THE Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) recently received a memorandum from the All Petaling Jaya, Selangor Residents Association Coalition (Apac). Apac has demanded that MBPJ does not take action to tear down the boom gates and barricades that have sprung up all over PJ. (Pic by cjung / sxc.hu) The time frame given to MBPJ […]
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The public’s demands
By KW Mak(Pic by leocub / sxc.hu) AFTER the March 2008 general election, a smartly dressed couple approached a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Member of Parliament (MP). They told the MP that their son had scored 10 As for his PMR exams, and they expected the MP to purchase a laptop for him. The MP’s reply was […]
Slopes made simple
By KW MakDEVELOPMENT projects on hill slopes always draw the ire of residents living in the surrounding area. With the numerous stories of landslides and the lack of access to a developer’s development plans, it is understandable that the public has little tolerance for such development projects. In far too many cases, hill slope development has resulted […]
Why ratepayers complain
By KW MakIN this instalment of Ampersand, I shall detail the extra duties of handling complaints as a councillor. I will explain why the public continues to approach councillors such as myself despite the fact that the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has a complaints department. The MBPJ also has a 24-hour hotline for complaints. Apart from […]
Tales from a Councillor: Anonymous complaints
By KW MakTHERE are times when people request and demand that I stand up for their rights. But they are reluctant to make the request official, preferring instead to remain anonymous. As always, there are no morals to these stories, save those that readers conclude for themselves. Neighbour’s renovations A lady called up and demanded that I […]
Testing the MBPJ
By KW MakLOCAL government elections seems to be a hot topic in Malaysia’s current political landscape. The belief is that a local council would be more accountable to the taxpaying public if elections are held. The Election Commission, however, will not conduct local government elections because it violates the Local Government Act. So while we are stuck […]
How MBPJ got it wrong
By KW Mak(Pic by moth / Dreamstime) IN the previous instalment of Ampersand, I established that there is a discrepancy between the deposited plan for Petaling Jaya (PJ) and the on-the-ground development in the city. Specifically, I highlighted that areas marked as open space in the deposited plan are now built over with commercial development. In this […]
PJ’s illegal development (Updated 1:05pm)
By KW MakUpdated at 1:05pm, 12 March 2010 IN the first two articles about town planning, I dealt with planning that was done after Petaling Jaya (PJ) was founded. However, it is important to note that PJ was developed in 1952. This is significant because PJ’s founding clearly predates the legal provisions that the state government or […]
Sabotaging public interest
By KW MakTHE local council often faces objections and sometimes outright hostility from the people when it needs to enforce the law. Protests by interested parties against enforcement measures, like the removal of illegal barricades, are the norm. In this exciting episode of Ampersand, I shall cover other issues that also face protests from interested parties. Three […]
Sketches of a councillor
By KW MakLOCAL council meetings can stretch on for four to five hours. Many issues arising from the non-adherence of the law by the previous government need the current administration’s attention. At times when the debate gets ridiculously long-winded or totally diverges from the topic at hand, I sketch. This drawing habit comes from my love for […]
