Foul!

As published in Malay Mail today. Haresh Says By Haresh Deol I ENJOY my daily walks with my Golden Retriever. It’s the best time of the day where I get to unwind and enjoy the cool midnight breeze. Occasionally my neighbour Mr Wong will join me. The retiree has plenty of exciting tales to share. Our conversations mostly revolve around politics and the nation’s economy. But lately, it has been about the hunger to build highways in Selangor. “Many say highways are good as it will ease traffic but it is a temporary measure. The population in the area will eventually increase and so would the number of vehicles on the road. And then what ... we build another highway on the highway?” questioned Wong. I share his sentiments, as highlighted in my previous column ‘Highways no more than cosmetic effect’ on Oct 15 last year. I had then said we must study our transportation system thoroughly and this includes providing quality public transportation service that connects ever...

Haresh Says, as published in Malay Mail today. IF the buildings could talk, they would have plenty to tell.   Constructed in the early 1900s when Ampang was thriving with the mining scene, the old buildings along Jalan Besar Ampang in Pekan Lama Ampang still stand strong even till today.   The township, located in the east of Kuala Lumpur, has seen rapid development. Jalan Ampang was one of the very few main arteries into the city centre, connecting the very many tin mines to the heart of town. But in recent years, it has been notoriously famous for massive congestion as many used alternative roads including the Ampang-KL Elevated Highway (AKLEH) or even the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2).   What used to be rubber estates and thick jungle were slowly cleared to make way for housing development.   Jalan Ampang and parts of Ampang Hilir was later called the “Embassy Row” as foreign nations bought plots of land to establish their diplomat...