The two women walking Malaysia towards safer streets

Free Malaysia Today

Founded in 2019 by Awatif Ghapar and Yasmin Lane, ‘Kerja Jalan’ advocates for more pedestrian-friendly cities across Malaysia.   Written & presented by: Theevya Ragu  Shoot by: Afizi Ismail  Edited by: Andrea Edmonds   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2025/11/10/the-2-women-walking-msia-towards-safer-streets   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTLifestyle

Transcript

00:01Did you know Malaysians are among the least active walkers in the world?

00:06A Stanford University study reported that Malaysians rank the third lowest in the world,

00:11averaging just under 4,000 steps a day.

00:15But is it entirely our fault?

00:17Kuala Lumpur has a reputation for being pedestrian unfriendly.

00:21Try stepping off an MRT station onto a pavement that eventually disappears

00:26or having to pray for your life as cars speed past as you attempt to cross the road.

00:32But two women are determined to make a difference.

00:35In 2019, Awatif Ghaffar and Yathmin Lane started the Kerja Jalan Project

00:41to advocate for more walkable cities in Malaysia.

00:44It started off purely from the love of walking,

00:47not so much to see whether it's pedestrian-friendly, walkable or not,

00:50but we just want to walk, meet more people, get to know their stories.

00:55It's just that we didn't expect there are also so many people who love this kind of activity.

01:01So which is why then as we started walking,

01:03then we realised there are more and more things in our city

01:06that would probably need some improvement from accessibility side.

01:10And hence we sort of like revert to Kerja Jalan

01:14where we've been walking with so many more people

01:17and then getting to know their perspectives.

01:20Yasmin, a town planner with a master's degree in sustainable urbanism,

01:24became friends with Awatif and together they drew inspiration from Jane's Walk,

01:29a global volunteer-led walking initiative created in 2006.

01:33Our most recent walk before this was with local councils,

01:36so from Johor, from Sha'alam, from Kutmiri.

01:40And it was very, very powerful to walk with these city builders

01:43and to actually be on ground and they're like,

01:44oh, I never noticed that, I never noticed, you know,

01:46and so they're so always building, designing from top

01:50without realising what's happening on ground.

01:53In small groups of about 30 people, the women lead walks with mic headsets

01:58covering not just accessibility but also neighbourhood history and heritage buildings

02:04while welcoming everyone from kids to even mums with strollers.

02:08Kerja Jalan also helps residents draft proposals and engage with local authorities

02:14about the state of their neighbourhood.

02:17For us, the objective is to get more people walking

02:20because when you walk, you observe and you see

02:22and when you know how to channel those observations and input,

02:25like even on this walk, you notice some of the broken curbs,

02:28the sidewalks that were not there, the crossings that were not there.

02:31If you were able to document that and everybody demand more from the city,

02:35and it's our right as urban citizens to demand these things.

02:37You know, we pay taxes, why are they not making our streets safer?

02:41So that's our goal, getting more people to walk.

02:45With walks held every month across Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and beyond,

02:49Awasif and Yasmin hope to get Malaysians on their feet,

02:53walking towards a more pedestrian-friendly Malaysia

02:56that will one day be on par with cities in Europe.

03:01For the full story on Kerja Jalan and more, visit FMT and follow our socials.

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