A bird's eye view of Stadium Merdeka (right) and Stadium Negara (dome-shaped roof) where the 100-storey skyscraper is proposed to be built beside the two stadiums in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. -- PHOTO: APKUALA LUMPUR - THE Malaysian government faced mounting opposition Wednesday to a US$1.6 billion (S$2.1 billion), 100-story skyscraper plan, with critics slamming the government-backed project as an unnecessary extravagance at a time of belt-tightening and rising prices.
Prime Minister Najib Razak insists the project will boost business in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, but it could hamper his ruling coalition's efforts to regain support from many who believe that public funds are regularly abused to help the government's allies grow wealthy.
More than 34,000 people had joined a Facebook group opposing the initiative by mid-Wednesday, with the number growing by the hundreds every hour - only five days after Mr Najib first mentioned it while announcing the government's latest budget.
'This new tower is nothing more than hubris,' Sophia Chiu, a Kuala Lumpur resident, wrote on the Facebook page. Government leaders 'should think things through and consider (the public) first, not their own egos.'
It is widely perceived to be a government project using taxpayers' contributions, but Mr Najib has said the tower will be part of a 5 billion ringgit (S$2.1 billion) urban development initiative spearheaded by Permodalan Nasional Berhad, a government-backed fund management firm that handles private depositors' money.
'This project is not a waste' of funds, Mr Najib told a news conference late Tuesday. 'We want a (new) building that will become a symbol of a modern, developed country.' Mr Najib noted that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also faced resistance in the 1990s when he pushed for the 88-story Petronas Twin Towers, which were the world's tallest buildings for several years and are now an iconic source of pride for many Malaysians. -- AP
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