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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