- Title: MALAYSIA: FEATURE - ECONOMY GROWS IN MALAYSIA
- Date: 6th March 1996
- Summary: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (RECENT) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. CHICKENS IN YARD 2. SQUATTER HOMES DUE TO BE DEMOLISHED FOR LINEAR CITY 3. RESIDENTS HOLDING LETTER WARNING OF EVICTION 4. MODEL OF PROPOSED LINEAR CITY 5. SQUATTER HOMES 6. SQUATTER KULANTHARAMAL DORAISAMY SAYING WHERE ARE WE TO GO, WE'VE LIVED HERE FOR SO LONG. ALL MY CHILDREN WERE BORN HERE, NOW THEY WANT US TO LEAVE." (MALAYSIAN) 7. WIDE OF RIVER AT SITE OF LINEAR CITY 8. CHILD IN SQUATTER HOME 9. SYAN SHANKER, SQUATTER SAYING IF WE ARE GOING TO MOVE OUT FROM HERE IT MUST BE BECAUSE WE'VE GOT NO CHOICE YOU KNOW, RATHER THAN WE ARE GOING VOLUNTARILY YOU KNOW. (ENGLISH) 10. CITY SKYLINE 11. PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS, WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING 12. MODEL OF PROPOSED LINEAR CITY 13. DAVID CHEW, MANAGING DIRECTOR KL LINEAR CITY, SAYING KUALA LUMPUR IS COMING OF AGE AS A GLOBAL CITY, WITH ALL THE IMPORTANT AND MASSIVE INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE. BUT IT LACKS A HEART, IT LACKS A DOMINANT STREET. GIGAWORLD WHICH IS PHASE ONE OF THE LINEAR CITY WILL BE THAT IMPORTANT STREET FOR KL. (ENGLISH) 14. PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FOR KL LINEAR CITY 15. COMPUTER ANIMATION OF PROJECT 16. SPENCER JOHNSON, ARCHITECT, SAYING THIS WILL BE THE FIRST TIME IN WHICH YOU CAN COME INTO A PROJECT AND LITERALLY STAY THERE FOR 3 0R 4 DAYS - NEVER TOUCH THE GROUND AND HAVE A VARIETY OF EXPERIENCES (ENGLISH) 17. REPORTER STANDUP 18. GURMIT SINGH, ENVIRONMENTALIST, SAYING I THINK OVERALL THE PROJECT TO ME IS UNJUSTIFIABLE, REALLY NOT NECESSARY AND IT SETS A BAD PRECEDENT BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWING OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT RIGHT ON A RIVER. (ENGLISH) 19. RIVERBANK 20. SPENCER JOHNSON SAYING THE NATURE OF THE RIVER ITSELF AND THE NATURE OF THE DESIGN REALLY DOES NO PRECLUDE THE RIVER FROM VIEW. THE FIRST STOREY ABOVE THE RIVER IS 10 M HIGH, SO THERE'S A LOT OF AIR, A LOT OF ROOM, A LOT OF LUSH LANDSCAPING THAT GOES ALONG WITH THE RIVER, SO ITS REALLY ENHANCED INTO A RIVER WALK." 21. MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER MAHATHIR MOHAMMED INSPECTING MODEL OF LINEAR CITY 22. HO KHONG MING, MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS, SAYING EVERY AGE YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO MAKE VERY CONTROVERSIAL DECISIONS AND THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO PUT THE STAMP ON THE AGE. THOSE DECISIONS WILL FOREVER REMAIN CONTROVERSIAL. YES SOME PEOPLE WILL HATE IT, SOME PEOPLE WILL LOVE IT. (ENGLISH) 23. MAN IN STREET SAYING WE DON'T NEED ALL THIS, WHAT THEY SHOULD DO MORE IS ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE POOR RATHER THAN ALL THESE FANCY BUILDINGS. (ENGLISH) 24. MAN SAYING WHAT'S WRONG WITH A CONCRETE JUNGLE... I MEAN THE THING IS THERE ARE PLUS AND WELL AS MINUS SIDE TO IT (ENGLISH) 25. SQUATTER HOUSING 26. CITY SKYLINE NOTE NARRATION VERSION AT 00.02.01 to 00. 06.57 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 21st March 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KUALA LUMPURE, MALAYSIA
- City:
- Country: Malaysia
- Reuters ID: LVABFOEIMFJNDAIOJFHGC2MIFGRS
- Story Text: INTRO: Nobody could accuse Malaysia of lack of ambition. A few years ago it was seen as a supplier of raw materials. Now it's an Asian Tiger, its economy growing by eight percent a year. And Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed has grand plans to turn Kuala Lumpur into one of the world's most exciting cities, as Reuters' Mary-Ann Masilamany reports.
-------------------------------------------------------- A TYPICAL RURAL SETTING IS WHAT PITCHANDY DORAISAMY AND HIS WIFE KULANTHARAMAL LIKE MOST ABOUT THEIR HOME. THEY MOVED HERE AS A NEWLY MARRIED COUPLE SOME 40 YEARS AGO AND HAD NEVER THOUGHT OF LEAVING. BUT NOW THEY ARE BEING FORCED TO GO.
THEIR HOME IS IN THE WAY OF AN AMBITIOUS PLAN TO BUILD THE WORLDS LONGEST BUILDING.... ON TOP OF A RIVER. THE PROJECT WILL FORCE MORE THAN A THOUSAND SQUATTER FAMILIES LIVING ALONG THE BANKS OF THE KLANG RIVER IN KUALA LUMPUR TO MOVE.
---------------- CAPTION: KULANTHARAMAL DORAISAMY, SQUATTER "WHERE ARE WE TO GO, WE'VE LIVED HERE FOR SO LONG. ALL MY CHILDREN WERE BORN HERE, NOW THEY WANT US TO LEAVE." ---------------- DORAISAMY'S FAMILY IS ONE OF 40 FAMILIES LIVING ALONG THIS STRETCH OF THE RIVER. THEIR HOMES MAY LEAVE A LOT TO BE DESIRED BUT IT IS A WAY OF LIFE THEY WOULD RATHER NOT GIVE UP.
-------------------- CAPTION: SYAN SHANKER "IF WE ARE GOING TO MOVE OUT FROM HERE IT MUST BE BECAUSE WE GOT NO CHOICE YOU KNOW, RATHER THAN WE ARE GOING VOLUNTARILY YOU KNOW." -------------------- KL LEADS THE WORLD IN AMBITIOUS BUILDING PROJECTS. THE SKYLINE OF THE CITY IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING WITH NEW SKYSCRAPERS JOSTLING FOR SPACE. EARLIER THIS YEAR THE PETRONAS TOWERS OVERTOOK THE SEARS BUILDING IN CHICAGO AS THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING, IT WILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS LATER IN 1997.
NOW, MALAYSIA'S ARCHITECTS WANT TO BUILD LONGWAYS AS WELL AS UPWARDS.
-------------------- CAPTION: DAVID CHEW, MANAGING DIRECTOR KL LINEAR CITY "KUALA LUMPUR IS COMING OF AGE AS A GLOBAL CITY, WITH ALL THE IMPORTANT AND MASSIVE INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE. BUT IT LACKS A HEART, IT LACKS A DOMINANT STREET. GIGAWORLD WHICH IS PHASE ONE OF THE LINEAR CITY WILL BE THAT IMPORTANT STREET FOR KL." (ENGLISH) -------------------- INTEGRATING INTO THIS NEW URBAN FABRIC, WILL BE THE UNIQUE AND REVOLUTIONARY KL LINEAR CITY. THE TWO AND A HALF KILOMETRE-LONG GIGAWORLD - SO NAMED BECAUSE IT IS DEEMED TO BE A CUT ABOVE "MEGA" - WILL BE BUILT OVER THE KLANG RIVER THAT FLOWS THROUGH THE HEART OF KUALA LUMPUR.
IT WILL BE THE CENTREPIECE OF THE 12 KM LONG LINEAR CITY PROJECT.
----------------- CAPTION: SPENCER JOHNSON, ARCHITECT "THIS WILL BE THE FIRST TIME IN WHICH YOU CAN COME INTO A PROJECT AND LITERALLY STAY THERE FOR 3 0R 4 DAYS - NEVER TOUCH THE GROUND AND HAVE A VARIETY OF EXPERIENCES" ----------------- IN ADDITION TO THEME PARKS, GIGAWORLD WILL ALSO FEATURE AN ARTIFICIAL RIVER COMPLETE WITH BOATING FACILITIES, AS WELL AS A MYRIAD OF RETAIL AND SPECIALITY SHOPS.
ARCHITECTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD ARE NOW FLOCKING TO KUALA LUMPUR.
------------------------- REPORTER STANDUP: MALAYSIA HAS BECOME RENOWNED AS A CENTRE FOR EXPERIMENTATION AND FOR BREAKING WITH ARCHITECTURAL TRADITION. BUT THIS BUILDING CRAZE HAS ITS OPPONENTS IN PARTICULAR THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS. AND THEY WORRY ABOUT WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE RIVER FLOWING BENEATH THE PLANNED LINEAR CITY.
----------------- CAPTION: GURMIT SINGH, ENVIRONMENTALIST "I THINK OVERALL THE PROJECT TO ME IS UNJUSTIFIABLE, REALLY NOT NECESSARY AND IT SETS A BAD PRECEDENT BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWING OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT RIGHT ON A RIVER.
----------------- CAPTION: SPENCER JOHNSON, ARCHITECT "THE NATURE OF THE RIVER ITSELF AND THE NATURE OF THE DESIGN REALLY DOES NOT PRECLUDE THE RIVER FROM VIEW. THE FIRST STOREY ABOVE THE RIVER IS 10 M HIGH, SO THERE'S A LOT OF AIR, A LOT OF ROOM, A LOT OF LUSH LANDSCAPING THAT GOES ALONG WITH THE RIVER, SO ITS REALLY ENHANCED INTO A RIVER WALK." (ENGLISH) -------------- THE LINEAR CITY PROJECT ALSO HAS THE SUPPORT OF THE PRIME MINISTER HIMSELF WHO IS SAID TO BE CAPTIVATED BY THE UNIQUENESS OF THE IDEA.
IT FITS IN WITH HIS DESIRE TO SEE MALAYSIA EMERGE AS A DEVELOPED NATION BY THE YEAR 2020.
-------------- CAPTION: HO KHONG MING, MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS: EVERY AGE YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO MAKE VERY CONTROVERSIAL DECISIONS AND THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO PUT THE STAMP ON THE AGE. THOSE DECISIONS WILL FOREVER REMAIN CONTROVERSIAL. YES SOME PEOPLE WILL HATE IT, SOME PEOPLE WILL LOVE IT".
--------------- KUALA LUMPUR S RESIDENTS HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT KL'S BUILDING BONANZA.
---------------- VOXPOPS: "WE DON'T NEED ALL THIS, WHAT THEY SHOULD DO MORE IS ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE POOR RATHER THAN ALL THESE FANCY BUILDINGS" "WHAT'S WRONG WITH A CONCRETE JUNGLE... I MEAN THE THING IS THERE ARE PLUS AND WELL AS MINUS SIDE TO IT" ------------------ FOR THE SQUATTERS ON THE KLANG RIVER LIKE DORAISAMY AND HIS WIFE, THE SEARCH FOR A NEW HOME BEGINS. IT WILL BE A DIFFICULT TASK IN A CITY THAT IS RUNNING OUT OF SPACE AS MORE AND MORE AMBITIOUS MONUMENTS TO MALAYSIA'S RAPID DEVELOPMENT SPRING UP.
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