How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Rm570 million for bus terminal: does it make sense?

Again, we are shown another example of our urge to splurge, yet not solving the problems, and in fact created new ones!

What are the main simple requirements of a bus station?
To bus companies:
Suitable ticketing office; reasonable rental; reasonable management;
Enough parking spaces for the buses in operation there; ease of driving the buses out or driving them in;
To the user public:
Efficient ticketing system, with no room for touts to operate.
Ease of getting there, preferably by public transport;
Car parking spaces for those buying tickets, sending or picking up passengers;
Amenities like clean toilets; stalls serving economy food and drinks.

We don't need rocket science, right? We don't need state of the art this, that or other. Our basic needs like convenience seem conveniently left out of the planning process.

When my daughter's friend (coming from Kluang) asked to be picked from the Bukit Jalil station, I chose another location simply because I have not been there and I might have problems finding it. I have yet to find it as there is no such need for me, since it is meant for the southbound buses. Now it has been replaced.

While on the subject of location, when another of Cheng's friend got married, we had to travel to Putrajaya twice (both times unsuccessful in locating the Marriot Hotel) before we were confident enough on the third attempt (actual day itself)! Putrajaya must have wasted much of people's time and money on fuel.

Coming back to the earlier topic, why do we always end up with problems of users complaining about transport ministry, planners, owners and what have you, not listening to them before construction?

In a small town like Batu Gajah, we have a bus station which uses only 30% of space; the location is such that travellers given a choice would rather they get off in town but disallowed; a brand new railway station which is 2 km away from the main road (compared with the old one by the roadside within walking distance); a two-storey market which faced opposition yet built regardless of the mistake shown in Tg. Tualang where the first floor remains unused; and so on.

When I first watched the short video of the new KL bus terminal on television news, I told myself that it puts the present LCCT to shame. In fact, some hypermarkets like Tesco look better than the LCCT.

Yamin Vong's article highlights the problems:

http://cbt.com.my/110115/new-bus-terminal-same-old-problems

Excerpt:

THE new integrated transport terminal in Bandar Tasek Selatan, the southern transport hub in Kuala Lumpur, has been getting plenty of media coverage over the past two weeks but for all the wrong reasons.

...Certain public elected officials have seemingly collaborated with certain private sector companies to put their commercial interests first and people last.

There are two ways to the terminal : the Besraya highway and the MRR2. The MRR2 is heavily congested at peak hours. There is only one toll lane for heavy vehicles like buses at the Serdang exit of the Besraya highway.

At peak hours, expect a tailback of buses from the toll plaza to the PLUS highway when the terminal is in full operation.

Where the original plan called for 40 counters, only 20 have been built and where another 20 were supposed to have been located, has been boarded off and said to have been rented at a fee of RM50,000 a month to a fast food outlet...

"Instead, the CVLB sent us a notice in the late afternoon of Dec 30 informing us to shift our operations on Jan 1.

"We've been given an extension of two, three weeks to move. We've been threatened that our CVLB permits will be cancelled if we don't shift. Is this the way the government works? We were looking forward to move to a good terminal and now this just leaves a bad taste in our mouth," he said.

Then there is the matter of ticketing. Major operators like Transnasional invested millions of ringgit for their own on-line ticketing systems. The Konsortium Transnasional Berhad system has 200 outlets, including 40 in Petronas stations. It is on par with an airline ticketing system as you can see at Transnasional's portal www.ticket4u.com.my

The bus depot, the operation of which has been granted to the private contractor Maju TMAS, had planned to take over the ticket sales of bus operators.

Naturally, operators like Transnasional were aghast. Their ticketing system had been developed over several years and was a strategic tool, one that was integrated to drivers' payroll and route planning.

'How can you expect us to transfer our strategic tool to an unknown party? We're a business organisation and we have our intellectual property. We compete and the passengers benefit, said a senior participant in the land transport industry.

The second major issue is that the air-conditioned terminal is designed more like an airport than a bus terminal. Bus passengers expect to pay less than plane passengers.


Link

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