DPM: KG BARU MUST CHANGE WITH TIMES
Urban village in KL needs to accept progress, says Zahid
KAMPUNG Baru must embrace the develop ment and progress taking place around it without shedding its Islamic and Malay spirit and identity.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government had made amendments to rules, regulations and acts to ensure that Kampung Baru landowners’ rights were safeguarded.
“When we are surrounded by development and skyscrapers, will (Kampung Baru) be left behind if (it does) not make an effort to develop (itself). A balance is needed between the old and new so that we do not stay in a cocoon without acknowledging change.”
Zahid said residents of the century-old urban village must not hold on to, or be overly nostalgic about past glories.
“The old must love the new and the new must respect the old. This should be the spirit of Kampung Baru’s development,” he said during the launch of a condominium project, Residensi Rah, yesterday.
Zahid said he hoped residents and other parties would support developers so that Kampung Baru matched developments in its surrounding areas.
At the launch, he took an apparent dig at former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by saying that leaders of the past needed to respect those who replaced them.
“If we were at the helm of power and leadership for more than two decades and we feel that the times were so glorious, but if our time has passed, we also have to admit that the time after us is also great.
“We need to acknowledge that there is no old without the new and vice-versa. The old must love the new and the new must respect the old. This should be the attitude of Muslims and Malaysians.”
Zahid advised those of different faiths to respect Islam if they wanted Muslims to follow suit.
“Don’t interfere with our affairs, our laws and our rights.
“Islamic laws are not only just what is contained on paper. The laws must be based on the al-Quran, sunnah (the words and actions of Prophet Muhammad), ijma (consensus) of ulamas and qiyas (comparison).”
Present at the launch was Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.