A Tale of Two Territories

1^st February – public holiday

Woo-hoo.

FT Day holds absolutely no meaning to me, other than its very important function of being a public holiday. Now for those in the dark, FT stands for Federal Territories, which encompasses Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. KL became an FT in 1974, Labuan in 1984 and Putrajaya in 2001. Since the cession to the Federal government, KL has become a metropolitan melting pot, Putrajaya has become home to almost every government servant, and Labuan has not seen any progress of note.

I must admit I have never been to Labuan, or Borneo for that fact. Hence commenting on the state of affairs there is based solely on word-of-mouth and whatever I've read about the island formerly under Sabah. What I do know for a fact is that Labuan remains a relative backwater compared to the sister FTs. That's hard to imagine as Labuan is not only an international offshore trading centre, but a free trade zone as well. In terms of progress and development, one can only wonder if Labuan would be better off being managed by Sabah or even Sarawak. Plenty of potential but remains an epitome of 'satu lagi projek oleh Barisan Nasional'.

Putrajaya remains an enigma to most sensible-minded folks. More and more, it appears to be the monument to a power-crazy, delusional iron-fisted politician than anything else. Far removed from civilisation, with architecture designed to hammer in a point of secularism in Malaysia, Putrajaya remains the source of pride to a few, and the object of ridicule to most. The new administrative capital of Malaysia, it was touted to be the next Federal capital. Fat hopes. I reckon after someone informed the government that people had no intention of having three capitals in Malaysia (ala South Africa), the government quietly smothered any declarations of such nature.

The residents of Putrajaya reflect the status of the town/ city. Complacent government servants and government cronies inhabit large bungalows, yet spend more time in KL. No surprise, Putrajaya is extremely staid. Devoid of any form of entertainment, proudly boasting the half empty Alamanda, Putrajaya is never to be the counterpart of KL, even PJ. But never is not eternal. Perhaps if the government stops portraying Putrajaya as a residency for people solely of certain ethnicity and religious orientation, things might start to 'get a life' there. Perhaps Putrajaya could indeed one day displace KL as the capital of Malaysia. But until the government starts to cater to people from all walks of life, creed and religion, I wouldn't bet on it.

On saying that, Alamanda is quite impressive. Pity they forgot that a mall is only as good as its patrons. Yes, a mall does need patrons.

(Image from www.klccproperty.com; www.asiadivesite.com)