In a middle-class suburb that has rejected two government ministers in as many elections, anger toward the ruling Barisan Nasional government has been reignited by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) proposal to raise assessment rates just six months after the general election.
So it was no surprise that residents in Bangsar had a lot of pent-up frustrations about City Hall and to an extent, Putrajaya, when they met their MP, Nurul Izzah Anwar, last night to discuss the proposed assessment rate hike for property owners in Kuala Lumpur.
They unleashed all their questions, mainly about the proposed hike that has come to hit them like a thief in the night and other issues which they felt City Hall and Putrajaya were not doing right.
He then cited the example of the Penang state government which had already called for discussions among its people for a proposed rate increase in 2015.
Quay also suggested that the opposition strengthen its alliance and come up with a "shadow council" to check on KL City Hall and how it manages its accounts.
Later he told The Malaysian Insider, "They have to debate, discuss and harass DBKL over this. We will be civil and mature but we want an explanation from them in justifying the rate hike."
Quay's sentiments were shared by the over 200 mostly senior citizens from all over Bangsar who came to the Bukit Bandaraya sports complex last night.
They took the opportunity to raise their concerns on the variety of services which they alleged City Hall was not providing.
They ranged from traffic congestion, to security, the infestation of rats and cockroaches, to the MRT project and concerns of more residential areas in Bangsar being turned into commercial zones.
All their questions were posed to Nurul Izzah, who is the Lembah Pantai MP.
The first resident to take the microphone asked, "We send the letter objecting to the rate hike, then what? What is the process after that?"
Nurul Izzah replied the opposition had made a strong objection, which was to ask City Hall to cancel the rate hike until proper consultation is done with the rate payers on what would be a justifiable increase.
"We need to send in as many protests as possible, and if need be, we will march to the mayor's office to demand this," she said to applause from the floor.
The second-term MP added that she was hoping that at least 20,000 letters of objection would be filed at City Hall, opposing the proposed rate hike.
All the Kuala Lumpur MPs from PR and BN will meet Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor this afternoon to discuss the rate hike.
As such, businessman Hetesh Kumar proposed that residents accompany the delegation of MPs to hand over the objection letters to City Hall to "show a stronger force".
Questions were also posed on the redelineation process, with one of the residents sharing that there were rumours that Bangsar would be taken out of Lembah Pantai and parcelled with Seputeh.
To this, Nurul Izzah joked that she also heard that she would be getting better "protection" in her constituency in the form of 8,000 policemen from Bukit Aman voting in Lembah Pantai.
"I almost fainted when I heard that. But let's hope they all come and protect Lembah Pantai," she offered in good humour.
The MP was also asked if the steep assessment rate was a punishment for not voting for the ruling government.
To this Nurul Izzah replied, "You are the voters and you have the right to demand the best policies from the government. Somehow, I don't want to give justification to that suggestion."
Another resident complained that rats and cockroaches were climbing their walls, coming out of broken drains that have not been repaired for years.
"Why should we pay higher assessment?" the senior citizen asked.
Meanwhile Quay said that with the proposed assessment rate hike the latest issue to affect the people, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak continued to remain silent despite all the controversies that are being debated in society.
"Education standards, crime rates, the Allah ruling, all these issues are brewing but the PM continues to be silent.
"He seems to allow these controversies to fester and cause disunity among the people."
Meanwhile Bukit Bandaraya Residents Association president Datuk Mumtaz Ali said that they had already formed a loose coalition of six associations and were looking to get a bigger force for the purpose of objecting to the proposed rate hike.
When asked what could be the worst case scenario, Mumtaz said, "The authorities have said that the proposed rate hike was not cast in stone. This is a clear indication that they will review. I think the government will listen."
City Hall has started sending out notices to all property owners in Kuala Lumpur informing them of the proposed hike in rates, which was between 100% and 1,000%.
The notices, however, stated property owners must register their objections, if any, with City Hall before December 17.
Tengku Adnan had earlier defended the proposal, saying the assessment rate had remained unchanged for the past 21 years.
He said residents have until December 17 to submit feedback as it was not the final decision, adding that the government would take their objections into consideration and discuss the best approach before "coming up with a win-win solution".
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