Petaling Jaya becomes a city today. It will be the second city in Selangor after Shah Alam and the first "second-city" in a state in Peninsular Malaysia and probably an exception for many years to come.
Not many people know that I was probably the first person who raised in the Selangor State Assembly that Petaling Jaya was more qualified to become the first city in Selangor than Shah Alam in 1996 or 1997 when Tan Sri Mohamad b. Mohd Taib, the then Menteri Besar, informed the house that Selangor was making application to the cabinet to make Shah Alam a city. Shah Alam eventually became a city in 2000.
Mohamad was honest to agree with me then. He explained that the state would have to make Shah Alam a city ahead of Petaling Jaya for Shah Alam was the state capital. In fact, Shah Alam was deliberately created and expanded to meet the requirement of a city. The reason is political.
Petaling Jaya is not the first product in this respect. Kuching in Sarawak was the first. It has to be divided into Kuching North City and South City in order to accommodate a Chinese plus a non-Chinese mayors.
It is sad to note that after years of indepedence, our political leaders are still haunted by racial politics. We have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Anyway, for the time being, congratulation to Petaling Jaya folks. Syabas!
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2 comments:
when will klang be next?? the next 10-20 years??? we're not eager 2 see 'MPK' change to 'MBK'... all we need is quality services from the council n improvement to the town infrastructure...+ not spending taxpayer $$ on unnecessary stuff.. eg horses (r they still alive?).. . moreover i cant see any diffrence 5 years ago n now... except more floods... if to to compare wit aussie local councils... msia's r way way behind...
As another Klangites, I would agree with aussiestudent that what we need from the town council would be quality and improvement to the town infrastructures. To keep Klang town clean is another good goal. If MPKlang is able to do this, we would not need to become a city before we are happy with them...
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