From rat-infested quarters to brand new home
KUALA LUMPUR: Home for A. Muthukumaran used to be a dilapidated Public Works Department (PWD) staff quarters in Samping Pudu, an old part of the city where rats and snakes were frequent uninvited guests.
Life was hard for the 55-yearold PWD storekeeper and his family as his right arm was paralysed after an accident in 1987.
“Back then, rats were running around the house. Sometimes, we saw snakes inside the house,” he said of their former one-bedroom home that was built before independence in 1957.
“Because the area was very dirty, my wife had dengue fever,” he recalled, adding that he and his family had no choice but to endure the unhygienic conditions in the house and the neighbourhood.
Everything changed after a visit there by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in September 2009.
Shocked at what he saw, Najib immediately told Works Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor to do something about it.
Today, Muthukumaran, his wife and their two daughters now have a comfortable three-room house to live in.
“I remember the quarters were so old and ramshackle.
“It was certainly not suitable for anyone because there was only one bedroom,” said Najib yesterday.
“I was very touched looking at the condition of the living quarters that I had to tell Shaziman to do something about it,” he said during the launch of 60 new PWD quarters at Batu 4 1/2 Jalan Sungai Besi-cheras here yesterday.
“Civil servants are our people too, what more when they are the ones who carry out the government’s plans.
“So, civil servants should have a better quality of life,” the Prime Minister added.
With the changing pattern in human habitation and migration from the rural to the urban areas, the government will have to strike a careful balance in developing both areas, Najib said.
“Back when most people were living in the rural areas, the government had to set up agencies like Felda, Felcra and Tekun Nasional.
“But now, 60% of Malaysians live in the cities.
“That is why, apart from rural development, we must focus on the urban areas so that it will not just be a place for the rich but also for the low income earners,” said Najib.
He urged the public to give the opportunity to the government to carry out more development plans in line with the policies of the last three years.
“If in these three years we could see so much change, what more in another five years?” he asked.