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Thu, Feb 23, 2012

Local Counsel

Local Counsel

Kawasaki: From polluted to eco city

Posted on 14 February 2012 - 05:28am
Last updated on 14 February 2012 - 02:58pm

Goh Ban Lee

TO most visitors, Kawasaki, like most cities in Japan, is clean and has an efficient public transportation system and crowded shopping malls. It is also fair to believe that many Malaysians have not heard of Kawasaki, a city south of Tokyo.

But to people interested in sustainable development, it is a success story.

As KL celebrates, remember the 50s

Posted on 1 February 2012 - 05:32am
Last updated on 1 February 2012 - 10:35am

Goh Ban Lee

TODAY is Federal Territory Day. This is to commemorate the transfer of Kuala Lumpur from Selangor to the federal government in 1974. Since then, Labuan and Putrajaya have been made federal territories.

As KL celebrates, remember the 50s

Posted on 1 February 2012 - 04:44am

Goh Ban Lee

TODAY is Federal Territory Day. This is to commemorate the transfer of Kuala Lumpur from Selangor to the federal government in 1974. Since then, Labuan and Putrajaya have been made federal territories.

The wellbeing of Kuala Lumpur

Posted on 17 January 2012 - 04:45am

Goh Ban Lee

IT IS bad enough that the ratepayers of local councils in Malaysia do not have the right to elect their councillors and municipal presidents or mayors. But for the ratepayers of Kuala Lumpur, the situation is worse.

Compact cities – the future of urban living

Posted on 2 January 2012 - 07:39pm
Last updated on 2 January 2012 - 08:32pm

Goh Ban Lee

"CITIES are the engines of growth" is now the mantra of urban planners and social scientists. As investments continue to pour into urban areas and people flock to places of employment, the question of urban form becomes important.

The popular term today is compact city.

Civic consciousness in the city

Posted on 20 December 2011 - 05:28am
Last updated on 20 December 2011 - 08:22am

Goh Ban Lee

BY THE time the Rapid Penang bus reached Gelugor on the way to Komtar and the jetty in George Town, all the seats had been occupied. There were also a few standing passengers. At Jelutong, among the passengers boarding the bus was an elderly lady with an aluminum walking paraphernalia. A young mother with a toddler sitting in a front seat got up and offered her place.

Civic consciousness in the city

Posted on 20 December 2011 - 04:42am

Goh Ban Lee

BY THE time the Rapid Penang bus reached Gelugor on the way to Komtar and the jetty in George Town, all the seats had been occupied. There were also a few standing passengers. At Jelutong, among the passengers boarding the bus was an elderly lady with an aluminum walking paraphernalia. A young mother with a toddler sitting in a front seat got up and offered her place.

Smart cities – easier said than done

Posted on 6 December 2011 - 04:45am

Goh Ban Lee

CITIES have always been engines of growth and development. However, this has only been widely recognised in the last two decades or so. It may be useful to recall that in the 1970s and 1980s, Marxist scholars saw cities as "theatres of accumulation" where capitalists exploited workers.

A little more protection for house buyers

Posted on 22 November 2011 - 04:44am

Goh Ban Lee

THE federal government has finally taken the step to make it painful for housing developers who abandon their housing projects. An amendment to the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118) will hold a developer who abandons a housing project liable to a fine of not less than RM250,000 and not more than RM500,000 or up to three years jail or both.

When govt officials flout the law

Posted on 7 November 2011 - 07:27pm
Last updated on 7 November 2011 - 10:06pm

Goh Ban Lee

OCT 24 was the first day of the Penang state assembly sitting. While the politicians in the assembly hall were trying to make each other look inconsequential or incompetent, what was taking place outside was not only dramatic but also more significant.