Poor Communication On New Parking Policy

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Is this the way to communicate to the community about changes to the council's parking policy?
Local authorities are very strange government organisations.
They are supposed to be customer friendly, helpful and responsive. Instead, they appear arrogant, aloof and insensitive.
Is this really how a government should communicate major policy changes that affect the daily lives of thousands?
On top of that, recent reports revealed that information regarding new parking operators in four local authorities in Selangor — Shah Alam (MBSA), Selayang (MPS), Subang Jaya (MBSJ) and Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) — has been kept secret.
The public, media and even councillors are unable to obtain details about the new parking arrangements, despite these involving public assets and taxpayer money.
This raises an obvious question: why the secrecy?
Freedom of information
Selangor, together with Penang, are the only two states in the country today that have enacted a Freedom of Information (FoI) law — supposedly empowering citizens to request and access government information.
Members of the public in both states are probably still unaware of their rights to obtain such information. The enactment was never publicised widely.
Yet, in practice, Selangor’s FoI seems meaningless when even something as basic as the terms of a parking management contract cannot be disclosed.
Worse still, the partnership structure between the local councils, the state government-owned company (why are they even involved in parking collection?), and the private operator, remains a mystery and hidden from public view.
In a functioning democracy, these details would be tabled, debated and published.
But here in Selangor, they are treated as state secrets.
No more local elections 
This is the kind of decision made by the state government when transparency and accountability are absent instead of being placed at the top of their agenda.
That’s why, at least in Selangor, and perhaps KL too, we need local elections to provide better governance and transparent decision making.
The last local election in Malaysia was held in 1965.
Then, a new law — the Local Government Act — was passed in Parliament in 1976, doing away with local elections. From then onwards, Malaysians have had no direct say in how their city councils operate.
Unlike in New York, which just elected a new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, local mayors and municipal leaders in Malaysia are appointed bureaucrats — often officers seconded from Putrajaya, with little connection to the local communities they supposedly serve.
So what can citizens do when they are unhappy with their councils or these opaque state-linked arrangements?
The only option left is to change their state assemblyman, and reject state and federal governments that perpetuate these practices.
This MBPJ banner announced an increase in the maximum fines for parking offences to RM300, beginning September 2025.Poor communication 
In the current scenario, what truly adds insult to injury is the way these changes are communicated.
Instead of holding press briefings, issuing clear statements, or engaging ratepayers through official platforms, these local authorities have chosen to announce a major policy shift by putting up a few banners in odd corners of town.
No consultation. No explanation. Just a banner threatening fines — and demanding payment to a private company the public knows nothing about.
It is a shocking display of arrogance and disregard for transparency.
A new parking regime should come with clarity, not confusion. It should be backed by data, not secrecy.
If this is how Selangor handles something as straightforward as a parking contract, one can only imagine how other, larger deals are conducted — quietly, behind closed doors, between the state and its chosen partners.
For a state that prides itself on being Malaysia’s most developed, Selangor’s governance is regressing, not progressing. - FMT
The author can be reached at: [email protected]
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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