BFM89.9 captures the heart of Taman Rimba Kiara’s fight in inspiring documentary

Independent radio station BFM 89.9 has released a documentary “Rumah Penantian” (‘The waiting house’), regarding a community-led battle hoping to save their beloved local green space from a proposed construction plan involving eight blocks of luxury condominiums by Memang Perkasa, which was approved by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). 

Also known as the Taman Rimba Kiara story, the issue is well-known throughout the Klang Valley, having been well-covered by local media and news outlets since the controversy began almost a decade ago.

The documentary features interviews of the longhouse residents, activist groups, lawyers and politicians, while a group of residents who were residing in temporary longhouses beside the park, were also dragged into the controversy as they were allegedly forced into signing agreements with the developer amid their 40-year wait for permanent housing as promised by local authorities.  

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The plight of the “Rumah Penantian” residents 
 
The 30-minute documentary was released with a public screening, launched by Segambut member of parliament Hannah Yeoh together with the Save Taman Rimba Kiara working group. 

The film starts off with serene scenes of the Taman Tun Dr. Ismail residential area, fondly known as Taman Tun or TTDI by locals. Highlighting its vibrant community and the green lung at the centre of it, that is Taman Rimba Kiara.  

However, it sends a clear message right from the get-go: “Taman Tun residents are not people that you want to mess with”.  

The documentary brings viewers way beyond the recent legal battle to 1982, where a small community of rubber estate workers from Bukit Kiara were relocated to a few rows of wooden longhouses in Taman Tun amidst the government’s plans to develop the area. What was promised as a temporary solution, became a difficult four-decade wait for proper brick houses.  

This is where the title of BFM’s documentary is derived from, as “Rumah Penantian” reflects the wooden longhouses that these families of estate workers have been “waiting” in for years. 

As the film carries on, BFM brings us through the stories and struggles faced by the longhouse residents, and breaks down the controversy involving DBKL and developer Memang Perkasa in a clear and concise way, paired with engaging visuals. 

“Rumah Penantian” progresses toward a hopeful note, about the TTDI residents’ victory in their legal battle to quash DBKL’s development order to build the luxury condos on the 25-acre Taman Rimba Kiara, following years of protests and objections.  

The community banded together to file a lawsuit in August 2017, but the High Court dismissed their lawsuit in November 2018. Subsequently, the residents turned to the Court of Appeal and won their case in January 2021. Finally, the Federal Court quashed DBKL’s appeal for the development order yet again in 2023.  

The documentary also showed a glimpse of what it was like when news of the landmark ruling was read in the radio booth by presenter Nadhirah Matrang. 

To end, the film comes back full circle to the TTDI longhouses, on which it began with. However, this time highlighting the fact that the longhouse residents must continue living in their rumah penantian as they continue waiting for permanent housing. Its final scene is of Save Taman Rimba Kiara working group resident coordinator Leon Koay and longhouse resident Sivakumar Muniandy having a conversation about the longhouses.  

Koay choked up with emotion as he said, “The journey to save Taman Rimba Kiara and secure permanent housing for the longhouse residents was long, but it pales in comparison to how long the residents have waited for the homes they were promised.” 

The documentary’s significance 

The documentary isn’t a straightforward story about a victory, as the longhouse residents were still waiting for their promised homes, which were put on hold as a result of the Federal Court judgment. 

According to the Save Taman Rimba Kiara working group when contacted by A+M, the release of BFM’s documentary coincides with the second anniversary of the Federal Court’s decision. 

“Its significance is related to the recurring question amongst Taman Tun residents. Why authorities failed to investigate the issue despite the court decision,” the group’s media coordinator Khairudin Rahim told A+M. 

Khairudin said that since the development order has been held illegal and tainted with conflict of interest, it is imperative for authorities to investigate why such conflict was allowed to happen in the first place, and who benefited from it. 

Khairudin added that a “happy ending” to the longhouse residents’ 43-year wait is in the works, as the Malaysian cabinet directed DBKL to maintain the greenery on the entire 25-acres of Taman Rimba Kiara, and to also build permanent housing for the estate worker families.  

Meanwhile, Babu Shawn Tanis, head of digital at BFM told A+M that if there’s one thing to take away from “Rumah Penantian”, it’s that silence is compliance.   

“This documentary is a true Malaysian story about a small neighbourhood that stood up and said: ‘We have to do something about this', when faced with injustice,” added Tanis, who is also the executive producer of the documentary.  

“The documentary was made to shed light on the struggles of forgotten communities, like the longhouse residents, and highlights the power of collective action. It aims to inspire other communities facing similar challenges to stay resilient in their fight to protect shared spaces and the environment,” he shared. 

The making of 'Rumah Penantian'

“Rumah Penantian”, which currently has over 115K views on YouTube at the time of writing, has also garnered a slew of positive reactions in the comments sections, a check by A+M saw. 

Besides commending BFM for a job well done on the documentary, many have mentioned that its production was comparable with that of a Netflix, Vox or Channel News Asia (CNA) documentary. Viewers also mentioned that the video was an example of good journalism, calling for the radio station to produce more similar content.  

For the past five years, BFM has been elevating its video content game. Besides uploading its radio interviews as edited and produced videos, it has also been creating original short-form content such as its “Cerita dia camni” (‘The story goes like this’) series, and its “Kupas” (‘Peeled’) series which have around 600K to 1.5M views.  

One of the station’s most popular exclusive interviews is of Khairy Jamaluddin two years ago, sharing about his sacking by party UMNO, which raked in 399K views.  

When asked by A+M if BFM has any plans to produce more documentaries such as “Rumah Penantian”, Tanis said not at the moment. “But we would consider a lot of the short-form videos we’re creating or have created, including about businesses, to be short documentaries too. The approach really depends on the premise.” 

“We’ve been making radio and video documentaries for a long time, since they help the issues that we cover reach a wider audience to create a bigger impact,” he added. The documentary took a year to complete, beginning from December 2023. 

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