A gardener planting vegetables at Kebun Komuniti Hartamas, a community garden, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 2, 2021. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Beh Lih Yi
By Beh Lih Yi; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Thomson Reuters Foundation
June 17 2021
Amid the high rises that tower over the Malaysian capital, tiny community gardens are taking shape in a trend that has seen urban dwellers staking claims to the city – one plot at a time.
Using pockets of overgrown land under power lines or slivers sitting idle by the river, community gardeners are busy digging, hoeing and weeding in a city that is better known for its glitzy shopping malls and testing traffic jams.
But they face threats of eviction and legal uncertainty, highlighting the barriers to community land access and fueling calls for authorities to loosen rules governing urban farming.
“We are not committing any crimes,” said Ng Sek San, a landscape architect who founded Kebun-kebun Bangsar, a community garden in an affluent part of the capital that has been running since 2017.
The garden, on a plot of land under pylons, draws a steady crowd of visitors and volunteers on weekends seeking respite from stifling city life, but last year it was issued with an eviction order after the authorities withdrew a temporary lease.
“We need to…question discretion, when the law is unjust or not updated for our current city living,” said Ng, who continues to run the garden despite risking five years in jail and a 500,000-ringgit (US$121,000) fine, if the order is enforced.
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