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Penang Forum Opposes Tunnel Vision
Why it is kinda stupid to compare Malaysia with Korea
Is Chandra Muzaffar evil when he speaks sense?

Posted: 21 Mar 2013 04:48 PM PDT

(The tunnel would be the fourth cross-channel link, after the ferries and the first and second Penang bridges.)

There are just too many unanswered questions (see the list below) that throw the viability of this mega project into doubt.

While it is true that public transport comes under the jurisdiction of the federal government, we feel that 'do-the-wrong-thing' approach (promoting dependency on private motor vehicles over the long term) is worse than the 'do-nothing' approach.

A more sensible and visionary approach would be to come up with a comprehensive plan for sustainable transport while educating the public and pressuring the federal government to realise that change.

It is true that the federal government now has overbearing jurisdiction over public transport but that may not be the case if there is a change of government in the coming general election or the one after that. Jurisdiction over public transport would then be decentralised.

In the meantime, the state government should lay the ground work for integrated sustainable public sustainable transport in the state. The state government can do the following now:

Kick off a campaign to promote the widespread use of public transport among ordinary commuters. State government leaders could show leadership by example by taking the bus or cycling to work wherever possible.

Prevent illegal parking (by clamping) to decongest key routes so that bus lanes can be created along certain stretches. A trial run could be carried out at Burma Road, for instance. These bus lanes may also be used by taxis, emergency vehicles and multi-occupancy vehicles.

Buy RapidPenang season tickets in bulk and distribute them to target groups such as school children, working adults and senior citizens. Alternatively, the state government could provide full or partial reimbursements to those who show proof of purchase of these season tickets.

The public can be enlisted to do the following:

Pressure the federal government through petitions and letter-writing campaigns to increase the number of buses in the state and decentralise public transport decision-making.

Turn the quest for improved public transport in the state into a major general election campaign issue.

Take public transport to work at least once a week for a start.

Here are our reasons for opposing the tunnel project and our reservations about the highway building spree.

Questions

About the vision:

Shouldn't important public policies be based on evidence and analysis?

Will building more roads solve traffic problems?

Is the public being given an alternative based on sustainable transport?

Are we moving to the 21st century or moving back to the 20th century with the state government's emphasis on building infrastructure for private motor vehicles?

Does creating dependency on private transport help the poor?

About the process of making public policy

The formal agreement for the (Transport Masterplan) TMP was signed in mid 2011. In the same week, the CM announced the signing of MOUs for four major road projects with Chinese companies. Does it make sense to have the solution before the study has started? Does this not ignore evidenced based analysis and policies?

Concurrent negotiations for the tunnel and highway projects started in 2011 held while the TMP study was underway. Why were awards for the projects given out even before the TMP is finalised and made public? Doesn't this pre-empt the significance of the report's recommendations?

TMP calls for a balanced approach to solving transport problems. It suggested short and medium term measures and recommended major road construction as longer term solutions commencing after the short/medium-term measures. Are we putting the cart before the horse by reversing the priorities suggested in the TMP?

Have there been independent feasibility studies, cost benefit analysis, traffic demand simulation etc done for ALL the four projects before they were tendered? Isn't it standard best practice to conduct such studies BEFORE tender and award, rather than after?

The TMP is based on the assumption that the population will be 2.5m by 2030 and that by this time a sea tunnel may be justified. The Department of Statistics released a population projection last year which projects a population of 1.8 million by 2030. It appears that Halcrow has not done any modelling of the population; they have just assumed historical growth rates will continue, which would suggest that the tunnel will not be required even by 2030.

How is the public expected to provide meaningful feedback when they are hazy about the precise alignment of the routes? All the precise proposed alignments should be displayed to the public for their comments. The state government should practice transparency especially now that the Freedom of Information Act has been passed?

Posted: 21 Mar 2013 12:47 PM PDT

Some of our politicians and their supporters are perhaps using this comparison to win votes through half-truths.

Let us just for a while suspend our intelligence and agree with them. Let us list down what we need to have in order to become like South Korea.

1. We need a communist North Korea (complete with Soviet back-up) to taunt us so that America will adopt us like a favourite son. Being an ally to the USA, Korea received enormous sum of aid, first from the US and then from another ally, Japan. Accordingly from 1946 to 1978 they received USD 60 billion from the US. During the same period the entire African continent received only USD 68.9 billion. Indirect aids and support were also forthcoming with preferential treatment in most areas between the two countries, in trade, social and cultural.

2. We need to almost completely disregard the environment in the first 20 – 30 years of industrialization. Many do not know that until recently, the tap water in Seoul is completely unsafe for consumption! While we in Malaysia can still boast about our 'oldest rainforest', Korea has almost completely destroyed their original forestry. Air quality has been a major challenge for decades with acid rain, sulphur oxides, and annual yellow dust .The environmental degradation was made worst by the damage done by US military bases – from oil spills, noise pollution, water contamination from waste water and chemical.

3. We need to throw away democratic rule till about the 80s. In South Korea, the civilian government took over the military one rather recently, in 1987. Yes we need an authoritarian military to rule the country with 'kuku besi' type of management. It was bloody. Assassinations of head of states and all that would have become part of our political history.

Is Chandra Muzaffar evil when he speaks sense?

Posted: 21 Mar 2013 12:45 PM PDT

The trouble is, he mixes the common-sense words with an apologia for the current Barisan Nasional, together with his series of attacks on Anwar Ibrahim's integrity. And every time he does, there is an explosion, in various forms.

The latest attack by Choo Sing Chye, widely reproduced around the opposition web, is an attempt to hoist Chandra by his own petard by recalling what Chandra the social reformer had written in years before. Other attacks on Chandra come with reminders that this widely-respected social reformer of the 1970s and 1980s turned his back on Anwar Ibrahim and Parti Keadilan and wheeled into the embrace of Mahathir Mohamad and the Barisan Nasional.

In trying to look up the background about this latest attack (Chandra's work is very low on the personal horizon, there's too much going on), I came across Chandra's piece in February:

…when a government is overthrown in a democracy there is no guarantee that its successor will be able to ensure the triumph of good, clean governance partly because the scope for radical, holistic change in a competitive party system with deep, vested interests is limited…

A little bit of common sense

Makes sense to me.

If Pakatan Rakyat takes power this year, it will inherit a government system that has been morally, institutionally and personally corrupted by half a century of twisted Barisan Nasional rule. Changing the system will take time.

Pakatan leaders will need to change the workings of the civil service, get anti-corruption agencies to work professionally, get lawyers and judges to restore honour in the judicial system, restore honesty in the workings of the federal and state governments, and at municipal councils.

It's a huge mountain to climb.

On top of that, every Pakatan politician getting into power must face their own challenge to personal honesty and integrity. Because nothing succeeds like success, Pakatan politicians will be wooed and sweet-talked by new business and corporate friends, people with money to spend and the will to spend it when it matters, in order to make more money.

To take one example, every arms merchant will try to take advantage of public anger about Altantuya and Scorpene submarines to push out DCNS. Is Pakatan angry about DCNS, about Altantuya's murder, about RM580mil kickbacks — or is Pakatan being supported by competitors of DCNS?

That's how the world works. It is only common sense to always keep that in mind.

Chandra is not the first to observe that changing the people in power does not automatically mean an end to corruption. All through history, people have found that the revolution is eventually perverted by the very people who rode the wave into power.

Thus, the people must remain on their toes.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Jumaat, 22 Mac 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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