Brickfields crumbling – does BN care?

Palanivel's recent pledge of continuous facelifts to Little India is just a ruse to impress the Indian community that the BN government is doing wonders for them.

COMMENT

Barely eight months after the Little India in Brickfields was “reinvigorated” at a cost of RM35 million in 2010, the mega investment began displaying signs of decay. Among others, the Little India signature landmark, the RM3-million elephant-inspired fountain, has been out of order for months.

Making matters worse is the indifferent attitude of the local authorities, namely Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Alam Flora, the police, the Malaysian Resources Corporation contractors and the Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Ministry.

On Feb 3 this year, the Metro section of an English daily highlighted the plight of the residents and business community in Brickfields who are both angry and exasperated at being given the cold shoulder by the authorities.

They lamented that Brickfields is falling apart and despite numerous complaints, the authorities show no interest in coming to the rescue. Piling rubbish, vagrants, drunkards and snatch thefts are worrying customers who have since started giving Brickfields a miss.

Little India Action Committee chairman S Pathavachalam was reported as saying that the situation reflected the attitude of the authorities. He added that dozens of the muruku-inspired lights had been vandalised exposing the wires.

Still, the federal government could not care less, not until Feb 14 when MIC president G Palanivel made his second trip to Brickfields. The minister was not there to address the existing problems faced by the people of Brickfields. Instead, he was there to announce plans to turn Brickfields and Little India into a tourist haven.

That was Palanivel’s main agenda. Lending a listening ear to the grouses aired by the residents and business community was nothing but a “formality” extended by MIC. It is apparent that taking the rakyat for granted has been a typical modus operandi of the federal government and the Barisan Nasional and it appears they have no intention of doing otherwise.

What’s Palanivel’s real agenda?

Palanivel, recently elected the transformation chief for the Indian community, has given his word to bring about a “fresh breath of air” and an “economic transformation” to Brickfields and its inhabitants.

“We need to bring in more international tourists, not just from India, but also from Japan, South Korea and Singapore,” he stated. “After all, these tourists arrive at KLIA and take the train to KL Sentral. Brickfields is just a stone’s throw away,” he said during his “turun padang” stint.

Does the “fresh breath of air” means “fresh allocation” to splurge under thre pretext of beautifying Brickfields? How is that as the transformation chief for the Indian community or simply as the MIC chief, Palanivel had no knowledge of the rot that is affecting Brickfields?

Palanivel, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said Brickfields needed to undergo “continuous facelifts”. Are these so-called “cosmetic” displays inevitable or are they a way of trying to impress the Indian community and subsequently making them feel indebted to the BN government for doing wonders in Brickfields?

What really was the agenda that Palanivel had in mind when he showed up in Brickfields on Valentine’s Day this year if not to canvass the Indian community’s support for BN?

Palanivel’s words of comfort that the traders could turn to him for assistance might have come a little too late. The people of Brickfields have come to realise the “true colours” of MIC and the authorities.

They might not be 100% convinced by Palanivel’s promises but then what else is left to be done? Palanivel also promised to convey the traders’ needs to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Only time will tell whether the MIC chief is going to walk his talk.

Typical pre-election stunt

The walkabout and promises made by Palanivel were nothing more than a pre-election stint, in this case the 13th general election which is just round the corner.

Should the people of Brickfields trust Palanivel when both he and the Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin did nothing to address the problems plaguing the people of Brickfields?

Palanivel is being backed by Tourism Minister, Dr Ng Yen Yen, who is only too “excited” to turn Brickfields and Little India into a tourist attraction.

Palanivel said the first step would see Ng meeting the people of Brickfields after which a masterplan would be drawn up incorporating input from the people as well as various government ministries and departments.

“There are two ways to promote Brickfields. The first is to advertise Little India in tourism brochures and the second is to organise weekend festivals so that the area is always alive,” said Palanivel.

His ideas included a sound system to broadcast music and a public TV to screen programmes like cricket matches for the many tourists from India.

Is it puzzling as to how did MIC miss out on the “ways” and “means” to promote Brickfields, especially after the lavish funfare to launch Little India in 2010?

And how will all the extravagant “facelit” improve the quality of life of the people of Brickfields when Palanivel and the authorities have shown no interest in reaching out to the rakyat, that too when Najib keeps assuring Malaysians that “people first, performance now” is the BN government’s top priority?

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.