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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright September 2022
During his recent appearance at the United Nations General Assembly, PM Ismail Sabri took time off to visit Central Park of New York City and was captivated by the magestic garden on Manhattan island.
Ismail said while taking a stroll around New York's Central Park, he was amazed at how the large garden, situated in the middle of a city, could be so well maintained and preserved for the last 160-plus years.
By the way, he should have asked the Mayor how much the city spends every year to keep it in such great shape.
No matter how many times you have visited the park it is hard not to be amazed by its sheer size. The park is 341 hectares or 843 acres (1.317 square miles or 3.41 km2) and has been a permanent feature of the city ever since it was first created between 1857 through 1876.
It is the fifth-largest park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan and also the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors annually.
Also, it is a favourite among moviemakers and is considered the most filmed location in the world.
The press reported that Ismail Sabri was so impressed by the park that he was prompted into saying that henceforth there would be proposals for a similar park to be developed in Malaysia because he had found an "inspiration on how to preserve our green areas."
We could too if we were willing to allocate funds and work towards preserving our local parks.
But when asked by the press if he had found the inspiration as to when to dissolve Parliament, he merely replied "not yet" with a smile for the reporters present.
I don't blame the PM for replying to the press in that manner because when you are in such a magnificent park it is easy to forget work and everything around you.
I have never been a leader of a nation like Ismail Sabri and I don't know how I would reply to the last question.
However, in the years I spent in New York, Central Park was a great place to escape from daily troubles and pressures from work.
At times, it was a great place for me to read a book, find inspiration to write an essay or compose a poem, especially in the Fall when the foliage turns red and gold adding colour to the horizon over the big lake.
How I wished we have such a place, better than Kuala Lumpur's Lake Gardens or Taman Titiwangsa which are not as inspiring.
Yes, Ismail Sabri is right to be so inspired and we ought to invite proposals to create a similar park as magnificent as New York City's. But we must put money and effort to keep it in shape for years to come.
Meanwhile, General Election 15 can wait while our PM continues to be inspired by New York City's Central Park.
He ought to invite consultants to design one of our very own right here in Malaysia.
Don't Pak Ismail, wait because inspirations come and go.
Do it now Pak Ismail before you leave the office. You'll never know what'll happen in GE15.
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