During the last general election, being residents of Bukit Antarabangsa in Ampang, Selangor, we gave our family votes (a total of five votes) to the Barisan Nasional state assemblyperson for Bukit Antarabangsa whom we know as YB Azman Wahid.
For your information, Azman was my schoolmate in Ipoh way back in the late 70s at the Sekolah Raja Chulan in Ipoh, Perak. Out of an 'espirit de corps' and being an old friend, I told my family members to give this green politician a chance. Because of our five votes (and many others), he was elected.
Now after three years, this is my report card on the YB (since the PM and menteri besar has said many times that they also have a report card system). Below are several reasons why we will not re-elect him or any BN candidate at Bukit Antarabangsa.
Has the state assemblyperson made himself accessible?
My own survey among friends in Bukit Antarabangsa show that they don't even know who YB Azman is and what he looks like. He has failed to advertise himself and publicise how the people of Bukit Antarabangsa can reach him. No one knows where his office is. In the era of e-mails and handphones and SMSes, this is not acceptable.
What was his plan for Bukit Antarabangsa?
As far as I know, we have seen no development for the last three three years. This for a population of educated people. Maybe he has plans which he has kept to himself. But not telling us is equivalent to having no plans at all. We can see the deteriorating basic infrastructure without any new projects planned. We have no schools, no permanent police 'pondok', no library. We only have the poor and rapidly deteriorating facilities built by MBF 15 years ago.
The deteriorating infrastructure at Bukit Antarabangsa
The name Bukit Antarabangsa means International Hill. Sadly, the environment and infrastructure is far from its name. Road conditions are extremely bad and are worse than the roads at Kg Jabi, Terengganu (my wife's kampung). We should be ashamed of our infrastructure. I wonder how often the YB drives into our area to notice the famous Bukit Antarabangsa Motocross.
Has the state assemblyperson ever listened to the voice of the people of Bukit Antarabangsa?
At the entrance of Bukit Antarabangsa is a failed food court project. When the project was initiated, there were plenty of objections from many parties. The state assemblyperson failed to convey the feelings of the people to the MPAJ and the state government. Today, the food court is an eyesore. It reduces Bukit Antarabangsa's status to that of a low-cost neighbourhood.
Mosque and no mosque
My suggestion to the mosque president to organise a signboard placement at the site of the new proposed mosque was quickly done by the mosque committee. The YB came and people had to open the door for him. At the signboard placement ceremony, this state assemblyperson promised the sun and the moon to us but so far nothing has come of it yet.
This mosque project has been delayed for nearly 10 years now. What has the YB done? He claims this has been brought to the MB's attention. Well, it appears that both the MB and the state assemblyperson have failed to keep the people informed of progress on this matter.
Has he initiated any community-relations fostering programmes in Bukit Antarabangsa?
Not that I know off. All I know was that he did officially open one such programme but this programme was not initiated by him but rather by some residents of Bukit Antarabangsa.
National and state-level issues - where is he?
Have you ever heard of this guy bringing up important state and national issues related to the environment, the community and the grassroots? During the recent major floods in Johor Baru, I had expected our state assemblyperson to organise some charitable activities that could help the affected people. Did we hear his voice. Did we see his picture? You know the answer.
My dear fellow residents of Bukit Antarabangsa, I have only one advice for all of us. All of us are educated to a certain extent. Let's judge the performance of an individual based on his contributions. Evaluate objectively the performance of our state assemblyperson.
Don't evaluate the flag or the logo or the party. Cast your vote wisely. Choose the person and not the flag or the picture of the PM. Choose someone that we know. In my case, I knew him in school and since 1978 but did not meet until almost 25 years later. One thing I can say now is that people change.
I am not going to make the same mistake again. Azman, you still have time to redeem yourself. Do something concrete, otherwise you will lose five votes from my family.
