Government efficiency in Malaysia.

 Government efficiency in Malaysia.

Lau Wei Yiang

​Thomas Koshy​

Recently, in the past week, I had tried to send messages to my city council, Majlis Bandaraya Subang Jaya, MBSJ, to clarify a few bylaws. The city council never responded to my emails or messages to the respective hotlines. For  context, Nobel International School is located in the Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) jurisdiction. 

I wanted to clarify circumstances on urban tree planting as the Mayor had said that citizens and residents can plant trees outside their homes without council consent. The mayor said that statement in the press. The MBSJ is very funny, in my area. 

In 2021, I planted a long stretch of trees after the mayor gave the green light for approval. Then, from 2022 to 2023, the MBSJ sent a crew three times to cut my trees down. They attempted a small clearing followed by much larger clearings and eventually the entire site. The council plastered yellow enforcement tape on the site prior to the first cutting but removed it after a week before acting three months later. No notice or reason was given for the tape's installation. Council staff told me differing views. 

Mr Daniel Kok, a secretary for my local council representative, told me a walkway was to be built at the site. He subsequently told me that the trees were cut because the trees caused burden and obstruction to future works, and that more trees will be cut if not planted by MBSJ. He told me this in February and March 2023, and he also said that MBSJ had to use a lot of council funds from all over the place to cover the cost of the tree felling exercise of the ones I planted. 

On the ground, when I spoke with the MBSJ's in house tree cutting crew of six workers led by a man whom I will refer to as Mr Ahmad (not his real name), I was told that the place was bushy and ugly and they had to clear the site. Two of his team members, both Bangladeshi workers, gave a lewd sexual harassment gesture at me while talking to me. The MBSJ subsequently changed the grass cutting contractor and told them to prevent regrowth, and I subsequently filed a complaint on the conduct of their crew.

Each time MBSJ cut the trees down, they will regrow after they were cut as they have this feature. MBSJ had to cut the trees down a total of four times; 30^th April 2021, 22nd June 2022, 4^th October 2022 and 24^th March 2023. The MBSJ tasked the grass cutting contractor to prevent regrowth, but their efforts were fruitless.

On 14^th October 2024, the MBSJ reprimanded the contractor and threatened to terminate their contract over the trees if they allowed regrowth. The contractor's crew were given a pay cut. From then, efforts by me to protect the trees were met with difficulties. 

This case is a classic example of half baked statements made by Malaysian government officials. If the council had kept their promises, or came up with a SOP, none of this would have had happened. We have seen double standards enforced during the MCO. It was already a double standard environment, regardless of the pandemic's precedence and succession of time.

Thomas Koshy<thomaskoshy082@gmail.com>

​You​

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