While many plots of land remain vacant, large swathes have been taken up by developers to build high-rise condominiums or landed properties to meet the demands of the thriving community there.

There is considerable traffic on weekdays, but the wide roads are mostly deserted on weekends as the Cyberjaya residents make their way to downtown Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya.

This is a far cry from the area’s earlier days during which it consisted of primarily undeveloped land, mainly oil palm plantations.

Now, it is home to boutique hotels, scores of commercial buildings, offices for Multimedia Super Corridor status companies, universities, a community club and headquarters for the local council.

Also in progress is the construction of the Maju Expressway II, which cuts through the heart of the town. It is an 18km, three-lane dual carriageway that will begin at the Putrajaya Interchange and merge with the existing Lebuhraya KLIA in Sepang.

Cyberjaya, which was opened in May 1997 by then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was supposed to be the Silicon Valley of Malaysia.

But 21 years later, Cyberjaya is still a long way off from living up to its title. Even Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali has admitted that Cyberjaya has strayed from its original aim of being an information technology (IT) hub.

There are problems with indiscriminate littering, doubts over safety, as well as reckless driving on the roads. One recent incident saw the death of a 31-year-old woman, Wan Amirah Wan Alias. A 24-year-old Libyan, Ahmed Abdullah Ali, was charged with causing her death on Oct 17.

For Eunice Ho, Cyberjaya is no longer the place she fell in love with when she began working there eight years ago.

“Take a drive along the main road of Cyberjaya, and you will see plenty of rubbish, an unkempt and untrimmed landscape, and worse, mobikes (mobile bicycles) left everywhere.

“Students just use them and throw them around as though the bikes belonged to them,” she told FMT.

The 31-year-old added that the wide roads, which are for the most part empty of traffic, had encouraged reckless driving which posed a danger to pedestrians.

“The way the motorists drive on the road is really reckless. There are a lot of pedestrians in Cyberjaya, as there are many students around here.

“Accidents are just waiting to happen.”

Ho also said she did not feel safe if she had to walk home alone at night. She told of how her neighbour’s daughter had been followed by an unknown person while returning from work at 2am.

“She was so terrified. Thankfully, her mother was waiting for her to come back, and when she was about to exit the lift, her mother called out and she answered,” Ho said, adding that the man then ran off.

As Cyberjaya is an education hub, there has been a rise in the number of foreign tenants which in turn contributes to concerns over safety. Ho claimed many security guards had been threatened by these tenants, who could also turn violent.

She related an incident in which the police had to be called after an altercation broke out between the security guards and two Middle Eastern men.

“It seemed the two wanted to enter but refused to produce any identification. The guards told them to wait outside and call the person they wished to visit, to verify. Only then would they be allowed to enter.

“That riled them up and they hit the guards. It is getting really scary these days,” she said.

There is also the problem of cleanliness, with rubbish often thrown from the upper floors of apartment buildings. Sometimes waste is hurled out into vacant plots of land next to the buildings.

“We have seen objects such as mirrors and scanners being thrown. One time, a mirror narrowly missed the cleaning lady.

“We pay so much to live in these apartments, but it feels as though we are living in low-cost flats,” Ho said, recalling the case of the boy who was killed by a chair thrown from the upper floor of a low-cost flat in Pantai Dalam last year.

‘Still a lot to offer’

Another resident, L Vigneshwaran, 35, concurred with Ho, saying Cyberjaya’s reputation has deteriorated, and that it was a place with much diversity but no inclusivity.

He also noted how the property glut now shapes the identity of Cyberjaya, which was once poised to be an IT hub.

“I am a Malaysian, but I don’t feel that this is a place where I can be safe because of the sheer number of foreigners who not just live here, but also buy property as an investment,” he told FMT.

Vigneshwaran, who works with an oil and gas company, said Cyberjaya was a well-planned town and home to many nice apartments. However, he said the residents, especially the foreigners, were often questionable characters.

“There are foreign students with different kinds of habits, some which are not so welcome,” he added.

He suggested that foreign students be educated on cultural sensitivities as well as proper etiquette in Malaysia.

But despite his reservations about the town, Vigneshwaran, who hails from Penang and lived in Kota Damansara before moving to Cyberjaya three years ago, said the area was modern and chic with huge opportunities and potential.

Although it had yet to reach its full potential as an IT hub, he added, Cyberjaya was on the right track.

He said many multinational corporations had chosen to set up shop in the area, which is also thriving economically.

“Yes, Cyberjaya’s condition is deteriorating, but is there potential? Huge. It just needs a push in the right direction.”