Bitter Sweet Experience with Our Politicians and Civil Servants

Much can be said about the Madani government—both its strengths and shortcomings—but one noticeable transformation in several housing estates is the improvement of open fields.

      If this aligns with the vision of Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming, who aims to elevate the standard of living, and targeting 112 Taman Madani, he deserves commendation.

      For 30 years, my dealings with Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) and Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) have revealed a long-standing neglect by former ministers, especially on the availability of recreational parks for the people.

      Instead, in some housing projects, residents have had to take matters into their own hands, battling developers and local authorities for the few open spaces they possess—most of which were never officially gazetted as public areas.

Transformation that is worth all my efforts 

        I had campaigned for this field for several years, yet former Damansara MP Tony Pua never responded. Even complaints submitted to the current MP, Gobind Singh Deo, went unanswered. Other promises he made two years ago have remained unfulfilled.

       However, regarding the park, I am pleased that since the end of 2024, it has undergone a transformation. What was once a ‘paddy field’ has now become a pleasant park. 

This bench has been repainted, looking much better than what was there. 

       I am glad that at least, there is no more "paddy" field. 

        Even the walkway was in a very bad shape, unsafe for the older people and younger children. That, for your information, is the reason why I have been saying that MPS needs a total revamp. 

       This conclusion came after 30 years of dealing with the council, since the days of its first council president, Kasjoo Kadis. Complaints raised to them via email, WhatsApp, SISPAA, official letters copied to the Menteri Besar, state exco, MP, state assemblywoman and local councillors were often given standard answers. That is why issues have piled up unsolved. That is also the reason why I started this blog in order for me to put on record what is happening in the state of Selangor with the hope that things will improve.

      

What a transformation now! 

       If you had read in an earlier post, I mentioned about this before. This morning, I was pleasantly surprised by a simple suggestion I made to Tuan Mokhtar Affandi, the landscaping director of MPS.

        Unlike others, he is willing to listen, making discussions comfortable and efficient, without unnecessary “beating-round-the-bush.”

       I did not have to lodge an official complaint on SISPAA or escalate the matter up the hierarchy, as I have often had to do with other departments in the same local council.

       I simply pointed out that several benches installed 30 years ago had become dirty. Discarding them would be wasteful— all they needed was a fresh coat of paint to restore their appearance. That was about two weeks ago.

        

        This morning, when I came to the site, I was greeted by these benches that look like new. This is the kind of maintenance culture that I am talking about that local councils have to put efforts to save money -- in order to stretch their ringgit and provide better facilities for the rakyat. 

        No wonder people are willing to express their gratefulness to MPS, because of one officer who did a good job. He not only saved money by repainting old benches and making them look new again; he is also avoiding the disposal of more wastes into the landfills. For that, I want to give a standing ovation to Tuan Mokhtar.

        

      However, I cannot say the same about other departments especially the new council president. 

      You can see that, even after numerous complaints lodged with the SISPAA, the council's engineering department has yet to repaint most of these old road signs, except for one or two which are located near my housing estate. A lot of problems are accumulated over the years due to poor supervision of the staff. 

       Look at these pictures: 

        So many of these signages would do well with a fresh coat of paint. 

         Despite repeated reminders, little effort have been made to repaint the signages. When the rust worsens, is the solution simply to replace them? That would be an unnecessary waste of public funds. 

        Our civil servants, particularly at the local government level, must foster a culture of maintenance rather than resorting to costly replacements. 

        That is why we cannot be a first world nation unless our local government is reformed, or overhauled in some cases. 

       Look at MPS. It became a Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran) around the same time as Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya (MPSJ) but today, Subang Jaya can boast of its City Council while in my area, I am still having to deal with stubborn people who insist that the humps meet specifications, when clearly the large scratches are proofs that many cars with a lower deck have hit the humps. 

      I cannot fathom how the Council president and others can claim that the humps were built according to specifications. Despite this complaint having reached the highest levels of government, the issue persists, with people remaining oblivious to the challenges faced by the public - attitude of some of the civil servants.

        With only two passengers, this car already nearly hit the hump. What about having four people in the car? It's not just one hump, but at least two humps have similar issue. 

And listen to the frustrations of residents: 

One Same Council but Different Department Heads

        Consider what a friend shared with me about the baffling one-way streets designed by MPS—presumably by its town planning department—that have led to considerable inconvenience for residents.

      The reality is that all three parties—the local councillor from DAP, the local council, and the residents' association chairman—played an active role in shaping these decisions.

        Despite various attempts to propose better solutions, an official response in SISPAA insisted that the decision had been set in stone since 2012. The irony of this grand plan becomes clear once you examine how two roads in a small housing estate—consisting of only 10 roads—were converted into one-way streets.  

        A short stretch of road which is hardly a busy road is now turned into a one-way street for residents, along with two other streets, even though the original purpose of this short stretch was traffic dispersal (see video above). The delivery lorry could have been allowed to exit (traffic dispersal) since the junction is not busy throughout the day but certain individuals still insisted it must be one-way because they claim that exiting from this junction was dangerous. 

      Yet, looking at the current design of traffic flow, residents have to cross the same junction twice, and past midnight, they would most probably have to drive against the traffic flow (see the map) since they are not allowed entry through the same junction and the security guards are instructed to direct traffic around the block. This is why I say this is the law of the jungle.

        Because of this implementation, throughout the day, especially during peak hours, motorists living near the junction must drive around the block and add to the long queue. The jam is actually caused by the heavy traffic on the main road, no thanks to the haphazard town planning that goes unchecked. There are easily 15 Condominiums in this area.

        When the issue was debated during the Covid pandemic, the newly-minted DAP local councillor could only suggest deploying Rela volunteers—a proposal I immediately shot down, as completely unfeasible. Instead, I suggested the Resident Association to deploy a single security guard to manage traffic flow during peak hours. 

        It's a practical and most effective way to manage the traffic during peak hours. After all, the junction is hardly busy throughout the rest of the day! 

       But these three unanimously dismissed the idea without even giving it a try. Instead, they insisted on turning two roads into one-way streets.

        Ironically, when discussed independently, even the security supervisor supported my idea but was unable to implement it without the chairman’s approval. In many places, security guards double up as traffic controllers. 

        In fact, this morning, I suggested that the barricade buttons are centralised, allowing the second guard to handle both paperwork and barricade control, while another focuses on spot checks and traffic management.   

        The sama trio proceeded with their plan despite objections, and you must at least look at how ridiculous the one-way traffic flow has become, before  you understand why it has created a great inconvenience to residents and visitors.        

        This is the reality of how our government operates. I will see who endures longer in the fight - politicians who choose to ignore public grievances, or the voters. Politicians cannot selectively decide when to listen—especially when someone like me has been broadly supportive of the Madani government.

      Let me be clear: though I am not directly affected, I stand in solidarity with the residents who continue to suffer in silence. All I can say to them is, “This is what we get after more than 20 years of unwavering support.” Some nod in quiet frustration, while others have already resorted to cursing.

        This truth is worth telling so that politicians do not dwell in their echo chamber; instead, serve the people, if they still crave our votes! If some day I say my family and i, my neighbours and friends, are not going to vote, at least you know why. Pakatan Harapan still needs a high voters turnout in order to win an election, and many of my friends are already saying it is no point to return home to cast their votes.

Not only one location

        I find it hard to understand why politicians choose to believe that, the one-way traffic system implemented by MPS elsewhere is the one-size fit all solution. In some situations, the system no longer works; in fact, it seems utterly ineffective, as vehicles remain confined within the same locality for an extended period.  

        At one particular junction, the special officer working with deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, one Mr Neow Choon Seong (MCA) saw and heard how dangerous this junction is, but decided to play down a lot of the issues communicated to him verbally and through writing. 

      Initially, I did not want to mention this out of respect for our Deputy Prime Minister, but due to frustrations, this has to be mentioned as well so that people know the truth.

        What he eventually wrote to the council barely reflected the depth of what was explained to him. So, tell me—can we still hope for change? Would anyone seriously consider voting for MCA if this is the calibre of candidate they put forward? No surprise he lost in the last general election.  

        I don’t know about you, but my two toes would be laughing if I had to cast a vote for politicians who can’t even distinguish between their adversaries and the very people they are meant to serve. Politicians must understand that their role is to serve the people—not to entangle themselves in local political manoeuvring with non-politicians. They should take a page from Fadillah, who has risen above political divisions to focus on solving real problems on the ground.

It was mentioned here Jalan Desa 1/2 but it was a mistake. The correct name of the road is Jalan Desa 1/5 as labelled in the video. The gentleman in white shirt is Neoh.

        This illustration serves to highlight the need for MPS to improve its delivery pf services, if it hopes to earn the confidence of ratepayers. The one-way street system everywhere it implemented requires a serious rethink—especially given reports of frequent accidents at the junction of Jalan Desa 1/5 and Persiaran Perdana in Aman Puri, as pointed out by a concerned resident speaking in Tamil accent (listen to the video again).

      Put simply, if politicians want our votes, they must listen to all voices, rather than dismissing concerns for their own convenience. If they choose not to listen, people will continue to reject them. For that reason, Wee Ka Siong has not been effective in restoring MCA to its past glory. I still remember people with whom I had some form of dealings - Lim Ah Lek, Dr Fong Chan Onn, the late Chua Jui Meng and Chew Mei Fun.

What should local council and politicians do?

      The one-way traffic system is failing residents. Those living beyond the roundabout at Persiaran Perdana experience daily frustration—exiting the area requires weaving through the commercial zone before rejoining Persiaran Perdana, merging with vehicles from Taman Ehsan, Desa Jaya, Ehsan Industrial Park, and Usaha Ehsan.

      This is the reality commuters face every day. Yet despite raising the issue with Gobind Singh Deo for the past two years, his promise to resolve it remains a distant prospect.

      In essence, traffic isn’t being managed—it’s merely circulating without relief. This is hardly an effective strategy, especially given the mounting congestion caused by unchecked approvals for multistorey condominiums.

      Politicians must listen to the people when local council leaders remain indifferent. A simple check on the SISPAA system would reveal the reluctance of civil servants to engage—unlike the exemplary leadership of the MBPJ mayor Tuan Hj Zahri Samingon or even a commendable individual within the MPS itself, Tuan Mokhtar and his team of staff. 

        Those overseeing local government should by now recognise that the concerns raised here aren’t trivial complaints but part of a broader, systemic failure.

      That is precisely why I cautioned the same minister I praised earlier—his MyKiosk project may be well-intentioned, aiming to support petty roadside traders, but it will inevitably fail unless local councils shift their attitude from wielding power to genuinely serving the public. They must adopt a culture of proper maintenance, with a structured system in place to ensure its implementation before the next general election. If council staff, including its president, are double-faced in their dealings, they should be reassigned elsewhere - the jingles of Timbuktu, to say the least!

      Local councils should prioritise residents, not themselves—a fundamental principle that MPS failed miserably to uphold last year. 

      When residents were invited to attend a townhall meeting, they were told to park along the roadside while their staff who should come in their council vans (or buses) were given the priority parking within the compound of Dewan Sri Gombak. This simply does not follow the Malaysia protocols where guests are treated well.

       While I hold Tuan Mokhtar in high regard, the broader culture within MPS must change. What they fail to recognise is that they are entrusted with delivering essential services to the people. It is their repeated failure to fulfil this duty that frustrates the public.

      To put it plainly, when the British established a three-tier system of government, it was not merely about decentralisation for efficiency but also about ensuring oversight from both state and federal levels that local government officers do not overstep their authority.

       Systemic failure is the reason this writer’s experience which remains a bittersweet one despite the promises of reforms in the local government.