Minor Details of Major Importance
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about promoting Ipoh – the City That Tin Built, as a tourists’ destination, all of which was looking at a bigger picture of some ambitious plan or project. What these plans failed to do was to take note of some of the seemingly minor details that needed to be urgently fixed first.
Fountain at the iconic Railway Station has stopped gushing and gurgling
Although the railway station has been renovated as part of the Ipoh-Kuala Lumpur dual-tracking project, its surroundings are yet to be spruced up. The Moorish architecture, albeit impressive, appears desolate and lacks public transportation, unlike most entry points for tourists.
Mini Garden of Taj Mahal
The Ipoh Map and Guide produced by the city council some years ago described the railway station as an impressive structure “fronted by a beautiful floral garden which serves as a charming welcome for tourists”. This garden which is right in the middle of the “Heritage Walk” being promoted in the city and also the location of Pokok Ipoh (antiaris toxicaria) from which the city got its name, was fondly referred to as ‘a mini garden of Taj Mahal’. Today I wonder if it still serves as a ‘charming welcome’ for tourists as the area reeks of neglect.
The beautiful fountain has stopped gushing and gurgling for some time and is collecting rubbish. Who knows, even Aedes mosquitoes may be breeding should there be stagnant water inside the empty fountain.
The Medan Stesen and its fountain need constant attention. We cannot adopt a “tidak apa” attitude as maintenance and minor repairs must be constantly carried out if we are serious about attracting tourists, whether local or foreign.
Fountain at the edge of Ipoh Padang in need of some scrubbing
The city council appears to be unable to sustain its maintenance works. A project in the city is attractive as long as it is new. Like the fountains, there are many other minor repairs, which if not attended to quickly, will only cost the city council more later as well as become “eyesores” through poor maintenance.
Flying Squad With Special Fund
All attention seems to be concentrated only along Jalan Gopeng, where Istana Kinta is located. The city council’s parks and gardens section has failed to continuously beautify the city with landscaping, planting and pruning of shrubs and flowers on roundabouts and road-dividers. Certainly a study tour to Melaka can be useful to the staff?
I am sure city council is not hit by manpower shortage. Is it just waiting to tender these minor repairs to contractors later? Why not set up a special fund for repairs to public property and infrastructure without delay? It may be necessary to form a flying squad with a special fund to carry out such repairs and maintenance work quickly.
Taxpayers’ money is often wasted just because minor repairs are not carried out regularly, allowing the situation to deteriorate until an allocation is needed for a contractor to do the job.
There is no doubt the city council is gradually carrying out improvements to the city’s infrastructures, but if timely minor repairs are carried out, then pavements do not necessarily need to be replaced just because there are some broken tiles. This is at the expense of developing other areas.
Remember, the first impression is very important. A city needs to show it is well managed, clean and beautiful.
Jerry Francis
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I have to agree with all three gentlemen’s comments above. Even the plaques placed in front of so-called “heritage buildings” purportedly to explain the significance of these sites are an absolute disgrace. Wonder how much the city council paid for these disgraceful cheap-looking and badly made plaques? One only needs to drive along the roads and peer into the filthy drains near the Jaya Jusco area (an area which is supposed to be THE hip and happening place in Ipoh) to see that MBI workers have been TOTALLY negligent in their duties. And if the stubborn people of Ipoh continue to dump rubbish where they shouldn’t, then it is up to MBI officers to be vigilant and impose an immediate fine on ANYONE caught dumping/throwing rubbish indiscriminately (like they do in Singapore!). We will never successfully attract tourists unless something is done about this ‘tidak apa’ attitude towards cleanliness and conservation.
I often wonder when will the fountain in the little Taj Mahal start functioning again.
Is city council waiting for an allocation to redevelop the whole garden just because the fountain has stopped function? I’m not surprise. Once stopped functioning get the whole garden redevelop. after all it is the ratepayers’ money.Who cares.
I totally agree with Jerry Francis that Ipoh needs to show it is well managed, clean and beautiful if it is to attract tourists. His suggestion for a special allocation and a flying squad to deal with minor repairs to public property and infrastructure without delay too should be taken into consideration by the city council.
Mayor Dato Roshidi Hashim and his team of city councillors must be sensitive to the views and complaints of the residents. They must not be “caught” as in the case the Raja Muda Raja Dr. Nazrain Shah’s recent inspection (Sept. 1) to an illegal open burning and dump site following numerous complaints by residents. Act now and restore the image of the city as one of the cleanest in the country.