No favouritism: Brickbats for even Hannah

Hannah should realise public will endure potholes and flash floods for only a time period 

DAP in these days are getting to my nerves, especially with issues that they are not willing to resolve in order to fix the system, although in them, the authority and powers are vested in and they know poor delivery of public services is a systemic issue that has plaqued the nation, but continues even into 2026.

For over two weeks now or more, I have been highlighting the problem with Jalan lang Emas and Jalan Bukit Maluri in Hannah’s pwn constituency. In those days, when Dr Zaliha Mustafa and my Maimunah were in charge of the Federal Territories in their respective positions, I only had to send complaints about potholes to aduan potholes DBKL hotline. Problems were fixed not long after. I am not sure why but these days especially during the weekends, the people manning the WhatsApp hotline appear to be indifferent, even addressing me as Cik when my profile picture clearly showed I am a man.

There was Indian gentleman Rishikanth Gounder who would call me to confirm the exact location of potholes. But they were pretty good and even sometimes fixed most of the other potholes before I could bring these potholes to their attention. 

But in recent months and weeks, I find that the hotline is not attending to complaints as much as they did in the past. Instead they are just a time waster, and worse nothing gets done although both mayor and minister could have instructed the department head to improve the services. As members of that public we are doing a service to the local government by giving them locations where the potholes have to be fixed. In Melbourne, the road patrol people fix all the potholes without anyone having to complain. 

Here in Kuala Lumpur, we have to shout and reprimand people before they start doing anything. What is worse that I notice within the DAP, the so-called people’s champions, is the lack of empathy with the people’s grievances unless they can appear on TikTok to generate some publicity hype. 

Much to my surprise, the lackadaisical attitude has also spread to the FT Minister, Hannah Yeoh. Each time as I drive past the section of road with all the potholes at the junction between Jalan Lang Emas and Jalan Bukit Maluri, it pains me to see how both the City Hall and the minister herself dan continue to leave these potholes unattended. When we express our displeasure, they think we are their enemies. But let me reiterate to people like Anthony Loke, no one is indispensable. Just like former Foreign Minister, Saifuddin Abdullah, he is no one these days. Between him and Anifah Aman, I have more respect for the latter than Saifuddin who was part of the tebuk government, which eventually also collapsed and today no longer have any clear direction. 

I know the DUKE Concessiomaire can be difficult to deal with, but DBKL cannot expect us to refer the complaints to DUKE. Till today, DBKL staff do not understand good customer relations; but I would expect either the minister or the mayor to come down hard on the concessionaire. If they are supposed to hand over the road to DBKL, I want to know why they are not doing it till today. 

It is the concessionaire’s responsibility if the roads have not been handed over till today. Any repairs would have to be settled by them, but as far as road users.we do not wish to be pushed around. 

I hope Hannah has not joined the other DAP leaders who think it is not their job to fix problems within their ministries. If they choose to ignore they are good for nothing when we are all yelling to see reforms being implemented to improve the delivery of public services. 

Having just highlighted Anthony Loke’s indifference to the real issues in KTMB  faced by customers, I will also whack Hannah for failing to address some of her problematic staff at DBKL. Ministers, especially those who are less experienced, should learn from people who are more experienced and customer-focused such as our Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yussof, ot ay the mayor level like Datuk Zahri Samingon of Petaling Jaya. 

Speaking as an ordinary Malaysian, with no title, no money and no powers to boast of, I can tell you how the average man or woman feel about ministers or civil servants who turn on a deaf ear. They take all the efforts to see you or even write letters to explain the situation, even write open letters to the Sultan of their states to seek reprieve for their daily woes - pothole-riddled roads in twenty-first century Malaysia, clogged drains that cause msssive floods, old trees that can fall on their cars during a heavy downpour. 

Ministers especially those from DAP should sometimes abandon all the police outriders - after all, I thought they have in the past spoken up against the waste of human resources by having police escorts and outriders to manage the traffic while their grand entourage enjoy the rights of way — only then they will not forget their experience being caught in a massive traffic jam! I wonder how Hannah would feel if her own car hits these potholes…