A New Look Klang River In The Offing?

 The Cheong Gye Cheon  stream that passes through Seoul is one of the centre of attractions in the South Korean capital.

The launching of the River of Life Project by Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak early this month is a good news not only for KL residents, but also Malaysians throughout the country. Identified as an Entry Point Project under the Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley National Key Economic Area (NKEA), the project aims to transform the Klang River and the Gombak River into an iconic waterway of Malaysia by 2020.

As a person nearing the compulsory retirement age, it is my fervent hope that I would live long enough to see the fantastic project becomes a reality. After reading a newspaper report about the project, I visualized a clean and beautiful river passing through the City Centre with colourful boats carrying passengers to savour the beautiful sights of Kuala Lumpur. It would also be interesting to look at various species of fish swimming happily in the water. This would indeed be a good respite from the horrible sight of the condition of the two rivers at present, compared to rivers in other major cities of the world.

Judging from the success of South Korea in rehabilitating her river, the Cheong Gye Cheon, I am confident that the project in Kuala Lumpur would become a new tourist attraction in Malaysia. But, for that to happen, the people need to change their mindset and be more aware on the importance of preserving our rivers. There is no point of implementing the project if the said rivers then become the dumping site for old mattresses, plastic bags, chemical containers and even, babies.

BALANGLAMA: The river of life is always full of challenges.