The case of the vanishing fields
It’s no mystery actually. The authorities must do more to ensure parks and playing fields are not swallowed up by development.
I STAYED up until the wee hours yesterday morning to catch the Champions League match between Young Boys of Bern and Manchester United.
My sleep was well worth sacrificing because the Red Devils were comfortable 3-0 winners, but for me it wasn’t so much the scoreline that was interesting; it was the fact that the match was played on artificial turf.
The manager complained, the players complained, but the authorities insisted that the match be played at that venue. If this is the future of football, then it’s a crying shame. Football was meant to be played on grass. Period.
But this is also the trend in the Klang Valley. A friend of mine, a successful entrepreneur, is in the midst of constructing eight artificial football pitches. He says demand is high, and they have low maintenance costs.
I would venture the reason why there is a market for such technology is because there is a serious lack of playing fields in the Klang Valley in the first place. That is the sad state of our green spaces – playgrounds and football pitches have been taken over by unscrupulous developers, aided and abetted by complicit local authorities.
It’s symptomatic of the times. Kids don’t play football any more. They’re on video games. Adults don’t play football any more. They prefer going to the gym or the weekly game of futsal.
What we do have is a glut of shopping malls. And visiting a mall is now the favourite recreational pastime for Malaysian families.
Actress Maya Karin has expressed concern over the number of shopping malls being built instead of playgrounds for children, Harian Metro reported.
She vented her frustrations on a Twitter post on Sunday, saying: “We take away children’s natural playgrounds and build more malls. Then we open artificial playgrounds in the malls for them to play and for the parents to pay”.
Her post got more than 3,700 likes and was retweeted about 5,300 times since then.
Maya, 37, also said that some shared her views with Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad and his senior private secretary Zulkefli Mohd Nani in Labuan on Monday.
Maya said they also discussed the Bukit Kiara recreational park and the lack of greenery for the community in housing areas in the city.
She said many football fields had been sacrificed to build more condominiums.
Yes Maya, I agree. An example of this is in Taman Desa, off Old Klang Road. At least 10 high-rise residential projects in this area have been approved by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and a number of these are green spaces earmarked for development.
It’s a shame because Taman Desa used to be a leafy and quiet suburb, with parks and trees. But this isn’t the case any longer. There has been over-development in the area, resulting in traffic jams and a strain on the infrastructure.
To be fair, DBKL has frozen all unapproved projects, including those built on hillslopes and public spaces. Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said all projects that had been approved would proceed as usual, but unapproved projects would be put on hold, adding that the unapproved projects would not be considered unless they complied with regulations.
“We will put on hold all projects that have not been approved. Those with development orders from the district officer can proceed.
“‘Put on hold’ means projects will not be considered unless they comply with all requirements,” he said.
That is good news for NGOs and resident associations (RAs) that have been campaigning against over-development in the city, but it still does not address the issue of projects that have ALREADY been approved.
Those 10 high-rise projects in Taman Desa, for example, or the controversial project encroaching on Taman Rimba Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Both RAs in Taman Desa and Taman Tun have taken DBKL to court over these issues.
Mohd Amin has tendered his resignation as mayor on Sept 1 and there has been no indication as to who his successor will be. But we do know that the new mayor will have his hands full.
TheMalaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been investigating some 90 plots of land sold “suspiciously” by DBKL.
“It was puzzling why City Hall needed to sell land as its own annual income of almost RM3bil is enough to sustain its operations,” Khalid was reported to have said.
These dubious land deals may have taken place during the tenure of his predecessor, but Khalid and the incoming mayor must now work to ensure that our remaining parks, playgrounds and fields must not only be left untouched, but also maintained.
More than that, they must compel developers to reserve certain areas for green spaces in new developments.