Wishing all Christians and Malaysians Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

2010 is going to be a more testing time for all Malaysians than the previous two years.

Regardless of race, religion or region, let all Malaysians work together with one common objective for a better, more just, equal and democratic Malaysia.

Facebook friends are shocked that I am at Pulau Perhentian because they expect the region to be closed because it is monsoon period.

I was of similar feeling and I was surprised when it was proposed that the DAP hqrs break be held at Pulau Perhentian as I expected the area to be unhabitable because of monster monsoon season at this period.

But not to be a wet blanket I went along, despite grave reservations.

I was very surprised that there was no storm whatsoever. The sea was so calm and clear that it was like sheet of glass.

I am told that until the last few years, Pulau Perhentian was virtually a closed area because of public perceptions that monsoon in the East Coast begins in October.

But surprise of suprises, it is not so. According to the Bubu Long Beach Resort (Pulau Perhentian Kechil) operations manager, Zaidon Ismail, the climate calendar has changed. Maybe it is because of the global climate change. Read the rest of this entry »

The three protests by Peter Tan (Independent Living Programme for People with Disabilities), Assoc Prof Dr. Tium Linga Ta (Society for the Orthopaedically Disabled) and Bathmavathi Krishnan (Malaysian Spinal Injuries Association) in the Letters’ Page in the New Straits Times today represents not only the views of the disabled community but all decent and right-thinking Malaysians.

As Peter Tan wrote:

AS a wheelchair user for the last 23 years, I am absolutely upset with Jerai member of parliament Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin for telling fellow-MP Karpal Singh that the latter’s use of a wheelchair is a punishment from God (“Kar-pal: Lawyer wrote part of judgment for civil suit” — NST, Oct 23).

Badruddin’s remark is an affront to all wheelchair users, implying that our condition is a punishment and that we are all sinners.

I have been using a wheelchair long enough to have experienced many times such drivel from holier-than-thou people. People must be educated that being disabled is one of the things that can happen to anybody. People can become disabled. People can become afflicted with diseases. It is part of life. Read the rest of this entry »

PUTRAJAYA — MAHATHIR’S FATEHPUR SIKRI
by Z Ibrahim

I refer to the news regarding the various construction defects of buildings in Malaysia’s new administrative capital at Putrajaya. Putrajaya remains an architectural wonder in the forest with its gleaming, sometimes partially completed buildings and bridges. A megaproject during Malaysia’s days of excesses it is reminiscent of Akbar’s deserted capital of Fatehpur Sikri.

Fatehpur Sikri, located 40km west of Agra, was the political capital of India’s Mughal Empire under Akbar’s reign from 1571 until 1585. It shared its imperial duties as a capital city with Agra and is regarded as Emperor Akbar’s crowning architectural legacy. Construction of the new ceremonial capital, with its elaborate palaces, formal courtyards, reflecting pools, harems, tombs and a great mosque commenced in 1571. A large number of masons and stone carvers worked hard for 15 years on the construction of the city the size of which was larger than contemporary London. It served as the capital of his mighty empire for twelve years (1571-1585) and was abruptly abandoned thereafter shortly after the work was completed ostensibly because of the lack of adequate water supply. Read the rest of this entry »

RM9 BIL DOUBLE-TRACKING PROJECT — PENNY WISE POUND FOOLISH
Z. IBRAHIM
Klang

I refer to the report stating that the Government now intends to go ahead with the RM9 billion double-track electrified railway which it earlier shelved 3 years ago. That this project is being revived so close to the elections only seems to increase rumors that the ruling party needs the money for the elections in the form of kickbacks. The project itself is poorly thought through.

KTM since British colonial times has been running services on meter-gauge tracks. Meter gauge tracks were basically designed at least during those days for industrial use and in Malaysia’s case — to transport tin.

However we failed to modernize and completely neglected our rail services in favour of road transport and continued using these meter gauges even for our passenger services.

In most parts of the world passenger services started running on standard or broad gauge.

To achieve decent transit times between KL and Penang etc, double tracking on a meter gauge will be slow and clearly will not be competitive.

Obviously this is a half measure as it seems the project is trying to avoid investing in rolling stock as would be the case if standard or broad gauge are adopted instead.

Simply put you cannot run a train fast if your tracks are not broad enough for stability at high speeds. For you to achieve speed and stability you need standard or broad gauge. Read the rest of this entry »

Cabinet Ministers should prove they are not “half-past six” — view Amir Muhammad’s Apa Khabar Orang Kampung and Tsai Ming-liang’s I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone to approve their release to demonstrate that the Abdullah administration is open and liberal and not an ostrich hiding its head in the sand.

The banning of both films when Malaysia is celebrating the 50th anniversary of nationhood sends out the clear message that Malaysia is not ready to have a “First World Infrastructure, First World Mentality” culture and mindset that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had proclaimed as his top agenda.

The problem is not so much the people of Malaysia as the government, which is clearly not prepared to “walk the talk” and honour Abdullah’s various commitments — including to listen to the truth and to respect and even celebrate diversity of opinions and dissent.

The reason given by the Censorship Board for its ban of Apa Khabar Orang Kampung in that it is “historically incorrect” is most ludicrous, for it is in communist systems that there can be only one version of history and where personalities can overnight disappear from history books to become “non-persons”.

The motive behind the Censorship Board ban of I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone that it would be detrimental to the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 is even more ridiculous, as tourists will not come to Malaysia to see the film when they can view it overseas where the Malaysian Censorship Board’s ban does not extend.

In fact, the Censorship Board’s ban will give I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone additional attraction when it is screened overseas. The film is slated for release in Taiwan on March 23, Japan at the end of the month and in Singapore and the United States in April. Read the rest of this entry »

ANATOMY OF A TRAFFIC DISASTER
by Z. Ibrahim

The Federal Highway, first envisioned in 1965 following separation of Singapore from Malaysia, became the main artery to serve the entire Klang Valley conurbation when Malaysia decided to make Port Klang its premier port then.

Opened in 1967, the Highway itself has undergone multiple metamorphoses to cater for the ever increasing population and industries on either side of the highway.

There was a period in the 80s’ when traffic jams to KL used to start at the Berkeley Gardens and a significant portion of Klang residents who worked in KL had to be on the road by 5am. The original 4-lane highway soon outlived its purpose despite the building of multiple interchanges in Petaling Jaya.

In 1992 Plus Expressway Berhad upgraded the entire highway to a 6-lane highway with toll plazas at Batu Tiga and Sungai Rasa. The highway handles such great volumes of traffic at any time of the day that jams can be quite difficult to predict as even minor mishaps have known to cause traffic to back-up on either side of the highway for miles. Read the rest of this entry »