Stripped Bare

My personal blogging is now at My Neverland; do visit it.


Quite sometime back, I wrote about the suspicious move by the previous Selangor State Government to change the status of the Forest Reserve within Kota Damansara to make way for a large Muslim cemetery.

Though no one was able to (or not willing to) come forward to either deny or confirm the story then, the present ADUN for Kota Damansara, Dr Nasir, has brought the matter up to the present State Government, and they have acted accordingly. Below, is an email from Dr Nasir sent to the egroup for Kota Damansara. Kindly note the sentence/s in bold, especially in red.

“KOTA DAMANSARA FOREST WILL BE GAZETTED IN THREE MONTHS “ MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR .

26^th April,2009.

It was a very joyous occasion for residents of Kota Damansara when Selangor Menteri Besar announced that the Kota Damansara Forest would be re-gazetted in three months time.Tan Sri Khalid bin Ibrahim attended the Earth Day programme at the Kota Damansara Forest area.

Under the PJ Local Draft Plan 2 (RTPJ2) drafted by the previous BN administration, stated that about 40ha of forested area in Kota Damansara, which is part of the Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve, will be turned into a recreational area. This included the land that has been developed into a Muslim cemetery. It leaves only 26.9ha as the forest reserve. The rest would make way for development, including residential housing.

The Friends of Kota Damansara, the group comprising representatives of Kota Damansara Residents Associations, have been fighting to save the forest from development

The group together with the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) as the adviser have started a campaign to preserve part of the forest, which they have dubbed as the Kota Damansara Community Forest Park.

They even managed to obtain RM380,000 from the United Nations Development Programme through its Small Grants Programme towards efforts to establish the park. The forest is still largely covered by rich lowland forest dominated by meranti-keruing trees, some of which are more than 100 years old. The forest is also rich in wildlife, including 227 species of birds such as black bellied malkohas, crested serpent eagles, kingfishers, broadbills, dollar birds and possibly even the rare argus pheasant. Eight species of mammals and 25 species of reptiles are also found in the area. The Community Forest project was a success and it is the first of its kind in Malaysia.

Since the political tsunami of 8^th March,2009,Dr. Nasir Kota Damansara Assemblyman worked together with the FOKD to campaign for the forest to be regazetted. A first meeting was held with YB Elizabeth Wong, the Exco incharge of Enviromental concerns.

Many pro-UMNO quarters tried to divert the issue into a racial one . They were trying to highlight how a ‘predominantly Chinese’ FOKD was trying to stop a ‘Muslim’ cemetery from being build. However the elected representatives, Dr.Nasir ,Sivarasa and Elizabeth Wong stood to their principles . During the Earth Day celebrations last year, they made a commitment to ensure the Kota Damansara Forest be reserved.

The long campaign by FOKD and the residents bore fruits today , when they got the assurance from the Selangor Chief Minister .

“This campaign is very special , as it was participated by the residents to preserve the area as not only as a green area but as a community forest, the rakyat have wholeheartedly understood the importance to preserve the ecosystem and also how the forest helps in community building. This is what we need, we need to empower the people to fight against the greed of the large corporations which seek to exploit our green lung.” Dr.Nasir Hashim.

Pejabat ADUN Kota Damansara.

***.***

As I was informed then, the previous SG shifted the approved original Muslim Cemetery site to one which was hilly and rocky, and thus not suitable. The Cemetery was then moved to the present site, giving certain quarters the perfect excuse to level the forest to make way for housing development. Never mind about the flora and fauna there, nor about the forest was once designated as a water catchment area. What mattered was, the RM to be made from the sale of new houses. But Alhamdulillah, though the Muslim Cemetery will not be moved from this location, all other development plans has been put to a stop.

By the way, part of the area in concern was turned into a park, one which I took pictures of and can be found in Painting Pictures here. And what was it those ameno people said: "PAS was using Islam for its political gain?"

All the Pakatan Rakyat states ought to expose and lay bare the misdeeds of those previous administration.

A Doc Lo'Lo's Invitation To All

My personal blogging is now at My Neverland; do visit it.



The MP for Titiwangsa, YB Doctor Lo'Lo', invites all to a family and health oriented program as below:

The venue, Dewan Orang Ramai, Kg Paya, is located within Kampung Bahru, Kuala Lumpur. Full itinerary and direction are made available at the YB's blog here. Do tell all and bring your family and friends along.

****.****

On a not pleasant development regarding the program above, it seems DBKL really need to have their heads examined.

In planning for this program, the YB Doc, had extended an invitation to the Minister of Federal Territories as the officiating VIP. Now, considering that the YB Doc and the Minister sits on the opposite side in the Parliament, this is a good gesture as any, for the well being of the rakyat. However, the minister, it seems, is unable to attend. And in lieu, DBKL - typical of their Sarkas subsidiary mentality - had invited the Sarkas Cheras Division Chief! What bloody nonesense!

Below, is the text message from the YB Doc, verbatim:

"Salam Dato Duad. Saya kesal kerana DBKL terus dengan sikap tidak profesional dan mengambil tindakan yang jelas sangat partisan. Saya bercakap tentand program Karnival Kesihatan anjuran DBKL & Persatuan Penduduk PPR Cochrane sek 25/4, di mana yang dipanggil merasmikan adalah Ketua Bahagian UMNO Cheras kerana Menteri WP tidak hadir. Saya selaku Ahli Parlimen Titiwangsa langsung tidak dimaklumkan.

Kenapa ketua umno dijemput? Di mana local standi nya?

Kalau begini sikap DBKL, saya syorkan tubuh sahaja umno cawangan DBKL, biar terang lagi bersuluh. Saya akan dedahkan ini dalam akhbar, blog dan website. Sekian."


As mentioned, typical of a Sarkas subsidiary mentality DBKL has. I have no doubt in mind that when that Sarkas chief does officiate, it will receive some attention from the MMS, and the sarkas chief and sarkas itself, will claim it as part of their service when in truth, it is the people's money being used - an ongoing lie by the sarkas since decades ago! Just as in the Bkt Antarabangsa tragedy, the food brought by Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat were repacked with the sarkas logo and name. And it is these people who had called for unity? Go jump into the filthiest of exrement, thank you.

Earth Day at Kota Damansara

My personal blogging is now at My Neverland; do visit it.



Come April 26, the DUN for Kota Damansara is organising an event in conjunction with Earth Day, which is celebrated worldwide on the 22nd April of every year. As the would suggest, the celebration in Kota Damansara is nature oriented with the itineraries as below. If you have nothing on your calender for that day, do come and join.

Pot of Honey

My personal blogging is now at My Neverland; do visit it.




Even as it is still feeding on the nectar of one flower, a butterfly is already eying its next meal, of another flower of the same plant. Soon later, it flutters towards it, its flight path almost haphazard as it navigates the gentle breeze blowing. To add to its problem, the butterfly, like all or most insects, have compound eyes. While the compound eyes gives the butterfly and all around vision, it cannot however, focus on particular subjects the way a human can. In other words, the visions of a butterfly are as blurry as a person with a very weak eyesight and not wearing glasses.

"Quite like the story today" quipped Manan as we compared pictures we snapped for the day. Not understanding his statement fully, I asked how so.

"Well," Manan said "imagine for a moment that the flower the butterfly is on is called Perak. Only a brief moment ago the butterfly landed on it and began feeding. Somehow, it finds the nectar of this flower not as sweet as it would like, but nonetheless, still feeds on it."

"Then somehow..." Manan paused a moment as he stuffed tobacco into his pipe and lit it.
"Somehow, the butterfly's instincts reminds him of another kind of nectar. Thought darker in colour, it oozes with the richness that makes honey pale in comparison."

"Only problem is," Manan continued on "is that the butterly's can't see very well and thus the reason why it goes from one flower to another, like your butterfly there. In fact, if there's another butterly there, the two might just fight over the flower, and even killing over it".

"Butterfly fighting and killing? You're off your rockers" I shot back to him.

"Well, if it is just about the butterflies, I may very well be", replied Manan. "But, what if the flower they're fighting for is named Ganu, and the fighting are done by those here". I, off course, had a good laugh over it.

Yes, Manan's right; those people he refers to do need to have their eyes checked. Heads, rather.