Just take a walk along Jalan Petaling. It used to be a real Chinatown but not anymore. There are now more Bangladeshis, Indonesians and other foreigners than Malaysians. It's the same with Chow Kit where the foreigners have displaced the Malays in the area. In Jalan Petaling, the owners of these stalls seems to be more contented letting their foreign workers run their businesses. So when foreign tourists visit these stalls, all they see are foreigners selling these faked goods. Where are the Malaysians? Maybe the food sellers are still Malaysians but surely these foreigners have outnumbered the locals. Now that there is an application by Pengasih, a non-profit organisation that runs a drug rehabilitation programme, for additional stalls in Jalan Petaling, these traders have suddenly surfaced, grumbling and complaining. Their argument doesn't seem very convincing. What's wrong with letting Pengasih be a part of Jalan Petaling? In fact, every pasar malam in the city should keep a spot for NGOs for the disabled, single mothers and the less privileged to dabble in small businesses instead of relying on handouts. They should have realised long ago that Chinatown has become Banglatown. They should not blame anyone except themselves for losing that identity. Except for the arch, the identity of Jalan Petaling as Chinatown has disappeared. Meanwhile, City Hall has finally announced officially that Jalan Alor would stick to its identity - and name. It would be taking down the Jalan Kejora road sign soon. Thanks to Federal Territories Minister Zulhasnan Rafique for stepping in and putting things right.
16 comments:
Petaling Street has been BanglaTown for many years. Who is at fault? The idiots Chinese traders and the gang tai koh are at fault. In their eyes it is money money money. Do they care about heritage, culture, tradition? A brain dead will belive they do.
These idiots are very much aware of the problems but are they doing anything? Yes they did by hiring more blangla.
The above is not to discriminate Bangladeshi but the problems created by the Bangla is getting out of hand.
I am a Chinese and do I go to Petaling Street nowadays. The answer is a big NO.
Datuk,
How much FT spend to change the Kejora signboard? Zulhasnan need to know these kind of things and he was oblivious. No thanks to him.
Spot on WCW. Seems like the stalls have some common stakeholders as they usually trade in similar items, usually some cheap imports and clothing or watches from Thailand and China. The workers are also very rude and sometimes scold vulgarities at foreign tourists. Time to let genuine Malaysians take over the stalls and run them.
To Amoker, 1st all u must realise wat u say fist.Dont simply jump into conclusion.DBKL made the blunder - by changeing the name to Jalan Kejora. But FT Minister Zulhasnan Rafique who made the decision to change name - Jalan Alor back. He deserve to be credited. May be people like Amoker dont realised - wat really happened actually.
Hello Bro Amoker,
Janganlah teralu emosional macam pembangkang.Kalau buat pun salah , tak buat pun salah. Dalam isu Jalan Alor apa yang terjadi ? DBKL yang tukar nama tersebut, tetapi apabila isu ini dibangkitkan oleh Star - Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan berikan reaksi yang segera.Beliau kata akan dengar pandangan semua pihak. Beliau gunakan kuasa untuk tukar balik nama tersebut.Terimakasih kepada Zulhasnan Rafique. Ini bukan soal papan tanda tapi soal keprihatinan seorang Menteri. Hello Bro, di Penang mereka bergaduh pasal papan tanda, kita kena bersyukur atleast di KL kita ada Menteri yang boleh dengar suara rakyat.
Sokong .Memang sudah jadi Banglatown. Petaling Street sudah hilang idenditi.Peniaga di sana sudah menjualkan maruah mereka kepada pekerja asing untuk duit.Cukup memalukan.
I suggest the Datuk Bandar take the signs from Jalan Kejora --oops, i mean Jalan Alor and take it to Jalan Petaling. Let us change Jalan Petaling to Jalan Kejora.
The "Bangladeshi China Town" is not unique in Malaysia. Something is wrong with this country, and it is not just one single thing wrong. It is a collection of problems which make it difficult to solve.
You could say Malaysians have grown picky on what jobs they want to do. Many would rather go unemployed than to be seen manning a street store. And not many would want to work as waiters, waitresses, maids, kitchen helpers, gardeners, etc. Of course the Malaysian employers are also partially to blame.They offer shitty wages, and the amount paid is not enough for Malaysians to live on. pur government and educational institutes are also to blame. The scholarship and loans given to students (at least those lucky enough to receive scolarships and loans, which are mostly bumiputras ) do not require them to work part time to supplement the scholarship and loans. The university management of both public and private colleges and universities also frown on and discourages their students from taking part time jobs. This is very unlike the American universities that actually encourages students to take part time jobs. When I was running an MNC I often bring up the topic of hiring students as part time workers, but often the head of the colleges / universities do not like the idea, but would rather offer the "almost about to graduate" students for a formal "industrial training" program for 3 months which my company will get almost nothing productive from the student in that period. So I just dropped the subject. Frankly I would rather see a bunch of local students as waiters/waitresses than a bunch of foreigners waiting at my table,and they can't understand what I want.
Malaysians also got a shit attitude about house work and garden work. They must have maids and they must have gardeners. Why can't they just clean the house themselves?Why can't they mow the lawn themselves. Or why can't school kids earn some pocket money by mowing the lawn in the neighbourhood. Oh no,the parents will "lose face" if their kids are seen doing part time jobs like that! And oh no,they need to spend time doing home work or going to tuition class. Sick! By the way,I was a "straight A" sudents in school in Malaysia,and a top 5% student in an Ivy League university. And yes, I worked part time when I was studying in the USA, washing the cafeterias, working in a hospital, etc. And yes I worked my way up to head an MNC, and I did my own gardening, washed my own cars. And I do my own DIY repairs in plumbing where I can,and only call in the plumber when I can't quite manage to do the repair. Malaysia needs an overhaul.
Dato', I wish remind you that "Bangla" is very offensive word to Bangladeshis. Bangla is like "Paki" to Pakistani and "Curry" to people of Asian origin. Honestly, I am deeply dissapointed with your choice of word. Bangladesh may be a poor country but the people there are human too. I am sure your bible teaches you to respect the sensitivity of all mankind regardless of their status.
"China Town" is really for the tourist. For us locals, we will only go there to eat, and mostly at night when the traffic is lighter. There is nothing "Chinese" about China Town ala Petaling Street. As Dato Wong said, it is a "Banglatown", or a Myanmartown, or a Indontown, whatever. The prices of stuff there are higher (tourist price!), the place is dirty, and the place is not so safe. And even as a tourist destination it is already losing its appeal as it is no longer a "Chinatown". Maybe Pengasih may even want to consider a better location to trade! Many of the morning markets,or the pasar malams are great places to trade, and the traders at the big pasar malams do brisk trades.
I went to Petaling Street about a year ago with my family. My wife was scolded by these Bangla for bargaining. These guys are very rude and they dont care a dam for us locals. They are only interested in the Arabs tourist.
agree with bluemoon - bad choice of words.
I have stop going there a long time ago,
Datuk,
Why are you so racist? Why can't Bangla or Indonesian front the Chinese traders in PS?
Well, your Ethnic use to get easy money by Being Baba for the Malay and own the part of the 30% Bumi shares.
Then, you make noise by requesting the BUMI 30% equity be abolished, hope the Bangla and Indon will take over your Ethnic group portion of the Economic pie.
Well, migrant like your Ethnic always behave the same-opportunist.
everybody wants to be at the top of the caste hierarchy....so any manual lowly paid job is shunned by most Malaysians, irregardless of race....
Low wages and no benefits just makes it worst.
An example
Garbage collectors are not even provided with basic needs like gloves and mask and proper attire that is suitable for the job. Why ?
Save money at the expense of their health and for the sake of hygiene ? Watch how they carry the garbage with their bare hands throughout their jobs.Watch them throw your garbage, touching your garbage chute and your gate or anything else . And us unknowingly touching the very same spot....
I shudder to think when they touch the taps to wash their hands. The taps itself is already contaminated. Watch for those places where they frequently stop for food and drinks.....
DBKL should simply tell the traders at Petaling Street that for the sake of the sreet's culture and identity, Chinese have to man the stalls or their licence will be revoked.
I know it reeks of racism but that is the only way to maintain the identity of Chinatown.
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