Fuming emails by irate victims of the totally unnecessary 2 ½ hr Penang Bridge closure on Wednesday, not because of any bomb hoax but the unbelievable ineptitude of Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon and Penang Works and Publ.ic Utilities Exco Koay Kar Huah.
This is one such fuming email:
The real cause?
Perhaps Datuk Dr Lim KY is going to regret when he had chosen a “coward”/soft/stupid/impotent leader!
Malaysia is not USA, where Tom Dick & Harry can b president. Their Executive System is strong enough for any stupid leader to order any emergency, crisis or war. Here our executive just push up without serious assessment and analysis of the case, they just like to let “boss”/leader to make decision and get rid of responsibility! So who is to be blamed when rakyat is the ultimate loser, many Chinese who went back to Penang for cheng beng were stranded and cannot get back to work in time, many missed their scheduled return trip, many were exhausted by the traffic jam and felt sick/fatigued. All in all just because somebody made an enquiry and the Police over reacted and CM making stupid decision without even using all available resources, brain, consideration to verify the case first.
This is very dangerous if in future he were to be subject to false alarm and declare state of emergency and ppl will take advantage of his weakness and then create chaos when they want to . And now we saw that Penang CM was fooled by another hoax call!! It is due to his richman’s son background making him not a good leader!? He cannot afford to take risk and verify first b4 making decision and promote a “fear”/kiasi/kiasu culture to Penangites to follow. Ppl R so easy to fictitiously create rumour and spread fear, they falsely accuse ppl breeding aedes, breeding snakes and evil, so they can then make use of MPPP mechanism to help clean house as well as “clean” his “eye sore” which he is jealous of but are the property of other ppl.
Similarly, ppl started to get fed up with CM’s soft leadership/kiasi leadership, so they create fear, and at the end the ordinary ppl
suffer, the bridge was closed for several hours just after office hour where ppl R rushing home! Why it is so simple for just a call on pretext of coming from Datuk Kuok ?My sister suffered heart failure and my house was not installed with telephone, so I rushed to roadside phone booth and call for
ambulance, they take it easy and verify me by asking me my return phone number, when I cannot give one, they ignored me, I have to call several times and gave assurance , explanations and swear/beg to them , then they delay and passing one another and another until finally they sent one ambulance coming. But my sister already gasped her last breath. Maybe if I were to call CM, he may save my sister’s life?!!There should be some sort of screening and verifying B4 decide to close the bridge, after all what is the probability of a real bomb or time bomb? and what damage will happen if it exploded? Was CM justified to declare “emergency” and close the bridge? What happened if the sudden closure of the bridge may cause death such as heart attack, accident?
There must be some “check n balance” Tan Sri CM !!!
Backgrounder to the “hoax of the bomb hoax” resulting in the 2 ½ hr closure of Penang Bridge and the traffic snarl-up for thousands for hours:
Thousands of Penangites were caught in a massive evening jam when the Penang Bridge was closed for more than two hours after police received a call that there was a bomb on the bridge.
Many motorists heading towards the bridge after work were caught unaware and found themselves in a traffic bottleneck at the Bayan Lepas coastal road leading to the bridge on the island and Seberang Jaya on the mainland.
The bridge was closed to traffic at 4.30pm and only reopened at 7pm.
Traffic had to be diverted to the ferry terminals on both the island and Butterworth, causing George Town and Butterworth town to be choked with cars and motorcycles. (Star 5.4.07)
Fuming motorists were left stranded for more than three hours.
On the mainland, the traffic jam stretched all the way from the bridge area to the Nibong Tebal toll plaza.
The situation was not any better on the island, as motorists were caught in traffic jams on roads leading to the bridge, including the Jelutong Expressway, Jalan Masjid Negeri and Jalan Datuk Keramat.
The bridge closure also saw many motorists making their way to the ferry terminal to catch the ferry instead.
As a result, the normally smooth-flowing traffic to the ferry terminal on the island and mainland became congested. (New Straits Times 5.4.97)
The supposed cause
Police at the state contingent headquarters operations room received a call saying that there was a bomb on the bridge.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said police then alerted Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and he gave the green light for the police to close the bridge.
“A six-man bomb squad was sent to the bridge immediately. They found a 0.3m-long, 10cm-diameter steel pipe,” ACP Azman later told a press conference at the Northern Region marine police base.
The pipe, he said, was found wedged in the divider at the 3.9km point of the bridge on the Butterworth-bound side.
“It was suspected that the steel pipe contained explosives. Not taking any risk, the squad detonated it at 6.45pm at the site,” said ACP Azam. (Star 5.4.07)
The Real Reason (1) – No bomb just steel pipe!
It was not a bomb. Police have confirmed that the steel pipe found wedged in the Penang Bridge divider did not contain any explosives.
“We believe the pipe could be a kangaroo bar from a vehicle. We checked the remains after detonating the pipe and found there was no explosive material,” George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said yesterday. (Star 6.4.07)
The Real Reason (2) — ineptitude of Koh Tsu Koon and Koay Kar Huah
It has turned out that the phone call which led to the closure of the Penang Bridge came from State Works and Public Utilities Committee chairman Datuk Koay Kar Huah.
Koay yesterday admitted that he received a call from a friend who was stuck in a traffic jam enquiring if there was a bomb on the bridge.
“I got the call and instructed my staff to check and verify if it was true. They then called the Malaysian Highway Authority,” he said at a specially called Press conference by Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
Asked if that was all the information that led to a wild goose chase which inconvenienced thousands of people, Koh chipped in and defended the decision to close the bridge.
Koh said the decision was made at 4.30pm after police received a call that a bomb had been placed on the bridge.
“I acknowledge the closure of the bridge caused a serious jam which inconvenienced many people.
“However, the police did the right thing. We have to place safety over convenience when such a situation arises”…
Meanwhile, northeast district police chief ACP Azam Abd Hamid said the police operations room at the state police headquarters received a call at 4pm informing there was a bomb on the bridge. He said police traced the number to Koay’s office.
“However, we are not going to take his statement as we treated the bomb call as a genuine threat.”
State deputy police chief Datuk Othman Harun said police had classified the case as intent to cause fear or alarm to the public under Section 505 of the Penal Code.
Thousands of motorists were caught in a massive jam for hours on both sides of the Penang Bridge when it was closed to traffic.
The traffic jam stretched all the way to the Nibong Tebal toll plaza on the mainland while roads on the island leading to the bridge such as the Jelutong Expressway and Jalan Masjid Negeri were also chock-a-block with traffic.
The road was only reopened to traffic at 7pm after police detonated a steel pipe which did not contain any explosive device. (NST 6/4/07)
Self-exculpation
State Works and Public Utilities Committee chairman Datuk Koay Kar Huah said the public should stop blaming him for the temporary closure of the Penang Bridge on Wednesday
His one phone call had snowballed into something that no one had expected.
“I only made one call and that was to enquire if there was a bomb on the bridge.
“I asked a Public Works Department senior officer to verify it with the relevant authorities as I was attending a meeting then.
“I thought I did the right thing and I feel I should not be blamed for making that call,” Koay said yesterday.
Koay made the call to the PWD senior officer following a phone call he received from a friend who was caught in a jam at the bridge.
His friend was informed by others there of the existence of a bomb.
Koay said at no time did he call the police asking them to close the Penang Bridge, which resulted in a massive traffic jam from 4.30pm to past 7pm on Wednesday. (NST 7.4.07)
#1 by youngman79 on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 4:38 pm
‘Koay yesterday admitted that he received a call from a friend who was stuck in a traffic jam enquiring if there was a bomb on the bridge.’ .
hmm, can someone one (MR PM is it?) get this Koay guy and his friend arrested for creating such a havoc in the island. If only i made that damn call, I’ll be in kamunting now without even given a chance to hav a press conference.
#2 by HJ Angus on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 4:42 pm
If there was call made to inform the authorities of a bomb threat it is the correct decision to close the bridge for proper checking.
According to this report, the call was supposedly made by Koay to inquire if there was a bomb based on his friend’s inquiry as there was already a jam on the bridge.
We should check any recordings of such conversations if there had been an overeaction on anyone’s part.
If we use the words like “bomb” in airports and someone hears it, you could be in serious trouble.
#3 by fido on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 5:36 pm
Many flaws have surfaced from this incident. The main question here is, did the govt learnt anything from this incident? Or did they not and incidents like these WILL happened again and again?
Some really serious issues to ponder,plan and execute the action plan….
– If there was really a bomb there, what would be the evacuation procedure? What is the diversion plan? Does the govt have a plan?
– If the bridge is really being bombed, what is the contigency plan? Everyone takes the ferry?? Is this viable to support the economy on both sides of the island? Has a study being done to quantify the immediate impact to the economy of Penang? Does this makes sense to SPEED up the building of the 2nd link? Even with the 2nd link (which is already way behind time), is there any plan to look forward, say 5-10 years ahead and anticipate the growth on both sides of Penang? This is a very serious questions that needs action FAST.
– Everytime there is a big jam on the bridge, the relevant authorities need to LEARN and come up with preventive action plans how to prevent this from happening again. I wonder if they did learn?
– We all know the impact of a simple accident or stalled car on the bridge, what have been done to ensure minimum impact to the flow of traffic? Was it effective? Was anything done to rid the side lane of nails (freq occurance)? Was it effective? What else needs to be done?Was these plans made public?
– Looking back at the current bridge design, we all know it’s the bottleneck design and the toll plaza are one of the main factors for the jam. Will this lesson be learnt and ensure that the same silly design will NOT be on the 2nd bridge? Common sense tells u that u cannot stop the flow of traffic to collect toll, other system need to be used. Nothing has been done on this since the the bridge opening.
– Planning for the 2nd bridge needs to look ahead say 20-30 years,, what is the vol of traffic it has to handle? Has this being incorporated into the master plan?If this is to work hand in hand with other monorail/train/effective bus link, how do you ensure that ALL these will successfully take place once the 2nd bride is ready?
– Does it make more sense to grow the mainland Penang more rapidly rather than the island? If more % of the population live and work on the mainland, less crossing required. Most of the govt growth plan are to attract more and more people to live on the island. Is this correct? Can the island development plan sustain this to allow a quility lifestyle? Or is this this all hype?
We cannot afford not to address these problems as one day it will hit Penang in a BIG way. Pls address these immediately…er…we didn’t need the Jelutong Marina/boat park…or what ever you called….Millions of $ of tax payers $ gone down the drain there for a white elephant!! Who will be accountable for this??
#4 by TommyBoy on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 5:52 pm
I heard from some gossips these bomb blast in BM and the bomb hoax is the work of the Mat Rempits…. u know the KJ educated goons who goes on unemployment spree.
It was because they have been heavily losing the warfare with the Penang policeman that they now resort to such actions of take revenge.
#5 by Loh on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 7:22 pm
The same phone calls will be made in the future, and the government will have to face it again, or rather the people using the Penang bridge.
There are 8 vessels, and only 6 were plying between Penang and Butterworth at any time, taking care of about 10% of the traffic volume, according to official source. The journey takes 20 minutes, and loading and unloading take up about 5 minutes. With 2 terminals at at either side, the terminals should be able to serve 16 vessels continuously, or 25% of the traffic volume.
That the ferry is underutilized because public transportation on the Island is not reliable. People resort to private cars and that cause massive jams which in turn discourage the use of public transportation.
To encourage people to use public transport, the state government might have to provide free bus rides on the Island. That might reduce private cars on the road, and pulling more people to public transportation.
Building more roads on the Island for more private cars, and building a second bridge to the Island brings only more private cars to cause traffic jams. The government should aim at moving people and goods, and not private vehicles.
Unless there is a change in the concept, massive traffic jams will be in Penang, to stay.
#6 by hkh on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 8:21 pm
This over-reaction stems from the fact that the call came from some big shot. Otherwise, the bridge can collapse for all they care. Just wondered if such calls are recorded and the playback will definitely prove who amplified the situation.
As for lesson learnt, Malaysian senang lupa stays.
Blame god if scrapegoat cannot be found.
#7 by wtf2 on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 8:24 pm
mistakes can be made and he should get wiser.
sometimes having a reaction is better than no reaction as in the case of the AAB administration…the zookeeper, etc incidents
Not constructive to criticize every action the gov does. Moreover would you want another lepak sidekick to head penang?
#8 by smeagroo on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 8:34 pm
If there was indeed a bomb, Koay would hv been a hero and not take the fall for it. We are sad that a life was lost becos of the incident. At the same time we cant fully heap all the blame on Koay.
#9 by Godamn Singh on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 8:46 pm
Goddamn it!
Now why and who would want to bomb a bridge?? The same people who bombed away the Mongolian beauty? I don’t think so.
The Communist terrorists? They have long switched to farming in southern Thailand for a living. They’d be too old to understand how today’s bomb works let alone make one.
Religious extremists? They are busy fighting the war in Afghanistan and Iraq to be able to open another front in South-east Asia. Local Muslim separatists in southern Thailand? But why bomb a bridge so far away?
The Koreans who built the bridge? Because they are concerned that it is about time the bridge would fall apart and afraid that defects would be discovered they decide to blow it?
The Indons looking for work in the event a new bridge has to be built to replace it?
Or BN politicians who foresee a loss in the Manchap by-election??
#10 by hasilox on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 8:58 pm
How much more nonsenses we want to sweep under the boleh carpet? This is a real issue of national security. Just wrap up like that after all the chaos?
How the authority response to such potential threat reflects directly on their readiness in critical moments. Everything is compromise-able if committed by the clowns team?
#11 by WFH on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 9:33 pm
I wonder whether the Penang Bridge Operators (PLUS) has any procedures in place to handle various situations on the Bridge, for, say, a 2-vehicle collision to multiple pile-ups, to private, commercial or even passenger vehicular fires, heavy goods vehicular mishaps, hazardous cargo vehicular leakage, power cable snaps, ship collision with the supports, vehicle(s) over bridge into water etc … and so forth.
It is likely that there are some sort of SOP for some of these situations, but these SOPs may not be sufficiently effective if the people in charge are weak in the required brainpower necessary to properly make the appropriate situational assessment. It’s easy for some not-too-smart engineer, manager, or even supervisor to make the first call to raise an alarm when such was not necessary in the first place if they had been properly trained to assess situations correctly. Does the Bridge engineers, supervisors, toll-collectors ever have regular drills? This occasion seems to be a mis-diagnosed situation by whoever who caused the over-reaction, at great cost in terms of lost productivity and personal inconvenience.
I read about 2 weeks ago of a traffic accident in a traffic tunnel in Melbourne involving about 3 commercial trucks and about 4 cars killing 3 people, which also caused a severe fire in the tunnel. I read that the automated safety backups, tunnel cameras, electronic message boards, water deluge systems, air handling units, air extraction smoke stacks, and all emergency services including Fire, Ambulances and Police were activated AUTOMATICALLY within a couple of minutes of detection, saving hundreds of other motorists still in the tunnel (3+km?) from either smoke inhalation, other injuries or even fire danger. Even road diversion from the tunnel was activated near immediately when it was clear that the tunnel could not continue to be used. If their superb automatic and coordinated response gets a, say, 7 out of 10, will we ever, on a same comparison, get to even a 4 out of 10?
The whole system of societal attitudes need to buck up. Malaysians and authorities are experts in finger pointing, especially prevalent for those in positions to do things but who do not, or fail to, do their duties/functions/responsibilities to the highest standards. We are all too forgiving of those who have to do their utmost but who do not. So there we have it – mediocrity..!!!
#12 by RealWorld on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 9:34 pm
It is easy, really really easy for DAP to comment about the government this and that. Would it be different last Wed, say if DAP were the government?
#13 by rojak on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 9:43 pm
Hence the reason for a second bridge!!!!
#14 by k1980 on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 9:51 pm
Had DAP led the Penang state government as long as Gerakan, that is 38 long years, all the above nonsense and more would never had happened.
#15 by negarawan on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 9:52 pm
Bottom line is that the BN government don’t have any emergency response plan. Typical “tidak apa” attitude that always result in havoc and major problems. Another reason to drive away investors. It is the same attitude that is causing crime rate to escalate.
#16 by RealWorld on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 10:51 pm
“Had DAP led the Penang state government as long as Gerakan, that is 38 long years, all the above nonsense and more would never had happened.” – k1980
You need to win the election first. We are in a democracy, remember?
#17 by pulau_sibu on Sunday, 8 April 2007 - 11:00 pm
It is not good to over-react to closing down of the bridge. We should react to the bomb call. The safety of the people should be placed in front of anything. For the air plane, if such a call is received, be it true or not, the flight has to be cancelled and then a thorough checking be made. Most of the time, it is a hoax. But still, the safety of the passengers is the first consideration. The one who called or initiated the call should be condemned and punished.
#18 by undergrad2 on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 1:19 am
New York City is connected to New Jersey/the rest of New York by a number of underground tunnels. If these tunnels were to be closed the way Penang Bridge was closed, there would be chaos. The city would be facing a shut down almost immediately.
They receive anonymous calls now and then but they don’t go around scaring everybody even after 9/11 based on a phone call without more. They will send in their teams together with K-9 to work on the information given to them by the caller, or they know where to look. They have a way of finding out if there is any credibility to the call. Calls can be traced.
There are security cameras all over which run 24/7 all along the tunnels and bridges which link Long Island and the mainland.
Furthermore as one reader earlier said, who would want to bomb the Penang Bridge? Muslim extremists? But Malaysia is an Islamic state (I’m of course using the word ‘state’ loosely). The threat is not from terrorism. The danger is likely to come from a possible collapse of part of the Bridge due to engineering defects.
#19 by Tai Lo Chin on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 1:24 am
I don’t think Koh Tsu Koon and Koay Kar Huah did anything wrong. They made the correct and responsible decision. Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon said the decision to close the bridge was made at 4.30pm after police received a call that a bomb had been placed on the bridge. The blame should be put on the one who made the call if it was actuated by desire to alarm and play a prank. In all cases of such a call, whether it involves a bridge, school, a packed stadium or even parliament, there should be immediate evacuation to carry out the check. Even if one is 99% convinced that the call was a hoax, who could ignore that 1% chance that there might indeed be a bomb that cause sections of the bridge to blow and collapse? Imagine the costs to how many lives. It is a better to err on side of caution because of the sheer unacceptability of the consequences of it being true that there was a bomb which went off because authorities believed it was a hoax putting more importance, the inconvenience and delay to motorists using the bridge.
#20 by undergrad2 on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 1:24 am
Malaysians should be more worried that disasters especially in KL are waiting to happen – like Petronas Towers catching fire. Only this time it would be far more disastrous than say the Campbell Complex fire and the BBMB fire. A train disaster.
Not from terrorism.
#21 by undergrad2 on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 1:31 am
“It is a better to err on side of caution..”
Yes, nobody can disagree with you on that.
But there are ways to check if the call is credible. After that they would have to send in the police (not the military) to check. There should be security cameras along the span of the bridge where somebody could work on something unnoticed.
We cannot close down entire buildings, hospitals and airports based on an anonymous phone call without more.
Whole cities could be paralyzed if we were to take the advice “It is better to err on the side of caution” to extremes.
#22 by japankiller on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 1:40 am
Too sad knowing that some people here are actually critise the decision make by TSK for temporary close of Penang bridge.
It is not that TSK did not make investigation before he declare to close the traffic on the bridge, just imagine you just spend a few hour to bet for your life, it is true then you might probably lose your life, but if it is false then thanks god, our country are still a peaceful place to live.
Those who complain about the decision by TSK, i am just wonder, if it were you what would you do at that moment, imagine if it is the true and the time is near to bomb blast, anyway you dont know when it is going to burst.
Please have share with us, those who complained, what would you do if TSK were you.
#23 by japankiller on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 1:46 am
when discussing about how US handling the case like this, if this what you call they are so good and smart, can anyone tell, how could a LARGE passanger plan able to crash into the world trade centre?
Aren’t they so good? they do have so fantastic information system to track the radar of the plane, why there is failure that time?and how could it be not just one but THREE crashed?
And how about the London subway?they are so tide in security, so i think TSK is doing a good but may be not perfect job handled this situation, his main point is to make no one injure from this call.
#24 by mwt on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 2:35 am
Najib has stated: “It was a hoax…it was not a bomb threat. The police had confirmed it.” And he further advised that “if the bomb hoax gets wide reporting” people might over-react. Is he suggesting a blackout on the incident when thousands are stranded at the ferry terminal and at the bridge ends? The scarce may be self generated on suspicious valid ground when the 15 x 5 cm pipe was found on the bridge divider.
Hoax or no hoax, 12 hours later someone took advantage of the situation and detonated a real one in a restaurant in Butterworth and caused extensive. More details and pictures of the damages at:
http://powerpresent.blogspot.com/2007/04/bomb-hoax-in-penang-bridge-real-one-in.html
#25 by DarkHorse on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 5:23 am
How old are you, Japankiller? Your nick suggests to me at least that you are very young. Secondly, the following comment does back up my statement:
“Aren’t they so good? they do have so fantastic information system to track the radar of the plane, why there is failure that time?and how could it be not just one but THREE crashed?”
The truth is they knew. These men walked into these planes with bombs strapped to their chests, flew the planes themselves switching off the planes’ transponders, lost their way thinking they were flying home to Pakistan but instead some birds flew into the planes’ engines and as a result the planes crashed into the Towers.
The rest is history.
#26 by Tai Lo Chin on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 7:33 am
No lah DarkHorse this is not true. These horny youngsters were rejected by nubile and voluptuous white girls who wanted guys with money. So they thought of the 72 virgins in the hereafter. They targeted WTC because they were the symbol of unbridled capitalism, the cause of their woes and frustrations.
#27 by burn on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 8:53 am
aku tak blame sesiapa pun, walaupun aku tak support diaorang. apa yang dilakukkan oleh mereka, memang patut!
ianya akan mengakibatkan nyawa seseorang kalau tindakkan tidak di ambil dengan segera, walaupun ia satu penipuan. mereka berfikir sebelum bertindak!
aku punya falsampah!
hidup DAP dan KEADILAN!
#28 by RealWorld on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 9:39 am
Stop the whingeing. It was the right decision to close down the bridge.
#29 by megaman on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 9:58 am
funny tat they take so long to respond to a proper emergency like ppl falling extremely sick n require ambulance to go hospital …
n they act so fast on bomb alerts that most likely going to be a hoax than not … I mean how many bombs are there compared with serious car accidents, heart attacks etc etc …
makes you wonder sometimes … where the priority is ?
#30 by fargowin on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 11:46 am
I have relatives in Australia, Europe and the United States.
Let me detail the experience of my family members in the West:
1. Equal job opportunities at all levels exempt probably the highest post but today even this is changing. Look at the recent appointment of an Indian born lady as the CEO of Pepsi Cola.
2. Equal opportunity to be elected as dean or vice chancellor of universities. Some of the heads of top universities in the US are Chinese or Indians.
3. Equal opportunity to enter universities for all courses including medicine.
4. Equal rights for all citizens unlike Malaysia where recent Muslim immigrants from Indonesia and Pakistan have been given more rights compared to non-Muslim Malaysians whose ancestors arrived in the country some 300 years ago. This is religious apartheid.
5. No differential prices for houses.
6. Scholarships based on either merit or need and not on creed, race or religion. In Malaysia, a malay Muslim has a better chance of getting a scholarship compared to a non-Muslim from a poor background.
I am saddened and very distressed to see how far the country has slid down over the past three decades. Due to corruption, excessive politicking and faulty policies, the country is gradually heading for the direction of Argentina, Indonesia and Philippines or even worse.
I fear that we have now reached a point of no return. Only the oil reserves are buffering us from a more rapid descent. But for how long! Then the crunch will really bite.
Please have your parachutes ready when the great crunch finally arrives.
#31 by jango ang on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 12:35 pm
Kit Siang, to be fair to Koh, what choice did he have. What if the bomb had been real? You tell me. Better to err on the side of caution.
#32 by ahkok1982 on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 12:44 pm
quite true megaman…
let’s compare how many ppl died from stupid police or hospital inefficiencies compared to if e bridge was actually bombed.
anyway, it would definitely be better to send someone to check it out before closing the whole bridge. so if some normal citizen were to make a phone call saying tt there is a suspected bomb on penang bridge n then they go check n find nothing, wat would happen to e person who made e phone call? this time, KTK made a false call, wat happened to him? nothing.
#33 by poseidon33 on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 5:28 pm
“But there are ways to check if the call is credible. After that they would have to send in the police (not the military) to check. There should be security cameras along the span of the bridge where somebody could work on something unnoticed. ”
No use, they don’t know how to check if the call is credible .. see the way they handle emegency call in hospital tells u how professional are they. They can’t sent the police too .. the ‘busy’ setting up road blocks guys are trained to be thugs not handling real situation..i would trust the army force more on this. And for the camera .. they are not noticing on the bridge because the camera is focusing on some ‘ah moi’ s thigh .
so i would say, KTK made the right choice for closing the bridge.
#34 by pongsakling on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 6:46 pm
Penang CM make the right decision.
No more comment.
#35 by japankiller on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 7:25 pm
Check before closed the bridge is a good idea, but can anyone tell how much you could be sure that if it is real bomb, and the time is near blasting and there is a heavy traffic on the bridge cause most it was a rush hour time where people leave their workplace heading home?
The bomb has no eye, it couldn’t wait more time if it is going to burst, so close the bridge is good. What did you lost? 2 1/2 hour of golden time, but what if it is real you might probably save your life with this 2 1/2 hour.
#36 by japankiller on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 7:42 pm
Those who are keen to know my age i would tell you, yes i am young, but i am not innocent, i know how to diferentiate between the right and the bad.
Younger does not mean nothing, and older that doesnt sound you are smart too, anyway no offence to you guys, this message are simply deliver to those who keen to know my age
#37 by DiaperHead on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 7:57 pm
“Please have your parachutes ready when the great crunch finally arrives.”
What good are parachutes if you’re still on the ground??
#38 by DiaperHead on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 8:03 pm
“And for the camera .. they are not noticing on the bridge because the camera is focusing on some ‘ah moi’ s thigh .
so i would say, KTK made the right choice for closing the bridge.”
Good one!
But they should not just be ‘focusing on some ah moi’s thigh” it is time they go for the real one. But make sure it does not belong to some transvestites for which Penang is well known for.
#39 by Godamn Singh on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 8:23 pm
“Those who are keen to know my age i would tell you, yes i am young, but i am not innocent, i know how to diferentiate between the right and the bad.” japankiller
Are you ten years young or twenty years young who should be older??
“..but i am not innocent” japankiller
Why? Did you kill some Japanese tourist?
#40 by LeGran on Monday, 9 April 2007 - 10:49 pm
What must you capitalize on this?
Although I’m no supporter of BN, it’s obvious that the pipe posed a security threat and Koh did the right thing by stopping all traffic.
I do not know what are the probability of the bomb threat being real nor do I know who in the world who wants to bomb Penang Bridge but here’s one thing, of all the places in Malaysia, the most recent cases bomb blast happened in Penang and I doubt Koh would want to investigate it first and risk the bomb exploding.
I beg you Mr. Lim, if you would want DAP to win, or lead our country or anything like that to happen, please don’t criticize everything that BN does just for the sake of criticizing. As the saying goes, of 1000 thoughts or a stupid person, there’s one that is brilliant.
#41 by DarkHorse on Tuesday, 10 April 2007 - 10:42 am
Koay is like the guy who screamed “Fire” in a crowded cinema and should be sued.
#42 by Godamn Singh on Tuesday, 10 April 2007 - 11:39 am
Yes. He should be whipped ten times and fired from his job.
#43 by k1980 on Tuesday, 10 April 2007 - 12:54 pm
Koay should thank his lucky stars that he is in the #@$%^ mca. If he is an #@$%^ opposition member, he would now be behind bars, facing charges of rumour-mongering and trying to bring down the state government. Not so long ago, 3 young men were jailed for sending emails about an impending riot by indon immigrants in KL
#44 by shortie kiasu on Tuesday, 10 April 2007 - 9:20 pm
There are always mischievious people out there, and the mischief had caused serious inconvenience to ALL the people who use the public facilities. Such mentally challenged people out there, if ever caught, should be dealt with severely and put away for good. We should not read too much into this “hoax’, which was a “hoax” anyway.
#45 by shortie kiasu on Tuesday, 10 April 2007 - 9:27 pm
Mr. LeGran, you are one of the very few moderating voices here in this blog, and you should post your opinion more often, to present the third dimension to issues, and to bring more balanced and intelligently presented views.
#46 by undergrad2 on Tuesday, 10 April 2007 - 10:44 pm
Malaysia would do well to focus on other issues that affect the daily lives of Malaysians. Terrorism is not about to take roots in Malaysia, long the home of moderate Islam. Al Qaeda is not about to set up shop in this country, to take advantage of the fragile racial harmony that exists here.
Who would want to bomb the Penang Bridge?
I am more worried about my cousin who works on the 30th floor of the Petronas Towers in the event of fire. I am more worried of my sister being sexually assaulted, robbed on her way back from school. I am more worried of my mother who may have her handbag snatched by motorcyclists, and her natural instinct to cling to her bag. I am more worried about my father who is almost eighty years old who may suffer a heart attack when alone in the house, and may die before the ambulance arrives.
#47 by Godamn Singh on Wednesday, 11 April 2007 - 6:03 am
Goddamn it!
The Koreans would want to do it. Why?? Because they want to build another bridge like it. And because they are in collusion with UMNO politicians who are waiting to line their pockets.
#48 by k1980 on Wednesday, 11 April 2007 - 2:23 pm
Asked to comment on a foreign wire agency report on a timber transaction implicating Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, Abdullah said he was not aware of the report…
It is a very sad day for Malaysian when the head of the government doesn’t know what is going on in his administration. This case was widely reported in the foreign press.
http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/letters.php?itemid=3752
Sad to say, a new culture of lying has taken root among the highest officials of the land. In America, there were congressional demands for impeachment on presidents who had committed scandals such as Watergate(Nixon), Irangate(Reagen) and Monica Lewinsky(Clinton). But over here, the lies and spins from the centre of power go on and on day after day, because power is in the grasp of a single political party
#49 by Alex on Wednesday, 11 April 2007 - 3:55 pm
Who is the hell of this RealWorld???????damn really shit!~
#50 by pamelaoda on Friday, 13 April 2007 - 12:01 pm
Realworld is AAB…eh..no Khairy..no…damn! who alredi ah?
Anyway, I m totally agreed the bridged to be closed. I have never in my whole life have seen the authority could act so “quickly” and for once I agreed they closed it cos i dont trust these buggers to check whether if there is really a bomb there leh?!?! Not even if they have sophisticated equipment..hell what if the persons who handled it cannot read english properly … Dont play play hoh?!
#51 by akarmalaysian on Saturday, 14 April 2007 - 2:21 am
abt the bridge…maybe its just another one of those concession issues…maybe “someone” is trying to tell u people..”see?..wat are u gonna do without us if thrs no bridge?”hmmm……maybe they are trying to increase the bridge toll…hmmmm…or maybe they are suggesting a 3rd bridge if sumthing happens to any one of these….hmmm…then…hmmm…..makan suap time….