THE 100-STOREY TOWER AND THE TALL STORIES OF THE CYNICS, SKEPTICS AND CRITICS WHO SPIN THE YARN TOO LONG.

…WHEN THE MENARA WARISAN MERDEKA STARTS TO RISE, THEIR TALL STORIES WILL COLLAPSE ONE BY ONE WITH THE YARN THEY HAD SPINNED STRANGLING AROUND THEIR NECKS.
By Mansor Puteh



MALAYSIA NEEDS MORE TOWERING MEN AND WOMEN AND ALSO STRUCTURES AND PROGRESSIVE MELAYU INVESTORS WITH VISION AND INGENUITY

WHAT WE NEED ARE DEFINITELY LESS CYNICS, SKEPTCS AND CRITICS WHO HAVE TALL STORIES AND THE FEAR OF HEIGHTS.

DO THEY CRITICIZE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TOWER AND COMMERCIAL CENTER BECAUSE THE MELAYU ARE INITIATING THEM?

I hope it is not true. But chances are I am right. After all no one complained about the amount of money that was spent to spruce up Brickfields to turn it into a ‘Little India’.

In today’s age, such a description can amount to sedition, as does ‘Chinatown’ because they connote how the Indians and Chinese in Malaysia are descendants of former immigrants and many of them still want to retain such a description.

But my suspicion is that it is the main reason why there are many who do not want the tower to rise as it will mean that the power of the Melayu economy in the city and country is seen to rise too.

I find it pathetic that there are many who do not believe their eyes and ears, when they see and hear that PNB aspires or plans to build a 100-story tower near the site of the Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara.

They were the ones which had taken it as their responsibility to refurbish the two stadiums which were on the verge of collapse and being threatened with extinction and destruction.

Now we have the two stadiums looking almost exactly as they were when they were built. They are Malaysia’s national heritage buildings where Merdeka was proclaimed by Tunku Abdul Rahman on 31 August in the stadium Merdeka.

And PNB has not been given due recognition for having done all of us a favor by spending a lot of money to renovate the two structures which were threatened with extinction when some private companies wanted to demolish them so they could redevelop the whole area into a commercial center or a new township that could help to extend or widen the commercial district of Bukit Bintang.

Therefore, PNB must be allowed to realize their overall plan to further enhance the areas surrounding the Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara by constructing the 100-storey tower they call Menara Warisan Merdeka that also includes a commercial center that can generate economic growth for the city of Kuala Lumpur.

But what they have been getting are criticisms.

Why does PNB care for these criticisms? They should proceed with their original plan to develop this tract of property they own for the good of the nation.

Surely, constructing a building which is not imposing cannot do justice to the area where the two national heritage buildings are. So they had to take a lot of effort to come up with their grandiose plans, one of which is the tower.

There are now many critics, skeptics and cynics who have more than 100 tall stories to tell and relate to anyone. Someone also had the audacity to create a Facebook account to further disparage PNB and to belittle their plans.

Most of those who have written nasty things on the tower are not investors or dreamers. They are the ordinary folks who stand to gain much when in the future some of them would definitely want to find any meaningful employment in the many offices that will be houses there, including to visit the commercial center.

Many of them were probably not born yet when the Japanese government wanted to built their new airport in Narita, which is 60 kilometers away from Tokyo. They received a lot of stiff resistance even after the airport was completed.

But today, Narita has become one of the most popular and busy airports in the world.

Those who had criticized the Japanese government are also probably regular users of the airport, since the old Haneda Airport has been turned into their domestic airport.

In fact, we have had similar experiences in the past when each time the government wanted to build something there were many who charged them to be ‘mega’ projects, and they were a waste of public funds.

But they pursued the matter and all of the ‘mega’ projects are now accepted and have become useful to the convenience of many Malaysians and foreigners who come to the country.

And interestingly, the Menara Warisan Merdeka is not a government funded project by one initiated by private initiative, so whatever discontents some people may have are irrelevant as they have as much right to conduct their business as anyone since it is not an illegal activity.

The earlier controversy created by the group of lesser literati was on the demolishing of the old Pudu Prison, which was to make way for the expansion of Jalan Pudu and construction of some commercial establishments on its site.

The controversy has since died when the lesser literati found other ways to express their discontents and displeasures on the Menara Warisan Merdeka.

This will soon stop once they have let out their steam, or when there is another distraction that can cause them to look elsewhere next.

Kuala Lumpur has space and the place for a 100-storey tower. We can afford it. So why can't we all let it rise?

PNB expects the project to take off sometime next year with its completion in 2015. And they do not need to take heed of the disapproval of their cynics, skeptics and critics, as there are many more people in the city and country who support the project by their resounding silence on the matter.

I am certain when the construction of the tower starts, one by one the more than 100 tall stories that the critics, skeptics and cynics of the project has will crash.

I suspect the main reason why there is displeasure at the construction of the 100-tower is that it is a Melayu business and economic venture in a scale which is massive and dramatic which will not fail to distract anyone.

The tower will definitely cause many non-Melayu to look up at it in awe that can also cause the reshaping of the city to include more Melayu presence that can give inspiration to other Melayu investors to want to create similar impact in the city and in the others throughout the country. .

Yet, there are some Melayu who want the tower be moved to Kampung Baru. To them I say, it can have other towers which are taller than Menara Warisan Merdeka.

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