Leader

NST Leader: The soul of a city

It was a different sort of Federal Territory Day yesterday. Kuala Lumpur is a city that never sleeps, or so they say.

One famous Lat cartoon shows two rats sunbathing on an empty KL street during Chinese New Year. People familiar with KL will snigger at that as it seems that the only time the federal capital is "asleep" is when the lunar new year is upon us.

In the past, FT Day would see KL alive and bustling with activity. Today, however, in this new year that is only a month-old, Malaysia is still gripped in the midst of a raging pandemic and undergoing a second Movement Control Order (MCO). This time last year we were not yet in the throes of Covid-19.

It was still early days and our daily infection numbers were still manageable. The first FT Day was announced by then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein in 1974 to mark the Kuala Lumpur Agreement, when the then Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, handed over KL to the federal government.

In 1984, Labuan also became a federal territory, and Putrajaya followed in 2001. The three are meant to be "the pulse" of Malaysia's development.

The original agreement in 1974 was meant to transform KL into an international commercial and cosmopolitan city. When Labuan became a federal territory, it was envisioned that it would be a global financial hub. The subsequent growth of KL led to traffic congestion and with the various offices of government being scattered throughout the city, Putrajaya was developed to allow for these offices to be more centrally located in one administrative hub, making things more efficient.

All these territories, then, would enable Malaysia to compete with other fast-developing countries. The Sultan of Selangor, however, in his speech on Sunday in conjunction with FT Day, called for the preservation and utilisation of historical and colonial buildings in Kuala Lumpur, especially those related to the state. He had said if such efforts were not made, we would lose the buildings. They must not be left to rot, he had said, as conservation would cost more if we wait any longer. The sultan had also said if we lost such structures, it would seem like KL would lose its identity as well.

The Sultan may have concentrated his message on colonial buildings and history, but he is also known as a caring ruler, one who has his subjects in mind whenever he speaks. It is for the people's benefit, then, that he said what he said.

Indeed, cities are not just about buildings and infrastructure. A city is not a collection of parts. A "wholesome" city has heritage, culture, people, warmth, liveability and sustainability. All these define the soul of any city.

Dr Karima Kourtit of the Open University of the Netherlands, commenting on her research on what contributes to city love last year during a webinar on World Cities Day said "soul" factors such as history, cultural identity and social capital showed a stronger quantitative impact on city love than the built environment and infrastructure.

In this era of Covid-19 it is more important than ever that we remember what a city should have, not just the smart components, but a "soul" — hence, all efforts must continue in protecting our people, the historical buildings, our heritage and our culture.

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