Move Tokyo to Putrajaya
Jan 13th, 2007 by Tian
If we win the government, one of our nightmares would be Putrajaya. The deceased Utz Fadzir Nor once joked that Barisan Alternative might have to ‘lelong’ (put it on auction) all the buildings to local and foreign tender.
On 12 January, a study group from Japan visited KeADILan headquarters. The delegation consisted of 6 members including one local consultant. They were received by several leaders of the party—besides me, Ang Hiok Gia (Deputy Sec Gen), Dr Xavier (Deputy Sec Gen), Lee Kim Seng (Deputy Chair of Selangor), Datuk Saleh (Deputy Chair of Wilayah Persekutuan) and Liao Kok Fah.
Members of the delegation were from Mitsubishi Research Institute in Japan and Cardas Research & Consulting Sdn Bhd in Malaysia. They are commissioned by the Ministry of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Japan to conduct a study on “Dispersed Capital Functions in Malaysiaâ€.
The purpose of their visit was to gauge our view on Putrajaya. We were told in year 1990, Japan Diet (parliament) passed a resolution for capital relocation. The parliament set up a committee to study the feasibility, pros and cons, public accessibility, possible problems and so on.
It took the Japanese 6 years to debate about the issues. This study was finally commissioned in 2002. Japan must have thought Malaysian experience with Putrajaya could be a good case study. In the discussion with our visitors, they expressed their wish to understand the relocation of Federal Administrative Centre to Putrajaya, the process, coordination and challenges during the relocation and the new challenges arise after the relocation.
The survey finding will be use as a reference for the planning possible future relocation of capital functions in Japan.
I need not repeat our criticism on Putrajaya here. However all of us in Malaysia should admire the prudence of Japanese political process. With a population of 13 million and population density of nearly 6000 person/square kilometer, I believe that Tokyo is in greater urgency to relocate its administrative functions.
Rather than making a hasty decision like our PM, Japanese are very cautious. We thought we are imitating Japan. Ironically Putrajaya is now their guinea pig.
I worked for the Japanese for almost a decade. They treated me well but I don’t trust them. The study is a cover for something else far-reaching and for hidden motives.