SIBU, Sept 24 — Public parks in Pelawan constituency will be upgraded in stages in a bid to foster friendship and community cohesion, said its assemblyman Michael Tiang.

Tiang, who is Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government, disclosed that about RM1 million has been spent since last year on parks upgrading.

He, however, was quick to point out there will be no ‘one-size-fits-all’ formula as the needs for each neighbourhood differ in terms of features.

"Parks are ideal places for people to gather and interact and through such interactions in a park setting, folk foster friendships and social connections. This will indeed go a long way to strengthen community cohesion,” he told reporters during the Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at Rejang Park Traffic Garden here last night.

Tiang said the parks that have been improved included the ones in Jalan Lim Han Swee and Jalan Wawasan, while the upcoming projects are in Jalan Sena and Jalan Melor.

"And we are now identifying new areas to do it,” he added.

Tiang said: "Maybe, people will see my parks are a bit different. Take the park in Jalan Cherry for instance, they see some basic facilities.

"You see, the first thing is to get the turfing right and proper irrigation in place. And once that is settled, we will build a pond with more facilities.

"And I also give time to the neighbourhoods to try out the new parks and start gathering their opinion on what kind of extra features that they want such as more lightings, wider walkways, even some waterproof canopies and so on.

"They will give me their feedback and I will slowly improve the park phase-by-phase. I don’t want to do it at one go, but instead, this year, I will do this and next year, will add on (other features). Hopefully, at the end of the day, I can build parks that the neighbourhoods love to use.”

He said some parks will be more children-oriented while others will have more facilities for senior citizens.

"So, different park at different neighbourhood, they have different needs — so, it all depends. We have to conduct a study and start talking to the neighbourhoods there, to get the formula right.

"So, we tailor-made the parks to suit the neighbourhoods’ needs — that is very important,” Tiang added.

Towards this end, he hoped to see more people making use of the parks to get together as this will strengthen community ties.

"I want people to come out and meet and get to know each other in the park rather than staying at home and glued to streaming services and social media platforms.” — Borneo Post