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.)

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A bit on Penang's proposed third link tunnel project


The proposed third link in Penang must have surprised many people, not only because it is a mega project of BN's proportions and that it is proposed by DAP Chief Minister, YAB Lim Guan Eng, who is known to have criticised BN for such projects before, but also because it is just months before the 13th general election.
Some people thought success must have gone into Lim Guan Eng's head, to have such grandiose ideas. Political opponents have been trying to find faults, like why decisions were allegedly made in Taiwan; that the winning companies were Rm2 companies; that there must have been bribes in the awarding process; and so on.
For those who know, they could empathise with LGE for having to contend with a federal government out to sabotage his state plans at every turn, so that the present leaders will be discredited and hopefully, they will lose the state in the coming GE. We do not need to have privileged information to assume that LGE would have done a much better job had he been given a freer hand in administration.
Before I read Penang chief minister's open letter to CAP , I was among those with little or no knowledge about the details of the proposed tunnel project. To most people, to have an under-seabed tunnel project (and especially one proposed by a DAP Chief Minister) is unthinkable, given the objections when Penang bridge was first mooted. If it is so simple, why didn't our Causeway between Johor Bahru and Singapore be replaced by a tunnel instead of a crooked bridge?
I am glad I read the full letter in Malaysiakini because I find it very informative for someone ignorant like myself, and the rationale and reasons for the proposed project, excellent in countering Consumers Association of Penang's criticisms.
At a glance, the following is what I have gleaned from the open letter:
Traffic decongestion projects of three highways and one under-seabed tunnel:
a 4.2km Pesiaran Gurney-Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass;
a 4.6km Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway-Bandar Baru Air Itam bypass;
a four-lane 12km road linking Tanjung Bungah with Teluk Bahang; and
a 7km undersea tunnel from Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam in Butterworth.
The 30 year toll concession period was given only for the tunnel and not for the other three highway projects which will be toll free.
... by not charging toll, ... the federal government will have legal grounds to stop the tunnel project by claiming that we are deliberately sabotaging the toll collection for the second bridge.
That is the reason why the state government has fixed the toll rate for the tunnel at the same rate as the second bridge.
The state government cannot build a bridge across the mainland because federal government approval is required.
However, no such approval is necessary for an under seabed tunnel.
... there is a question of equity as it is only fair that the residents of Seberang Perai Utara are not denied a third link, when residents in Seberang Perai Tengah and Seberang Perai Selatan were given the two bridges.
For the full open letter:

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