A FEW days ago the chairman of Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) announced that the council has instructed its engineering section to remove the metal railings that have been put up along several roads. The chairman said that the council has received complaints from the public that the railings were posing a danger to road users in that they obstruct the view of oncoming traffic.
This exercise may have cost the council a fair sum but bravo to the chairman, who has the courage to eat humble pie. Padawan is a municipality about 10 miles or so from the capital city Kuching. It is small relative to Kuching, which is also in the throes of the same metal railings building spree. If the egg in the face of the chairman is expensive, I hate to think of the cost of the ones coming the way of the Kuching Mayor if indeed the exercise of fencing up the city turns out to be a folly.
DANGER LURKS: It is now agreed that railings built to the present height can be a hazard as they obscure the view of motorists.
For the benefit of people outside Kuching, and who are most likely unaware of the phenomenon of the iron railings that have sprung up around the city and are spreading like a contagion, let me just give this primer. In an effort to create a safe city and in particular to combat the bane of snatch theft, jaywalking and illegal parking, the authorities have come up with this ‘one stroke kill all’ plan. The plan, which they implemented with impressive speed, is to erect galvanised iron railings along the roads.
There is a cacophony of protest raging in the city against this. There is an online petition to the city council and a lively debate on the matter in cyberspace. However, I must say that it is hardly a debate. Ninety-nine per cent who posted are against the plan. There are many choice remarks but one sums it all, “Kuching has been transformed from a garden city to an iron cage city.” I was rather sceptical about this claim until I took a drive around the city. “Touche” is all I can say.
It is not my intention to throw more egg in the face of the authorities, rather I want to talk about the process of problem solving. Sometime ago, I read a book where the author advised for the need to ask the right question and to consider carefully the implication of the answer. He related the story of a happening in Eastern Europe some centuries ago.
Several centuries ago, a curious but deadly plague appeared in a small town in Lithuania. What was curious about the disease was its grip on the victim: as soon as a person contracted it, he fell into a deep coma. However, while many succumbed to the illness, a number of people managed to survive. They recovered from their dead-like sleep and were once again hale and hearty. The medical knowledge of the time was such that the doctors were unable to distinguish between those who were actually dead and those who were merely in a coma. The disease was also highly infectious. So, there was a need to bury the victim quickly.
One day to the horror of the village, they discovered that they had buried someone who was alive. The mayor convened a town council meeting and posed the question: “How can we make sure that everyone we bury is dead?” Various creative schemes were proposed and the one that apparently fitted best was this – implant a twelve-inch long sharp stake on the inside lid of the coffin. So when the lid is closed the stake would pierce the heart of the person, thus ensuring his death.
In trying to solve the problem of snatch theft and jaywalking, or indeed any other problems, it is well advised to consider the effectiveness of the solution and also its ramifications. This is certainly not the time to apply the motto of the famous shoe company, ‘Just do it’. This is not the time for myopia rather this is the time for peripheral vision.
In the case of jaywalking, the only way to stop people from making illegal crossings (well, apart from enforcement and education) is to have a line of impenetrable fence running the whole length of the street. This is an impossible task as there are feeder roads running into the main road thus there are gaps in the line of railings. Strangely enough, there is already a success story in Kuching. Outside a mall called Saberkas runs a dual carriage way. People used to take their lives in their hands, traversing the dual carriage way, as they made a dash to the mall from the car park opposite. But not any more, a solid line of fence was built in the central divider between the two roads. The fence is unobtrusive (hidden by bushes along the central divider) and effective (it forms a continuous stretch).
As for preventing snatch theft, perhaps the railings can stop the thieving bikers from ramping up the pavement to get at the victims. However, they certainly would not prevent those agile young thieves (yes, they are agile and fast) from snatching the bags and leaping over the railings to the accomplice waiting on a bike at the road side. Unfortunately most victims and would-be helpers of the victims would not be as athletic as those miscreants.
It is now agreed that railings built to the present height can be a hazard as they obscure the view of motorists. What astounds me is that this knowledge is already codified in some road building regulations. A former assistant director of the Public Works Department (Road Branch) said that under the Road Ordinance, anything on the edge of the road that is nine inches (23 centimetres) above the road surface is considered a hazard. I wonder if the councillors, when they sat down to deliberate on how to spend the millions of ringgit allocated for this ‘safety’ campaign, bothered to acquaint themselves with all these relevant considerations. Or whether they are aware that one of the key visions is to make Kuching a pleasant, beautiful and stress free city – a garden city.
A few years ago, I acted as a tour guide to a group of journalists from Uganda, Mauritius, Britain and Bangladesh. They were very impressed with our city. Though our buildings and physical attributes are impressive, they are not obviously spectacular. One of them seemed to hit the nail on the head.
“It is not just the buildings and places I like; it is the feel of the city. It is the relaxed ambience and quiet charm of a contented city where people are at ease with themselves and the environment.”
A city with miles of iron railings seems to scream out: “I am scared. I am stressed.”
It is said that one of the hallmarks of good leadership is not just the courage to take action but also the courage to admit the mistakes and take steps to rectify them.