By Sheeda Fathil
PETALING JAYA, Aug 6 — Seri Setia candidate Mohammad Fahmi Ngah is confident his experience working under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will help him develop the constituency.
He said his three focus areas for Seri Setia are infrastructure, safety, and job opportunities for the youth.
“I have an edge thanks to my prior work experience with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,” he said.
The Kelana Jaya native has worked on various initiatives, such as the Smart Selangor Parking app, which facilitates couponless parking in the state and has 2.2 million users.
Fahmi, who is looking to modernise the state’s administration, is a key figure in the Smart Selangor programme that aims to make Selangor a “smart” state by 2025. He was chief executive officer of the Selangor Economic Advisory Office under Anwar, and was part of the effort into systematic solid waste management.
“If there are infrastructure issues in Desa Mentari, I can write a letter to a ministry or city council … and if I ‘cc’ the finance minister, who is our PM, God willing, he will read it and expedite the application,” Fahmi said during the Arus Merah Kuning talk in Desa Mentari here last night.
Fahmi, who is also Selangor Research Institute management director, hopes the state government can reflect the federal unity coalition to facilitate the resolution of myriad issues.
“To solve infrastructure problems, we of course need funds, and if the Selangor (government) is the same as the federal government, I’m sure fund applications will be made simple.
“The state government’s ability is limited so if we work with the federal administration, it would be of huge help, and we stand the chance of achieving good economic gains,” said Fahmi, who believes his experience can contribute to a better public delivery system.
At the August 12 polls, Fahmi will face Perikatan Nasional’s Zubir Embong, Muda’s Dobby Chew, and Independent Harindran Krishnan.
In an interview with Free Malaysia Today, Fahmi said the federal and state administrations should match to attract hi-tech investments to Selangor, such as Putrajaya’s success in engaging with Tesla founder Elon Musk to invest in the electric vehicle industry, based in the state.
“Selangor was chosen for its intellectual capability. I don’t think we can be a fully agricultural state seeing as we don’t have enough land or mining sources, but for the coming century, our assets are intellectual capability and artificial intelligence.
“This is an opportunity for Selangor youth. When they are based here, they could earn US$2,000 a month, so they should learn English and science to be ready for when those jobs are created,” he said.
A state government compatible with the federal administration was among the drivers of Selangor’s development, especially under former menteri besar Muhammad Taib, representing the then-Barisan Nasional government.
He said the former MB succeeded in developing Kuala Lumpur with the creation of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya, which were built on Selangor land.
