DESPITE the Selangor state government giving its assurance that the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) project is subject to conditions for approval pending on their evaluation, four residents of Petaling Jaya and Kinrara have filed for Judicial Review of the controversial project.

Caretaker Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shaari had told business radio station BFM that if the proposed highway turns out to be similar to the scrapped Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (KIDEX) project, then it will not be approved by the Selangor State government.

The four plaintiffs are residents from Petaling Jaya and Kinrara whose actions are coordinated by a residents’ group known as Persatuan Petaling Jaya Lestari which has engaged a lawyer to file the judicial review as they are unconvinced with Amirudin’s answer which hinges on the big “IF”.

The residents’ group wants a commitment from both the Works Ministry and the Selangor State Government that the project would not proceed as they claim that it would affect local businesses and result in environmental degradation.

Stuck this here instead of News because apparently this is being positioned as an election issue. (apparently got petition but only seen on the flyer pic, so, RIP accessibility. Anyway: saynotopjdlink.org )

I really like Malay Mail's reporting recently, they've really put in the work (and I hope it's because there's more resources?) to provide info and contextualize the news. The article goes into the business side of the their incorporation in the country.

ETA: oh they got it from SoyaCincau? Tarik balik compliment.

By BENJAMIN LEE Tuesday, 25 Jul 2023

PETALING JAYA: Eight years ago, seven Orang Asli students who ran away from a boarding school in Kelantan were lost in a dense forest for 47 days, and only two were found – barely alive and badly emaciated.

Five others died in the ordeal.

Yesterday, their families found closure.

The government has agreed to a RM1.41mil settlement for the case, which saw the children, from SK Tohoi in Gua Musang, run away from the school hostel in August 2015 as they feared punishment. (...) Siti, who was supposed to be the trial’s first witness, said the settlement included RM60,000 in legal costs as well as another RM160,000 from insurance companies.

Found the longer backstory from the BBC back when the story broke: The runaway children Malaysia failed to save:

They decided to leave, they say, because some older children had been beaten by one of the teachers for swimming in the river and they feared they would be next. Norieen, her seven-year-old brother Haikal, Miksudiar, and four other girls aged between seven and nine all ran into the forest on the morning of 23 August.

The children chewed leaves but couldn't find much else to eat. The only fruit they could reach proved hard and indigestible.

Then Norieen's brother, Haikal, fell into the river as he was trying to drink and the other children were too weak to help him. "He just floated away," says his mother, Midah Angah. "Most likely he quickly drowned."

Meanwhile a seven-year-old girl, Juvina, broke her leg and could no longer walk. One evening she begged for food and the next morning Norieen woke up to find her lying dead next to her. Norieen took the younger girl to one side and covered her with leaves.

"She watched what happens to a dead body over a few days," says Midah. "Flies landing on her eyes and mouth, her hair falling out and maggots crawling out of her. She saw so many terrible things."

Ika, a nine-year-old girl, died of her injuries after she was impaled by bamboo in a fall from a steep river bank.

Linda, aged eight, somehow ended up in the water and it was this that eventually helped searchers find the survivors.

Just off the muddy track that leads from the school to the village, overlooking the Sungai Perias river, is one of those rare spots in the rainforest where you can get a mobile phone signal, and here, on 7 October - 45 days after the children disappeared - a logging truck driver pulled up to make a call.

Saja menyibuk on twt but Twitterjaya don't care about X but a mutual is gonna headline this. I can't go but looks cute!

Eh the link tak jadi, here's the announcement

Not Malaysia-specific, but extremely relevant.

A reverse effect to traffic generation is the phenomenon of “traffic evaporation”: traffic that disappears when road space is reallocated from private vehicles to more sustainable modes of transport like walking, cycling and public transportation. While traffic evaporation has been well-documented for more than 20 years, most decision- and opinion-makers are still under the impression that reducing car lanes will make traffic worse.

All this does not mean that cities don’t require adequate road connectivity among rural areas and other cities. But reducing road space for cars in denser areas while improving areas for walking, cycling and public transportation clearly does not produce the chaos many believe it will. It is actually a more sustainable and equitable way of improving mobility in dense and fast-growing cities

I haven't been to Penang in years but this entire walking video is such an indictment weh. (ETA: adding hashtags, to see if it gets fetched) #TootSEA #MYToots

Trying to be more regular in updating my website, so wrote up a review of Shin Kamen Rider. Technically I've added the ActivityPub plugin so this is federated so you can fetch the post and comment if you like but other than Mastodon and Akkoma, I've not had success in fetching it 🙃

Semoga selamat dan dilindungi Tuhan &c &c

PETALING JAYA: The government will give RM300 in special health incentives for Felda settlers aged 65 and above, says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

This initiative will benefit 70,715 settlers and involves an allocation of RM21.21 million, he said