Miscellaneous / Najib Razak / Pak Lah / Socio-economy

The future of our Lake Gardens

Posted on by 19 Comments

I am a frequent visitor to the Lake Gardens.

Sometimes I jog there during the weekends. Other times, I would have lunch with a club member at the Lake Club.

The gardens is actually a combination of several tourist attractions such as the National Monument, Deer park, Butterfly Park , Bird Park, Carcosa Seri Negara, The Forest Research Institute, Orchid garden and Hibiscus garden.

I think Lake Gardens is one of the most understated tourist spot for local and foreign visitors. It is also one of the biggest green lung of Kuala Lumpur. Without it, KL will be a few celcius hotter and flash floods will occur much frequently.

Hence, any plans involving this green site must have the people’s interests in it.

In June 2010, Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak tabled the 10th Malaysia Plan in parliament. In it, lay a paragraph that stated the plan for Lake Gardens.

The particular paragraph read:

The Government aims to provide an attractive and comfortable living environment for city dwellers to live, work and play. Open spaces and green areas will be created and improved. Among the initiatives to be implemented are the transformation of the Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur into a botanical garden and the setting up of a Malaysia Truly Asia Tourism Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Back in December 2009, an area nearby Carcosa Seri Negara was sequestered from the Government  to build what is believed the retirement home for the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. It caused quite a furore as nobody seems to know how and when did the project received any approval from the relevant authoritative bodies.

Joggers were complaining because the noise and the mess created by the construction had disturbed the serene environment which Lake Gardens is famous for.

Anyhow, if there are any plans whatsoever made by the government to develop Lake Gardens within these 5 years, I am sure the people of Malaysia especially those who live in Kuala Lumpur have the right to know.

What are the details concerning this upcoming project?

Who will manage it?

Will it affect the eco-environment vis-a-vis the green lung?

What kind of investments are we looking at here?

Why do we need another Tourism Centre when the existing one can handle its job just fine?

How will this new project affect the people as a whole?

Thank you.

19 thoughts on “The future of our Lake Gardens”

  1. JMD,

    Please recall that in the last year of Abdullah Badawi there was a very huge amount of money (I think it was RM700 million) spent on renovating the Lake Gardens. Among the things they did was to drain the lake. Since you are a regular visitor I am sure you must remember the dry lake – with no water in it. They let all the water out to do some work on the sidewalls etc.

    Then they also laid some cement here and there for the jogging tracks. A new ‘outdoor’ theatre was also built. However none of the work done came near anywhere RM700 milion at all. My personal opinion, tak sampai RM5.0 million pun lebih dpd cukup. I think it was a ripoff project. In comparison the Penang Bridge was built for RM850 million.

    Even the Monsoon Cup with over 2 billion TV viewers (according to Badawi) was RM300 million.

    So now they are going to spend another RM hundreds of millions to turn it into a botanical garden?

    Syed Akbar Ali

    JMD : Thank you for the comment. The last thing we want is to have the remnants of the previous group of thieves to continue plundering the coffers through dodgy projects. Maybe bloggers in the know can dig this matter further. Thank you.

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  2. Hopefully the same will not happen as what is happening to the Botanical Gardens in Penang. Two concrete arches costing RM 150,000 were built. One tilted and that started the hue and cry. Those involved kept saying that it is a cosmetic issue and studies were conducted. Finally the tourism minister said that due to feedbacks that the arches are not appropriate for the gardens, it was decided to demolish them. Sounds that those in power want us to think that they are listenining but we are not stupid to be misled.

    Now everybody is quiet over the arches especially on the tilting one. Whether demolish or not, the issue here is that who is responsible and accounting for the tilting arch. Was there any hanky-panky ?

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  3. WHy would we need a tourism center? Dont we have that already? And isn’t the gardens already “botanical”?

    When oh when will this all stop…why cant our leaders/businessmen think of opportunities that can benefit the future and the nation…green technology/reduction of pollution/eco-friendly products/buildings/transport/automobiles

    And why do we need the MRT? SPAN was first mooted by a citizens’ initiative led by my friend and the Transit Group…these are people who USE the transportation system daily and have numerous suggestions that are cost saving and simple solutions. But gomen always has to go for the most expensive and most ‘canggih”. Look at the ideas and proposals section of their site: http://transitmy.org/

    Its all a citizens effort!

    How much will more digging for MRT system under the soil conditions we have in central KL affect the city? Will we wait to be swallowed by a huge sinkhole ala south America?

    Too many projects are a wastage. That was the main grouse of the people, but still..it goes on. Overinflated and over-the-top when simpler solutions can be implemented.

    They keep putting old recycled politicians in charge of commissions and projects like SPAN and etc…has anyone of them actually been on the ground..ie actually used the bus, waited in the rain, walked miles due to no connection/late buses etc?

    And why do we keep needing foreign consultants? Overpaid Mat Sallehs. Put in money into our research instituitions and universities and schools. Where is the spending/investment on HUMAN CAPITAL? Draw from our local experts and advisers who are qualified in their areas. Not advisers who are simply “getting to get rich quick” businessmen.

    Why does this KEEP going on and on? Sampai bila? Sampai satu masa nanti, kita akan dijajah semula kerana ketamakan dan kedegilan.

    Did you read about the percentage of Malays who are registered voters compared to other races?

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  5. A month or two ago, the FT Minister, Raja Nong Chik announced a $30 million facelift for Lake Gardens. MSM has pics of him releasing some fish fry into the lake.

    What else is in the pipeline, we don’t really know!

    dpp
    we are all of 1 race, the Human race

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  6. Isn’t it obvious that whenever there is a multi million ringgit project, we smell “fish”. So it is quite symbolic to release some fish fry first

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  7. If the need be, plant more trees be it at the KL lake gardens or Penang botinical gardens or Taiping lake. Not concrete structures like arches, food courts, hawker centres.

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  8. I was a regular jogger at lake gardens until several years ago when my knee just cannot take it anymore..

    The jogging tracks were frequently altered due to modifications, some of which I think are unecessary. But I would think that if the parks department at city hall does not spend the money modifying lake gardens, then there is a likelyhood that their budget in the coming years will be cut. So they continue spending and modifying just to make themselves busy and ensure the money keeps on rolling. But it irritates joggers like me a lot when your tracks are forever under construction/modification.

    Why can’t we have parks like the ones in Europe, where there are at least 20 football fields/tennis courts and jogging tracks in the suburbs.

    Our parks are designed for lovers and not sportsmen. We do not need a lake in the middle, just a huge flat field to play on. Even padang merbok is getting smaller. It used to attract football and rugby palyers many decades ago. Even I played there during my schooldays.

    KL should have a mayor, who was born and bred in KL and not from some kampungs, and a park management team, who used to utilise the parks frequently, and not some incompetent nimcompoops promoted to do the job he does not know and like.

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  9. I hope it’s not going to another case of DS Najib doing a walkabout and some disagreeable thing happening as a result. He walked about Kampong Bahru and the Fed Territory Minister says 40% of 80 acres of it will be given to non-Malays (developed on 60:40 basis or whatever).

    If RM700 mill was spent on Lake Gardens during Tun Abdullah’s time, it must have been crazy.

    I wish some people who are in the know will put out the facts on the decision making considerations – including the job specifications, the tender (if not tendered out, why not) the project or contract award, the implementation and payment certification.

    The country must be going crazy if so many projects are carried out on turn-key basis and the visible work done does not match the amount paid out by a vast difference.

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  10. Mr elegant silence coerced the former MB of Perak to acquire part of Orang Asli land in Perak for a botanical garden. The proposal flopped because of objections. Just because his new wife is for landscaping and greening, the sleepyhead awakened to the idea of botanical projects and more money wastage-cum-making.

    His former wife was in batik. So he went full-steam batiking everywhere until the Indonesians claimed batik is theirs. He was in Indonesia recently feeling as if wanted. During the decades in politics he has perfected his dastardly scheming, chameleonic epitome.

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  11. i dont think the 700m figure is even remotely true lah! silap tu but regardless i must say that Tundek Lah and TunJin does not deserve the mansion near carcosa as gift from govt! crazy! even à brickfields whorehouse doghouse is too good for him and his maid wife. killed the country and served only one miserable term pun nak lebeh lebeh?

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  12. A member in Lake Club? If you ever run for the committee there I will definitely vote for you. It has all been downhill since Bunga Raya serves tissue paper instead of napkin.

    JMD : Unfortunately, I am not. Can’t afford it 🙂

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  13. In last thursday Star (but not in the online version) that it will cost RM 90,000 to demolish the 2 controversial arches at the Penang Botanical gardens which cost RM 150,000 to put up. I am not in the construction or destruction business but I am sure that if I am given RM 10,000 I would be able to get it down and clear out within a day and still make a handsome profit.

    Then release some fishes for that fishy feeling

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  14. the em cee eh chingkie slut , yenyen really knows how to spend money

    on unproductive projects. The thinking on the tourist centre in

    lake garden is really stoopid.

    First the chingkie slut got the srch in Penang done.

    Now another silly project.

    Maybe they have a long term personal

    interest project. First make the lake garden a non public area
    a gomen office. Later do a piratisation – give to self or cronies

    for next to nothing.

    why the need for a second tourist office when TDC had a big office

    office/ MATIC [ is it not a Malaysian Tourism Info Centre ?]

    Do you know what tourists do in kl ?

    Chingkie slut too busy going round the world to get inspirasi , ha?

    Would a tourist walk to lake garden [ about 1/2 – 3/4 hour

    walk] to get info?

    what does the tourism department do, actually?

    they have a big office in menara dato onn and now want another center

    in lake garden?

    come on. something is fishy here.

    What is the real motive here?

    close MATIC- piratise that place lah, then open a new tourist center

    in out of city -lake garden?

    possible. minister chingkie slut’s role is like a pirate of bole-land-lah!!!!

    bole kautim meh ……

    shouting- malaysia bole, malaysia bole – de new paradigma
    ————————————————————–

    1 malaysia also good lah, 1 for me , 1 for de fat taek jo b/p de fat lady

    and you [ de rakyat ] can makan angin lah….

    to s

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