By Adrian Ang | www.loyarburok.com
October 29, 2010

OCT 29 — For the past 10 years on Malaysia’s Budget Day, I have been glued to the television. I have listened to every detail of the Budget Speeches and this year was no exception. As the Prime Minister began his speech, I waited with much anticipation. What’s to be in store for the development of our country?

But my heart stopped when the Prime Minister announced the development of Menara Warisan Merdeka, a 100-storey tower which will be built between the Merdeka and Negara stadiums. The 19-acre mega development project is said to include a condominium and shopping mall. I couldn’t believe my ears.

It struck me that a massive construction project will soon descend on the vicinity of my alma mater, Victoria Institution (VI). Besides VI, there are also 3 other schools within the vicinity of the development area, namely, Methodist Boys’ School (MBS), SRJK (C) Jalan Davidson and Confucian Private Secondary School. I was dazed for a moment before questions started filling my mind.

Will the schools be relocated? What will happen to the traffic flow within the area? Will the students’ safety and health be affected? What about the schools’ environment? And do we need another tower in the first place, given that we already have the Petronas Twin Towers?

I could only imagine the massive scale of the mega project and its effect on the 4 premier schools.

The 4 premier schools are some of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur (KL) with VI being 117 years old — the oldest school in KL, MBS – 113 years, Confucian – 104 years, and Davidson – 82 years. These 4 premier schools have produced some of the best brains and minds in Malaysia.

I could only imagine that the noise and air pollution, scaffolding and building equipments, overhead cranes, earth movers, heavy-duty lorries and dump trucks etc will pose safety and health hazards to the students. It is most likely that the development will lead to massive traffic flow and congestion problems.

While I am not against progressive development for the country, the cost of sacrificing quality education is just too much to pay.

The RM5 billion development costs could and should be invested into other areas such as improving education and healthcare facilities, reducing poverty levels, and particularly making life easier through better public transportation and greater assistance to the Orang Asli, the disabled and the elderly.

Among others to:

• Eradicate poverty and improve the people’s standards of living by providing shelter, electricity, water and other forms of assistance to the hardcore poor.

• Improve the infrastructure of schools, and increase access to education by providing free books to schoolchildren in rural areas.

• Improve the healthcare system by building daycare and dialysis centres, and upgrading equipment and facilities in hospitals and clinics.

• Build the capacity of the disabled by providing training to enable them to enter and succeed in the job market while building infrastructure to enable their mobility.

• Provide assistance to the elderly by building old folks homes.

• Reduce traffic problems in major towns and cities while making them more livable.

Hence, I appeal to the rakyat of Malaysia to support and oppose the development of the 100-storey tower! I am still proud to be Malaysian without the tower.

* Adrian is a 4th generation young Malaysian born and bred in Kuala Lumpur. An accounting and finance graduate from London, he has been in the tax profession for the past 10 years. An alumnus of Victoria Institution, he represented Malaysia in the 1996 Australian Marching Band Competition which was awarded a First Class for performance. He is a passionate civil society activist and contributes through various channels. He must stop taking himself too seriously and be a real LoyarBurokker! Follow Adrian on Twitter @AdrianNCF.