Again and again….. The tragedy never ends...
Fire station becomes used-car workshop, surau becomes car showroom and secondary school was turned into apartment complex… and… and untold land tragedies are lingering!
I feel very despair to learn that the previous Selangor government had arbitrarily converted public land into private commercial land. In fact what gets on my nerves is that ‘nepotism’ is the root cause of all! People were (and are) deprived of the right to enjoy the public amenities as a result of that unscrupulous uses of land and needless to say, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Recently in the same vein, sad to say, Pahang government had proposed to convert a public area which was supposed to be reserved as a school field for SJK(C) Triang 1 into blocks of new commercial buildings. Inevitably, such decision had triggered an overwhelming objection from the local community, to whom this public land should be made for the education purpose.
Since 2002 efforts had been put in to make that a reality and from time to time favourable promises had always been heard from the relevant authority. Yet, in 2008, the hope of the people was completely dashed and vanished when the state government decided to embark on a joint-venture commercial project with a private developer on that area.
A fray between the parties was sparked off and it became escalating when a peace demonstration was initiated to urge the government to review its decision. Unfortunately kung-fu show artistically took place when a gang of rogues (representing the developer) stepped in and disrupted the unarmed crowd with parang, rotan and baseball bats; and eventually being one of organizers, Ketua Kampung was assaulted by these barbarians, ironically inside the police station.
All in all, I’m wondering WHY? Why commercial development prevails against education? Again, this is the fault of NEPOTISM! It was said that (you can choose to disbelieve) the developer stands in a close relationship with Pahang Chief Minister. After all, being a considerate government, public interests (education) should not be sacrificed in the name of commercial development per se.
Apart from striving for maximum profits, the developer should not forget its social responsibility either; without the piece of land which is adjacent to the primary school the developer can still look for other suitable location elsewhere while this might not be possible for the school.
It is hoped that Pahang government would promptly call a halt to this commercial project and vouchsafe our children a green field. These pupils are our country’s future bones and pillars and they richly deserve a green lung to have a breath of fresh air.
“Please leave us a school field.” This is the voice of our children.
“SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT!”
