I lived in Taman Maluri,Kuala Lumpur for about 25 years since mid-1984.At that time,there was a real Kampung Pandan Roundabout-no traffic lights and spagetti junction like today.It took me 20 minutes to drive to my office at JKR HQ.Now?It would take one hour or so..Those were the days.By 5pm,I will be back home with my wife and kids.
I estimated there were at least 1000 people living in Taman Maluri.Over the span of 25 years,I managed only to know about 25 families who are living in the same row of terrace houses and who frequented the local Surau Taman Maluri and the Masjid Imam Ash-Shafie.True,as they say,the longest distance to travel is to your neighbour's house.
There were no sidewalks along the roads in front of our houses.Sidewalks are only along the main connecting roads-Jalan Wira and Jalan Wirawati.Only 50% are paved and the balance is planted with grass.Since all of us have cars,no body used these sidewalks except by students and food vendors! Everyday,we go out to work in the morning;then we return home and repeat the next day.When we arrive home after work,we are dead tired to talk or visit anyone.When we don't meet, we don't talk and we don't know one another.I have lived on the same road for 25 years, but I only know about 10 of them out of 40!
We are neighbours only because our houses are connected by the common walls on both sides and we share the same road to go home.Other than that,we are strangers..And there exists no community at all.Everyone is for himself.They have their own friends at work as well as those who shared their hobbies.Now,I live in Bandar Baru Bangi.It is the same..However,I have noticed in the last five years that new housing estates ,notably in Putrajaya,have included a lot of space for sidewalks where people can interact and have a conversion.Whether they do is another story..
From my observations, the planning of the housing estate with its associated facilities is very important for people to live as a community.However,physical infrastructure is not enough if not complemented with community culture.This,I have to say,we have a long way to go..
I was fortunate to have a 30 minutes lively conversation with a French gentleman who was seated besides me while we were on our flight from KLIA to Kota Bharu this morning. He works for a French oil and gas company. What I could learn from this short conversation is how the French company trains their managers.Many Malaysian companies took the easy way out and took a few short cuts and we ended up with incompetent project managers resulting with many project failures.The French companies took time to train their people in various departments/work areas as well as working in different locations and cultures.This is important if we want our managers to be world class and taking the challenge of globalisation.. During my last visit to Paris in 1997,I observed that they may take years or decades or even centuries to build their cities but they are of objects of beauty.The bridges across River Seine are fine examples.In our case , we wanted to complete everything by yesterday.We may have the Starbucks but do we have cafe' culture? Another aspect is that they insist on very much higher standard of mathematical knowledge as compared to British and Malaysian universities.Now, I know why my son who is studying at MFi is complaining.
He’s being called the “other winner” in this election: Nate Silver, the New York Times’ poll analyst extraordinaire, once again correctly predicted the winner in every state.Voters wait to cast ballots in Minneapolis. Does the sidewalk they're standing on help predict the outcome? Photo: Streets.mn
This morning, though, we’re more interested in another insight he tweeted a few months ago: “Heuristic: if a place has sidewalks, it votes Democratic. Otherwise, it votes Republican.”
It’s something I’ve heard before. Bill Bishop’s fascinating book points to the deep connection between urban form and political affiliation. Central cities are overwhelmingly Democratic. In exurbia, it’s the exact opposite.
Let me begin my first posting by stating the definition of the word 'sidewalk' according to wikipedia:
"A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade (height) and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb (British English: kerb). There may also be a road verge (a strip of vegetation, grass or bushes or trees or a combination of these) either between sidewalk and the roadway (British English: carriageway) or between the sidewalk and the boundary.
In some places, the same term may also be used for a paved path, trail or footpath that is not next to a road, for example, a path through a park."
[Note on the photo:Taken during my photowalk with Klickr's friends around KL-a view of petition writer and his client,rarely seen on any roadside or sidewalk nowadays]
In the following blog postings,I shall use the word 'sidewalk' in term of the above phyical definition as well as the metaphorical sense,depending on the context.
This word 'sidewalk' came to my mind while I was doing some research on cycling path network. In my housing estate where I live there is none.All road pavement are made for the motorised vehicles. Cyclists have to beg for space on these roads,even in their own neighbourhood.This is one subject that I shall elaborate in my future blog posting.InsyaAllah.
In Malaysia,our sidewalks are not only for walking but they are also used by bicycles, motorcycles, cars and lorries.At night,food venders will put up tables and chairs for their customers.At times, shopowners take almost all the space of sidewalks to exhibit their wares for sale!Anything is possible on our Malaysian sidewalks,including mugging and snatch thefts-day and night.
About seven years ago,I set up a Flickr photo group entitled Kaki Lima Kuala Lumpur,and later renamed Kaki Lima,Malaysia and invited others to upload photos they snapped while they were on the sidewalk/kaki lima.More than 40 persons had submitted more than 200 photos of what they saw and captured with their cameras and uploaded to this group.You can see all of them via this link.
If we stand on the kaki lima(five foot way) along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman Kuala Lumpur, we shall see a lot of ordinary people doing their own things.By standing or walking on the sidewalk,we see,hear and smell what is going on around us.These are about ordinary people going in all directions to earn their own living.How about those people in corporate offices towering KL City and the various ministries in Putrajaya?
Views from The Sidewalk is about being an observer of what is really happening on the streets-literally and metaphorically speaking.See you again next Wednesday 9th January, 2013. InsyaAllah.
Below is an example of a nice and clean sidewalk in Malaysia.Sadly,it was gone-making way for more sdiewalk restaurant and kiosks along Bukit Bintang area of Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.
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