities including
City Hall and the ministry, all stake-
holders should be invited to contribute
ideas and resources. One of the most
important is the business community
including MRCB and its partners: look
at the big picture, rather than promote
“Little India”.
Brickfields remains a commu-
nity after a hundred years, though
increasingly a cosmopolitan and
international one. To give it a fresh
identity, we should draw on the
creative ideas of the community and
its well-wishers rather than transplant
foreign concepts.
Think people rather than brick and
mortar. A public park would be an
excellent idea, for example, since
there is sufficient government-owned
land for this. And fine the litter-bugs.
Brickfields Guy
Kuala Lumpur
MOHAN: I suppose
PM Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi is working
at a frenetic pace
to rid the country
of corruption
– something he
promised – now that WhatTheySay
he had only about
four plus months by Zainon Ahmad
left before he steps
down.
Azman: Two months if
the Umno Supreme Council
decides to bring forward the
party elections to its original
date, mid-December.
Mohan: It can’t do that as
it had already decided that the
Umno general assembly and
elections will be held in March
to coincide with Abdullah’s
handing over of power to
his successor – the so-called
transition plan.
Azman: The supreme
council can do anything. After
all, it had brought forward
the transition plan from
mid-2010 to March 2009. It can
Chong: Yaah.
Why not? Can
have assembly
and elections in
December and the
handing over of
power in March.
Mohan: Which
means that after the
new party president
is hailed in
December, Abdullah
is no longer head of
the party. Can he continue to be
prime minister without being
Umno president? By tradition
the Umno president always
becomes prime minister.
Azman: Can what. If the
Umno president, who is also
head of the BN ruling coalition,
says so. Which means he is
PM at the behest of the Umno
president. Something you can
be sure Abdullah will not relish.
Mohan: So what you guys
are saying is that elections in
December and the handing
over of power in March. So
Abdullah has four months plus
to complete his reforms.
Chong: Provided, of course,