THE importance of green spaces, such as parks, must never be underestimated as they are places for people to relax, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh.
Yeoh said this during the third edition of the Women Wellness Festival at the Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown on Saturday (Oct 3).
The two-day event was founded by Malaysian celebrity Sarah Lian and businesswomen Diane Chia and Raja Jesrina Arshad.
In her speech, Yeoh, who officiated the event as guest of honour, said those in positions of power must act as "park police".
"We must lock in and gazette these areas so that future generations have space to relax," she said.
"Once we have protected and gazetted these parks, we are looking at next year's budget to determine how to use them and convert them into meaningful spaces for the public. We must create activities for both the young and the elderly," she added.
Yeoh stressed that due to the demands of a hectic lifestyle, people in Kuala Lumpur have very little time for themselves and are often stressed.
In fact, obesity levels in the Federal Territories are among the highest.
"We must create spaces for people to relax, and for me, the most important space is green space," she said.
"We are aggressively protecting our green spaces in Kuala Lumpur and have established a task force dedicated to gazetting parks," she added.
"If we don't take this action, we will lose these parks, and the government will never spend the money to repurchase them because land value is extremely high. When given the choice between creating a free public park or building a commercial entity like a condo or hotel, many will opt for the latter," she said.
Yeoh also stressed the need to listen to the public when it comes to creating recreational spaces.
She gave an example of a recent audit where children were taken to Dataran Merdeka and the newly refurbished Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad.
"They walked through the space and concluded that while it was very nice, it was 'boring' because there was nothing for them to do," she said.
"When we asked what they wanted, they mentioned things like vending machines and affordable food and drinks; currently, a child with RM10 cannot buy anything in that space," she added.
Consequently, Yeoh said her ministry is looking at creating activities not only for children but also for senior citizens.
"Kuala Lumpur can be a very lonely place to retire without friends, and the needs of senior citizens are unique," she said.
"Scammers are well aware of this and target two groups of women: senior citizens, because of their loneliness, and teachers, because of their kindness," she added.
"Unfortunately, many teachers fall victim to scams. They often struggle to speak up and seek help because, having spent their careers teaching children not to believe in lies or talk to strangers, they feel ashamed when they become victims themselves," she said.
Yeoh concluded her speech by emphasising that wellness really starts with sleep.
"Sleep early, sleep well and get enough rest, because when you are well-rested, everything else works better," she said.
