New Mayor of MBPJ

Today saw Malaysian First Woman Mayor sworn in at Petaling Jaya City Council. In her maiden speech, Datin Paduka Alinah binti Ahmad previously the CEO of Selangor Housing and Property Board sahred her thought and vision for Petaling Jaya. She said it is an honour to be appointed as Mayor and created the history in Malaysia as the first lady to helm the City Council. While it is an honour, it is also a challenge to prove her worth and to all with trust with her that gender is not a prioritised consideration. It is her ability to lead, to administer and to manage the City that matter the most. She reckoned that her success later will be a big encouragement and recognition to other women and likewise other wise. She shoulders a big responsibility towards the women group, the Selangor State Government and the people of Petaling Jaya. One of the key features of her speech was on making MBPJ a loveable organisation and Petaling Jaya a liveable and loveable city. Only with the love of residents and investors towards MBPJ that we can inculcate the sense of ownership and belonging. It is then that MBPJ will become a truly relieable and trusted partner in service delivery. How can we ask people to love PJ if they cannot agree with what the city manager, that is MBPJ has to do. So with the new lady in action now, "loveable" must be the way forward. In order to create the atmosphere of loving for residents, of course we have to provide quality service to meet their need for living environment and to provide value for money excellent services. Similarly, comes out with measures to cut down red tape and to ease doing of businesses will enhance the sense of welcoming for businesses and investors. We should facilitate the establishment of new businesses here and to assist the existing corporates with less cost, less interferences and less time consuming procedures. To me, it is not a tall order, afterall the very objective of local authority is to provide quality urban services and to develop a sustainable city. The new mayor also touched on the need for prudent financial management. Money must be spent wisely and value worth. She reckoned while having big reserve is wonderful, spending neccessary even it means reducing the reserve is all right. We have to provide state of the art infrastructures and facilities. From the response of those attending this morning's ceremony, I believe the new bie will be well received by all walk of life.