Deja Vu

Anwar has been taken in by the police.

It feels a little like 1998 all over again.

I won't write in detail because the issue is being discussed right now all over blogosphere ad nauseam.

My little wish:

1. The Royal Malaysian Police with conduct its investigations in a fair, controlled and professional manner.

2. That Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be treated with total respect and decorum as an individual who is innocent until proven guilty under Malaysian laws. We do not need another black eye for Malaysia.

3. That if he is charged, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be given a expedious, fair and just trial under an independent judge of integrity. Justice must not only be served by be seen to be served.

All the political brinkmanship, drama and threats today while superficial, has downgraded the perceived stability of this country which will only result in a further weakening economic situation, especially in the light of the existing turmoil in the global economy.

Read more!

Blogging Pasir Salak

I wrote about the Yang Berhormat from Pasir Salak at the start of the previous parliamentary session, on the fact that he's an unapologetic Malay nationalist of the ketuanan Melayu mold. Together with the so-called independent, Yang Berhormat from Pasir Mas, Ibrahim Ali, they lead the charge of Malay rights in the parliament, taking no prisoners, be they ministers or opposition MPs.

About a week or two after my blog post, he confronted (not in the violent sense) me on my blog post which "hentam" him, to which I said, if need to "hentam", must "hentam"-lah. It was quite amusing because he carried the print out of my blog post with him (and wanted to show it to me ;-)). He went on to gripe the fact that I spend my time blogging in parliament instead of debating, which is what I should be doing. I didn't bother challenging his views.

Then I had another "bow and scrape" with him at the end of last session blogged here.

Last week, there was another little amusing, shake-your-head, laugh-out-loud-inside type incident. Check out the text from the Hansard here, and posted below. It all started when Pasir Salak started his spill on the fact that while the public universities (IPTA) have a majority of bumiputera students, the private universities (IPTS) have very few of them i.e., he wanted the Ministry of Higher Education to ensure that there are "proportionate" numbers of bumiputera students in these institutions as well(!)

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Saya minta penjelasan. Yang
Berhormat Menteri, saya ingat tidak tahulah saya, mungkin saya salah ataupun Yang Berhormat macam mana, angka itu saya rasa tidak berapa tepat. Sebab saya juga mengikuti perkembangan sektor pelajaran dalam sektor swasta, private education. Boleh dikatakan kalau macam HELP, ambil contoh HELP, ambil contoh Taylor College, ambil contoh Sunway College. All these colleges almost 90% dengan izin, student dia bukan bumiputera. Jadi macam mana boleh over all tadi disebut bahawa bumiputera ada 53% dalam private education. Tolong bagi contoh mana dia kolej-kolej swasta atau universiti kolej swasta yang bumiputeranya ramai? Give me an example please, dengan izin.

Tuan Pua Kiam Wee [Petaling Jaya Utara]: [Bercakap tanpa pembesar suara]
(This was the part I kept shouting "Kosmopoint" as an example of such a private university - I didn't switch on my mic)

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Ya? Apa dia?

Tuan Pua Kiam Wee [Petaling Jaya Utara]: [Bercakap tanpa pembesar suara]
(This was the part I repeated "Kosmopoint" as an example of such a private university)

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Belum jadi menteri lagi, jangan
jawab! [Ketawa]

Dato' Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin: Menteri ada pembantu... [Ketawa]

Shortly after that, came another short episode:

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Okey, okey, sedikit sahaja.
Penjelasan Yang Berhormat, Yang Berhormat kan hendak habis? Saya minta, okeylah. UNITEN termasuk kategori IPTS dan begitu ramai sekali pelajar bumiputera. Akan tetapi, saya hendak tahu sekarang ini, apa tindakan kerajaan untuk memastikan populasi pelajar bumiputera dalam institusi-institusi pengajian tinggi swasta yang bukan kerajaan. Taylor College, Sunway College, HELP, KDU dan banyak lagi. Saya hendak kolej-kolej ini yang pelajar dia...

Dato' Ibrahim Ali [Pasir Mas]: [Bangun]

Tuan Pua Kiam Wee [Petaling Jaya Utara]: [Bangun]

(I got up at this stage with the intention to "fry" Pasir Salak on his dangerously race-based approach whereby the free market where students have a choice in choosing their schools have also to come under quota controls. Unfortunately the Minister of Higher Education didn't give me the floor to rebutt.)

Timbalan Yang di-Pertua [Datuk Ronald Kiandee]: Ahli Yang Berhormat, tidak boleh bangun masa sekarang Yang Berhormat. Menteri menjawab, baru Yang Berhormat bangun.

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Main bloglah kat situ. Buka komputer itu, do the blogging. That is your job, blogging. [Ketawa] Blog sahaja tidak habis-habis. Daripada dahulu sampai hari ini...

Puan Fong Po Kuan [Batu Gajah]: [Menyampuk]

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: ...Pengundi bukan pilih untuk main blog dalam itu...

Tuan Pua Kiam Wee [Petaling Jaya Utara]: Okeylah.. [main blog] tetap boleh menang tu!

So, essentially, Pasir Salak has 2 problems. First, he has a problem with the fact that non-bumiputeras deserves equal rights to quality education in this country. And second, he has a problem with blogging as a valid and progressive means of communication with our constituency, and our form of dialogue/discussion with Malaysians and voters.

One would have thought that for someone who lives in one of the wealthiest districts in Kuala Lumpur, would have better sense than that. He had boasted (pg 132) in parliament that he was the former founder of DRB Hicom and an expert in the automotive industry as well (!).

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Saya bercakap asalnya dahulu. Di
mana teknologi syarikat-syarikat automotif Jepun ini memperoleh teknologi dan belajar daripada mana. Synergy dengan syarikat mana. Yang Berhormat budak lagi saya dah dalam industri automotif.

Beberapa Ahli: Woo!

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Ya. I was the founder of DRB Group for your information. You jangan main-main, 30 tahun dahulu saya sudah melawat semua kilang-kilang kereta di negeri Jepun, Korea, Seoul dengan izin, you don’t know me, you don’t talk. Your experience is nothing just like this.

Tuan Haji Mahfuz bin Omar [Pokok Sena]: Hey, angin nampak hari ini.

Dato' Haji Tajuddin bin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Tak. Dia cuba under estimate,
what do you know about automotive industry?, I want to ask you!

Timbalan Yang di-Pertua [Datuk Ronald Kiandee]: Yang Berhormat.

Dato' Haji Tajuddin bin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Berbalik kepada soal Proton.

Timbalan Yang di-Pertua [Datuk Ronald Kiandee]: MITI Yang Berhormat, MITI.

It's really quite hilarious sometimes. But he is fortunate that he contested in Pasir Salak (Perak) and not say, Kota Raja or Titiwangsa in the Klang Valley.

Regardless, I did receive a beautiful invitation card from him for his daughter's wedding dinner last weekend, which I was unfortunately unable to attend. Congratulations are due nevertheless. ;-)

Read more!

ADUN Banned from School Reunion (II) - Minister's Reply

As promised, I raised the issue with regards to the state assemblywoman for Subang Jaya, Hannah Yeoh, being prevented from attending even her own prefects' reunion of her secondary school, SMK Subang Utama, just because she doesn't obviously belong to the "right" party.

The Deputy Minister for Education, Dr Wee Ka Siong who kindly waited for me in parliament late in the evening despite the absence of opposition MPs in the afternoon yesterday, replied to my question posted here.

In a gist, his reply stated and insisted that:

1. No one is barred from attending functions in schools, including opposition MPs or non-Barisan Nasional ADUNs. Specifically Hannah was never "banned" from the prefects' reunion.
   
   
2. There is however a circular which reinforces the need for prior permission to be obtained from the state education authorities before VIPs are allowed to be present in the school.

I disagree with the bureaucratic approach of "approving" VIPs, but I leave the issue aside first. Hence based on the above expected reply, there can only be a few possibilities:

1. The Ministry of Education is lying that no instructions were given.
   
   
2. The principal of SMK Subang Utama is lying that instructions were given.

I spoke to the Deputy Minister privately after the session and informed him that the principal sepcifically told Hannah that she is not permitted to attend the prefects' reunion held outside the school under instructions from the Ministry.

And I specifically asked him that if no such instructions were given, is the principal in error, and have clearly made judgement calls beyond his or her authority, which has resulting in the ridiculous situation of Hannah forbidden from attending a private function held by her own alumni. He replied affirmative, and he said that he'll have a word with the principal (which I hope he'll carry out).

He also added that we can take his parliamentary reply to the principal and insist to any other principal that non-BN MPs and ADUNs being "banned" from schools is not the policy of the Ministry and demand the necessary corrections. Alma maters of SMK Subang Utama are hence encouraged to write to the principal citing his reply on the matter to reprimand the principal for abusing his/her authority.

In future, should any parent face similar problems, please let me know in advance (with details) such that I can obtain the necessary clarification or even approval from the Ministry of Education.

Below is the Deputy Ministers' reply in full (you can also check out the Hansard, pg 186):

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, pada kesempatan ini izinkan saya memberi penjelasan terhadap perkara yang telah dibangkitkan oleh Yang Berhormat Petaling Jaya Utara berkaitan dengan undangan menghadiri majlis rasmi di sekolah. Tuan Yang di-Pertua, Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia telah mengeluarkan beberapa pekeliling berkaitan dengan undang kepada tetamu kehormat ke majlis-majlis rasmi di sekolah.

Antaranya Surat Pekeliling Ikhtisas Bilangan 10/1989, Atur cara Majlis Rasmi Sekolah bertarikh 5 Oktober 1989, Surat Pekeliling Ikhtisas Bilangan 3/1991, mengundang orang-orang kenamaan ke upacara sekolah, institusi pendidikan bertarikh 16 Mei 1991 dan yang terbaru berhubung dengan perkara ini adalah Surat pekeliling Ikhtisas Bilangan 3/2008, mengundang orang-orang kenamaan ke upacara sekolah dan penggunaan premis sekolah yang bertarikh 31 Mac 2008.

KPM sedia maklum dalam kalendar sekolah lazimnya terdapat beberapa peristiwa
tertentu yang dianggap penting serta diberi keutamaan sebagai majlis rasmi sekolah. Di antara majlis tersebut termasuklah Hari Anugerah Kecemerlangan, Hari Terbuka Sukan Tahunan dan Mesyuarat Agung PIBG yang kesemuanya melibatkan kehadiran jemputan khas, sering kali pihak sekolah akan mengundang pembesar-pembesar negeri, orang-orang kenamaan, wakil rakyat ataupun pegawai kanan jabatan atau kementerian untuk merasmikan majlis tersebut.

Mengenai dakwaan Ahli Yang Berhormat, berhubung dengan larangan wakil rakyat menghadiri majlis pertemuan semula ataupun reunion pengawas sekolah tersebut, seperti yang telah saya jelaskan pada ucapan penggulungan Kajian Separuh Penggal yang lalu, bahawa setakat ini Kementerian Pelajaran tidak pernah mengeluarkan arahan secara spesifik yang melarang Ahli Parlimen atau wakil rakyat pembangkang untuk menyertai ataupun memasuki sekolah untuk menyertai program tersebut.

Namun untuk makluman Ahli Yang Berhormat, KPM telah menetapkan bahawa semua majlis rasmi di sekolah yang melibatkan majlis perasmian oleh orang-orang kenamaan atau individu-individu tertentu hendaklah mendapat kebenaran daripada KPM melalui pengarah
pelajaran negeri masing-masing terlebih dahulu bagi memastikan majlis yang dianjurkan bukan untuk tujuan politik serta tidak mengganggu pengajaran dan pembelajaran murid.

Sehubungan dengan itu, perkara ini usahlah dipolitikkan kerana apa yang paling penting adalah untuk memastikan institusi pendidikan berjalan dengan baik dan tidak dipengaruhi dengan unsur-unsur yang boleh merosakkan pemikiran murid-murid.

Jika kita benar-benar ikhlas dalam membangunkan institusi pendidikan, sama-samalah kita mencari satu jalan untuk menyumbang kepada perkara-perkara yang memberi kebaikan dan faedah untuk anak-anak kita. Sekian, Terima kasih.

I will also discuss with Hannah on the next steps, on whether this issue needs to be pursued further. ;-)

Read more!

ADUN Banned from School Reunion (II)

I promised in my earlier posts - here and here - that I will bring up the issue of our state assemblywoman, Hannah Yeoh of Subang Jaya being banned from attending a gathering of school prefect alumni by her school, SMK Subang Utama, in parliament.

Read also her update given on the issue on 25th June on her blog where she wrote that she has "met up with the principal of SMK Subang Utama. An explanation has been sought. They have conveyed to me that they are required to comply with the instructions given by the Education Ministry."

Well, despite a walkout by parliamentarians from the opposition earlier today, I'll be returning to parliament later this evening to deliver the pre-scheduled adjournment speech on the above issue address to the Ministry of Education. There, I'll receive a formal and immediate reply from either the Minister or Deputy Minister (they have about 14 days advance notice to prepare the reply).

The following is the text of my speech, and I'll post the Minister's reply once it's put up in the Hansard tomorrow.

Pada hujung bulan lalu, ADUN Negeri Selangor untuk Subang Jaya, YB Hannah Yeoh dilarang menghadiri satu majlis perjumpaan semula, dengan izin, reunion pengawas Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, SMK Subang Utama di luar kawasan sekolah.

Apatah lagi, YB Subang Jaya merupakan seorang bekas Ketua Pengawas sekolah tersebut. YB Subang Jaya telah dilarang daripada menghadiri majlis reunion pengawas sekolah asalnya kerana dia kini seorang wakil rakyat bukan Barisan Nasional. Ini adalah satu perkara yang langsung tidak masuk akal.

Perjumpaan reunion bukan majlis yang dianjurkan oleh pihak sekolah dan tidak menggunakan wang sekolah. Kos majlis ini dibiayai oleh wang peribadi pengawas.

Namun, cikgu-cikgu dan pengawas-pengawas sekolah diberi amaran bahawa tindakan tegas akan diambil jika YB Subang Jaya menghadiri majlis tersebut. Mengapakah kerajaan sekarang bersikap begitu kebudak-budakan sehingga memilih kehadiran ke majlis peribadi pelajar-pelajar sekolah?

Apabila ADUN mendapatkan penjelasan daripada gurubesar sekolah, YB Subang Jaya diberitahu bahawa arahan telah diberikan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan.

Ada juga pihak persatuan ibu-bapa guru yang telah meminta peruntukan daripada YB Subang Jaya, akan tetapi pada masa yang sama, secara langsung tidak membenarkan nya untuk menghadiri jamuan malam yang berkenan.

Saya ingin memohon Kementerian Pendidikan memberi penjelasan terhadap keputusan pihak berkuasa di sekolah yang melarang kehadiran wakil rakyat bukan Barisan Nasional menyertai aktiviti-aktiviti sekolah. Malah aktiviti luar sekolah yang tidak dianjur oleh sekolah, seperti prefects reunion pun sama sekali dilarang.

Kementerian Pendidikan telah kerap kali mengumumkan bahawa kementerian tidak mengeluarkan arahan seperti di atas dan hanya memerlukan kebenaran diperolehi dahulu.

Akan tetapi, jikalau kementerian sebenarnya ingin mengecualikan topik politik daripada sekolah-sekolah kita, keluarkanlah pekeliling mengenai perkara-perkara yang dilarang diucap dalam sekolah dan bukannya menghadkan penjemputan mengikut kenamaan seseorang.

Kalau kementerian tidak berniat meminggirkan wakil rakyat daripada Pakatan Rakyat, apakah tindakan yang akan diambil oleh Kementerian ke atas pihak gurubesar yang telah menyalahkan kementerian dalam perkara ini.

Akhir sekali, apakah langkah yang akan diambil oleh Kementerian supaya hal seperti ini tidak akan tertimbul lagi pada masa yang akan datang?

I don't know about you, but frankly, I'm going to expect the typical "BN government is fair and is not discriminating against anyone" reply.

Read more!

Transportation Priorities

The following is an article forwarded to me with regards to concerns over the mixed-up priorities of the BN government over transportation infrastructure investments. The RM16 billion double-tracking project goes ahead but the RM3.6 monorail in Penang gets shelved.

The author is a Director of Research with a fund management company, and with his kind permission, I'll post his analysis here.

Can we really afford RM16bn in double tracking railways?
Choong Khuat Hock

Trains have transformed transportation and boosted economic activities since steam locomotives were introduced in 1800s. Lately fast train services between cities have linked cities thereby enhancing economic linkages. Examples include the Shinkansen trains in Japan with speeds of up to 300km per hour, the Taiwan High Speed Rail which reduced the travel time of the 335.5km Taipei to Kaohsiung route from 4.5 hours to 90 minutes and the French high speed TGV trains which connect major French cities. TGV trainsets travel at up to 320 km/h in commercial use.

A specially modified TGV trainset attained 574.8 km/h on test runs, narrowly missed beating the overall world train speed record of 581km/h which was reached in 2003 by a Japanese magnetic levitation or maglev trains. Unfortunately, the proposed high speed train from KL to Singapore taking only 90 minutes has been cancelled.

The fast train proposal from KL to Johor/Singapore linking metropolitan areas with a population of 11m would have boosted property prices in KL and Johor and enhance the services sector of both cities. With private sector participation in a bankable project, the cost to taxpayers would have been minimised.

Instead at a time when the people are being asked to make sacrifices to reduce subsidies for the sake of development projects, one has to question the economic benefits arising from the Double Tracking Railway from Ipoh to the Thai border that will cost taxpayer RM12.5bn, of which RM5bn is just for signaling.

This project was initially supposed to be a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funded by the private sector but as the financial return from the project is bad, it was decided that the funding will come from the government (i.e. taxpayers). The 329km Ipoh to Padang Besar railway will cost a massive RM38m per km which is 62% higher than RM23.5km for the 179km double-tracking railway from Rawang to Ipoh, completed for only RM4.2bn.

It is difficult to justify the economics of the project especially when KTMB only generated RM70.7m from their intercity services and RM113.0m from freight services in 2006. The freight services are less sensitive to travel time so the main benefit is likely to be shorter commuting time for passengers. Cutting the travelling time to 2.5 hours is hardly an irrestible proposition as the journey by road is only 2 hours. KTMB which made a net loss of RM99.2m at the group level in 2006, is definitely not in a position to fund the double tracking railway.

The double tracking project from Ipoh to Padang Besar has been awarded to Gamuda and MMC. Margins for the project have been squeezed by rising steel, cement and other building material costs. The project requires 400,000 tonnes of steel.

In addition to that, the government has also awarded a RM3.5bn contract to build a double track from Seremban to Gemas. The contract was awarded to an Indian company, IRCON International, which in turn subcontracted infrastructure works to a JV between IJM and Norwest which won a RM490.1m contract and a JV between Loh & Loh and Pasti Abad isdn Bhd which won a RM273.0m contract.

At a time when there is a need to enhance public transport within cities to relieve congestion and to reduce vehicle use, spending a total of RM16bn (largest among government development projects) on rails from Ipoh to the Thai border and Seremban to Gemas is rather perplexing.

In the meantime, the much needed RM1.6bn Penang monorail has been deferred. The monorail or an alternative system would have helped to relieve acute traffic congestion in George Town. For the project to happen, the co-operation of the Ministry of Transport and the Penang State Government is required. In the mid-term review of the 9th Malaysian Plan, the government has deferred the much needed project while proceeding with the less economically viable double tracking railway projects.

The LRT and monorails in the Klang Valley which were completed in 1998 do not have a good track record. Star and PUTRA had to be bailed out by the government through the issue of RM5.5bn of bonds backed by government-owned Syarikat Prasarana Negara Malaysia (SPNB) in 2001 as the traffic volumes were less than one third of forecast demand. The LRT operations were leased back to the management of PUTRA and STAR while taxpayers bore the debt. The KL Monorail which started operations in 2003 was also loss-making and its RM882m loan has to be assumed by SPNB in November 2007.

Criticisms of the KL urban rail systems include the lack of connectivity and capacity constraints. The Bangkok Transit System (BTS), HK’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) appear to be better planned and enjoy superior capacity and connectivity.

It is true that the government needs to spend on infrastructure but it is important that taxpayers’ money is spent on projects that generate economic returns for the country. Construction companies being awarded the massive railway jobs may not be smiling as rises in building material prices have eaten into margins. Cost overruns are likely to increase the price tags of these mega-projects while further rises in oil prices have whittled away savings in subsidies arising from the fuel price hike.

This is clearly a time when unnecessary mega-projects need to be derailed.

Read more!

Adjournment Speech on Crime in PJ - Ministerial Response

I blogged on my adjournment speech on crime in Petaling Jaya earlier, and I have received the verbal reply by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Dato' Chor Chee Heung on the issue.

By and large, I was disappointed with the Deputy Minister's reply on 2 aspects.

Firstly, with 1-2 exceptions, the Deputy Minister didn't give specific answers, especially with regards to Petaling Jaya but instead just gave very generic answers such as "the government will increase police staff", without mentioning how many are planned for Petaling Jaya. Without such information, we can never tell if the government's plans will or will not be sufficient.

Secondly, the Ministry appears to continue the emphasis that part of the blame for the high crime rates has to fall on the victims themselves for being careless, and the solution to that is to have more seminars. In addition, the Ministry and the police kept also harping on the fact that they need public co-operation to reduce and resolve crime. While I'll agree that yes, co-operation is necessary, it's not the most important of factors which is causing the high crime rates. There is little or no mention on how the police force can be made more efficient or more effective in fighting and preventing crime.

Anyway, read his reply copied here as a whole and judge for yourself his response.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, Ahli Yang Berhormat Petaling Jaya Utara adalah membangkitkan isu-isu mengenai situasi jenayah yang semakin berleluasa di negara ini termasuk di Petaling Jaya dan langkah-langkah bagi menangani.

Sebagai maklumat Ahli Yang Berhormat, indeks jenayah bagi Petaling Jaya untuk tahun 2007 adalah sebanyak 10,357 kes ataupun 17.67% daripada jumlah indeks jenayah bagi negeri Selangor. Dari jumlah tersebut, 2,241 kes melibatkan jenayah kekerasan dan 8,116 kes adalah merupakan jenayah harta benda.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, jumlah keanggotaan anggota polis Ibu Pejabat Daerah Petaling Jaya pada 31 Mei 2008 adalah seramai 1,338 anggota daripada 10,246 anggota di seluruh Kontinjen Selangor. Nisbah anggota polis dengan penduduk bagi daerah Petaling Jaya bagi tahun 2007 adalah nisbahnya setiap seorang anggota polis untuk 1,300 orang penduduk dan sehingga Mei 2008 adalah setiap seorang anggota dan penduduknya ialah 1,279.

Polis Diraja Malaysia sedang berusaha untuk menambah perjawatan keanggotaan polis di seluruh negara terutamanya yang melibatkan perkhidmatan kepada masyarakat.

Cadangan penambahan perjawatan di semua balai polis seluruh negara telah dikemukakan kepada agensi pusat dan akan dipertimbangkan mengikut keutamaan. Bagi Kontinjen Selangor terdapat 55 buah balai polis dinaiktarafkan dan penambahan perjawatan anggota polis dilaksanakan bagi mengurangkan beban tugas pegawai dan anggota.

Ini secara tidak langsungnya dapat mengurangkan nisbah antara penduduk dan polis negeri Selangor.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, Polis Diraja Malaysia juga sentiasa berusaha menyelesaikan kes-kes jenayah. Walau bagaimanapun penglibatan dan komitmen daripada masyarakat juga perlu bagi membantu pihak polis dalam mencegah jenayah daripada berlaku.

Berdasarkan kajian, pihak polis mendapati bahawa terdapatnya peluang yang membolehkan jenayah itu berlaku. Kelalaian dan kecuaian pemilik harta contohnya penyebab utama kepada jenayah harta benda. Sehubungan itu, kesedaran masyarakat perlu ditingkatkan lagi agar menyedari betapa kerjasama daripada mereka dapat membantu pihak polis dalam mencegah sesuatu jenayah.

Dalam mengurangkan kadar jenayah, Polis Diraja Malaysia mengambil beberapa langkah dengan meningkatkan lagi perondaan bit, MPV dan motosikal, mewujudkan balai ataupun pondok polis baru dengan sewaan bangunan, kedai ataupun perumahan di kawasan yang mempunyai kekerapan berlakunya kejadian jenayah. Maklumat melalui Rakan Cop dengan penghantaran sistem pesanan ringkas dan sistem pesanan multimedia dan menambah kehadiran polis di kawasan-kawasan yang berkenaan.

Polis Diraja Malaysia juga mengadakan kerjasama yang erat dengan Kerajaan Tempatan dan lain-lain agensi kerajaan seperti JKKK Daerah, Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri dan Ahli Parlimen, mengadakan kempen-kempen ceramah dan pameran-pameran berkaitan senario jenayah, menggunakan sistem kamera litar tertutup CCTV di kawasan tertentu, mengadakan kerjasama dengan NGO dan juga Malaysian Grant Prevention Foundation dan juga mengenakan tindakan undang-undang termasuk Undang-undang Pencegahan terhadap penjenayahpenjenayah.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, pembukaan 60 balai polis dan 55 pondok polis komuniti baru bagi kontinjen Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor dan Pulau Pinang adalah merupakan strategi pendekatan oleh Polis Diraja Malaysia dalam usaha membanteras jenayah dan mengawal
keselamatan penduduk bandar. Dengan kewujudan balai polis dan pondok polis komuniti ini, dapat menempatkan anggota-anggota polis di kalangan masyarakat dan dengan secara tidak langsung, kehadiran polis dapat menghalang kegiatan penjenayah dan meningkatkan lagi keyakinan masyarakat.

Selain daripada itu, kewujudan balai polis dan pondok polis komuniti ini juga dapat mendekatkan masyarakat dengan pihak polis serta memudahkan masyarakat mendapat perkhidmatan polis. Masyarakat boleh turut membantu pihak polis dalam menyalurkan maklumat. Melalui kewujudan balai polis dan pondok polis komuniti ini, pihak polis dapat bertindak dengan pantas dalam menangani sesuatu isu. Polis Diraja Malaysia juga merangka Pelaksanaan Command Control Communication and Computer Integration System di bilik-bilik gerakan setiap kontinjen di seluruh Malaysia agar bantuan dapat disalurkan dengan lebih cepat dan sistematik. Dengan adanya sistem ini, respond time dapat dipendekkan dengan purata lapan minit bagi setiap laporan.

Sekian, terima kasih.

To be frank, I'm feeling a little helpless on how to help reduce crime, besides getting the residents to take the necessary measures to protect themselves. The government don't seem to have any specific directions in do so. I did speak to the Deputy Minister after that to request for specific numbers for PJ, and he said to write in again for the numbers.

So, what can we do next?

Read more!

Adjournment Speech on Crime in PJ

I delivered my first adjournment speech on crime in Petaling Jaya 2 days ago in Parliament. It was focused on crime because that's probably the most pressing issue in my constituency, and in all likelihood, many others.

Basically, in this session of parliament, 2 MPs are given opportunities to present problems or issues to specific ministries for a reply by the Minister or his deputy. This is done at the end of each day, when the Dewan is nearly empty, but you'd need to book at least 7 days in advance, including submission of the speech text, subject to availability of time-slots. And it's limited to about 400 words

My speech is as follows:

Walaupun, saya hanya menjadi ahli parlimen selama 4 bulan, saya telah menerima banyak aduan mengenai kes-kes jenayah di kawasan PJU melalui emel, telefon dan pusat perkhidmatan saya.

Sebanyak empat puluh peratus semua aduan-aduan yang saya terima daripada penduduk Petaling Jaya Utara menglibatkan masalah-masalah jenayah, dan saya percaya, ahli-ahli lain di dewan di sini juga menghadapi masalah yang sama.

Kadang-kala saya berasa amat tidak berdaya kerana kuasa mengatasi masalah ini bukan berada di tangan saya.

Bilangan tinggi kes jenayah di Petaling Jaya adalah antara yang tertinggi di seluruh Malaysia. Di kawasan Petaling Jaya Utara sahaja, banyak kes yang dilaporkan setiap hari seperti pemandu-pemandu kereta dirompak semasa meletak kereta dan apabila berjalan-jalan. Adik saya dirampas ugut, isteri saya pun baru-baru dirompak di hadapan rumah!

Antara beberapa kawasan bawah Petaling Jaya Utara, terutamanya Damansara Jaya, Damansara Utama, SS20 and kawasan pinggiran, Bandar Utama, Mutiara Damansara, Bandar Sri Damansara, terdapatnya lebih daripada 200,000 orang penduduk, akan tetapi ahli-ahli polis yang ditempatkan di kawasan Damansara cumanya 124 orang.

Apakah langkah-langkah yang akan diambil oleh kementerian untuk menambahkan bilangan ahli polis dan juga pondok polis di kawasan Petaling Jaya, khususnya di kawasan yang mencatatkan bilangan kes jenayah yang tinggi?

Mengikut OCPD Petaling Jaya, nisbah anggota polis kepada rakyat di Petaling Jaya adalah kira-kira seorang anggota polis untuk 1800 penduduk, mengikut OCPD. Malah ada kawasan di Petaling Jaya di mana nisbah seteruk seorang polis untuk 4000 orang penduduk. Ini adalah jauh kurang daripada piawai dunia iaitu seorang bagi 250 orang penduduk.

Pada masa yang sama, OCPD berkata, untuk mengurangkan kadar jenayah sebanyak 30%, nisbah ini hendaklah dikurangkan ke 1:350 – soalannya, adakah kerajaan kita mempunyai tekad untuk melaksanakan langkah-langkah yang berpatutan? Apakah nisbah sasaran untuk PJ bagi setiap tahun yang akan datang sebelum tahun 2012?

Selain daripada itu, antara aduan yang sering sekali adalah masalah anggota polis yang bersikap “tidak kesah” ataupun dengan izin, apathetic kerana tiada "urgency" untuk menyelesaikan kes-kes, terutamanya semasa menerima laporan kes. Banyak juga mengambil masa yang tidak munasabah dalam memberi prihatin kepada kes-kes yang sedang berlaku, seperti masa tiga puluh minit untuk pergi ke kawasan jenayah.

Baru sahaja pagi ini, saya mendapat aduan mengenai Pejabat Polis Sea Park melayan seorang mangsa pembokaran dari Taman Paramount dengan cara yang kurang bersopan dan menyinggungkan perasaan. Walaupun penjenayah dapat melarikan dirinya apabila dikejar, akan tetapi, dia tertinggal kasutnya. Akan tetapi pihak polis enggan menerima bahan bukti tersebut dan enggan mengambil sebarang kesan cap jari di rumahnya.

[The paragraph above was added impromptu, which wasn't actually allowed, as the adjournment speech text was to have been provided a week earlier, but I wanted to make the point with an example]

Saya, dan juga keramai ahli parlimen di Dewan ini berasa, kes baru ini akan juga menjadi fail-fail yang kian bertambah yang tidak akan mendapat penyelesaian.

Oleh itu, saya meminta Kementerian Dalam Negeri menjelaskan langkah-langkah yang terperinci untuk mengatasi masalah jenayah di Petaling Jaya, terutamanya untuk menambahkan anggota polis yang mencukupi untuk menjalankan tugas polis dengan berkesan. Adakah pelan-pelan ini tengah dilaksanakan dan bagaimanakah perkembangan pelan-pelan tersebut?

The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Dato' Chor Chee Heung responded to the issue raised, which is available here in the Hansard on page 187. I wasn't too impressed with the response, a fair bit of regurgitation of information without any real zeal to resolve the issue. I'll blog about it in the next post.

Read more!

Damansara Uptown Charity Carnival

The spastic children delivered a rasa sayang performance

Just to lend support to the charity carnival at Damansara Uptown, right behind my service centre, which is being held for the Spastic Children's Association of Selangor and Federal Territory (SCAS &FT), and organised by See Hoy Chan Sdn Bhd Group.

The carnival will take place on July 27 (Sunday) from 9am to 2pm at the Uptown public car park in Damansara Uptown (opposite Uptown 37).

The following is the press report by The Star:

AT A time when many people are prudent with their spending, charitable organisations are in greater need of donations.

[...]

According to SCAS&FT president Datuk Dr Lam Peng Chong, the association needs about RM2mil a year to provide transport, food, education and living skills training to about 300 children.

The association is also trying to raise RM12mil to redevelop its 47-year-old building into a twin six-storey building, which would have rental space to generate revenue for the centre.

Also present at the press conference were See Hoy Chan executive vice-president Joe Tan, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua and Damansara Utama assemblyman Dr Cheah Wing Yin.

Armed with a keyboard, drums and tambourines, about 10 children from the home then put on a musical performance for the guests.

Pua, who took time out from the parliamentary sitting to attend the event, said issues at the Parliament bogged him down as he was on his way to the event.

“When I saw them performing, I knew that other matters can wait. We sometimes lose focus on the important things in life,” said Pua, who was moved by the performance.

See you there! ;-)

Read more!

Billboard in SS2 II

Following my post here on the billboard which carried the contacts for Damansara Utama ADUN as well as mine on the controversial SS2 billboard, The Star Metro has taken the case up once again last Friday.

“The company has never asked us for permission to do so. I'm not against them putting up our numbers but I think it was rather discourteous of them not to ask us first,” Pua said.

He also said the company should specify on the billboard that it was sponsored for and not paid for with money from the state or the elected representatives.

According to Dr Cheah, there was no communication between the company and him before they printed his phone numbers. “They even got the name of my constituency wrong. It says Damansara Damai instead of Damansara Utama,” Cheah said.

Setia Media officials could not be reached for comments.

I've yet to receive any communications from Setia Media since the article was published, and I've not yet seen any change to the billboard. We'll see what happens. ;-)

Read more!

Public Transportation Mess

This was the Part 2 of my speech to debate the 9th Malaysia Plan mid-term review, which would have been delivered, had the time to speak not been cut to 10 minutes. As I mentioned earlier, on hindsight I probably should have spoken on this Part 2 which covered the issue of transportation and not Part 1 on economy which many have spoken about.

Anyway, I wanted to highlight the complete overhaul which is needed to solve our public transportation problems in this country. I had also voiced my disappointment to the policies (if any) which was put forward by the Prime Minister in the mid-term review.

Di kalangan pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO), cadangan YB Perdana Menteri untuk mewujudkan satu Pelan Induk Pengangkutan amat menggelikan (amused). Ini bermaksud selama 50 tahun ini, kerajaan telah lalai dalam tanggungjawabnya kerana kerajaan telah mengurus tanpa sebarang pelan untuk mewujudkan satu sistem pengangkutan yang terpadu.

Sekarang, harga minyak telah meningkat dengan cepat sekali, apanya alternatif kepada rakyat Malaysia? Manakah sistem pengangkutan awam berkesan yang sering dijanji oleh kerajaan?

Penggunaan sistem pengangkutan awam di Lembah Klang telah menurun sehingga 16% sahaja berbanding dengan 40% pada tahun 1980an. Sepatutnya, bagi bandaraya negara yang maju, penggunaan sistem pengangkutan awam adalah melebihi 70%.

Sekarang, kita nak datang ke parlimen pun takda bas yang boleh dinaiki kecuali menggunakan teksi.

Pada tahun 2006, semasa harga petrol dinaiki 30 sen, kerajaan berjanji memperuntukkan RM4.4 bilion kepada dana sistem pengangkutan awam. Apa telah jadi dengan dana ini?

Pada masa itu juga, kerajaan mengemukakan pelan LRT yang baru, di mana satu aliran baru ditubuhkan ke Kota Damansara, and aliran yang sedia ada dipanjangkan ke Puchong. Akan tetapi bukan sahaja kerja ke atas projek LRT langsung tidak bergerak selama 3 tahun ini, sekarang, kerajaan sekali lagi mengemukakan pelan yang sama sebagai jawab kenaikan harga petrol. Suratkhabar The Star dan lain-lain pun menerbitkan pelan LRT yang dikemukakan sebagai satu pelan yang baru, memberikan berita baik kepada penduduk-penduduk di Lembah Klang.

YB Perdana Menteri mengumumkan bahawa kajian separuh penggal rancangan Malaysia akan memberi tumpuan kepada sistem pengangkutan awam. Tetapi, seperti yang telah dijanjikan sebelum ini, cakap kerajaan tak serupa bikin.

Peningkatan harga petrol bulan lalu dianggar menjimatkan kerajaan sebanyak RM13.7 bilion. Akan tetapi, hanya 11% ataupun 1.6 bilion sahaja daripada penjimatan tersebut diperuntukkan untuk menaik tarafkan sistem pengangkutan awam di Malaysia. Walaupun peruntukan baru sebanyak RM30 bilion telah diumumkan, tiada peruntukan tambahan diberi untuk sistem pengangkutan awam. Jumlah RM1.6 bilion langsung tidak mencukup untuk memberikan pengangkutan alternatif yang memuaskan untuk rakyat terutamanya di kawasan bandar seperti Lembah Klang, Johor Bahru dan Pulau Pinang.

Kegagalan sistem pengangkutan awam di Malaysia hari ini, siapa yang patut bertanggungjawab? Adakah kementerian Pengangkutan dan menteri-menterinya yang sebelum ini yang bertanggungjawab?

Selepas tsunami politik yang baru berlepas, kita bertuah mendapat seorang Menteri Pengangkutan baru, tapi saya kesian sama dia. Bukan sahaja dia kena menghadapi cabaran yang sukar sekali untuk memulihkan maruah MCA selepas dilantik Presiden pada bulan Oktober yang akan datang, dia telah dilantik sebagai Menteri Pengangkutan yang langsung tidak berkuasa untuk menaiktarafkan sistem pengangkutan awam di Malaysia.

Hakikat ini jelas kerana YB Perdana Menteri telah mengumumkan satu lagi suruhanjaya yang baru, iaitu Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam. Pertubuhan suruhanjaya ini nampaknya lucu sedikit, kerana kita sudah ada Kementerian Pengangkutan, kenapa pula perlu sebuah lagi suruhanjaya pengangkutan?

Sebenarnya, YB Perdana Menteri menubuhkan suruhanjaya yang baru ini adalah sebab kerajaan Barisan Nasional ini mempunyai cara mengurus sistem pengangkutan awam yang tidak masuk akal dan barangkali yang terkekok di seluruh dunia.

Pengurusan sistem pengangkutan awam di Malaysia bukannya bertumpu di Kementerian Pengangkutan tetapi dibahagi kepada 13 agensi kerajaan di kementerian yang tidak berkaitan. Terutamanya Lembaga Perlesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (LPKP) bawah Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi, yang menguasai pengendalian lesen bas dan teksi, Kementerian Kewangan yang menguasai bas dan LRT RapidKL dan Kementerian Pengangkutan yang menguruskan keretapi KTM.

Oleh sebab itu, saya menyeru supaya kerajaan mengenepikan faktor kepentingan politik, dan fikiran yang kolot, dan mengambil langkah untuk menggabungkan kesemua badan dan agensi yang melibatkan sistem pengangkutan awam ke bawah pimpinan YB Menteri Pengangkutan.

Kita yakin, YB akan dapat menjalankan tanggungjawab dengan lebih berkesan jika diberikan kuasa yang berpatutan. Kalau tidak, apa gunanya kerajaan menubuhkan suruhanjaya-suruhanjaya yang yang baru ini, yang hanya menunjuk bahawa peralatan kerajaan telahpun gagal menyelesaikan masalah rakyat selama ini.

Read more!

New Fare Structure for RapidKL?

Since we are on the subject of petrol hikes, and it has always been this author's position that we should focus on building alternative transport systems to alleviate the cost, and increasing convenience, particularly with regards to living in the city.

The following is a letter from Moaz, a fervent public transport advocate on the recent cabinets (in)decision to withdraw subsidies from RapidKL, which I thought was worth antithetical to exactly what the government needs to do with public transport at this point of time.

It is interesting to know that the recent decision by the Cabinet Commitee to withdraw the RapidKL operations subsidy was made at the same time that a court case that same subsidy was still pending. You may recall the lawsuit announced by Metrobus in March 2008. Metrobus named the CVLB as a defendant and indicated in the court proceedings that the CVLB had breached their own regulations by allowing RapidKL to offer a lower fare than the other operators. The court case was to be mentioned in late April, but I presume it still pending. In any case, the Cabinet Committee has effectively decided on the court case in favour of Metrobus.

It is ironic that the pressure on RapidKL is coming from their offering fares that were "too low" for the industry. It is ironic because normally the Malaysian government focuses on prices that are too high. In this era of inflation, one would think that a company offering low prices would be applauded. Well, Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines are applauded, but for some reason, RapidKL has their operations subsidy withdrawn. The new fare structure has been decided in Putrajaya, with very little consultation with RapidKL and clearly, very little interest in the wishes or the needs of passengers.

This kind of interference by the Cabinet Committee and the federal government, combined with their ignorance and lack of interest in local affairs, suggest a serious mismanagement of public transportation in this country.

That is why I am quite surprised to hear that the Cabinet is still continuing with the withdrawal of the operations subsidy to RapidKL, especially at this time when there should be a greater boost for public transportation.
In most places throughout the world, it is accepted that it is very very tough for public transport operators to make a profit without sacrificing service. Most countries and cities provide funds for their public transport operators. Here in Malaysia, it seems that the government wants to do the opposite, pushing bus operators to sacrifice service in order to make a profit.
How can the government talk about improving public transportation when they cannot even provide operations funding (let's not call it a subsidy) for the bus operators?

In fact, the government should be increasing the funds available to public transport operators, either through capital or operations funds. Perhaps this would lead the other bus operators to improve the frequency, punctuality, and reliability of their services. RapidKL may have a long way to go in terms for frequency, punctuality and reliability but they are miles ahead of the bus operators.
Finally, the government should be using this opportunity to implement KUTA, the proposed Klang Valley Urban Transport Authority, which was suggested more than 10 years ago. The presence of a Regional/Local Public Transport Authority for the Klang Valley will make a huge difference. With the cooperation of local government and the Public Transport Authority, we could see a huge increase in the quality of public transport services, in a very short time.

With the recent increase in petrol prices, the rakyat would expect that their government would act to show Malaysians that they are actually taking real steps to improve public transport. The withdrawal of the RapidKL operations funds, the long delay of the proposed Klang Valley Urban Transport Authority, and the continued investment in LRT and monorail construction show us that the government is either not ready or not willing to take these real steps and prefers instead to dream the "LRT Dream" and ignore the "bus nightmare."

Sincerely

Moaz Yusuf Ahmad
moaz.ahmad (at) gmail (dot) com

Read more!

Debating 9th Malaysia Plan Mid-Term Review

Today is the last day to deliver my speech to take part in the debate on the above topic. I finally got called to make my speech at 9.50pm (yes, the sitting will probably end at midnight tonight) despite being ready since Tuesday last week. The time to deliver the speech however, has been cut from 20 minutes to 10. Hence essentially, I managed to deliver only part 1 of my speech.

On reflection, I should probably have just skipped part 1 'cos some other MPs have touched on the subject. Anyway, what's done is done. I'll post the Part 1 of my speech which I actually managed to deliver here, and put up the Part 2 later.

Here you go:

Terima kasih diucapkan kepada Tuan Yang DiPertua kerana memberi peluang kepada saya untuk menyertai perbahasan kajian separuh penggal rancangan Malaysia ke-9.

Tuan Yang DiPertua, saya berasa amat kecewa dengan ucapan kajian yang diberi oleh Yang Berhormat Perdana Menteri mengenai pencapaian dan langkah-langkah yang akan diambil oleh Kerajaan pada 2-3 tahun yang akan datang.

Kajian separuh penggal ini merupakan peluang keemasan bagi kerajaan Barisan Nasional untuk membetulkan banyak kesilapan dasar pada tahun-tahun yang lalu. Kajian ini memberikan peluang kepada kerajaan untuk menunjukkan keiklasan dan kesumbuhan politik ataupun dengan izin, political will, untuk menaiktarafkan kualiti kehidupan rakyat, terutamanya dalam suasana kadar inflasi dan harga barang keperluan kian meningkat.

Akan tetapi, YB Perdana Menteri telahpun melepaskan peluang ini dengan memberikan satu ucapan yang tidak bersubstance, yang tidak tentu hara dan tidak mempunyai dasar yang cukup konkrit untuk menghadapi cabaran kepada ekonomi dan masyarakat kita.


Tighten Belt

YB Perdana Menteri, YB Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan kerajaan pada keseluruhannya telah menyeru supaya rakyat jelata menyesuaikan cara hidup ataupun dengan izin, change lifestyle mereka untuk menghadapi cabaran inflasi. Kami kerap kali diminta supaya mengetatkan tali pinggan, tighten our belts, apakah tindakan kerajaan selaras dengan seruan tersebut?

YB Perdana Menteri mengumumkan, dan diterbitkan secara besar-besaran dalam suratkhabar tempatan, bahawa elaun hiburan menteri-menteri akan ditolak 10%. Langkah tersebut, bersama dengan beberapa langkah yang lain, dianggar akan menjimatkan sebanyak RM2 billion.

Walaupun elaun hiburan ditolak hanya 10% nampaknya amat kurang, kalau nak tolak, tolaklah 50%, kami masih berharap YB Perdana Menteri akan mengambil langkah-langkah yang lain, yang akan lebih menjimatkan perbelanjaan kerajaan.

Akan tetapi, setelah menganalisa ucapan YB Perdana Menteri dan laporan kajian dengan teliti, saya tidak nampak dasar yang menyeluruh untuk menjimatkan, terutamanya, perbelanjaan operasi.

Rakyat jelata dan juga ahli-ahli parlimen yang mengutamakan kepentingan rakyat ingin mendengar daripada kerajaan Barisan Nasional adalah pembatalan dasar bersikap kroni, seperti penawaran “Approved Permits” ataupun APs kepada pihak elit yang tertentu, yang lebih dikenali sebagai “AP Kings”.

“AP Kings” telah mencapai kekayaan yang tidak dapat dibayangkan dan mereka tidak lagi memerlukan bantuan daripada kerajaan atas alasan Dasar Ekonomi Baru untuk menjadi lebih kaya.

Rakyat ingin kerajan melaksanakan tender terbuka secara bersaing yang telus supaya kerajaan akan mendapat pendapatan yang lebih banyak. Jika setiap AP bernilai pasaran sebanyak RM30,000, 70,000 AP yang ditawar setiap tahun akan membawa hasil melebihi RM2 bilion yang boleh digunakan untuk meningkatkan sistem pengangkutan awam.

Kalau kerajaan perlu membangun pihak usahaan kaum bumiputera, laksanalah tender terbuka secara bersaing yang telus untuk SEMUA syarikat bumiputera dan bukannya ditawarkan secara percuma kepada pihak kroni yang tertentu sahaja. Kerajaan perlu membangunkan semangat persaingan syarikat bumiputera dan Malaysia, dan bukannya menghapuskan semangat tersebut.

Pada masa yang sama, Malaysia memerlukan budaya tender terbuka secara bersaing yang telus diperluaskan kepada semua projek yang dijalankan oleh kerajaan. Hanya dengan sistem persaingan terbuka ini, kerajaan akan mendapat penjimatan yang maksima dan mewujudkan kualiti yang lebih tinggi.

Sekali lagi, kalau kerajaan berpandangan syarikat tempatan perlu diberikan lindungan, maka laksanakan tender terbuka tempatan. Dan kalau kerajaan ingin memberikan peluang kepada syarikat bumiputera, laksanakan tender terbuka bumiputera. Akan tetapi, budaya rundingan terus yang selalu membawa hakikat ataupun persepsi rasuah dan kroni, mestilah dihapuskan.

Jikalau sebuah syarikat seperti UEM yang telah berjaya membina Jambatan Pulau Pinang yang ketiga panjang di Asia 10 tahun yang lalu masih tidak dapat bertanding dalam satu tender antarabangsa, dan masih memerlukan sedekah kerajaan, ia menunjukkan kegagalan Dasar Ekonomi Malaysia.

Dengan tender yang terbuka, kerajaan dianggar akan dapat menjimat sebanyak 20% jika berbanding dengan kos pembinaan jambatan-jambatan yang lain. Misalnya jambatan 36km di Shanghai akan dibina dengan kos RM149 juta setiap kilometer jauh lebih murah berbanding dengan RM179 juta setiap kilometer bagi Jambatan Pulau Pinang ke-dua. Ini belum lagi mengambil kira permintaan syarikat UEM untuk meningkatkan harga pembinaan dari RM4.3 bilion ke RM4.8 bilion, yang tengah dipertimbangkan oleh kerajaan Barisan Nasional.

Budaya tender terbuka akan benar-benar menjimatkan perbelanjaan kerajaan dan bukannya satu langkah yang tidak bersungguh-sungguh seperti pemotong elaun hiburan menteri sebanyak 10%.

Kerajaan selalu memberi sebab bahawa wang tidak mencukupi dan oleh itu subsidi perlu dikurangkan. Akan tetapi, pada masa yang sama, dalam 10 tahun yang lalu, perbelanjaan mengurus (operational expenditure) yang hanya berjumlah 46 bilion ringgit telahpun meningkat dekat 3 kali ganda ke 129 bilion ringgit. Pada masa yang sama, perbelanjaan pembangunan hanya meningkat lebih kurang 2 kali ganda dari 19 bilion ke 41 bilion ringgit.

Perbelanjaan mengurus meningkat dengan begitu dahsyat sekali membukti bahawa kerajaan memang mempunyai wang yang amat mencukupi. Cukai-cukai terutamanya berasal dari sektor minyak dan gas, yang pada tahun ini dianggar menyumbang sebanyak 37% kepada hasil yang dikutip kerajaan kerana Malaysia beruntung apabila harga minyak meningkat.

Akan tetapi, pendapatan kerajaan yang meningkat dengan begitu cepat selalunya dibazirkan dengan sia-sia sahaja. Banyak kementerian telah diperuntukkan belanjawan yang terlalu banyak sehingga tidak tahu apa yang patut dibeli. Misalnya, kementerian menggunakan wang kelebihan untuk membeli set pemutar skru dengan kos RM224 berbanding dengan kos sebenar RM40, set pen teknikal dengan harga RM1,146.56 berbanding dengan kos sebenar RM160, membeli “car jack” yang bernilai RM50 dengan kos RM5,700.

Pihak polis juga membeli helikopter bernilai sebanyak RM117 juta yang tidak dapat digunakan kerana ianya tidak mengikut spesifikasi, and RM15 juta lagi untuk melatih juruterbang helikopter ini.

Pihak kastam pula membeli sebuah sistem yang baru berjumlah RM451 juta walaupun sistem yang baru sahaja disiapkan yang bernilai RM290 juta masih belum diguna secara penuh.

Sehingga hari ini, ramai pihak yang bertanggungjawab ke atas pembaziran dan rasuah perkara-perkara di atas masih belum diambil tindakan, dan siasatan macam sudah tidak lagi diberi kepentingan.

Oleh kerana pendapatan meningkat, kerajaan juga telah membina sebuah perkhidmatan awam gergasi. Sejak tahun 2000, jumlah pekerja perkhidmatan awam yang tidak termasuk pekerja kerajaan negeri dan GLC, telah meningkat sebanyak 23.5% ke 1,142,783. Apakah yang perlu dijalankan oleh kerajaan dalam 6 tahun yang lalu yang memerlukan penambahan anggota perkhidmatan awam dengan begitu ramai? Sepatutnya, jumlah anggota perkhidmatan awam tidak perlu meningkat kerana polisi kerajaan penswastaan syarikat-syarikat kerajaan patut mengurangkan anggota perkhidmatan awam.

Berbanding dengan negara-negara lain, nisbah anggota perkhidmatan awam di Malaysia dengan bilangan penduduk teramat tinggi. 4.68% penduduk Malaysia merupakan pekerja kerajaan persekutuaan berbanding dengan 1.79% di Indonesia, 1.85% di Korea Selatan dan 2.69% di Taiwan. Kenapa Malaysia memerlukan anggota perkhidmatan awam yang begitu besar, begitu ramai? Adakah ianya disebabkan oleh kekurangan keberkesanan ataupun dasar kerajaan untuk memberikan pekerjaan kepada siswazah universiti Malaysia yang mengganggur?

Oleh itu, jelas bahawa, kerajaan bukannya kekurangan modal, akan tetapi menghadapi masalah terlalu banyak wang dan tidak tahu nak taruh di mana.

Walaupun kerajaan telah menambahkan peruntukan pembangunan sebanyak RM30 bilion, pada masa yang sama kerajaan telah mengambil langkah untuk membatalkan pembangunan yang akan membawa manfaat kepada orang ramai, terutamanya yang menghadapi harga petrol yang telahpun meningkat dengan melampau.

Misalnya, projek monorail yang amat dialu-alukan oleh rakyat Pulau Pinang untuk mengurangkan kesesakan jalanraya telah dibatalkan dan TIADA projek alternatif diumumkan untuk meringankan beban rakyat Pulau Pinang dengan sistem pengangkutan awan yang lebih berkesan. Rakyat Pulau Pinang telahpun dipinggirkan dalam pembangunan negara, dan ini rupanya sikap kerajaan persekutuaan yang tidak hormat terhadap keputusan rakyat dalam tsunami politik 4 bulan lalu.

Apa lagi, peruntukan untuk memperbaiki dan menaiktarafkan keretapi yang sudah nak luput, Bukit Bendera pun dipotong. Sikap keinginan untuk membalas dendam terhadap rakyat seperti ini bukan sahaja akan memperkuatkan semangat rakyat Pulau Pinang menolak Barisan Nasional, tetapi akan juga akan menimbulkan kesan buruk kepada industri pelancongan di Malaysia – dan bukan sahaja di negeri, terutamanya pelancong luar negeri.

Nampaknya, YB Perdana Menteri dan YB Menteri Kewangan Kedua, yang berasal dari negeri Pulau Pinang, pun sanggup mengorbankan pembangunan negeri asal mereka, dan meminggirkan rakyat negeri yang sedang menghadapi cabaran yang sengit.

YB Muar pada minggu yang lalu menyokong usul kerajaan untuk menaikkan harga petrol dan elektrik dengan simpulan “Yang berat sama dipikul, yang ringan sama dijinjing”. Saya tidak setuju dengan pendapat YB kerana, seperti yang telah pun dihujah, simpulan yang lebih tepat adalah “Yang ringan kerajaan menjinjing, yang berat rakyat yang memikul”.

Read more!

Wedding in Bali

Congratulations to Sophie & Adi

Ting Fong and I were attending our friend's wedding in Bali last weekend, my fourth trip to the island destination, and I must say, it's a great place to hold your big day if you can actually afford it. And it's certainly the destination, if you actually have family, colleagues and friends that cuts across some half a dozen nations - Malaysia, India, Singapore, China, UK, US and more.

The party decor being set up at the Villa

Sunset Dinner @ Villa Atas Ombak

The wedding was held at the luxurious Villa Atas Ombak by the Seminyak beach. The villa comprises of only 5 bedrooms, where the newly wed as well as their closest relatives stayed. The rest of some 150 guests stayed at the various villas and hotels all around Seminyak.

The newly weds, the best men, the bridesmaids as well as the flower girls

And for those who are contemplating getting married, whether locally or at exotic overseas destinations, you can contact Ng Shen Yi of "I Do Weddings" wedding planner. She planned and coordinated this "international" wedding, which was not only held overseas but brought together 2 families from India and Malaysia, while the bride and groom were crisscrossing London and Singapore. It's certainly no mean feat!

The flower girls: Megan, Xin Ying & Isabella

That's a kite flying by the beach

That's the missus, the princess and the one with a lot of grey hair ;-)

And for those of you heading towards Bali for a holiday, in need of a trustworthy and reliable driver (Kijang), do give Wayan Lena (+62 812 3961705) a call. I've been using his services since 2002. ;-)

Read more!

Build Then Sell

One of the biggest complaints that representatives in the Klang Valley, and probably in many cities throughout the country, is the issue of abandoned housing. I've written earlier about the problem of house-buying and I'll quote here:

Just for the purposes of comparison, when you do go out and buy your dream car, be it a Proton or a BMW, worth RM50,000 or RM500,000, what's the process like? Typically, you'll pay 5% to 10% downpayment and the balance once your car is ready for delivery in a week or two.

The question then is, why is it that we as house-buyers have to pay a 10% upfront, and subsequently continue making progressive payments over a period of two years or so, before finally gaining 'vacant possession'? Often, our banks would have disbursed some 90% of our housing loan facility for the purchase, before the house or apartment is even completed!

So when I read that the Selangor state government intends to implement the "build then sell" concept of housing, I'll all hands in support. The Star reported that

SELANGOR aims to take the lead in the “build-and-then-sell” concept for housing projects to reduce the incidence of house buyers who are cheated by unscrupulous developers.

[Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim noted that] “In most developed countries, there is no such thing as you paying as the house is being constructed. For example, in Australia, you have the right to sell only when the project is completed. But in Malaysia, you can sell your housing project even before you complete it.”It was reported earlier that there are 141 abandoned projects in the state, 108 of them housing projects.

“We don’t want this to be done immediately, but it has to be done in stages so that in the future, there will be a lot more people who will build first before selling.The state and local governments are now facing a lot of problems as people are demanding to know why we allow buildings or houses to be built in a shoddy manner.”

I certainly hope to see the day in Selangor whereby houses are made before they are sold, for the protection of hard-earned savings of our Malaysian workers and families must be given absolute priority against weak and unscrupulous developers.

And I fully support the move by the state to "blacklist the directors and owners of the companies" so that they will not be able to 'return' under the guise of a different company resulting in more housing victims.

Read more!

We Live In Interesting Times...

For the past year, politics in Malaysia has been turned pretty much upside down. Hollywood scriptwriters probably couldn't have penned a more incredible story. No fortnight goes by without something significantly exciting or controversial taking place. There's probably so much twists that Malaysia's founding fathers must be turning in their graves. Even those who stand neutral on Malaysian politics must be enjoying the new spectator sport.

Some of the more significant events which I can remember off my head includes the explosive Lingam video clips, the Bar Council march, the BERSIH rally, the Hindraf rally, the on-off-on-off indelible ink, Barisan Nasional's shocking loss of 4 additional states as well as losing 1/3 of the Malaysian parliament. That was of course followed up with Anwar's proclaimation that he has more than enough Members of Parliament who will "cross over" to form a new Malaysian government.

More recently we had the electricity and shocking petrol price hikes. And all this against the backdrop of the literally explosive Altantuya murder mystery (and 1001 conspiracy theories) that ebbs and flows in and out of the national consciousness.

And now, we face the shocking allegations by a 23 year old aide that he has been forcefully sodomised by his employer, who remains the man-of-the-moment, for better or worse, in Malaysian politics. Uncertainty, conspiracy theories, denials, legal suits, counter allegations and brinkmanship will be the order of the day in the next few weeks.

It's an adrenaline pumping roller-coaster ride so far. And it's certainly one hell of a time to have chosen participate intimately in Malaysian politics. I could actually deal with a slowdown in excitement. What else is in store for Malaysian politics? We are certainly in a moment of transition, but transition to what?

It might be worth noting that the KLSE Composite Index closed at 1174 points, marginally above what was recorded immediately post March 8th elections. Bumiputera Commerce Holdings Berhad (BCHB), helmed by Datuk Nazir Abdul Razak, and one of the most exciting stocks in the market for the past year, sank to its lowest levels since December 2006.

Read more!