Klang’s Taman Sentosa anything but peaceful
KLANG: The big KFC and Pizza Hut outlets, the large Public Bank office and the rows and rows of shops are what greet you, but as the road meanders further, the lowcost houses are visible.
And the houses get more rundown the farther you drive. Then, it gets almost scary if you are there after sundown.
Welcome to Taman Sentosa, the “garden of peace” in Klang.
But it has hardly been a place of peace. It has been in the news for the wrong reasons such as the gangland funeral when hundreds of thugs set off firecrackers and blocked roads, and the two schools where young gangsters on motorcycles wreaked havoc, among others.
Now, the place is in the news again, this time as a new state constituency in Selangor after the recent redelineation.
The Sentosa state seat is also special because it is the first – and only – seat in the entire country with an Indian majority.
The seat under the Kota Raja parliamentary constituency has a total of 51,444 voters with 22,293 or 43% Indians, 19,671 Chinese (38%) and 8,767 Malays (17%). Ironically, the contest for the seat is an intense one with five Indians in the fray.
The five are Barisan Nasional’s MIC candidate Datuk R.S. Maniam, Gunarajah R. George (PKR), Rajan Manikesavan (PAS), Telaiamblam
Mariappan (PRM) and Independent candidate Sundarajoo Periasamy.
Both Telaiamblamand Sundarajoo, who is known as P.S. Rajoo among his supporters, are former PKR members and close aides of incumbent Sri Andalas assemblyman Dr Xavier Jayakumar who is contesting for the Kuala Langat parliamentary seat in GE14.
It will be interesting to see in which direction the votes will go as four of the candidates could be considered as locals except for Gunarajah, a former councillor of the Selayang Municipal Council, who lives in Bandar Country Homes, Rawang.
Prior to the redelineation, Taman Sentosa after which the Sentosa state seat is named was part of the former Sri Andalas constituency.
Taman Sri Andalas is now a major part of the newlycreated Sungai Kandis seat, also under Kota Raja which has three state seats now compared to two previously.
Of the two schools involved in the gangsterism fiasco, one is in Sri Andalas and the other smack in the heart of the Sentosa constituency.
Just a stone’s throw away is the
place where a woman was hacked to death by several men. The video of that killing went viral recently.
While the threat of violence and fights simmers on, the Sentosa seat now includes a huge middle class with Bandar Bukit Tinggi being brought into the constituency.
This fairly new area is where upmarket hypermarts and entertainment centres are to be found. It is probably the new heart of Klang.
Taman Sentosa was developed in the early 1990s.
According to Rajoo, who moved into Sentosa in 1992, the Indians there are mostly former estate workers. After losing their jobs, the former estate workers from Klang, Shah Alam and other parts of Selangor found affordable homes in the area.
“A singlestorey house was only going for about RM50,000 then,” he said.
In the early 2000s, Taman Sentosa was thrust into the limelight and listed as a black spot by the police.
Rajoo said the emergence of new townships around Taman Sentosa led to the situation then.
“I don’t think that Sentosa was as
bad as it was portrayed, and residents do not live in fear as people may think.
“We lead normal lives. I am proud to be a resident of Sentosa,” he said.
Gunarajah said he was aware of Sentosa’s reputation as a notorious area.
If elected, he said, he would have a blueprint for the Indians which would include raising the income level, eradicating social ills and reducing the crime rate.
Maniam said he would work at the grassroots level and reach out to the youths.
“They need personal development training so they will not be involved in crime,” he said.
The winning candidate may actually have an easier task on his hands than expected.
Police action under Ops Cantas and several arrests under Sosma have led to a drop in crime, with many kingpins going into hiding or lying low.
South Klang OCPD Asst Comm Shamsul Amar Ramli also confirmed that Taman Sentosa was among the priority spots in their list of crime prone areas.