KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — A DAP lawmaker today suggested that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) award those who catch the most rats in store alleys or collect the most rubbish from the Klang River since it was willing to “waste’ funds on making the world’s largest handbag and couch.

In a statement, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said public funds would be better spent on setting records for the cleanest toilets or the nicest parks as these measures would benefit the public more than a large handbag and couch would.

“How nice would it be if DBKL showed the same level of excitement in its efforts to create a record for the cleanest toilets or the nicest parks in the Malaysian Book of Records or the Guinness World Records?” he said in his statement laced with sarcasm.

“Or perhaps to have a competition and give a prize to those who manage to catch the most rats from store alleys or manage to collect the most trash from the Klang River,” he added.

He called DBKL’s attempts at getting its name in the Malaysia Book of Records and the Guinness World Record “wasteful” as it does not benefit the public.

“I read a report about the suggestion to create a bag and couch for the purpose of setting a record which is merely an attempt to be wasteful and shows that the Kuala Lumpur city council prefers to use up its resources for nonsensical things,” Lim said.

“Why do they have to waste time, money and manpower to create something that will not benefit the people?” he further questioned.

He also hoped that Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib would leave behind a “good legacy” come the end of the latter’s tenure in July following this decision which gives the impression that DBKL has “nothing better to do” to help the public.

“Efforts to create the world’s largest handbag and the world’s longest couch makes it seem like DBKL has nothing better to do that will benefit the city folk,”

“Let us all hope that Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Hj Ahmad Phesal will leave behind a good legacy for Malaysia’s capital before the end of his contract come July,” he said.

Local news portal Malaysiakini reported on Sunday that DBKL announced plans to create the world’s largest handbag and couch using recyclable materials in an effort to encourage Malaysians to reuse items in a creative manner.

The handbag will need 10,000 secondhand t-shirts to create and the couch would be 24.38 metres comprising of 280 metres of denim.

Newswire Bernama reported that 5,000 people will be needed to create the large handbag while 1,000 people will be needed for the building of the large couch.