Hannah Yeoh lands in hot seat

HANNAH Yeoh was one of the less remarkable Youth and Sports Ministers that most people could remember but she has taken to her portfolio as Federal Territories (FT) Minister like a fish to water.

There has been a torrent of attacks from Malay political parties and groups from the day she was named to the post. They have questioned the appointment, cast aspersions on her motives and taken to running down the initial roadmap she has laid out for Kuala Lumpur.

“Criticism is an important part of democracy but what’s happening is irrational, unjustified and verging on the abusive. I am most uncomfortable about the racial nature of the attacks,” said writer and political commentator Eddin Khoo.

Yeoh was known to be rather thin-skinned when she started off as the Subang Jaya assemblyman but she is probably learning that criticism comes with the job and she has not let the noise distract her.

The Segambut MP’s experience in urban constituencies has come in handy for the developmental politics of Kuala Lumpur except that it is like going from sailing on a small pond to navigating the open sea.

Yeoh spent her first months in the hot seat studying and consulting and she has taken a number of rather strategic steps in recent weeks.

Her move to protect the city’s green lungs by setting up a task force to gazette these spaces has gone down well with even people outside of Kuala Lumpur. The development pressure in the city is enormous and such green spaces are never quite safe.

Well-aware of the less than savoury reputation of what goes on at Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), she has announced, among other things, that enforcement officers will be equipped with body cameras and they would be rotated to prevent over-familiarity.

The quotation and tender process for procurement would be moved online for greater transparency. They are timely baby steps in response to the government’s efforts against corruption.

The FT department will also be working in collaboration with MACC to monitor things. Lining up the big guns beside her when making the announcement was quite powerful optics. Flanking her were Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki and other top figures of DBKL.

But nothing captured public imagination like the proposal to introduce elections for the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur. It has drawn a deluge of mixed opinions and, as usual, the controversial and outrageous remarks have made headlines.

The proposal is pending a survey to be undertaken by the International Islamic University Malaysia and would involve amending existing legislation to enable an election.

But the attacks have been relentless with some suggesting that election would be swayed by the underworld while others claimed that an elected mayor does not necessarily lead to more efficiency.

The latter argument does carry some weight because all of us have at some point in our lives elected YBs who are either lazy, useless or even stupid.

Another opposition politician said an elected mayor would cause policy instability because the system would be driven by election cycles. That was quite lame given that the current appointment system is driven by the revolving door cycle.

But the argument for a mayor elected by the people rather than appointed by Putrajaya is far more appealing and in line with public opinion.

Some say it is karma that DAP leaders are being questioned and slammed for almost everything they say or do. That was their modus operandi when in the opposition, protesting against and thwarting everything the then government tried to do.

DAP apologists have argued that promises like recognising the Unified Examination Certificate and elections for local governments are not urgent.

But how can issues that used to be non-negotiable and absolutely necessary when Pakatan Harapan was the opposition suddenly lack urgency when in power? Intelligent people are not going to swallow such excuses.

Electing the mayor is a tiny step forward in Pakatan Harapan’s grandiose promise to implement local government election

“The Chinese community have been barking at DAP for not carrying out our manifesto. People think the Malays make a lot of noise but the Chinese are just as demanding and difficult to satisfy,” said former Selangor DAP leader Datuk Teng Chang Khim who has become an opinion shaper within the community.

Teng said claims that it will lead to Chinese domination of Kuala Lumpur are baseless because Malays make up 47% of the city’s population, Chinese 42% and Indians 10%.

“I suspect Malay groups are worried that the city’s Malays may elect a non-Malay mayor,” said Teng.

However, Teng cautioned the new minister to recognise that as a city, Kuala Lumpur needs a certain population density to make public transportation more viable and to enable people who work in the city to live in the city. He said striking a balance will be a constant challenge.

“Everyone will be watching how she handles the Kampung Baru issue,” said Khoo.

There have been all kinds of chatter about why the last mayor was shown the exit door or why the last FT minister was dropped. Were they casualties of the power games of the developers’ lobby?

The FT Ministry is perched at the centre of the country’s financial and commercial mass and DBKL has often been labeled as “lubuk duit” - a bottomless pit of money, given the endless demands for permits, licences and development approvals.

At one end of the spectrum is big money, immense development pressure and powerful businessmen with connections to the very top. At the other end is the urban underclass whose clamour for affordable housing and jobs are just as powerful in their own way.

Yeoh’s job carries so much potential but it also comes with lots of pitfalls.