For city folk, basic needs come first

OUR politicians and bureaucrats love turning towns into cities. The city status, for some reasons best known to them, seems to evoke a sense of urban sophistication and the perception that development has reached its pinnacle. 

But beyond the elevation to bandaraya status and the prestigious appointment of a Datuk Bandar who most likely would previously have been a municipal council president, most of us have found that the authorities have not been able to deliver even the most basic requirements for the city folks.