I REFER to “MRT too big, too early, says Mahathir” published in a news portal.
Seeing the fruition of new public transport networks like the MRT and LRT extensions are some of the few reasons why I’m still a happy taxpayer.
The prime minister might not see how much of a difference these facilities make to the regular rakyat, but survey the views of the majority and we shall see how much more appreciative we are for these compared to some of the earlier mega projects, which unfortunately unlike KLIA, still remain useless 20 years down the road. Think Proton City, Cyberjaya, Bakun dam, Perwaja steel etc. Where are these and how much has the rakyat benefited tangibly from them?
I would rather the general public enjoy the “lavishness” of our public transport infrastructure than taxpayers’ money potentially going into some politician’s private mansion.
Why shouldn’t the rakyat enjoy world-class commuting experience? It might be costly now, but just as Mahathir has expounded on how difficult it was to get KLIA built and looking at how successful it is now, likewise, wouldn’t it take as much time for these public transport networks to reach their projected ridership?
We’re already gripping about how difficult it is to get Malaysians to move from personal vehicles to public transport.
Hence it makes all the more sense that upcoming public transport facilities would need to be all the more attractive, practical and well-built to incentivise Malaysians of all social status (not just the ones who can’t afford cars) to take them.
Commuter
Kuala Lumpur
