By Ravindran Raman Kutty

On an evening boasting a dull grey sky, hinting of an impending shower, my daughters and I took a drive to Petaling Street in search of purple roses.

It was close to 6pm, with the evening sun slowly shying away amongst the dark clouds.

We turned into Jalan Tun Perak after passing the closed Parliament House and the Lake Gardens. The entry into the city was shockingly gloomy.

Artless, absurd and incomprehensible graffiti invited us into the city.

As we turned into Jalan Tun H S Lee, our view was several run-down old shop lots in need of much repair and maintenance. Showered with overgrown Ficus, vibes and fungus and fading paint, such a sight would put anyone in disbelief that this area is part of our nation's capital city.

Albeit the efforts of Alam Flora in keeping the streets clean, the unkempt buildings and their sad images camouflaged the beauty of our capital city.

Vagrants are still seen along the streets. I wondered why no action has been taken to house them with some dignity and care.

In addition to this, a food kitchen can be seen busily distributing food to a long queue of free food recipients.

Is this what a capital city should boast of – dilapidated buildings and uncared for citizens?

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is clearly displaying ignorance and disinterest in keeping to its promise of providing 24/7 care for the capital city's beauty, lacking gusto in maintaining the city's upkeep.

Instead, they prefer to only pull themselves together and tend to the bleak and beleaguered Kuala Lumpur when there is a grand event such as the Commonwealth Games, SEA Games or during the election season.

This brings about unnecessary stress and pressure amongst the beautification team as they have been yanked out of their comfortable seats, and also unnecessary expenses for DBKL to repair, replace and refurbish whatever aspects which could have been avoided, had they been regularly maintained.

Malaysia is marked on the world map as a tourist destination, and these are the "attractions" which our capital city boasts – unkempt buildings adorned with unsightly graffiti, unhygienic hawker stalls, streets filled with puddles of dishwater thrown from these stalls, homeless folk as the "welcoming committee" for visitors to our nation.

DBKL must descend from their ivory towers and sort out these glaring and saddening sights.

Give the graffiti artists the opportunity to change their scribbles into pieces of art. Rope them in to beautify buildings and streets with themes of flora and fauna, famous people and places; aspects related to our country that form the attractions of our tourism industry.

Each street can have a theme, and with this, we will address two issues: one to provide jobs for our budding artists and the other to oversee the beautification of our city.

Seremban can be looked upon as an example, where almost every old building has been spruced up with a painting, even the back lanes and portions of the shop lots and streets have been canvased with beautiful art.

"Syabas" to the Seremban Municipal Council (MBS) for such efforts. Can we not convey the same if not bigger "syabas" and pat on the shoulder to DBKL?

Perhaps DBKL would be able to seek advisement from MBS and take similar steps in refurbishing Kuala Lumpur, and hence each sleepy town like Klang, Ipoh, Kuantan and Langkawi may follow suit to provide greater tourism attractions and bring in an income for the nation, too.

DBKL must also undertake a painting project to work with building owners through tax or assessment holidays, encouraging them to paint their properties as we need to splash some brightness and cheerfulness into the current bleak and sunset look of the city.

All abandoned buildings must be camouflaged with murals or paintings on them, thus deflecting the negativity of the structures.

Monitor every street hawker operator and restaurants that are close to the main roads and ensure no one's run-off water gets onto the streets.

Enforce such a regulation, and impose a fine if it is not strictly adhered to.

Remove hawkers who are not observing any rules. Ensure that the tables and chairs are clean and properly covered to sit at.

Insist that the cooks behind the wok and food servers put on aprons at all times. This will give greater confidence to the customers who are both local and international to patronize the stalls.

DBKL must have a 24-hour technical squad team to oversee repairs of potholes, broken and fallen signboards, faulty streetlights and traffic lights, any other faulty matters left over from the weekend or any public holiday.

A city never sleeps, what more our capital city. This team must comb every nook and corner of the city regularly to safeguard its beauty and safety.

The unpleasant sight of vagrants must also be addressed without fail. They are not to be chased off but instead handled with care. They must be sent to homes where they are fed and provided with basic needs.

I sincerely hope DBKL will investigate this in a humanitarian way to ensure these vagrants are not pushed from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya or Klang but placed in homes or hospitals in a proper manner.

My visit to Kuala Lumpur last weekend should be a value-added one. It is my sincere hope that the Federal Territories Ministry and DBKL will work on the above feedback in a serious manner, thus restoring the safety, beauty, and serenity of our capital city.

Although my feedback is based on my visit to only Jalan Petaling, Jalan Tun H S Lee, Jalan Bandar and Jalan Tun Perak, the action taken should not be restricted to only these areas. It should be carried out for the whole city, thus bringing a sea change.

We must be ready to welcome the post-COVID19 era, which is going to be robust and dynamic.

This is an opportune time and moment to repair, restore, repaint and rejuvenate the capital city of Malaysia, bringing more tourism, dynamism and hope for our nation.

(Ravindran Raman Kutty is an active social worker.)