By Selangor Journal Team
FIRST-term Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lim Yi Wei is committed to empo- wering the communities in her constituency and works hard to increase their quality of life.
Steadfast in her pledge of anti-corruption, a clean government and providing better service to her constituents, Lim believes that she has achieved a good measure of her promises but wishes to do more before her term ends in June.
Her biggest achievement so far, however, is bringing a sense of identity to the constituency, by closing the gap between the rich and the poor.
“During my campaign in GE14, one of the key issues I addressed was the lack of social cohesion within the community. One observation I made was that some residents in Taman Paramount had never ventured to Sungai Way New Village, despite its proximity of just 3 to 5 km away.
“To tackle this issue, we introduced the ‘Straight Out of Kampung Tunku’ concept as a branding strategy. Leveraging the historical significance of Tunku Abdul Rahman in the area, we emphasised on the need for the communities here to connect, and for bridging the gap between the affluent and the underprivileged to foster the spirit of mutual assistance in line with the spirit of Merdeka.
“In terms of branding, we have achieved success. Previously, there was confusion between Kampung Tunku and Bukit Tunku, but now people recognise Kampung Tunku as a distinct name in itself,’’ she said in a recent interview with Selangor Journal.
Lim explained that her constituency, now consisting of some 53,000 people, is small to cover but is densely populated.
She further explained that despite being overwhelmingly Chinese, at over 70 per cent, Kampung Tunku has a diverse community of people.
“As a community, we are quite diverse as there are many economic migrants who stay and rent here and eventually send their families up here,” she said.
The hidden poor
Being predominantly an urban seat, Kampung Tunku faces the same obstacles as that of other urban areas, like inadequate sanitation and rainwater drainage, inconsistent water supply, and traffic congestion, among others.
Lim revealed that her constituency also suffers from urban poverty, a problem made more visible by the circumstances brought upon by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have people who own one- or two-storey houses valued at RM1 million or more, but because either the main breadwinner has passed away, left the family or got sick, they do not have a disposable income.
“Those are the ones that are hard to identify because we depend on local residents or non-governmental organisations to locate them.
“But one of the positive impacts of Covid-19 is that we are able to identify and create a database of some 1,000 families who are vulnerable and in need of aid.
“During the transition to the endemic phase, we also periodically call them to check if we should provide any assistance,” said Lim.
Being a former Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) council member, Lim also works closely with the local council to resolve outstanding issues.
She said she hopes to see the completion of small infrastructure projects focused on public amenities like parks, drainage, and improved accessibility for disabled individuals before the dissolution of the state assembly next month. These initiatives fall under the Selangor Penyayang project.
“There are a few projects currently being worked on and a few more that we have applied for. They include parks and major drainage upgrades where usually the local council (MBPJ) may not have the budget for, but are important to us.’’
Another initiative that Lim was invested in was the PJ Startup Festival, which aimed to help the growth of new startups in Selangor and introduce them to Petaling Jaya’s grassroots communities.
The recently-concluded festival, which kicked off in April, was focused on building resilient businesses post Covid-19. Lim said the festival received tremendous support from both the Federal and state governments as a means to help spur the local economy.
This article first appeared in the Selangor Journal monthly June 2023 edition, published on June 3, 2023.
