I was appaled when I first heard the rumours about the ban on Bukit Kiara for concerts and then the local newspaper wrote about the ban and the rumours became true. For those who don’t know, there was a 12 hour concert organised by Marctensia over the weekend at Bukit Kiara. I attended the concert and had an awesome time and was rather impressed in fact with the way authorities handled the traffic situation. Those cars that were blocking the road were towed away and traffic was smooth sailing around the Bukit Kiara area.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Fuad Ismail put the ban on concerts in Bukit Kiara following constant complaints from the Bukit Damansara Residents Association (BDRA). Now thinking back, actually why is BDRA kicking up a fuss when the concert is held in Bukit Kiara ? Shouldn’t residents in Sri Hartamas who are much nearer to the venue and who need to drive pass the place be first ones to be knocking on the doors of DBKL ?
Yes, I agree it can be an inconvenience at times especially when motorists do not abide by the law and decide to double park or worst still triple park the cars along the highway in front of the Bukit Kiara club but that didn’t happen this time around. Organisers, realising that it’s a major inconvenience to the road users in the area have bucked up and rectified this issue this time around but of course there’s always another issue on the list.
The next issue raised was the unsightly mess left behind by the concert goers. What tickles me is that instead of blaming the concert goers, what did DBKL do about this ? Did the food operators or merchandisers who were selling their stuff there had proper permission or license to set up stalls in the area ? If parking the cars at the side of the road was considered as a danger and a nuisance what about the make shift stalls that popped up like mushrooms under the bridge in front of the Bukit Kiara club ?
Have you ever driven pass your friendly neighbourhood street after pasar malam (night market) ? I’m pretty sure the whole place is in a mess but somehow with the proper resources to clean up the place, it’s pretty clean the next day. Can’t the same be done in Bukit Kiara ? I’m sure the revenue of such an event would be more than enough to hire people to ensure the whole area is clean before the next morning right ?
It seems like a trend nowadays. When something upsets a certain group of people let’s just ban it without taking into consequences what the impact might be for everyone else. Is it not possible to actually get down to the root cause of the problem and find a compromise ? With such events doesn’t some of the revenue actually channel back to DBKL or even the government ? With the scarce amount of places available to hold such concerts and with the even stricter rules being imposed on organisers, it’s a wonder if we can get any artist to come in perform in Malaysia in the future. It was my first time ever attending a concert in Bukit Kiara and I must say, I was pretty impressed with the venue and how suitable the place was for a concert. So what’s next on the list to be banned ???
Links
Klue – Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club concert ban! What’s up with that??
The Star – No more concerts at Bukit Kiara
Malay Mail – City Hall : No More Concerts at Kiara Equestrian
News Strait Times – Residents Sick of concert-goers rubbish
just.yoga 