All three major coalitions will be contesting Bukit Bintang, (from left) Pakatan’s Fong, Barisan’s Tan and Perikatan’s Chen.
Bukit Bintang faces challenges from growing number of transients and foreign workers
BUKIT Bintang, often described as the “heart” of Kuala Lumpur, is a popular shopping destination and tourist hub, renowned for its skyscrapers, hotels, malls, swanky restaurants and glitzy nightclubs.
Now, it has become a popular destination for another group – the homeless.
In the last few years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bukit Bintang became a hub for the homeless.
The number of homeless living on Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Alor, Jalan P. Ramlee, Changkat Bukit Bintang as well as Chinatown in Petaling Street is growing daily.
Even the poorer areas such as the San Peng Flats, Pudu, Imbi as well as the old shophouses in Jalan Berangan, Jalan Walter Granier and Tengkat Tong Shin have become the sleeping grounds of these transients.
Conditions in Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Petaling have deteriorated so badly that business owners want policymakers to resolve the problem once and for all.
“It is getting worse and we want to see something done about it,’’ said the owner of a fast food restaurant in Jalan Bukit Bintang.
Flats in Bukit Bintang dwarfed by skyscrapers. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star
“They are making our customers uncomfortable. We want them relocated,” he added.
Others complained about the influx of foreign workers, who have changed the character of the area, and not for the better.
“Every day there is rubbish in the drains, on the corridors of shops and staircases.
“I am so sick of it,” said Lim Yoke Lee, who lives in a walk-up flat at Jalan Imbi.
The emergence of roadside stalls at every nook and corner has also contributed to the area’s general messiness.
Rocky Tan, who runs a Chinese coffeeshop in Jalan Alor, said drains were always filled with rubbish.
“When it rains, we have flash floods because water cannot flow.
“The back lanes are messy too.
“We want people’s attitude to change and for them to maintain the cleanliness here,” Tan said.
At San Peng and Pudu, residents complained of deteriorating facilities like pedestrian walkways and non-functioning streetlights.
“Many of the walkways are occupied by the homeless,’’ said Tan Pek Ee, a long-time resident in Pudu.
Similar sentiments were expressed by residents of Brickfields, such as Kawasan Rukun Tetangga chairman SKK Naidu.
“We want more playing fields and parks, many of which have disappeared because of rapid development,” he said.
In the redelineation exercise of 2018, Bukit Bintang saw an increase of about 20,000 voters with six polling districts from the Seputeh and Lembah Pantai constituencies moving to the Bukit Bintang seat.
Other areas that were moved to the Bukit Bintang seat are Brickfields and Salak South.
About 60% to 65% of the voters are aged 50 and above, with new ones making up about 9,000 and Undi18, about 2,000.
However, only 40% of the electorate are residents of Bukit Bintang, the rest live elsewhere.
The seat was previously known as Kuala Lumpur Bandar before it was changed to Bukit Bintang under the 1984 redelineation exercise.
Bukit Bintang will see a three-way fight between incumbent Fong Kui Lun (Pakatan Harapan-DAP), Tan Teik Peng (Barisan Nasional-MCA) and Edwin Chen (Perikatan Nasional-Bersatu) in GE15.
The seat is a DAP stronghold and Fong has been MP since 1999.
