I recently bought a book called “Lost in Putrajaya”. It was
2 or 3 days after I found out I would be placed here, I was walking through a
bookstore (as one does) and the title just sprung at me. I thought it was too
much for it to be just a coincidence so I got it. It’s basically a collection
of short stories that take place in, around or involving Putrajaya.
Initially I thought the title refers to that metaphysical
feeling of “being lost” – probably why I jumped to buy it, since it reflected
my current state of mine anyways. But reading the stories I realized the title
refers to the literal feeling of being lost. Actually not finding your way. And
now that I’ve officially been living here for about one week, I can also
understand why.
This is a weird city. And it’s even weirder when you think
that it was designed from scratch at the beginning of the 20th
century, but nonetheless, it lacks some very simple things that would make life
much easier. Such as proper sign boards with directions. I will jot down some
of the contradictions that make this city special (I am not even sure I should
call it a city but I can’t tell what else it could be).
Firstly, unlike KL or basically, the rest of Malaysia,
Putrajaya was designed to be walker and cyclist friendly. Hence, you have huge
streets with also huge pavements, trees planted on the sides and biking
possibilities everywhere. The contradiction? There’s no one using them! The
streets are empty except for a few cars that walk by from time to time, no one
is walking and there are no cyclists anywhere. You might ask why… I still
haven’t figured it completely out. One of the main reasons is probably because
Putrajaya was basically built for government institutions – as a consequence,
all the people living here work for the government. They are thus working all
day long. I also saw they have quite a big cancer research institute here,
where apparently a lot of foreigners work also. But I have seen no other, nor
do I yet know where they live or hang out.
Secondly, Putrajaya prides itself with having the best
public transport in Malaysia (small comment: it’s rather easy to do that when
the streets are emptyJ).
They have their own bus operations, that go only inside Putrajaya (regional
transport is done by private companies) and that are heavily subsidized. The
price of a ticket is 50 sen, which basically means 1/8 EUR. Cheap, very cheap.
The contradiction? Most of the times the buses are empty. Literally empty.
Probably for the same reasons as above. Plus the fact that absolutely everyone
in this country owns (or wants to own) a car! The buses seem to have people on
them only when work finishes and people go home. For the rest…freedom baby!
Even more contradiction? The last bus that could get us to the main central
station has its last ride at 7:30p.m. That tells you a lot about the level of
activity in Putrajaya in the evenings…
Thirdly, Putrajaya was built after the Washington model. A
place where all government institutions should be based, “the heart of the
nation”, with imposing buildings and grand surroundings. And it does not fall
short on its model. The main street has at one end the huge office of the Prime
Minister. It then goes on for 2km, boasting huge buildings on either side of
the road. Says a lot about how the government wants to be perceived…
In the
middle of Putrajaya is a huge lake, where you can do all sorts of sporty things
also. They have the biggest botanical garden in Malaysia here (that we duly
visited yesterday but will go back to again since the haze prevented the
enjoyment to reach its full potential). You get the picture…all is big and
intimidating and makes me shiver at the thought of maintenance costs. The
contradiction? For a place that was built specifically to make admin life
easier, it is a place where it is incredibly difficult to get around! Everybody
ends up getting lost here! Maybe it’s because all the buildings look the same
(they do – it took us forever to learn how to get from our house to our
community center, and it’s like a 3 minute walk!); maybe it’s because there’s
huge roundabouts and traffic lights every 50 m (ironic if you consider the lack
of trafficJ);
maybe it’s because the sign boards are so badly made (the city is split in
Precinct, and you basically just get directed to a precinct, with no further
reference of any important landmark you might want to get at). Not sure what is
in the air, but getting around this place takes forever and leads to
frustration…
Last but not least, the neighborhood we are living in has
everything it needs in its surrounding 50 meters. So you basically never leave
this place ever! It’s called Putra Damai (precinct 11) and is made up of a
series of flats and buildings that add up to a sort of complex. We live in
Block G, have lessons in Block C, do our groceries in one of the many shops
that just pop around every 10 meters (no idea how they all survive), do our
laundry in one of the many launderettes that are just everywhere!!, play in the
swings that seem to be new (and also deserted – no kids ever use them!) at
every block etc. You get the idea. It’s tiny, self-sufficient, and looks all
the same. But I will give them something…there’s greenery everywhere!
To conclude, I am not sure what my life here will be like.
My schedule will be rather free these first weeks – we have classes from 5:30
to 10 in the evening (more on that, later on). It will become more tight when
we start teaching in schools also (probably end of September). But we are
currently just settling in our new apartment, enjoying a bit the peace and
quiet (the first month led to a bit of overexposure to everything!) and trying
to focus on the actual work…which is the reason I came here in the first place J