AGHAST at the practice of road closures to accommodate foreign VVIPs in recent times, Siti Kasim wants these dignitaries to feel the hardship endured by Malaysians in view of the country’s poor public transportation planning.
The human rights activist and lawyer specifically pointed to the on-going road closures in conjunction with the ASEAN Summit hosted by Kuala Lumpur (till May 28) by virtue of Malaysia chairing the regional grouping in 2025 and that during the recent official visit by China president Xi Jinping.
Since Friday (May 23), six expressways in and around Kuala Lumpur as well as some 10 road stretches will be closed in stages to facilitate the movement of Southeast Asia’s top leaders and their entourages who converge in the Federal capital for high-stakes diplomacy.
“I disagree with the Malaysian public especially motorists having to endure excessive inconvenience due to these so-called VVIPs,” she fumed in a recent YouTube rant.
“When I resided in the UK for 17 years, I had never even witnessed VVIPs being escorted by the police on the roads … The only siren I heard was when an ambulance passed by but even then, that was rare.”
But road closure seems to be a norm in Malaysia so much so that Siti Kasim felt that the VVIPs should be subject to the crawling traffic conditions so they could see with their own eyes what Malaysian motorists are enduring day in, day out.
“Public transportation is not a viable option given such travelling mode is most undesirable in Malaysia,” berated the Orang Asli advocate, again drawing her UK experience.
“When I was in UK, I never had the urge to own a car … Although it was far from perfect, there were train stations if not buses whereby the bus-stops will state precisely the time of bus arrivals so one can plan his/her journey for train connection if necessary.”
In contrast, reliability sucks in the Malaysian public transportation system whereby one could have waited for hours with the bus not showing up either because there was a sudden change of route or that the bus has encountered a breakdown.
“Interconnection from one train station to another (KTM Komuter/LRT/MRT) whether they are underground or overground is poorly planned,” lamented Siti Kasim.
“As such, why need to close roads for the convenience of the so-called VVIPs? The notion that they deserve special treatment should be discarded … Let them go through what the commoners experience.”
Added the vocal legal eagle: “Please lah, have respect for us as citizens for we’ve a job to take care, a destination to reach … Stop this nonsense once and for all about closing the roads or VVIPs regardless of the nature of function they’re attending.
“Don’t trouble the rakyat, improve your public transport system! As much as I want to rely on public transportation, the nearest train station from my office is the same distance from my home.” – May 27, 2025
