1. Budget Mentality: Numbers Without Understanding

Most public facility budgets are set by non-technical administrators — people who have never operated or maintained a building, yet hold full control over funding.
They often rely on outdated or flawed cost baselines.
Statements like:
“This infra was maintained at RM X per square foot — why can’t this infra do the same?”
…are thrown around without context, without asking:

Was the reference infra even comparable?
Did it suffer from deferred maintenance?
Were critical systems ignored?

This is further complicated by the fact that many budget decisions are made in isolation from engineers and operations personnel. The result = chronic underfunding, unrealistic expectations, and eventual system failures.

2. Maintenance Mentality: Blind Execution Without Optimization

Many facility management teams simply follow the installation — no questions asked. There's no culture of optimization, no incentive to improve system efficiency.
Take this example:

A government building has an oversized chiller system. Operation logs show poor part-load performance — one chiller running inefficiently while the system was designed for 2 duty + 1 standby.

An engineer might recommend system adjustments to reduce energy waste — but in many public buildings:
No such initiative exists.
No optimization is done.
There’s fear of being blamed if something goes wrong.

The risk-reward model is broken:
Success? It's "your job anyway."
Failure? You're accountable.
Do nothing? You're safe.

Worse, many maintenance teams are under-qualified. They keep operation manuals pristine in drawers, but few understand how to read or apply the content. The majority of technicians are skilled in routine tasks — but not in system-level thinking.

3. Societal Mentality: Misuse from the Ground Up

Even with good systems and design, public facilities get trashed when society treats them poorly.
Toilets are the classic example:

People squat on toilet seats with shoes, fearing they're dirty — leaving behind shoe stains for the next user.
They don’t flush, don’t clean, don’t care.

It’s not a facility problem. It’s a mindset problem.
Even the best infrastructure can’t survive if the users themselves are careless or self-centred.

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What Needs to Change?
a) Rethink Budgeting in Public Projects
Stop treating technical input as an afterthought.
Involve engineers and FM professionals during budget planning — not after problems arise.
Don’t expect “first-class maintenance” with a “third-world budget.”

b) Raise the Bar for Maintenance Teams
Encourage system optimization. Provide training.
Shift the mindset from “just follow procedure” to “how can this be improved?”
Reward smart risk-taking and proactive improvements.

c) Start Character Education at Home
No, schools can't fix everything.
Parents need to teach their children basic respect for public space, hygiene, and shared responsibility.
If adults model poor behaviour, how can the next generation behave any better?

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This post has been edited by nihility: Jun 3 2025, 05:27 PM