Malaysia Memerlukan Kita...

Satu usaha yang baik untuk increase awareness rakyat Malaysia tentang kepentingan mengundi...

BERSIHkan Nescafe O Ais itu...

Artikel ni nak cerita pasal Bersih 2.0 sebenarnya (xde air nescafe yang tumpah semasa penulisan artikel ni)... hehe

Dah lama tak komen pasal isu semasa... Tapi disebabkan kat akhbar-akhbar pun asyik duk citer pasal benda ni jek, gatal plak tangan nak komen ckit...

Ramai yg sokong Bersih 2.0 (melalui pengamatan di internet, blog etc)... dan tidak kurang ramai yg against demonstrasi aman Bersih ni (melalui pengamatan di media massa arus perdana)... tapi ramai orang yg sokong for the wrong reason dan ramai orang yg menentang also for the wrong reason...

Tahukah anda bahawa Bersih 2.0 ni berdemo untuk menuntut 8 tuntutan yang diharap dapat ensure pilihanraya yang adil dan bersih... 8 tuntutan itu adalah seperti berikut:

1. Bersihkan senarai undi

• Senarai undi harus dibersihkan dengan segera untuk menyingkirkan “pengundi hantu” seperti orang yang telah meninggal.

• Pendaftaran pengundi automatik yang diselarikan dengan senarai Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara boleh menyelesaikan masalah pengundi hantu dalam jangka masa panjang.

2. Mereformasikan undi pos

• Semua pengundi seharusnya dibenarkan untuk mengundi melalui undi pos atau mengundi lebih awal sekiranya seseorang individu itu tidak dapat berada di kawasan pengundian semasa hari mengundi.

• Anggota polis dan tentera yang tidak bertugas harus mengundi seperti biasa pada hari mengundi.

• Undi pos mesti dijalankan dengan telus! Agen parti politik harus dibenarkan untuk memantau proses undi pos.

3. Gunakan dakwat kekal

• Penggunaan dakwat kekal boleh mengelakkan seseorang (atau pengundi hantu) daripada mengundi beberapa kali.

4. Masa kempen minima 21 hari

• Masa yang lebih panjang diperlukan untuk calon menyebarkan maklumat, terutamanya di kawasan luar bandar dan pedalaman. Contohnya, pilihanraya negeri Sarawak baru-baru ini diberi masa kempen 10 hari sahaja.

• Pada 1955, ketika era pemerintahan penjajah, pilihanraya mempunyai masa kempen sepanjang 42 hari. Manakala semasa Pilihanraya Umum ke-12 pada 2008, masa kempen 8 hari sahaja.

5. Akses media yang bebas dan adil

• RTM dan Bernama adalah agensi media yang dibiayai oleh kerajaan. Mereka sepatutnya memberi liputan yang seimbang dan adil untuk semua parti yang bertanding.

• Parti politik harus dibenarkan untuk membuat pengiklanan tanpa sebarang diskriminasi dan penapisan.

• Ini adalah mengenai keadilan! Semua media perlu memberikan hak untuk semua parti membalas kepada tuduhan-tuduhan negatif terhadap mereka.

6. Kukuhkan institusi awam

Institusi awam dan kakitangan kerajaan harus tidak berat sebelah dan menegakkan undang-undang dan demokrasi. Institusi awam harus direformasikan supaya bertindak secara bebas, menegakkan undang-undang dan melindungi hak asasi manusia.

Contohnya :

• Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR) hendaklah memastikan pilihanraya yang bebas dan adil.
• Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia harus bertindak dengan adil dan menghentikan pendakwaan selektif dan penyalahgunaan kuasa.
• PDRM perlu bertindak secara profesional dalam melaksanakan tugas dan menegakkan kedaulatan undang-undang.

7. Hentikan rasuah

Pembelian undi harus dihentikan! Akta Kesalahan Pilihanraya 1954 mesti dikuatkuasakan.

8. Hentikan politik kotor

Bersih 2.0 menuntut SEMUA parti politik untuk menghentikan politik kotor.

Ok, itu je 8 tuntutan Bersih 2.0... Teruk sangat ke? Mustahil nak dilaksanakan ke?

Anehnya, yang masuk akhbar dan TV tu semua membincangkan keburukan berarak di jalan raya dan bagaimana PDRM enggan bagi permit berhimpun sebab tak percayakan penganjur BERSIH 2.0 akan berhimpun dengan aman (dan isu-isu lain yang mengancam keharmonian negara bila dibincangkan)... Cubalah bincangkan tuntutan ni secara ilmiah... 

Mungkin pemimpin-pemimpin kita, dan pihak SPR boleh menyatakan adakah mereka sokong 8 tuntutan ni (mungkin ada yang sokong sebahagian saje), atau mereka totally against tuntutan-tuntutan ni dan sebab kenapa mereka sokong dan tentang... (Note kepada wartawan-wartawan diluar sana, mungkin korang boleh tanya soalan-soalan ilmiah camni time interview dengan pemimpin-pemimpin...)

Saya personally rasa 8 tuntutan ni SANGAT BAIK untuk diimplementasikan dalam Pilihanraya Malaysia... Terutama tuntutan nombor 5... SPR pulak jangan la rasa cam dikritik pulak, cuba ambil ni sebagai idea baru untuk menambahbaik sistem pilihanraya di Malaysia...

Kepada pembaca pulak, tak kisahlah nak sokong ke nak bantah, at least korang aware dengan isu pokok yg patutnya dibincangkan... Tanya diri sendiri, tuntutan mana yang korang sokong dan yang mana yang korang tak suka...

Neway, tu je utk isu ni, rasa nak tulis pendek tp dah terpanjang plak...

Ps: U won't see me marching at KL on the 9th of July... I'll just be here, reading news and maybe writing some more... hehe

MRT news update

Pelan laluan MRT Kuala Lumpur (fasa pertama) yang akan menghubungkan Stesen Komuter Sungai Buloh ke Stesen Komuter Kajang dah dipamerkan kepada orang awam...

Kiranya, sekarang ni, penduduk kawasan yang terlibat sedang dalam proses memberikan feedback kepada pelan tersebut...

Kesimpulannya, laluan MRT ni masih belum finalize lagi, still subject to change... Dan sama ada MRT tu elevated or on the ground or underground (berbeza mengikut kawasan yang dilalui) juga still subject to consideration by the Federal Government after receiving the feedback...

Untuk pengetahuan umum, boleh lah, tengok gambar dan fakta-fakta di atas tu...

Selamat kembali bertugas, Terminal Puduraya

Terminal Puduraya yang dah sedang melalui proses facelift (sejak April tahun lalu) akan mula beroperasi Februari ini...

Dah jadi canggih sikit la terminal Puduraya sekarang... Tak buruk cam dulu...

Terminal Puduraya (selepas dibuka semula) akan cater for bas-bas ekspress yang menuju ke utara Semenanjung, manakala terminal bersepadu Bandar Tasik Selatan akan menempatkan bas-bas ekspres yang menuju ke selatan...

Tapi bas-bas ekspres yang menuju ke utara juga dibenarkan beroperasi dari terminal Bandar Tasik Selatan, terpulang kepada syarikat bas untuk pilih...

Semalam selepas pelancaran, Buletin Utama TV3 ada memaparkan tentang Terminal Bandar Tasik Selatan... Memang canggih... 

Macam airport pulak ada paparan elektronik menunjukkan bas dah "berlepas" ke belum... 

Sistem tiket di Terminal baru ni pun dah dibuat secara centralized... maksudnya ada 18 kaunter tiket yang bebas menjual tiket untuk semua syarikat bas... Kaunter tiket bas bukan based on syarikat bas lagi...

Nama setiap penumpang juga akan dicetak atas setiap tiket bas... Hmmm, saya pun tak dapat bayangkan lagi proses nak membeli tiket kat sini, kena gi sana baru tahu la kut...

  

Apa-apa pun, despite kontroversi yang melanda isu terminal baru ni, diharap pengangkutan awam akan lebih efisyen selepas pembukaan Terminal Bandar Tasik Selatan ni dan pembukaan semula Terminal Puduraya...

Ps: Bila pulak turn Terminal Makmur (Kuantan) untuk dapat facelift yerk? Dah teruk sangat dah tu...

 

Beli suratkhabar untuk bungkus nasi lemak

Post ni bukan pasal saya nak bukak business nasi lemak, tapi berkenaan rakyat Malaysia yang dah tak minat membaca akhbar "mainstream". 

Ini bukan berita yang memeranjatkan pun, dah lama dah orang tahu... cuma statistik yang rasmi ni agak baru dikeluarkan... Kebanyakan akhbar-akhbar "mainstream" dah semakin tak laku, penjualan merudum...

Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, NST dan The Star semuanya akhbar yang dimiliki kerajaan, dan semuanya asyik memaparkan isu-isu politik yang sering kali merupakan  benda yang remeh-temeh yang dibesar-besarkan...

Penjualan akhbar-akhbar ni dah menurun, tapi oleh kerana banyak dijual secara "bulk sales at discounted rates" kepada sekolah-sekolah, IPT (termasuk Library IIUM Kuantan) dan hotel, maka boleh survive lagi kut (for the time being)... 

Kebanyakan orang dah berhenti beli akhbar-akhbar ni sebab banyak memaparkan isu-isu remeh yang dipolitikkan je... 

Orang ramai lebih gemar akhbar tabloid seperti Kosmo dan Metro yang menceritakan pasal isu-isu sosial seperti liputan jenayah dan masalah sosial... 

Mungkin orang awam rasa isu-isu sosial dan setempat lebih relevan kepada mereka berbanding isu politik...

Bagi saya pulak, saya hanya akan beli akhbar kalau headline hari tu menarik minat saya... Hari-hari lain, saya baca berita di portal berita online saja... hehe... Anda pula bagaimana?

Di bawah adalah petikan berita yang berkenaan tajuk post...

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Newspaper circulation in the country maintained its downward slide this year as readers continue to shun hard news in government-controlled titles for more sensationalist tabloids.

Circulation of local media mainstays — The Star, New Straits Times, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian — has fallen over the past five years, in some cases dramatically so.

Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures for the full year ended June 30, 2010 show: 

The Star’s circulation from 295,479 to 286,409 (-3.1 per cent drop),

the New Straits Times from 120,770 to 109,341 (-9.5 per cent drop),

Utusan Malaysia from 181,346 to 170,558 (-5.9 per cent drop),

and Berita Harian from 183,187 to 160,597 (-12.3 per cent drop).

Sales of the four newspapers have been falling these past five years, with ALL but The Star registering drops of 20 per cent or more between 2005 and 2009.

So-called “light reading” newspapers like Malay-language Harian Metro and Kosmo, on the other hand, continue to go from strength to strength, posting higher sales numbers this past year on top of already impressive circulation numbers.

Kosmo was the biggest winner with a massive 32.9 per cent jump in circulation from 129,633 last year to 172,252 this year. 

Harian Metro also managed to chalk up an impressive 11.8 per cent rise in circulation to 378,354.

Free paper The Sun recorded a 4.38 per cent boost in circulation from 287,935 to 300,512.

Bulk sales — the practice of selling bundles of copies at discounted rates for distribution in schools, airplanes and hotels — now make up a slightly higher proportion of average net sales per publishing day for mainstream papers.

Reduced rate sales for The Star went up from 8 to 10 per cent of total sales, the New Straits Times from 23 per cent to 27 per cent, Utusan Malaysia from 6 per cent to 7 per cent and Berita Harian from 13 per cent to 19 per cent.

In contrast, bulk sales for Kosmo, Harian Metro and Chinese-language dailies constituted one per cent or less of daily average sales....

Baca berita penuh di sini...

Ps: tajuk post ni memaparkan kurangnya orang membeli surat khabar untuk dibaca.. mungkin ada sesetengah orang yang tidak lagi membeli surat khabar dan hanya membeli surat khabar bila surat khabar itu datang dalam bentuk bungkusan nasi lemak saja... hehe

-The End-

Berebut air percuma

Kalau korang baca akhbar, mesti ada terbaca pasal konflik air di Selangor kan? 

Isunya: Kerajaan negeri Selangor nak mengambil alih semula pengurusan air di Selangor daripada 4 buah syarikat swasta yang sedang dihimpit hutang, tapi syarikat ni plak tak setuju dan pergi merayu kepada kerajaan Persekutuan untuk bagi pinjaman duit kepada mereka (walaupun mereka adalah syarikat swasta)...

Panjang pulak nak elaborate isu ni, for the time being, boleh baca analysis which I took from Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad's (MP Kuala Selangor) weblog di bawah ni... I found it to be a good summary of the issue...

Artikel kat bawah ni memang panjang, kalau yang berminat tu boleh teruskan pembacaan anda... 

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 10, 2010.

Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad is member of Parliament for Kuala Selangor.

Once the buzzword of the Malaysian political economy, privatisation has now come to be looked upon with much suspicion and at times, scorn and disdain. Well almost. But why the reversal of perception, you ask?

Privatisation and its precursor Malaysia Incorporated, the hallmark and brainchild of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, were strategic measures meant to spur growth through a “smart partnership” between the government and the private sector. Despite the good intentions, the implementation of both policies has not always been well understood, much less, well worked out.

After three decades, while it’s a struggle to shortlist the success stories, the list of failed privatisations gets longer. Sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium; the light rail transit (LRT) systems — both Putra and Star; the KL monorail; transport companies Parkmay and Intrakota; the Bakun power plant; Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd; Time dotcom; and national carrier Malaysian Airline System Bhd all cost the rakyat in the end. Billions of ringgit were spent to bail out these debt-ridden privatised entities in the name of safeguarding the “national interest”.

Privatisation was fundamentally premised on making private entities run efficient businesses and free the federal government from having to fund them. But evidently, privatisation has failed for the very same reasons it was done in the first place — to finance capital investment and improve efficiency.

Specifically, it is due to the very high capital costs and long gestation period, along with the inability to implement the promised tariff levels, which could cover costs and earn the desired rate of return, that could very well have induced the private entities to behave recklessly at times. The case of the privatisation of Selangor’s water supply demonstrates this. Syabas headquarters in Jalan Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur.

For the record, let it be remembered that when the federal government privatised the state entity of Jabatan Bekalan Air Selangor (JBAS) in 1994, it was a profitable state outfit, earning an annual profit of RM50 million to RM95 million a year

True to the criticism of privatisation that “profit is privatised and losses are nationalised (or socialised)”, very unfortunately, only the profitable water treatment services of JBAS were privatised, while it kept the loss-making water distribution business.

Three different water treatment companies were granted 20 to 25-year concessions to treat water and sell it to JBAS for distribution — Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) and Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd. JBAS, the loss-making entity, was later corporatised as Perbadanan Urus Air Selangor (Puas).

While the three companies were making RM35 million to RM180 million profit, JBAS’ profit dwindled to RM7 million in 1995, and in later years as Puas it suffered losses to the tune of RM350 million.

When Puas was finally privatised to become Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) in 2005, it had an accumulated debt of RM2 billion. Tan Sri Rozali Ismail’s Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd (PNHB) controlled 70% equity while the then state government companies Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS) and Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB) held an equal 15% equity interest each in Syabas.

The water industry is the best example of the failure of privatisation burdened by a very high capital investment, much as it was also fragmented, inefficiently run and supplying low quality water.

The four water concessionaires built up a total debt of RM6.4 billion, compared with their combined assets which are worth RM4.7 billion. Puncak Niaga and Syabas together are reeling under a total debt of RM4.2 billion, while Splash and KPS unit Konsortium Abass have net debts of RM1.6 billion and RM640 million respectively.

The concession agreement granted Syabas the right to increase tariffs every three years at very high rates. In 2009, Syabas was allowed under the agreement to raise its tariffs by up to 37%. The tariffs were scheduled to be increased by up to 25% in 2012, 20% (2015), 10% (2018) and 5% (2021).

The Federal government, meanwhile, gave grants to the tune of RM2.09 billion in 2004 and in December 2009, it granted an interest-free, unsecured and back-loaded loan of RM320 million to Syabas. It is now mulling a possible bailout of these concessionaires to the tune of another RM1billion to avoid a default on their bonds.

In the meantime, Splash and PNSB had paid handsome dividends to their shareholders amounting to RM578.6 million (2007) and RM500 million (2008). This means the water treatment concessionaires were clearly making astronomical profits despite their high gearing for their capital expenditure.

Given the latest situation in the water industry, especially in Selangor, one can’t help thinking that the promulgation of the Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN, 2006) as a national water regulator and the Water Services Industry Act (WSIA) (2006) were put in place to execute, in effect, a backdoor bailout of these highly leveraged privatised water entities.

WSIA is meant to consolidate the fragmented water industry. Through its special purpose vehicle (SPV) Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB), a federal government agency, WSIA is to acquire all water-related assets — including water treatment plants and pipes — both from the private companies and the state government.

The agency would in turn lease back these assets to the respective water industry operators. PAAB would also undertake all new capital investment as well as the maintenance of these assets. This regime would make all water operators asset-light and avoid the troubling high capital investment. As PAAB is a government entity, it enjoys lower borrowing cost and would thus be able to charge to water operators lower leasing charges.

At this critical juncture of the restructuring of the water industry, wouldn’t it be fair for the rakyat to be assured of a water industry that not only is capable of delivering good service but a reasonable tariff as well? That Syabas has already breached many terms of its concession agreement is already public knowledge. Rendering the licensing regime back to Syabas would be perceived as inappropriate at best and scandalous at worst.

On Feb 12, 2008, Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik, then Minister of Energy, Water and Communication, wrote in the foreword to the book, The Water Tablet: Malaysian Water Reforms that: “The reform model [in the water services industry] that we are embarking on is unique and I hope it will serve as a guide to developing as well as developed countries.”

The minister was referring to states ceding their power to regulate water services to the federal government, and to the then establishment of a national water resources regulator, SPAN and WSIA.

Less than three years later, the reform process and achievement of the national objectives are almost a mirage and run the risk of being derailed.

After an impasse of more than two years in the negotiations for the restructuring of Selangor’s water industry, the state government is calling on the federal government to lend support to its “holistic model”.

The model is consonant with the restructuring objectives of WSIA and SPAN, where the four private water concession companies will be bought over and consolidated into one SPV.

The newly-formed entity will be fully managed and administered by the state government, with the federal government having a golden share. It will be asset-light, as all water-related assets will be transferred to the SPV. The state government believes that the holistic model is the best solution as both the treatment and distribution of water would be managed by a single operator. This ensures a lower tariff as there is no “transfer pricing” issue, where currently water treatment operators impose a high profit margin and water distributors have to increase tariffs as a result.

On Dec 5, thousands of protesters turned up in front of the National Mosque to support the handing over of a memorandum on the Selangor water issue to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

They now stand up to ask again, whither the state privatisation of water? More importantly, they are asking if there will be a repeat of economic “foolishness” in awarding contracts and concessions without open competitive tenders under the Economic Transformation Programme?

Will it be more of the same in the second wave of privatisation?

Bullet train in Malaysia

Most of my recent post on social and politics have been sort of critical to the federal government, but not today... Today I'm going to post on something that I strongly supported, which is improving public transportation...

During this past few days, there have been 3 good news regarding public transportation...

The first one, is that the work for the MRT project (for Greater KL) will start on July next year... It would take probably up to TEN years for the MRT to materialize, so I hope that the project can kick-off soon so that the public can reap the rewards sooner...

The second news is that finally, the LRT extension projects, (more specifically, the Kelana Jaya Line extension and the Ampang Line extension) are proceeding to the next step after many months of no news on the subject... The contractors have been chosen for the project today (or maybe it was yesterday, because I read it in today's newspaper)...

The third news is that Malaysia is considering to build "bullet train" for KL-Singapore route... The project, called High-speed rail (HSR) is still in planning stage... According to news, the HSR service, travelling at an average speed of 350-450km an hour, will transform travel on the KL-Singapore route by cutting travel time to 1.5 to two hours.... The government is doing a feasibility study on this project and the study is due to be completed by mid-2011...

I hope that these projects will proceed smoothly without any delay and  not be bogged down by any problems caused by the contractors etc..

Ps: An efficient public transportation system would reduce carbon emission and thus is more environmentally-friendly...

Teksi bermeter tapi tak guna meter, sama je lah kan

Banyak betul kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh pegawai-pegawai, pengarah-pengarah dan menteri yang berkaitan pengangkutan awam, tapi semua kenyataan ni menunjukkan macam mereka ni semua tak pernah naik pengangkutan awam je...

Dulu saya pernah komen pasal ulat tiket di Terminal Bas Sementara Bukit Jalil kan... Sampai sekarang masih lagi berleluasa masalah ni, dan penyelesaiannya, JPJ nak suruh pengguna sendiri berhenti membeli tiket daripada ulat tiket ni... 

Daripada pemerhatian saya, kalau inilah cadangan penyelsaiannya, masalah ni takkan selesai sebab walaupun ramai orang yang dah tak beli tiket daripada ulat-ulat tiket ni, tapi masih ada segelintir orang yang terperdaya dan beli daripada diaorang... 

Rata-rata orang yang menjadi mangsa adalah pelancong-pelancong asing dan orang-orang yang tak pernah sampai terminal bas tu (especially warga emas) dan yang terkial-kial mencari arah... 

Daripada turun LRT Bukit Jalil, berduyun-duyun ulat tiket datang menyerbu, kalau hujan siap payungkan lagi kut... Pastu offer nak jual tiket terus ke destinasi tanpa perlu beratur di kaunter tiket... Kalau orang yang tak pernah sampai dan tak tahu bas apa yang ada untuk ke destinasi diaorang, memang akan pilih beli daripada ulat tiket je...

Mungkin semua pihak atasan ni pakar ekonomi kut, dia cuba menggunakan teori "supply and demand" untuk menyelesaikan masalah ni, mengikut teori ni, kalau tiada permintaan, ulat tiket tu akan pupus dengan sendirinya... Cuma teori ni tak applicable in reality... Sebab permintaan akan sentiasa ada daripada golongan yang disebutkan di atas nih...

Sekarang cerita pasal teksi plak...

Ada kenyataan media yang saya baca beberapa bulan lepas yang berbunyi hampir semua teksi di Malaysia dah menggunakan meter... Fakta yang menyokong kenyataan tu, kebanyakan teksi sudah dipasang dengan meter dan menjalani pemeriksaan meter secara berkala...

Dalam realiti, rasanya di KL je teksi bermeter menggunakan meter, kat bandar-bandar lain setakat ni, semua menggunakan sistem letak harga sendiri (harga yang sangat mahal pulak tu), walaupun teksi tu ada meter... 

Sebenarnya, teksi yang tak kira menggunakan meter tu sedang melanggar undang-undang dan boleh dilapor kepada pihak berkuasa... Cuma kebanyakan penumpang pengangkutan awam, termasuk saya, takde inisiatif untuk melaporkan benda-benda macam ni, lebih-lebih lagi bila semua teksi di bandar-bandar selain KL memang tak pernah nak gunakan meter... Especially bila naik teksi pun jarang-jarang (2-3 bulan sekali)...

Amat mengecewakan bila baca kenyataan daripada pihak berkuasa yang macam tak pernah naik teksi (dan pengangkutan awam lain)... 

Jadi kesimpulannya, masalah-masalah ni takkan selesai kalau JPJ dan pihak berkuasa lain biarkan pengguna untuk self-regulate masalah ni... 

Kalau nak selesaikan masalah-masalah ni mestilah kena memahami sendiri masalah-masalah berkaitan pengangkutan awam dulu kan... Bukanlah kita harap menteri-menteri semua untuk pergi kerja naik bas, tapi cukuplah sekadar menggunakan sendiri public transport di Malaysia ni, bukan dengan membuat rombongan besar beramai-ramai sekali-sekala ke terminal bas...  Naik bas sorang-sorang or dengan family ke...

Mungkin lepas tu baru pihak berkuasa akan berhenti daripada mengeluarkan kenyataan-kenyataan yang "tak kena" dengan realiti on the ground... Lebih baik lagi kalau lepas tu ada tindakan yang tersusun dan berterusan untuk menyelesaikan apa-apa masalah berkaitan pengangkutan awam ni... 

-end of post-

Nota kaki: setakat ni berdasarkan pemerhatian saya, semua bandar (kecuali KL dan beberapa bahagian di Lembah Klang) memang teksi bermeternya tak guna meter... tapi kalau ada orang yang nak betulkan fakta ni dan nak cakap teksi kat tempat korang gunakan meter, boleh komen kat bawah ni, nanti saya edit ckit post ni... tq

Warisan Merdeka Revisited

Setelah membaca beberapa artikel dalam Utusan dan Berita Harian yang menyokong pembinaan Warisan Merdeka dengan sokongan hujah-hujah yang kurang bernas, rasa tension dan rasa nak jawab plak hujah-hujah tu kat sini…

Ada orang argue cakap dulu time Tun Dr. M nak buat KLIA, PLUS highway n Jambatan Pulau Pinang pun ramai orang komplen, tapi lepas siap orang-orang yang komplen ni guna jugak…

Jawapan saya: x bijak sangat sebenarnya membandingkan Warisan Merdeka dengan tiga projek mega kat atas nih, sebab, projek-projek mega kat atas ni walaupun memakan banyak belanja, tapi impak multiplier-nya juga berganda-ganda… Contohnya PLUS, memendekkan masa perjalanan dan menyebabkan barang boleh dihantar dengan cepat ke destinasi, meningkatkan produktiviti etc… boleh pikir sendiri kut…

Ada pulak orang yang membandingkan Warisan merdeka dengan KLCC or Putrajaya yang juga mendapat bantahan semasa pembinaannya, lepas tu orang guna jugak bila siap…

Jawapan saya: orang dah bina, kita guna lah kan (analogi yg ringkas, kita dah ada 2 kereta yang bagus untuk 2 orang guna, lepas tuh pasangan kita beli satu lagi kereta, xkan nak biar tersadai je kat rumah sebab boikot plak kan, sape yang rugi kalau boikot x nak guna)…

Ada plak orang lain argue cakap menara ni PNB yang nak bina, dan PNB ni syarikat swasta… Jadi PNB tak guna duit pembayar cukai dan boleh buat sesuka hati diaorang…

Jawapan saya: sebenarnya menara ni x sepatutnya masuk dalam bajet Negara pun, coz syarikat swasta punya projek kan… Tapi bagus jugak dpt masuk sebab rakyat sedar n boleh bantah… PNB bukanlah syarikat swasta yg biasa-biasa je, sebab dia memegang dan melabur duit rakyat Malaysia (bukan duit diaorang, tapi duit rakyat), dan pengerusinya dan timbalan pengerusi PNB plak adalah PM dan TPM sendiri… Jadi secara logiknya, akauntabiliti PNB mestilah kepada pemegang sahamnya (rakyat Malaysia) kan, bukan boleh ambil duit yang kita labur dan buat menara sesuka-hati diaorang 

Ada satu lagi artikel Utusan (biasanya x baca dah benda nih) cakap pembinaan Warisan Merdeka akan menguntungkan ramai orang (orang-orang yang melabur dalam ASB, ASN etc je lah).

Jawapan saya: sebenarnya kalau nak difikirkan takdelah untung sangat pun, kalau jurutera-jurutera diimport dari luar negara, dan buruh-buruh diimport dari Indonesia, maka rakyat Malaysia untung apa je, mungkin ada syarikat dapat jadi supplier bahan-bahan pembinaan dapat untung... Pelabur-pelabur PNB mungkin untung, tapi apa kesannya jangka panjang kepada negara, bertambah kesesakan lalu lintas di kawasan yang memang dah sesak, ruang-ruang pejabat sekarang pun dah berlebih berbanding permintaan, pembaziran etc... banyak sangat point yang korang boleh tambah sendiri kemudian...

Kesimpulannya, harap artikel-artikel dalam akhbar kalau nak sokong apa-apa isu pun, gunakanlah hujah yang sesuai... Jangan sokong atau bangkang blindly je...

Link menarik untuk dibaca berkaitan analisis pembinaan Warisan Merdeka di merdekareview.com : (Bahagian satu) (Bahagian dua)

Rumah saya kecik, rumah awak besar

ni bukan rumah saya...

Alkisah dulu ada pemuda nama Ahmad… Dia sederhana je, tak miskin, tapi tak kaya jugak, dan yang penting sekali low-profile je (orang kampung tak kenal sangat pun dia)... Sebelah rumah Ahmad plak rumah Ali...

Semua orang kenal Ali dan tau rumah Ali kat mana... Ali punya rumah takde lah besar sangat, Cuma orang kampung semua kagum tengok hiasan rumah Ali, kereta Ali yang mewah, taman kat halaman rumah Ali cantik...

Ahmad nak pasang streamyx kat umah dia, dia pun gi mendaftar kat TM... Sehari lepas tuh, kontraktor TM telefon Ahmad tanya lokasi rumah... Punyalah detail dia terangkan pun orang tu tak jumpa-jumpa rumah dia... Kontraktor dah sampai kampung Ahmad dan tanya orang-orang kampung pun diaorang tak kenal Ahmad...

Last-last bila orang tu telefon Ahmad kali ke-seterusnya, Ahmad pun bgtau, “rumah saya kat belakang rumah Ali”... 5 minit kemudian, kontraktor tu sampai, senang je nak cari rumah Ali, tanya orang kampung, semua orang kenal Ali... 

Ahmad tension. Dia pun terus guna simpanan dia untuk buat rumah baru yang lagi besar dari rumah Ali... Rumah Ahmad sekarang yang paling besar dalam kampung tu, semua orang sekarang tau kat mana rumah Ahmad... Semua orang teruja tengok rumah Ahmad, Ahmad jadi buah mulut orang (in a positive sense)...

Beberapa tahun lepas tu, ada orang-orang kampung yang lain pulak berlumba-lumba untuk buat rumah yang paling besar kat kampung tu... Rumah Ahmad bukan lagi rumah paling besar, mungkin rumah yang ketiga or keempat paling besar je... Semua orang masih kenal Ahmad, dan tau rumah Ahmad, cuma orang kampung dah tak dok sebok-sebok bincang pasal rumah Ahmad...

Ahmad sedih rumah dia bukan yang paling popular lg... Dia pun nak guna lagi baki duit simpanan dia untuk buat rumah yang berganda-ganda lagi besar dari rumah dia sekarang… Dia nak ada rumah yang paling besar kat kampong tu sekali lagi…

Cerita tergantung di sini…

Apa pendapat korang? Wajar tak Ahmad buat rumah ketiga yang paling besar sedangkan rumah dia sekarang dah cukup untuk keperluan dia…

Pada saya membazir la kan, duit tu sepatutnya boleh guna untuk melabur untuk hari tua atau beli keperluan lain atau upgrade perkakas-perkakas rumah, lagi baik daripada buat rumah yang ketiga…

Kalau daripada rumah kecik nak buat satu rumah besar, ada juga rasionalnya kat situ, tapi kalau dah ada satu rumah besar yang mencukupi, watpe nak buat rumah lain yang lagi besar kan…?

Something to ponder about… Read between the lines…

clue???

Felda Tak Bankrap, Cuma Rugi Banyak je...

Let us discuss other current issues. Felda for example. The land programme that is touted as a successful showcase of economic planning. It has allowed more than half a million people enjoy the benefits of organised land ownership and organised economic activity.

Or has it?

In light of what’s happening to Felda now, we are beginning to question has the Felda money been actually used to finance things not related to Felda at all? 

For example, the money that was spent on the purchase of the Millennium Office Complex from Naza could have been an opportunity cost of building better schools inside Felda schemes.

Has the agency that was created by Tun Razak brought sunshine to more than 500,000 Felda inhabitants?

Felda seems to be getting the wrong kind of publicity nowadays. It all started with an allegation by a former deputy minister that Felda’s cash reserves have fallen from RM4 billion to RM200 million. There were also rumours saying the Felda is borrowing money from EPF to meet its shortfall in cash.

How the original issue degenerated into claims that Felda is becoming bankrupt wasn’t clear. The deputy minister in charge of Felda affairs, Dato Ahmad Maslan has initiated legal action against the accusers. We shall wait for the court drama to unfold.

Personally I thought this was a stupid move. Rather than demolishing the allegations with hard facts, the legal action will further enhance the credibility of the allegations.

The issue achieved great significance because it’s alleged that what Felda went through took place during the time when Felda was under the control of PM Najib. The inference is fairly obvious – that under PM Najib, Felda was mismanaged and its cash reserves dissipated.

Worse, the money was applied to arbitrary and frivolous pursuits at the expense of Felda settlers.

The government should come out clean on these allegations. Allow its books to be inspected by an independent auditor and publish the results thereof. Better still, publish a white paper on the application of Felda money.(As of right now, the Felda account have never been released to the public). Telling everyone that its books are there for anyone to inspect isn’t good enough. 

How many MRSM’s were built in Felda schemes? Were these built at inflated prices? How many futsal stadiums? What are the social amenities and facilities provided? How much expenditure do all these consume? Do these tally with the usage of Felda cash reserves? Were they invested in profitable ventures. How are the returns? Or even classified as lumpy investments abroad that will take longer time to produce benefits?

Each day, there are always new things to ask. The most recent being the cost of replanting by Felda. While it costs its competitors around RM700 per acre to replant, Felda spends on average RM3000 plus per acre. Why is there so glaring a disparity? We have to answer the annoying accusation that this figure represents the level of profiteering that’s taking place within Felda.

It’s a stupid answer saying that it costs Felda this much because the cost of supporting the settler while trees mature has been included.

The question is, why should the cost of supporting the settler be included in replanting costs? Would it not be efficient from a management perspective for Felda to differentiate between the costs so that they could know the true replanting costs? That if everything is lumped altogether into a composite cost, that would be opportunities to conceal hidden and unjustifiable costs? It’s impossible for Felda not to be unaware of good financial housekeeping.

It will definitely create the suspicions, that the enormous re-planting cost has been deliberately inflated to disguise possible skimming of Felda’s cash. A thorough investigation must be conducted to dispel any notions that Felda Plantations Berhad is a den of thieves.

Why should Felda take out its cash reserves and buy an office complex from the Naza group? Was the purchase price justifiable? How much of the cash reserves applied to improved living conditions in Felda schemes? Settlers are not going to be impressed about tales of investments in America or elsewhere in the world when living conditions in Felda schemes have not improved significantly to reflect the huge amount of cash that been spent.

A few days ago, Felda has become a defendant in a litigation brought upon it by a group of settlers. It is being sued for RM200 million.

The basis of the suit is an allegation that for years Felda has been cheating settlers by short-changing them. It is alleged that Felda has deliberately understated the yield for FFB (fresh fruit bunch) sold by settlers to Felda.

Instead of getting a yield of 24-25 per cent, Felda gave a yield of 16-19 per cent. This has been going on for around 15 years and was taken as a systematic scheme of pilfering by Felda. It will be interesting to know whether in the intervening 15 years, the settlers now bringing a suit against Felda made any attempts to redress the situation.

It’s even scarier to arrive at a conclusion that what is happening to Felda is symptomatic of a more severe irreversible rot that has reached every sinew and bone of governance in our country. That corruption has reached levels beyond redemption which indicates that the government is simply incapable of correcting them.

– taken from sakmongkol.blogspot.com

Bangladesh town in Malaysia

 

This is a fact quoted from The Malaysian Insider... Well now we have a statistics to prove that there really is lots of Bangadeshi in Malaysia...

Come to think of it, it is not so bad having them around... They are hardworking and they filled up positions in industry which Malaysians don't want to participate in such as labour in the construction sites... 

And compared to other foreign workers (from other countries), they are more Islamic too, they prayed often and they don't cause social problems (eg: theft, rape, drug traficking, prostitution, larikan anak perempuan orang etc) that often, in fact, they could be considered angels compared to some foreign workers from other countries... 

The one thing that i don't particularly like about them is having to communicate with a newly arrived worker who can speak very minimum English and Bahasa Malaysia... It can be frustrating... If you go to a mamak stall and the staffs there do not understand you, for me it is still acceptable.. 

But if you go to outlets such as Secret Recipe and the staffs there cannot communicate with you... Really really frustrating... I would just give up and minimize the conversation by pointing to the pictures in the menu to order the food... Same goes to supermarkets or other shops where you need to asks the staffs for assistance to find the things you are looking for...

The conclusion is that there are plenty of foreign workers in Malaysia... I hope that all of them is more civil, have work permits, don't create social problems here, and can speak in fluent English or Bahasa Malaysia... The end...

Corruption

A very interesting speech by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (MP Gua Musang, Ex-Finance Minister, Petronas Founder) on corruption... (read more below)

The word “corruption” comes from a Latin word meaning “to break” or “to destroy”. Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre, and destroys trust.  

Although corruption exists in both the private and public sector, the corruption of the public sector is a more fundamental evil. This is because the public sector is the enforcer and arbiter of the rules that hold us together, the custodians of our common resources. Corruption is the abuse of public office for personal gain.

• Corruption exacts a huge toll on our economy

o Corruption empties out the public purse, causes massive misallocation of resources, dampens trade and scares away investors

o Corruption is a form of theft. But it is a form of theft that also damages what is not stolen. This is because corruption involves the capture of decisions involving public funds. Corrupt decisions mis-allocate public resources and cause tremendous waste in the expenditure of public money. Public money is poured down the drain when projects are selected not because of the value they deliver to the public but because of what can be skimmed from them.

• But corruption is more than an economic cost. It is a curse that attacks the root of the tree. Corruption destroys trust, which is nothing less than the glue holding a society and its institutions together. When it becomes rampant and is conducted with impunity, it also demoralizes even those public servants not involved in it. 

The common people’s experience with government breeds the expectation that they need to pay before things will move. Small businesses suffer as city hall officials come on their rounds to collect mandatory “donations.”

It is time we recognized corruption as the single biggest threat to our nation. In our economy, corruption is the root of our inability to to make the economic leap that we know we are capable of.

There is no other reason why a country so blessed with natural resources, a favourable climate and such immense talent should not have done a lot better than we have.

In our political system, corruption is the real reason why our political parties refuse to reform.  In the party I belong to it has debased a once noble nationalism and a concern with the welfare of marginalised people into a rush for the gravy train. The economic development we must bring our people is reduced to nothing more than patronage, and patronage is inflated into a right.

The root cause is in our political parties. 

It is an open secret that tender inflation is standard operating procedure. Within the parties and among politicians, it is already an understood matter that party followers must be ‘fed’.

Politics is an expensive business, after all. Where else are we to get the funds? Thus theft of public goods is normalised and socialised among an entire community, and what we had planned to attain by capability is seen by some as something to be attained through politics.

Politicians are the villains in this piece, but they themselves the villains but they themselves are also trapped. The leadership is trapped because they are beholden to political followers who demand that they are looked after.

By the time they they and each person down the line all the way down to the contractor takes a lot and there is not enough left to do a decent job, bridges collapse, highways crack, stadiums collapse, hospitals run out of medicine, schoolchildren are cheated in their textbooks. Corruption may look to its perpetrators like a crime without victims, but it leaves a trail of destruction.

No domain seems safe. The humble school canteen is the domain of Umno branch chiefs.

We spend billions on the refurbishment of defence equipment; on fighter jets, frigates and submarines. Whe a supplier lays on an exorbitant commission to some shadowy middleman, that commision is built into the price the government pays. That money comes from the ordinary Malaysian.

Military toys are very expensive. I remember from my time in the Ministry of Finance. Even then, patrol craft cost about RM280mil each.

We loved Exocet missiles. As Minister, I had to sign each time the military fired an Exocet missile for testing. Every time we test fired one of them, RM2mil literally went out with a bang.

When the UK went to war against Argentina, the UK Government came back to borrow them from us because outside of the UK we had the most of them in the world. We must have been under some extraordinary military threat which I did not understand.

The list is long: procurement of food and clothing for the military, medicine for hospitals and so on. In all these things the Government has been extraordinarily generous. And paid extraordinarily high prices.

Government servants have to face pressure from politicians who expect to be given these contracts because they need money for politics. The civil servants can either join the game or be bypassed.

For every government job big or small that goes down, someone feels entitled to a slice of the pie, not because they can do the job, not because they have some special talent or service to offer, but because it is their right.

So we get as our leaders people who have distinguished themselves not by their ability to serve the public but at their long proven ability to be party warlords, which is to say, distributors of patronage.

And that is a euphemistic way of saying that because of corruption the old, stupid and the criminal are elevated to positions of power while young, talented and honest individuals are frozen out.

Corruption destroys national wealth, erodes institutions and undermines character. And it also destroys the process by which a community finds its leaders.

The consequence of this is that the majority are marginalized. Government contracts circulate among a small group of people. Despite all attempts at control and brainwashing, the majority soon catch up to the game.

This game cannot last forever. The longer it is played the more people hate the government and the governing class. They vote against the government, not for the Opposition. They resent the government of the day. In 2008 we saw how the Malaysian people feel about the abuse of power and incompetence caused by corruption.

We should freeze the bank accounts of people who are being investigated for corruption. Public servants and politicians are by law required to be able to demonstrate the sources of their assets. Those with suspiciously ample assets should have these assets frozen until they can come up with evidence that they have accumulated them by political means.

This may sound harsh, but only because we live in a country in which almost no one ever gets nabbed for corruption. In China, those found guilty are shot.

In Malaysia we read about MACC investigating this and that but there are no convictions. No one has been punished. We are the nation with no consequences. The MACC finds no fault. The courts do not convict. And our newspapers do not have the independence and vigour to follow up.

We have an MACC with no results. It was a good idea to model our anti-corruption agency after one of the most successful in the world, Hong Kong’s ICAC. However we have taken just bits and pieces of that model. So really this will be no more than PR exercise unless we adopt the model wholesale.

We should repeal the OSA so that people can go to the MACC and the authorities with documentary information on corrupt practice. As things stand, any document which might be incriminating to corrupt public officials is stamped an Offical Secret. A whistleblower risks 7 yrs jail for being in possession of such documents.

We need to identify rot eating through our roots as a nation. It is corruption. We cannot expect the corrupt to embrace reform. It is time for our citizens to stand up and call corruption by its name, and demand reform.

Tengku Razaleigh

 

From:

Blog Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

Saya nak jadi YB Menteri

ada 4 menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dengan skop kerja berbeza...

Kalau orang tanya saya masa kecik-kecik dulu, "adik nak jadi menteri kabinet apa bila besar nanti?", maka jawapan-jawapan yang mungkin saya bagi time tu mungkin Menteri Pertahanan... atau Menteri Pendidikan... atau Menteri Kerja Raya...

Kenapa? Sebab nama-nama jawatan diaorang best, dan bidang tugas diaorang macam sangat berkuasa kan...  Boleh memberi kesan yang besar dalam negara kita... Kalau masa kecik-kecik dulu xde orang perasan pun, atau teringin nak jadi Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri...

Tapi... Kalau ada orang tanya soalan yang sama kat saya sekarang, "ko nak jadi menteri apa kalau ada orang offer?", saya akan jawab Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri... Kenapa? Sebab sekarang baru saya sedar, jawatan inilah yang antara yang paling berkuasa dalam kabinet (lebih berkuasa daripada menteri-menteri berportfolio lain)...

Jawatan diaorang mungkin tak glamour, tapi bidang kerja mereka amat luas... Sebagai contoh, YB Nazri Aziz, Menteri di JPM yang bertanggung jawab dalam hal ehwal Parlimen dan undang-undang, kalau kita tengok, muka dia je asyik masuk TV,  isu macam-macam tapi semua orang tanya dia je, macam xde orang lain pulak,tapi tu sebenarnya menunjukkan bidang tugas dia yang luas...

Kalau daripada segi kewangan pulak, Jabatan Perdana Menteri (JPM) punya bajet sangat besar, berbanding dengan jabatan-jabatan lain... Ini kerana organisasi JPM sangat besar dan ada banyak sub-organisasi dalam JPM tu sendiri... ada PEMANDU, SPAD dan banyak lagi... Memang banyak lah resource kalau jadi menteri di JPM, bukannye bermaksud banyak duit boleh songlap, tapi boleh buat banyak projek yang bernilai tinggi, mungkin boleh lancarkan Rapid Melaka, buat sistem tren elektrik seluruh Malaysia etc...

 
Dah le banyak kuasa, duit pun banyak pulak tuh... hebat jawatan nih (jawatan ok, orang yang memegang jawatan ni saya x minat pun)... 

Ps: Saje nak menyedarkan korang yang banyaknye bidang tugas Jabatan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri-menteri di jabatan nih... Ini baru introductory blog entry pasal JPM, lain kali baru elaborate mendalam sikit pasal JPM lagi yerk...