MCA Senator objects to Bersih Rally Because of money

I refer to the report in the mainstream media that MCA senator Lee Chong Meng called on Bersih, the coalition for clean and fair elections, to keep their agitation indoors.

This senator represents the face of the race-based political party who is supposed to look after the interests of the Chinese community. Instead of joining the clarion call for reforms in the electoral process, he has deemed it fit to support the government’s suppression of free and fair elections.


His selfish and ill-conceived reason that the demonstration on Nov 10 have caused losses in the 'millions' clearly shows that the MCA and their underlings have no principles to uphold and that their main motivation for objecting to the rally was because of money.

By now, the Chinese community should be conscious of MCA's role in the BN government. The MCA politicians are in the BN for money, position and power. Fifty years of this unholy alliance in the BN have proven that MCA is incapable of looking after the interests of the Chinese community. If they had done their work faithfully and unselfishly, the Chinese would not have been marginalised in education, civil service, government contracts, university places and a slew of other racist policies.

The coming election will determine the future of the Chinese community. If we continue to give MCA the same support we have been giving them for the last 50 years then you can expect the same practice and habits to continue. MCA politicians will continue to receive the crumbs offered by their Umno counterparts and in return they will give their undivided support to
plunder the nation's coffers.

We as Malaysians must not allow this to happen. We do not have the luxury of time to change our destiny. We must do it now before it is too late. We must all unite and ensure that these unscrupulous politicians from MCA are voted out of office and sent to political oblivion.

One Rule for BN and another for the rest.

The government is practising double standards in the issuance of permits to hold demonstrations. As long as the demonstration is not directed by or involving opposition to government policies, permits will be granted.
Better still, if the demonstration is to support government policies or to resonate the government's stand on certain foreign policies, then permits will readily be granted.
For example, last year a permit was granted to the Umno Youth to stage a demonstration in conjunction with the visit of the United States secretary of state held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. As recent as last week, permit was granted to Maybank employees in protest of bonuses not being paid to them.
The rationale is that as long as the ire of the protest is not directed at them, they will issue the permit. Why should the government be wary of Bersih's rally if it was for the stated purpose of wanting to create a level-playing field for all in the coming elections.
Surely, this is a legitimate complaint the government should have no problem addressing if it is transparent. Its opposition to this rally only serves to reinforce public perception that the government has its own agenda to preserve the status quo in the electoral process.
In previous elections, there have been numerous complaints regarding the presence of phantom voters, of death voters voting, of fictitious postal voters, of changing electoral boundaries in favour of the ruling party and the glaring imbalance of numbers in the electorates of government areas as opposed to opposition areas.
The comment by the Asia director of New York-based organisation Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams is most appropriate and summarised the government’s position. When it comes to holding onto power, the ruling party makes one set of rules for themselves and another for everyone else.

Ecm-Libra/Avenue Merger and approval of Air Asia Singapore route

I wish to refer to the Malaysiakini article ‘Air Asia: Its like going to the Moon.’
Yes, Tony Fernandez and Air Asia has every right to be in a jubilant mood after having obtained the rights to fly the Kuala lumpur to Singapore route. After all its a gold mine route previously the monopoly of our MAS airline.
But why the sudden change of mind to give this lucrative route to Air Asia when the logical decision would be to allow the status quo to remain and let MAS reap the profits while it is on its path to recovery?
The answer can be found by referring to the ECM-Libra and the Avenue merger. Prior to the merger, Kallimullah and Khairy Jamalluddin (son-in Law of P.M) bought a block of shares in ECM-Libra and lo and behold one month later ECM-LIibra sealed the deal with the cash-rich Avenue merger. Of course someone at the Ministry of Finance had to approve the deal and guesswho?
If we were to recall a few months earlier, Kallimullah bought a stake in Air Asia. I am not sure whether Khairy has a stake in this deal but the deal is certainly very suspicious if not a bitfishy because one month later, a smiling Tony Fernadez was gushing with pride and annoucing to the world that the Singapore route was like Air Asia going to the moon. And why not? It was like manna from heaven.
CEO of MAS, Idris Jala could not conceal his disappointment and who could blame him? It was alucrative and profitable route which MAS had prevously had sole monopoly and now it was to be shared with Air Asia.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to ask the P.M why the interest of the country’s own airline was sacrificed and why a public owned airline was given a share of the lucrative route?
The ECM-Libra and the Air Asia episodes seem to reveal a very ingeniuos and systematic way of plundering our nation’s wealth by our leaders.
Well done P.M. I didnt know you could do so well while sleeping on your job. Perhaps I was wrong.

Key Politicians Appear Immune to ACA

I refer to Malaysiakini report, PAC: Arrest decision-makers too.
Lately, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) has been busy prosecuting civil servants mentioned in the recent auditor-general's report for corruption.
It becomes glaringly obvious that ACA has no hesitation when it comes to arresting and prosecuting civil servants but are reluctant to haul in politicians who are similarly tainted with corruption.
Prosecution and punishment appears to be swift and efficient for civil servants and the police force but when it comes to politicians like Zakaria Deros from Port Klang and Mohd Said Yusof, the ‘close one eye' Jasin MP from Malacca, the wheels of justice seemingly grinds to a halt.
In our country, it appears some people are more equal than others in the eyes of the law. And politicians here are a special breed of men who seems to have immunity from any prosecution despite their public commission of a felony.
Those people entrusted with the duty to enforce and prosecute the perpetrators have a latent fear of politicians who perhaps have the clout to punish any ACA officers foolish enough to try and bring them to book.
With the revelation of the controversial Lingam tape, we now witness corruption within the corridors of the judiciary. Appointments and promotion are designed for those who toe the line and are compliant to their political masters.
Judicial decisions affecting the interest of the government and its cronies are not won or lost on the merits of facts and law but on the basis of a prearranged slotting of a friendly judge who would ensure a favourable judicial decision on the understanding that they would be rewarded with a promotion at a later date.
If ordinary citizens can no longer seek justice and equity from our judiciary, where else can we turn to?
Our country's structure and system comprising the executive, the legislature and the judiciary appears to be crumbling. The once lauded Westminister system inherited from the British is now a pale shadow of its former glory. In its place, the present government has now perpetuated a system which is rotten to its core. Only a matter of time before it will finally bring our country to an ignominious end.

Chief Justice should be serving six months sentence.

Malaysians must be wondering in amazement that the P.M. is even considering and pondering over the decision to extend the tenure of Chief Justice, AhmadFairuz.
Despite his 'elegant silence in his role in theLingam Tape,Ahmad Fairuz should be serving a six month sentence behind bars instead of being rewarded with a six months extension of his tenure.
Ahmad Fairuz will go down in history as the ChiefJustice that brought the Judiciary to the depths ofdisrepute and infamy and to honour him with anextension of his tenure is to make a mockery of ourJudiciary system.
To redeem some measure of pride and preserve thegood name of our judiciary,a tribunal should be formed to investigate his unsavoury role in the Lingam saga.
Anything short of this would cast serious aspersion on our Judiciary and besmirch the good name of those innocent judges who unfortunately are lumped togather with the bad apples.

No, Not another space tourist at our expense.

I refer to the Malaysiakini report, Second citizen into space in 2 years.
Many Malaysians would have thought that sending one flight space participant is already an extravagant pastime but now we are being told by Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Jamaluddin Jarjis that 'Muszaphar's back-up candidate, Faiz Khaleed, would become Malaysia's next astronaut or angkawasan.'
Are our leaders so egoistic that after spending a wasteful astronomical sum without achieving anything we are now about to consider sending another 'angkawasan' who is nothing but a space tourist?
Despite, Nasa’s official classification that Muszaphar is a space flight participant, our leaders continue to insist that he is an astronaut. Perhaps before jumping to their conclusion I should remind them that prior to this there were two other flight participants who paid US$20 million for the privilege of being a paid space tourist.
They were an elderly American billionaire and a wealthy middle-age woman of Iranian American descent. As with Muszaphar, they underwent a year of fitness training programme prior to a similar journey to space. So what exactly is the difference in training that distinguish Muszaphar's classification as an astronaut whereas the other two were merely space flight participants?
As for the misleading publicity that he would be conducting some experiments. Perhaps they should be forewarned that space tourist are not allowed to conduct or perform any experiments on board lest the wrong experiment may jeopardise the space odyssey.
Further, also be forewarned that space tourists are also not allowed to simply press any buttons or panels lest the wrong button may send them on a reverse trajectory back to earth. This would be an utter embarrassment for a Malaysian space tourist to be responsible for cutting a journey of 15 days to just three days.
Just as Rome was not built in a day, a cosmonaut or an astronaut was not trained in one year. That essentially explain why after training for one year, Muszaphar is not a cosmonaut but a mere space tourist.
For that reason alone, it would save our government a lot of money and embarrassment if we just forget the idea of sending another space tourist at the expense of the taxpayers money.

Dont fight for race but fight for a cause.

I wish to refer to Dato Lee Hwa Beng's letter (BN's tradition of quotas protect non-Malays) and Fahri Azzat’s reply, An apologist for racial politics.
Like Fahri, I feel insulted that Dato Lee should justify the present race-based BN concept as a means of preserving the few insignificant nominations for councillors and candidates for state and Parliament position for his non-Malay party (meaning MCA). His astonishing view that the Malays would vote en bloc on racial preference is an insult directed specifically at the Malay intelligentsia.
The present generation of educated, middle-class Malays are no longer as compliant as Dato Lee would like to think. The Malays of today are astute and more confident than their predecessors and if circumstances force them to, I am sure they will vote intelligently focusing on qualities of good governance, accountability and integrity.
In discharging their obligation, I am confident that they will not vote along racial lines but on the calibre of the candidate. I can only hope the Chinese and Indians can be just as astute.
As an insignificant participant in the ‘Walk for Justice’ with the lawyers, I saw Muslim Malay women and men, despite the fasting month of Ramadan, braving the inclement weather, and finally waiting in the drenching rain waiting for the Bar Council president to appear from the PM's office after presenting the memoranda for a royal commission.
Dato Lee should have been there because what I saw were brave men and women fighting not for their race and religion but they were there fighting for a cause.

Believe Me, Lingam Tape is Genuine

What is the rationale for Najib Razak to appoint a three-man panel to authenticate the Lingam tape? The credentials of those appointed are more suited to adjudicate a court case with the exception of social activist, Lee Lam Thye. What we perhaps need are people with technical expertise to determine the authenticity of the tape using forensic and other specialised methods.
However, even a layman with no expertise whatsoever can easily vouch from the tone of voice and the mannerism of the speaker that it was a genuine tape.
Even the topic that revolves around the appointment and rejection of judges bear a stark semblance of reality. Lingam would have to be an expert soothsayer to predict the outcome of the appointment and promotion of the judges and chief judge that was elevated subsequently.
The most convincing piece of evidence was the video picture of Lingam gesturing with his hands as he talked. The words and sentences that flowed from his mouth did not appear to be dubbed or there would have been a mistiming of his gestures and his words.
If ordinary mortals like me can surmise the accuracy of the tape, I wonder what the technical experts can do if given the opportunity to authenticate the tape.

No Sane P.M would do away race-based Politics.

To ask Barisan Nasional to surrender their race-based politics and to work towards a non-race based parties would be akin to asking them to surrender their extravagant and luxurious lifestyle of the rich and famous.
For the last 50 years, they have been so accustomed to easy plundering of the nation's coffers that it is unlikely they are going to give up without a fight.
Every ministry without exception, from the high-tech Defence Ministry to the lowly mundane Sports and Culture Ministry have been the target of politicians and civil servants who deemed it fit to inflate contract price of goods bought so that they can rip off the ministry's coffers.
Therefore, what incentive would there be for them to abandon the race-based party politics that have served them so well in exchange for a non-race-based politics that would subject them to meritocracy and a level-playing field.
No wonder when the proposal was put forth at the Gerakan Assembly, it was quickly shot down by the PM because no sane PM would want to miss the opportunity to reap the proverbial pot of gold especially when it is their turn.
As for the ordinary rakyat, our only hope is that the majority of the voting people will awaken from their 50 years slumber and banish this nightmare from our midst.

Sharir-UMNO man to the core.

I refer to Malaysiakini letter, Shahrir has finally crossed the rubicon.
For many terms, the Johor parliamentary constituency was virtually given to Shahrir Samad on a platter. He won on the same seat every time he contested not because he was an Umno member but because for many he was a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the underdog.
At times he was even prepared to incite the wrath of Umno members who thought he was on the other side of the divide. But throughout his term of service in his constituent, he was always faithful and dependable to his principles. Such was his integrity that he gave up his chairmanship at the Backbenchers Club because he supported an opposition motion which lacked the support from his own party.
However, all his good work came to nought when in one single moment of madness, Shahrir castigated the 2,000 lawyers for participating in the Walk for Justice to present a memorandum for a royal commission to the PM. That act alone should convince his fervent supporters that a leopard never changes its spot.
Shahrir has finally reveal his true identity that he is an Umno man to the core.

Municipals councils getting too much

Lately we saw municipal councils all over the country raising their quit rent and assessment rates some as much as 100 to 200 percent. Now that they are flush with their new found wealth, most of these municipal councils don't seem to know how to spend it.
From Seremban to Kota Baru we see municipal councils tearing down lamp posts and replacing them with those with a 'flowery' design. Why should they suddenly have the urge to replace good working lamp posts with ones costing about RM8,000 each is anybody's guess.
But my guess is simple. Only by replacing these utilities can someone siphon the money from the municipal's kitty.
But after reading the malaysiakini report Howls of protest over 'nab the dog' contest' on the Selayang Municipal Council's stray dog-catching competition, I must say this idea takes the cake as far mindless spending by a municipal council is concerned.
If this is any indication how our municipal councils are going to spend our hard-earned money from the increase in assessment and quit rent rates, then I am going to register my protest by not paying them at all.
For too long our municipal councillors have not been held accountable for their extravagant expenditure and with each passing year they are getting more and more innovative in their wasteful spending.
The presidents and municipal councillors are appointed and not elected and most of them are more acquainted with rural living rather than urban living. When appointed to their posts, they don't seem to know what their duties entail. The only thing that don't requires any expertise is to simply spend on wasteful and unnecessary projects which at the same time also accrue to them some side income.
Other wasteful expenditure (as in Seremban and Kota Baru) is to remove the existing pavement and pathway tiles and replace them with one of a new design. Some of these pavements, however, are located in the most ridiculous places where perhaps the only ones using them would be cows and goats.
As usual we can shout from the top of our roofs but our pleas for some sanity to prevail will most likely fall on deaf ears.

50 years of Independence,33 years of Mismanagement.

On 31st August 2007 we will be celeberating the 50th anniversary of our Independence but this auspicious occassion will also witness 33 years of mismanagement of our country's administration.by the present govt..Why 33 years? Because until 8th April 1974, the Finance Minister was the late Tun Tan Siew Sin and the country's finance was impeccably managed by this illustrous man whose prudence and integrity was legendary..
On one occassion when he was about to take his annual leave TunTan casually asked Tuanku who was looking after his portfolio in his absence. When Tuanku replied that he would look after his porfolio, Tun immediately cancelled his leave. This in essence was the character of the man who was not only prudent with the nation's coffers but spent his tenure zealously guarding it from any wasteful expenditure.
The aftermath of May 13th ,1969 saw the downfall of the Tuanku and the ascension of Razak and the implementation of the NEP policy.The Finance Minister portfolio was given to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and from thereon beginning with the BMF fiasco the country was beseiged with a litany of poor financial governance which saw the govt bailing out practically every govt linked companies (GLC).
For the last 33 years(from 1974) this govt had to continuosly bail out companies like Bank Bumiputra,Bank Rakyat,Bank Islam, Bank pertanian,MAS,Renong, UEM and the recent PKFZ project which would cost $4.6 billion..
If we were to include the vast array of failed projects which eventually led to further injection of govt funds, the amount would easily bankrupt many a nation.
.The proposed crooked bridge to Singapore, the Rawang double track railway, the North- south Highway, the Matrade building, the prison building in Sarawak and a host of other multi-billion projects would have caused the downfall of any govt.And yet after 50 years of independence and 33 years of mismanagement we are still stuck with the same govt which is bringing us to an ominous future.
Every Malaysian of whatever denomination has a duty to protect and safeguard this country of ours.We owe our allegiance to this country but we do not owe any allegiance to this govt which have failed to perform its duty with care and diligence.
Our nation is at a crossroad and after 50 years we must put aside our differences and assess our progress..If our conscience tells us that this govt has failed us then we must gather what little courage we have and make a change,Our future and our destiny lies in our hands and it is our sovereign duty to initiate the change..

English-Medium:Razak Did it,Period.

I refer to the letter English-medium ‘victory’: Rahman no agent.
I wish to reply to the stubborn refusal of the writer to accept the realty of the decision-making process in our government. Rahman Yaakub as the education minister then had no authority to make such a monumental change in the schools from English-medium to Malay medium without getting instructions from then prime minister Abdul Razak to do so.
A similar analogy can be seen when Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced the change in the medium of instruction from Bahasa Malaysia to English for Science and Maths. It was the PM who decided on the change and certainly not the education minister.
In the present context, can our ‘Kerismuddin’ unilaterally decide on a change from Bahasa Malaysia to English as the medium of instruction in schools? Certainly not. Such a change would obviously have to have the concurrence and direction of the PM perhaps after consultation with the cabinet. This alone would clearly diminish any possibility of Rahman acting unilaterally to change the language policy.
How convenient and presumptuous of the writer to even suggest that Razak and the rest of Umno members were caught by surprise by Rahman's unilateral action. To give credit to Rahman Yaakub for making this momentous change is to suggest that he was the ‘power behind the throne’ and that Razak was a mere puppet doing his bidding. That is a very unlikely possibility.
The writer suggested that Razak was responsible for converting Chinese-medium schools to English-medium and based on that premise I still maintain my stand Razak was responsible for changing the medium of instruction for our schools from English-medium to Malay-medium.

Malay-Medium Decision:Rahman merely Razak's agent.

I refer to the letter How English-medium schools vanished overnight. I am surprised at how naive the author is to assume that then Education Minister Rahman Yaakub by his own accord and volition could arbitrarily 'take a gamble that fateful day in July or August 1969 - and succeed beyond his wildest dreams'.
As narrated by Pin Pan Dan, Dr Mahathir Mohamad's scurrilous letter played a vital role which subsequently led to Tunku Abdul Rahman stepping down. But history also revealed that Razak played no less a role in the removal of Tunku.
To give full credit solely to Rahman for converting all English-medium schools to Malay-medium is both naive and illogical. For such a momentous change of the education policy, surely it would be more feasible to presume that the directive originated from Abdul Razak, the prime minister then.
I find the writer’s statement 'Out of the blue, Rahman announced the conversion ... from Jan 1,1970 ' to be very simplistic and illogical. There is no way Rahman could on his own accord make the change from English-medium to Malay-medium without receiving the orders from Razak. In this regard, Rahman was merely the agent to execute Razak's intention.
By the writer's own admission, Rahman would not have been able to do what he did if Tunku was still the PM. By the same token, it can be said that Rahman could not have done what he did had he not got the concurrence and instructions from Razak. And, of course, Rahman was adequately rewarded when he became the chief minister of Sarawak in 1970.
To conclude for Pin Pan Dan's benefit, when Razak was the education minister in 1950, Tunku was the PM and it was unlikely the former would allow Razak to make any change in the schools’ medium of instruction.
So the next best thing Razak was able to do was to convert Chinese-medium secondary schools to English-medium. This does not in any way negate Razak's role in being instrumental in changing the medium of instruction for schools from English to Malay when he became the PM.

Arrogant of Cabinet not To accept Apology

I refer to the malaysiakini report Cabinet rejects apology from rapper. I cannot believe we have ministers like Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz in the cabinet. Most of the time he doesn't talk sense and on the occasions when he wants to let the world knows he is a minister, he makes a fool of himself.

So what, may I ask, if the cabinet does not want to accept the apology of the rapper? Exactly what is his crime? What he sang in his rap was the truth and nothing but the truth. Nazri threatens to use the Sedition Act just because Wee used the national anthem tune for his rap song. The threat sounds so silly and preposterous if not for the fact that it was uttered by a minister. A national anthem or any other patriotic song is still merely a song. By itself it does not generate any feelings of patriotism or loyalty. It is when people sing it with passion and emotion that it becomes synonymous with patriotism and love for the country. Frankly there is nothing for the rapper to apologise for and if the arrogant cabinet doesn't want to graciously accept his apology then he can just tell them to go fly kites. There is a sad tendency for politicians to become arrogant nowadays. They fail to realise that it was the ordinary folk who gave them the mandate to govern on their behalf and their votes that put them there in the first place. After having being put there, they think they have a divine right to perch on top of the mantle and threaten the citizens. If Nazri is serious about the Sedition Act he should first of all have the guts to haul in Najib Razak and his nephew Hishammuddin Hussein Onn for their seditious threats. Or is Nazri so naive to imply that the rap song is more seditious than someone waving a 'keris' and making seditious threats? When the next election comes it is the duty of every voter to ensure we vote in people of calibre and to discard those who display arrogance and stupidity.

Our Education system is a Big failure.

Make no mistake. Contrary to what our DPM said in NST on 10th August, our country’s education is one big flop. Najib would be deluding Malaysians to say that the education system was a big success and attribute this success to his father.
Tun Razak, the father of Najib was the culprit responsible for the current malaise facing the present education system. As the Education Minister, he abolished the English medium of education and introduced the Bahasa Melayu medium. In one stupendous decision his action caused the loss of one generation of English-speaking students.
Prior to the abolishment of the English medium of education we were the envy of many countries in Asia. Foreign tourists who went to the most remotest part of our country were pleasantly surprised that practically everyone they met could converse in theQueen’s language. That was in the early fifties.
Today, even top government civil servants and the judiciary can hardly string two words of English. Is this how we define success in our education system? If this is Najib’s definition of success then either he is blind to the pathetic state of the education system or he is totally oblivious to what is happening in the country.
On reflection it would be fair to say that the failure of the education system gave a life -line to vernacular schools.
Prior to the change in the medium of education from English to Bahasa Melayu, vernacular schools were closing down for lack of student enrolment. Slowly but surely many of the vernacular schools were decimated.
However to be fair it was not the change in the medium of instruction that caused the popularity of vernacular schools. It was the slow and not subtle degeneration of the National Schools to religious schools that caused the mass exodus of Chinese andIndians to their respective vernacular schools.
Today, remnants of the failure of our education remains like a sore thumb.Teachers and headmasters of one race dominate every school. Not ordinary teachers but staunch religious teachers who never miss an opportunity to extol the virtues of their religion.Every morning and every recess, prayers are recited and non-Muslims students are expected to tolerate such feverish display of religiosity.
Today, our education system churns out 80,000 unemployed graduates. All of them bear living testimony of a failed education system. And yet our DPM has the gall to say that our education system is a big success. Wake up Najib. No matter what yardstick you use, the education system is a big failure.

Missing rm$1.3 billion for the Penang second Bridge.

History has an uncanny way of repeating itself. During Mahathir’s tenure as PM the construction of the North-South Expressway in 1984 was awarded to UEM (owned and controlled by UMNO) on the basis of a design-build-finance and operate concept.
Although the lowest tender bid was $3.2 billion, UEM was awarded the contract. Prior to completion,construction costs escalated to a phenomenal $6 billion. The escalated cost which normally would be borne by the turnkey contractor was underwritten by a govt soft loan.
This effectively meant that a competitive bid for a project which would cost $3.2 billion ended costing $6 billion. Presumably,the toll collection period had to be extended from an initial 15 years to 30 years to accomodate the doubling of the project cost.
The burden for the extra cost was shifted to the road users who now have to content and endure the paying of road toll for an extra 15 years (1988-2018). Later, in exchange for changing the increase in toll rate from every year to every three years, the concession period was further extended for another 12 years(2018-2030).
Had the contract awarded to the lowest bid at $3.2 billion was accepted, the govt would have saved $2.8 billion (or a shorter toll collection peiod of 15 years).
However, with its questionable practice of awarding the contract to a dubious company closely associated wih the ruling UMNO party, the ordinary citizen is bogged down with an additional period of 27 years to pay for the usage of the North-South Expressway.
Come 2007 and the cycle is about to repeat itself again with the award for the construction of the Penang second bridge. There was no tender for the project and it was speculated the bridge would cost RM2.3 billion. However, even before it got started, NST June 24th reported that the bridge would now cost RM3 billion.
On 11th July, the star reported that Malaysia would secure a loan of RM1.7 billion (US$500 million) from China for the construction of the Penang second bridge. This latest revelation demands some explanation.
Is the total loan of RM1.7 billion from the Exim bank of China represent the actual total cost of the second bridge? If it is then why was it touted by the govt that the bridge would cost RM3 billion?
Or like the NSE Expressway, the additional RM1.3 billion would eventually be structured as escalated cost to be indemnified to UEM?
When the RM1.3 billion is added to the actual cost of RM1.7 billion, the total cost of RM3 billion will be factored in as the total construction cost for the Penang second bridge. This RM3 billion will be the benchmark for determining the toll collection period extended to the concessionaire.
It was reported in the media that UEM would soon be signing a joint venture agreement with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to build the second Penang bridge. For the sake of transparency and accountability it is incumbent upon the the govt to fully disclose the nature and substance of the joint-venture agreement between the two parties so as to ensure that the Malaysian public is fully aware of the total construction cost of the second bridge.
The disclosure of the actual cost is of paramount importance because it will determine the toll collection period that will be extended to the toll concessionaire. An artificial and inflated cost would only mean extending the toll collection period to an unreasonable time frame and consequently will cause additonal financial hardship to users of the second bridge.

If not for people like Rommel,South Africa would still have apartheid.

South Africa would still continue to practise Apartheid if the international community had taken heed of DPM advice that outside parties should “not meddle in the affairs and domestic policies of the country”.Yet it was pressure from the international community which viewed apartheid with such revulsion that it eventually led to the downfall and dismantling of South Africa’s racist policies.
Yet in the same breath it was business as usual for our DPM and the P.M himself to offer unsolicited advice as to how southern Thailand should be governed in order to quell the daily violence. Not only were advice given unsparingly but it was open govt policy to provide sanctuary for Muslim militants who seem to have unhindered access to Malaysian borders.
Our leaders are always in a denial mode whenever there are legitimate criticisms levied at our govt or our policies while at the same time feeling they have a divine right to pinpoint the inadequacies of other less unfortunate countries.
Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein should learn to control his temperament and avoid making foolish statements that foreigners should not interfere in govt business without first knowing its history.
In this globalised, flat world we are living now no country can live in isolation and this borderless world will continue to invite criticisms if policies and governance are not in accordance with norms.
Instead of pretending that the criticisms are without merit, our leaders should focus on examining the virtues and vices of the N.E.P policy in its present form.I f need be, there should be appropriate adjustments and revamp so that the international community will not view it as a discriminatory policy expressly for serving the purpose of only one race.
Dr.Thierry Rommel’s criticism of the N.E.P as head of the European Union delegation represent a unique departure of standard protocol but like the apartheid in South Africa it will not be the last until the vestige of its policy is finally dismantled.

Chua Soi Lek should resign or retract his statement.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek Should resign or retract what he said when he suggested that “Medical graduates who studied overseas may have to sit for a unified medical examination and,whether their university is recognised or not, a pass in the examination would allow them to practise in Malaysia”.
Almost all medical students who opted to obtain their medical degrees overseas are force by circumstances and not by choice.
Dr. Chua should be aware that majority of STPM students who attained excellent grades were deprieved of an opportunity to do medicine at a local university because most of the places were filled by Matriculation students reserved for bumiputras.
The dilemma faced by students who aspire to become doctors were either to do their course in a private medical instituition or venture overseas if they can afford the astronomical costs.
For those who can afford and opted to do their course overseas the news of Dr. Chua’s statement that they have to undergo a medical exam in order to practice in Malaysia must be a body blow.
After spending nearly $800,000 for a medical degree in U.K and having qualified from a medical institution which is far more superior than a local one it really boggles one’s imagination how Dr. Chua could ever come to the conclusion that local medical graduates should be exempted from a medical exam while overseas graduates from a more prestigious instituition should pass another local exam in order to practise here.
Dr. Chua’s suggestion can only be supported if he thinks that the local medical institution like UM and USM are far more superior than overseas instituition like Monash Uni, Melbourne Uni or any ofthe Unis in the U.K? Of course not because UM and USM are not even in the top 100 Unis in the world whereas most of the top foreign medical institutions in Australia and U.K are in the top 100.
Dr. Chua, who is from the MCA should have been the last person to suggest such a measure because almost 80% of the overseas medical students are non-Malays who have been deprived of an opportunity to study at a local medical Uni and to introduce such a measure is to put up more obstacles for the non-Malays.
Dr Chua should acquaint himself with the qualifying Board of Law exams which requires oversea lawyers who did not complete their Bar exam overseas to do the local CLP before they can practise while local lawyers are exempted.
Every year we see Honours Law graduates from overseas who sat for the CLP fail in this exam.The pass rate for the CLP is around 10% to 20% every year and most of the oversea students are non-Malays. Obviously most of the non-Malays could not do their Law course locally and their only route was overseas.
Dr. Chua should consider his suggestion to have a qualifying medical exam carefully.The implementation of this policy would not only destroy the dreams of many a medical student whose parents mortgage practically everything they had to ensure that their children obtain a medical degree to practise but would also cause the financial ruination of al ot of would-be doctors if they fail the local medical exam to practise.

Samy has utterly failed Indian community

I refer to the letter Samy has done a lot for the community.
I am surprised and profoundly appalled that there are intelligent, educated Indians who can come to S Samy Vellu's defence despite his dismal record of service to the Indian community. Jacob George must be utterly blind to the plight of the Indians to lavish extravagant praise on Samy for his 'tireless efforts' in providing 'a hearty breakfast and some transport money'.
Is that what the Indian community expect from their MIC leaders? If that is their expectation, then I am no longer surprised why the Indians are the most marginalised community.
Can Jacob George explain to the Indian community why after 50 years, the Indians cannot even attain a 3% equity in commerce? After more than 20 years at the helm of MIC, Samy has failed to uplift the plight of countless of stateless Indians not to mention the community’s unemployment problem, lack of educational opportunities, lack of government jobs and contracts, demolishment of Hindu temples and the litany of religious persecution which until today remains unresolved.
For their population size, crime by Indians are the highest. But who can blame them if they resort to a life of crime? They have families to care for and mouths to feed and if there is no legitimate way to earn a living, the only recourse is to seek refuge in criminal activities.