Making PJ a 'Health Metropolis': A Brief Commentary
Recently I read an article on the New Straits Times website that announced the Selangor State Government's decision to make Petaling Jaya a 'health metropolis'. The article mentioned that the 1 billion ringgit would be used in 'care, research, and development' and stated that an announcement on the details of the project will be announced soon. Selangor to make PJ a health metropolis http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20100917/190718/Article/index_html (Accessed 21 October 2010)
It remains to be seen whether the approach to be taken in creating this health metropolis will be a holistic interpretation of a 'health metropolis' or one solely focused on building new hospitals to create new jobs for PJ residents. In my view, the three most important measures that could be implemented in this project would revolve around making PJ smoke-free and making PJ disability friendly. Needless to say, these are two very complex proposals, the latter of which requires the building of disability friendly infrastructure like wheelchair-friendly sidewalks etc, and the enactment of disability discrimination legislation to enable disabled people to integrate into the workforce.
In regard to the smoke-free thing, there is no doubt that such a proposal will result in a furore akin to the best revolutions of our time. We are speaking of a metropolis that houses the headquarters of British American Tobacco Malaysia, the market leader for tobacco products in Malaysia. I reckon public perception of this is that the smoke-free thing is perhaps an unrealistic thing to expect of the state government, especially in PJ. We've got to remember that Malacca was declared smoke-free not only for health reasons, but also for environmental reasons; i.e. the idea that tobacco smoke and cigarette butts dirtied buildings of historical and cultural significance.
I don't see the building of more hospitals as a sufficient criterion to categorize PJ as a 'health metropolis'. It will be interesting to see what components are contained in the upcoming proposal, and to see how the state government addresses issues such as tobacco use and disability rights, among others.
It remains to be seen whether the approach to be taken in creating this health metropolis will be a holistic interpretation of a 'health metropolis' or one solely focused on building new hospitals to create new jobs for PJ residents. In my view, the three most important measures that could be implemented in this project would revolve around making PJ smoke-free and making PJ disability friendly. Needless to say, these are two very complex proposals, the latter of which requires the building of disability friendly infrastructure like wheelchair-friendly sidewalks etc, and the enactment of disability discrimination legislation to enable disabled people to integrate into the workforce.
In regard to the smoke-free thing, there is no doubt that such a proposal will result in a furore akin to the best revolutions of our time. We are speaking of a metropolis that houses the headquarters of British American Tobacco Malaysia, the market leader for tobacco products in Malaysia. I reckon public perception of this is that the smoke-free thing is perhaps an unrealistic thing to expect of the state government, especially in PJ. We've got to remember that Malacca was declared smoke-free not only for health reasons, but also for environmental reasons; i.e. the idea that tobacco smoke and cigarette butts dirtied buildings of historical and cultural significance.
I don't see the building of more hospitals as a sufficient criterion to categorize PJ as a 'health metropolis'. It will be interesting to see what components are contained in the upcoming proposal, and to see how the state government addresses issues such as tobacco use and disability rights, among others.
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