'After office hours, the city dies: Why Putrajaya can't replace KL 30 years on

What was meant to showcase Malaysia's ambition without KL's chaos has turned into a manicured but sterile administrative enclave.

- Hadi Azmi

The morning of Oct 19 was just like any other Sunday morning for Ms Sarah Omar, who lives in Putrajaya.

Tired from a busy week of work at one of the many government agencies in the city, she went for a stroll at Alamanda, the smaller of the two malls serving the city.

"It was a pleasant Sunday. It had been a while since I was last in Alamanda, which was refurbished sometime last year," the 26-year-old told The Straits Times.

"I can't recall anything extraordinary about that day."

On Oct 19, Putrajaya, founded in 1995 as Malaysia's administrative capital, turned 30.

But the milestone came and passed largely unmarked as Malaysians’ attention remained on Kuala Lumpur, the former tin-mining colony that Putrajaya was meant to replace - but still has not.

KL enjoyed the limelight both in and outside Malaysia as the host of the 2025 Asean Summit and its parade of meetings, which saw the attendance of world leaders ranging from US President Donald Trump to Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The decision to host the Asean meetings at a convention centre beneath the Petronas Twin Towers frustrated many of KL's two million residents and its one million daily commuters.

With traffic in the city already punishing on ordinary days, repeated closures and diversions made commutes even more frustrating, culminating in a near-lockdown during Mr Trump's visit from Oct 26 to 27.

To many, the question was obvious: Why not hold the Asean Summit in Putrajaya instead?

After all, the city of stone buildings and domes was carved out precisely for ceremonial arrivals, choreographed diplomacy and statecraft - and it is also closer to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

On Oct 24, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that despite its impressive infrastructure, Putrajaya lacks sufficient hotels to meet the needs of major delegations, particularly those from China and the US.