OVERCONCENTRATION OF A MALAY POPULATION MAKES SHAH ALAM A GHOST CITY, SAYS ANALYST

Shah Alam City

YESTERDAY, FMT reported that the capital city of Selangor had become very quiet, slow and almost no business, many buildings unoccupied, which one of them only utilised by less than ten staff of a company.

Some factories closed down, businesses from petty traders to big timers closed shops for the past six months and so on. Even foreign business people from Indonesia and Pakistan decided to go back to their respective countries or moved to other places.

A prominent business analyst, in his blog wrote that one of the reasons for the downfall of Shah Alam was the government's policy in overconcentrating a Malay population in the said city.

Syed Albar Ali also suggested other reasons as well.

Below is the write-up as published by OutSyed The Box on 30 January 2020.

Syed Akbar Ali's comments :  

Just the other day Forest City announced 400 staff were being let go. 

Could it be because things are not so great anymore?

Does anyone still recall Forest City?

Then that Danone - Dumex factory shut down and had to let go 165 workers.

Could it be because things are not so great anymore?

I know Shah Alam quite ok and I sometimes hang out there (with some brothers and sisters. Salam Yo !)  When I read this news about Shah Alam I called my friend who has been in business there for decades. He says it is true.  Business is quite dead and Shah Alam is really quiet.

He says what is a really very bad sign is that even the Pakistani carpet sellers and textile sellers are packing up and going back to Pakistan, despite Pakistan facing so much economic difficulty.  They feel that they stand a better chance back home in Pakistan, compared to Shah Alam. That is how bad things are.  Indonesians who ran businesses have also closed shop and left.

Shah Alam was among Malaysia's first planned cities. That is why it is so well laid out. Another city is Putrajaya. 

But there are a couple of fundamental errors in Shah Alam that are now becoming manifest. This will most likely apply to Putrajaya as well. 

1. Firstly there is an overconcentration of a Malay population.

Overconcentration of a Malay population does not work well economically anywhere in Malaysia. Just look at the Malay belt states like Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah which have an overwhelming majority of Malays. They are among the poorest states in Malaysia. 

The other example is Kampong Bharu in Kuala Lumpur - a Malay only enclave in the middle of super expensive Kuala Lumpur.  Kampong Bharu is not only a terrible eyesore but it is a showcase of failure - the failure to bring the Malays up to speed vis a vis the rest of Kuala Lumpur. 

And in all these predominantly Malay majority areas, even the houses, shop houses and buildings do not appreciate that much in value (capital appreciation is kurang). Just like Kampong Bharu in KL.   

So how do you expect Shah Alam to be any different? It is also a predominantly Malay majority area.  In Shah Alam even 20 years ago it was difficult to find non Malay buyers for houses - because most of the neighborhoods are Malay majority. 

Non Malays are very few in Shah Alam. And Malay house buyers were also few. I recall a brother took about two years to find a buyer for his house. That was 20 years ago. Things are no better now. 

Then there are no cinemas, no entertainment allowed in Shah Alam. Such a boring place. The young kids have little avenue to release their youthful energies. So now there are Mat Rempits who race their motorbikes. 

The masjids are becoming more noisy which does not really help with improving the value of your house. If the masjid buys newer, louder 'Barang Buatan Negara Kafir' loudspeakers the value of your houses will go down even more. 

2. Secondly (like everywhere else in the country) the Malay population in Shah Alam is overly dependent on the government for its income and survival. 

Either directly (through jobs, contracts, projects) or indirectly from the spinoffs of government jobs, contracts and projects.  So when government jobs become limited (because the Malay population is increasing) or government projects and contracts become fewer or not enough (because the Malay population is increasing) then you find that the Malay disposable income can be  severely affected.  I believe this is happening in Shah Alam (just like everywhere else in Malaysia).  

The Malays are overly dependent on the government for their economic survival. Plus the oil price is at or below USD60 per barrel. And after the India debacle the price of palm oil has fallen 11% ? Things are going to get even more difficult.

The net result is that because of the overconcentration of a Malay population in one place, then any economic stress that affects the Malays will become concentrated like a laser beam. This is what is happening in Shah Alam.  The problem becomes more concentrated. Hence this Ghost City story.

All these problems can be fixed super easily. Because they are not universal problems. These are area specific, race specific, language specific and religion specific problems.

Maksudnya orang lain tidak menghadapi masalah yang serupa. Hence it is very easy to fix these types of problems.  But you must know what to do.  Now that is a very big problem - for some.

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