Saturday, June 30, 2007

Hyde Park Near Me

Not too long from now, I -- and other residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Sri Hartamas, Bukit Damansara as well as surrounding areas -- will get our very own Hyde Park.
I am not too sure if that is good.
I suppose we can only try to be optimistic and hopeful when we hear this sort of thing coming from those very powerful corridors -- that the Cabinet has agreed to the setting up of a recreational park like London's Hyde Park.
I have grown to be somewhat wary, suspicious and sceptical when "grand" descriptions are thrown in such as "Hyde Park" to give us the impression that the project will be, well, like Hyde Park.
You know, it does not matter if this recreational park is not like Hyde Park.
What matters is that the area -- all 188.93 hectares of it -- will not be defiled, will not have its hills cut or denuded.
The NST has the story here.

17 comments:

aidareza said...

I agree with you "I am not too sure if that is good." Why should we ape the Westerners? If I want Hyde Park I will buy an air ticket to London.

This is typical of the government wanting to do something without proper thought and in the end we end up laughing stock of the world.

188.93 hectares is a damn lot of trees to be cut down. It should be left as it is.

A.John said...

Hyde Park minus "speakers corner" or else kamunting will just fill up!

mutalib saifuddin said...

ha! soon to be, not only in Kiara, but also in Jalan Duta, when the new Istana Negara is completed. P

Perhaps this time, it would be The Serpentine?

Shanghai Fish said...

Yes my dear,
What good is Hyde Park if NO speakers corner ? So must call Myde Park (short for Mydin !)and in bahasa "Letakan Mydin"

a.john, Kamunting IS filled up already with or without Hyde Park.

Time to get original lah dear, always apeing the west for progress and if when things get wrong or negative too blaming the west !When are we as Malaysians going to take credit for something really Malaysian ?
Cheers !

Maverick SM said...

Hahaha.... being optimistic is good.
As a realist, I believed it would be a jogging park with some stools and if not properly maintained, will end up as a condom park and Lepak garden.

Anonymous said...

Ena and fellow Jln Sudin visitors,

Lepas all that desas-desus nak kacau tanah Universiti Malaya, takut2 yang dirancang ialah HIDE park.

I say watch their hands, fellow Malaysians!

Editor said...

Yes my dear Nuraina, what I am worried is that in twenty years when we are no longer around, some private developer will come in and buy it for development after all the clearings have been done now. And there goes our lungs. And Stephen, we are original. Hyde Park has been there for as long as I can remember. Cheers !

Hi&Lo said...

Why Malaysia takde cultural identity ke? We have Japanese zen, Bali-inspired gardens.

Are we so poor of home-grown warisan? Or are we too ashamed of our own? Our pluralistic make-up could have produced a rich fusion of Malaysian identity.

If the Thais could be proud of their uniquely Thai ambience, why must be always be copycats?

We are already going to be 50 cut off from British umblical cord, but still cling to being colonised?

A Voice said...

Hyde park at ttdi?

Speaker's corner already at makbol.

Rockybru said...

Hyde Park? In summer, they go very skimpy and separa-bogel at Hyde Park, in case they didn't know. So it's something to look forward to, I'd say. And may I add, in our dreams.

Still, what they have done to preserve TTDI's green lung and Kiara ought to be lauded.

Expect some quarters to try and spoil the Kiara green with their grey concrete, though. They tried just a couple of years ago. They never give up.

Anonymous said...

Isn't that place way too hilly to be like Hyde Park?

Have they been to Hyde Park?

Jangan main bantai aje oi. Buatlah research sikit.

J.T. said...

Why a Hyde Park? Why not enhance the natural surroundings?
Make the place safe for people to take hikes or trekking. Don't cut down trees to make it. Work around it.
And for heaven's sake don't throw in animals there to copy Singapore's night safari. First, they have to get their act right with securing the rakyat's safety - too many cases of robbery, raping and killing.

muteaudio said...

I try to be optimistic but my daily commute thru Penchala Link makes me wonder how long they are able to defend themself from the onslaught of development. A year ago I don't see any red earth near/beyond the toll plaza. Now they're getting closer to the Penchala Tunnel. At least leave some some buffer zone between development N 'Hyde Park'.

Anonymous said...

Hmm..same plot but different scene and actors. That was what they said when we bought our piece of land in Kota Damansara 10 year ago. Living next to the green and all that jazz.

Now the same piece of land has been bulldozed for burial ground and we also found out that there are plans to build sport complexs.

If I were you, I wouldnt get my knickers in a twist over something like this..

Anonymous said...

I kinda liked the idea initially but Kl and london r 2 very different cities altogether. considering our extreme weather, the idea of a hydepark in our own backyard seems like a wishful thinking suddenly.

and once its officially opened for the public, its only a matter of time before the mat rempits stamp their marks.

Blabarella said...

What is it with Malaysia and the urge by some quarters to want to Londonize things? Sorry, I've got nothing against London, in fact, I love it as a city, but really. We are Malaysia lah. Forget Hyde Park, just beef up whatever few green lungs we have and work on growing more!!

And besides, if they really want to "Londonize", why didn't they build us a super-efficient public transport system rather than a hodge-podge of different light-train commuting systems which break down more often than a decrepit pre-war vehicle, and preserve the heritage in all our old buildings rather than to turn them into carparks?

I don't know if the younger generation can see it, but Malaysia (KL especially) is fast losing its identity. I'm ranting I know, but it just irks me no end to read about these so-called initiatives from our government sometimes!!

zewt said...

they can build the entire london here but with our maintenance mentality... it's all just a waste of money.

someone somewhere out there is going to make a lot of money from this project, and it aint u or me.

sigh... the haze is back and i really have to blog about it!