Iktibar perbezaan pandangan wacana dunia dan lokal tentang status keselamatan bandar Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Lessons from differences in the global and local discourse views on the safe city status of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Abstract

Pemahaman tentang penilaian keselamatan bandar agak mengelirukan dan sering kali berlaku percanggahan kesimpulan antara wacana antarabangsa dengan wacana tempatan. Diperhatikan wacana luar negara menilai bandar Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, sebagai ‘bandar sederhana rendah selamat’ (below average), tetapi wacana tempatan melihat KL sebagai bandar selamat yang sangat sesuai untuk didiami. Sehubungan itu, kajian ini cuba memahami jurang perbezaan yang wujud antara wacana antarabangsa dengan wacana tempatan dalam menilai keselamatan bandar KL serta aspek-aspek yang boleh dipelajari daripada wacana kedua-dua pihak. Artikel ini mengguna pakai kaedah kajian kes berpandukan jadual matriks perbandingan, analisis jarak daripada nilai min, dan penilaian skor. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa institusi antarabangsa melihat daripada sudut yang lebih meluas seperti sudut ekonomi, pelaburan, dan pelancongan, dan menilai KL berdasarkan lima aspek keselamatan, iaitu keselamatan awam, peribadi, kesihatan, infrastruktur, dan digital. Sebaliknya, sarjana tempatan menjurus kepada faktor yang lebih lokal dan dekat dengan kehendak penduduk, iaitu pelaksanaan Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, pencegahan jenayah, dan keberkesanan program bandar selamat. Walau bagaimanapun, didapati penarafan bandar KL sebagai ‘bandar sederhana rendah selamat’ di mata dunia tidak begitu diambil berat oleh penduduk tempatan kerana mereka hidup dalam keadaan sejahtera dan kes-kes jenayah di sekitar KL berada pada tahap terkawal. Pada pendapat pengkaji, perbezaan pandangan perlu dijadikan iktibar dan tidak harus dipandang ringan, manakala adaptasi terhadap kebimbangan ke atas jenayah perlu diteliti. Kajian ini merupakan kajian yang pertama menyumbangkan perbandingan perspektif antara dunia dengan tempatan berkenaan konsep keselamatan di Malaysia, khasnya bandar KL.

Kata kunci: Adaptasi kebimbangan terhadap jenayah; bandar selamat, Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, Crime Prevention through Social Development, kesejahteraan hidup, Malaysia

The understanding of urban safety assessments is somewhat confusing, and conflicting conclusions often arise between international and local discourse. Observing the city of Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, foreign discourse evaluates KL as a ‘medium low-safe city’ (below average). However, local discourse sees KL as a safe city that is highly suitable to live in. Accordingly, this study attempts to understand the extent to which differences exist between international and local discourse in evaluating the safety of the city of KL, and what perceptions can be understood from an examination of the discourse of both parties. This article adopts a case study method based on comparison matrixes, distance from mean values and score analysis. The results show that international institutions view the topic from a broader perspective (usually from an economic, investment and tourism perspective), and evaluate KL according to five aspects of security, namely public safety, personal, health, infrastructure and digital. Meanwhile, local scholars focus on more local factors, and their approach involves the needs of the population, namely the implementation of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, crime prevention and the effectiveness of safe city programmes. However, it was found that the rating of KL city as a ‘medium low-safe city’ in the eyes of the world receives less attention from the locals, as long as their lives are prosperous, and criminal cases kept at a controlled level around them. In the opinion of researchers, differences of opinion should be regarded as instructive and should not be underestimated, while adaptation to the fear of crime should be studied. This study is the first to contribute a comparison between the world and local perspectives on the concept of a safe city in Malaysia, specifically, the city of KL.

Keywords: Adaptation to the fear of crime, safe cities, Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, Crime Prevention through Social Development, society wellbeing, Malaysia