KAMPUNG BARU (MALAYSIA) (AFP) -
In
the shadow of Kuala Lumpur's mammoth Petronas Towers lies an urban
anomaly: the rustic ethnic-Malay enclave of Kampung Baru, where chickens
and barefoot children dart across streets little changed in a century.
Authorities hope to change all that.
The
last remaining large tract of undeveloped land in the capital's urban
core, Kampung Baru is targeted for a historic redevelopment, part of
larger plans to upgrade the metropolis of seven million people.
But
many residents of the languid 120-hectare (300-acre) neighbourhood,
known for its unique Malay-only land-ownership and proud sense of
identity, won't budge.
"Do you want to live in the squalid
conditions your grandparents did 50 years ago?" said an exasperated
Affendi Zahari, head of a government entity tasked with spurring the
redevelopment.
He added: "We don't want to see this place trapped in time."
British
colonisers, mindful of balancing Malaysia's competing ethnicities, set
aside Kampung Baru ("New Village") in 1900 for members of the typically
rural Muslim ethnic Malay majority to prevent the industrious Chinese
minority dominating the then fast-growing city.
- It takes a village -
Kampung
Baru experienced some of the deadly Malay-Chinese ethnic strife the
capital faced in 1969 and its residents participated in huge
demonstrations for political reform in the late 1990s.
But as
Chinese-fuelled development raised the skyline higher, Kampung Baru
remains essentially a country village, the symbolic heart of Kuala
Lumpur's Malay identity.
Its weathered wooden homes are packed in
along narrow, maze-like, rain-puddled lanes clogged with parked cars and
shaded by overgrown mango and frangipani trees.
On most corners,
traditional open-air eateries pile high foods like spicy fried chicken,
curries and banana fritters, as grilled fish sizzles over coals and
longtime neighbours discuss the news.
Hashimah Yun's grandparents scraped together enough money to buy a plot well before Malaysia's independence in 1957.
The
modest original house gradually expanded into a sprawling, ramshackle
home for a dozens-strong extended family that has priceless emotional
and cultural value, she said.
"My grandparents opened this land
with their blood and money. We won't sell at any price," said Hashimah, a
feisty 56-year-old retired bank employee, her head swaddled in a green
Muslim headscarf.
A government master plan, however, would jerk
Kampung Baru, whose land is estimated to be worth over $1 billion, into
the 21st century.
The futuristic proposals include glass-and-steel
developments fusing hotels, modern apartments, parks, pedestrian
walkways, even a man-made lake.
The scheme is part of a larger
facelift for Kuala Lumpur, already one of Southeast Asia's more modern
capitals, to remain attractive for investors as regional competition
increases.
Upcoming billion-dollar projects include a new
financial district, a city-wide mass transit system, high-speed rail
links to Singapore, and a 630-metre skyscraper that would outstretch the
Petronas Towers by 180 metres.
Last October, Prime Minister Najib
Razak appealed to Kampung Baru's people to embrace change or risk being
viewed as "squatters".
Malay developers are offering residents
around 500 ringgit per square foot for land, sharply lower than prices
in nearby areas due to Kampung Baru's lack of modern infrastructure.
Officials say progress has been negligible.
With land prices rising rapidly in Malaysia, Hashimah fears her family would struggle to stay together elsewhere.
Like
others, she called instead for government investment in Kampung Baru's
decrepit infrastructure to improve resident's lives, and suggested that
intentional neglect was aimed at driving landowners away.
They want to "grab our land, chase us out and make money," she said.
- 'Tough process' -
As
a cautionary tale, many locals cite a 1980s debacle in which some
residents lost their land when a developer's plans went bust.
Chan
Wai Seen of JS Valuers Research & Consultancy said Kampung Baru's
unbeatable location offers tantalising potential, but unlocking it is a
challenge.
Hurdles include the poor infrastructure, rising costs
of land and construction, a slowing economy, and the Malay-only
ownership, he said.
"We need to ask just how competitive Kampung Baru will really be," Chan said.
The government is leaving Affendi to try to facilitate private deals rather than wade in directly, wary of angering locals.
A
trickle of landowners have sold in recent years, but momentum is
further constrained by the fact that many of the thousands of parcels
are jointly held by several owners, complicating deal-making.
"It's
a tough process," lamented Affendi, tacitly admitting that Kampung
Baru's village-in-the-city atmosphere will survive for the time being.
by M Jegathesan
© 2016 AFP
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