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KL to get official Little India

April 9th, 2010
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Hopefully the new project would be a success. Earlier Saravanan said the new traffic dispersal would solve the problem and DBKL/FT Ministry did not consider the input from public but based on consultants. Now he is saying:

On the point that certain roads will be converted into one-way streets, Saravanan said based on feedback and suggestions from traffic experts, turning the roads into one-way streets would help ease congestion.

“However, we are sensitive to the people’s needs and views and if it does not work, there is always room to re-look at it again.

“Nothing is set in stone as it is only a traffic dispersal system that can always be reverted,” he said, adding that the aim was to bring some order into a chaotic township and turn it into a tourist destination of choice in Kuala Lumpur

So, going back to trial and error, I guess.

Also important is the maintenance culture of the public need to be improved. No point having new things when we end up throwing rubbish everywhere.

FINALLY! The Federal Capital’s unofficial Little India will soon become official when it undergoes a complete makeover by the end of the year.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are scheduled to launch Little India in December.

Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk M. Saravanan, who made the announcement yesterday, said the project had received the final endorsement from Najib who wanted it ready by the end of the year.

“This is the BN government’s gift to the Indian community and once the project is ready, the Brickfields township will sport a new look reflecting the 1Malaysia concept,” he said.

“Work is expected to start anytime now as traders and hawkers who will be affected by the upgrading work have already been given notices to relocate to a temporary site at the Chan Ah Tong field,” Saravanan said, adding there would be a ground-breaking ceremony to kick off the project this month.

Saravanan said about 30 traders — mainly food, fruit and flower sellers — would be affected and the Chan Ah Tong field was only about 100m away, which would not disrupt their livelihoods.

The traders have been given 30 days to move out and developer Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) will be preparing the site for them.

“Let us work together on this. Once everything is ready, this place is going to look good and everyone will benefit. But we can’t start if the traders are operating at the site,” he said.

Saravanan, who is also MIC vice-president, said the project was estimated to cost RM35mil and contractors would be working round-the-clock to meet the year-end deadline. He added that it was his KPI to ensure its success.

The new look will feature an entrance archway located at the tail-end of Jalan Brickfields near the Naga restaurant and the Brickfields police station and a fountain at the junction of Jalan Travers and Brickfields.

There will also be an information pavilion and food bazaars in Jalan Chan Ah Tong, fruit kiosks in Jalan Thamby Abdullah and flower kiosks behind the KFC.

The whole of Jalan Tun Sambanthan will also sport Indian-style street lighting akin to the Kuthu Velluku (Indian Lights) and Kolam designs of many colours.

The first fruits of the mega project could be seen with the widening of the inner roads in Brickfields, as well as the beautification of Jalan Berhala.

On the point that certain roads will be converted into one-way streets, Saravanan said based on feedback and suggestions from traffic experts, turning the roads into one-way streets would help ease congestion.

“However, we are sensitive to the people’s needs and views and if it does not work, there is always room to re-look at it again.

“Nothing is set in stone as it is only a traffic dispersal system that can always be reverted,” he said, adding that the aim was to bring some order into a chaotic township and turn it into a tourist destination of choice in Kuala Lumpur.

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Pulau Redang for the rich only?

April 9th, 2010
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I’m disgusted with the proposal by the Terengganu MB.  Read this:

KUALA TERENGGANU: Pulau Redang — rated as one of the world’s most beautiful islands — is set to be turned into a getaway exclusively for the rich and famous.

Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said the state government would no longer approve the construction of chalet-type accommodation on the renowned island, which is much visited by the diving community.

“Only hotels rated five-star and above will be allowed to be built,” he said when met after the state assembly sitting here yesterday.

In future, only wealthy individuals would be able to afford holidays in Pulau Redang as hotel rooms will cost no less than US$500 (RM1,599) a night, Ahmad said.

He that said with the decision to turn the island into a high-end holiday destination, current chalets catering for backpackers would have to upgrade and raise their rates.

Asked if the move would draw criticism from non-governmental organisations, Ahmad said it was the only way to save the surrounding rich marine life and prevent environmental destruction due to pollution and indiscriminate littering.

“Some of the budget accommodation places on the island have no proper sewage system and waste is directed to the sea, and this destroys the corals,” he said.

Apart from that, Pulau Redang is a jewel for Terengganu and the 10th most beautiful island in the world, Ahmad said.

“Efforts must be made to save the island from deteriorating environmentally. Those on budget excursions can visit other islands like Pulau Kapas and Pulau Perhentian that are equally charming.”

Pulau Redang, a popular holiday destination for locals as well as foreigners, attracts about 100,000 visitors annually including many who flock there to visit the marine park.

Terengganu Tourist Association deputy president Alex Lee lauded the move, saying that it was time for Malaysia to create its own niche market.

“Redang has only one five-star hotel and others are mostly budget accomodations,” he said.

He believed the move by Ahmad was initiated out of concern for the environment as damage to the corals had been extensive.

The owner of an eight-room hotel in Redang, however, was worried that his livelihood would be affected if Pulau Redang became an exclusive holiday destination.

He said the move would affect many holidaymakers, both local and foreign, who would not be able to afford to stay in Pulau Redang if the state government went ahead with the niche market proposal.

“I hope the state government will meet budget hotel and chalet operators in Redang to get our views and include us in the planning,” said the man, who wanted to be known only as Dina,

He also said the state government should ensure there was proper drainage and sewage on the island for better waste disposal.

Another chalet operator, Nik Kamal Nik Husin, 43, said the move would only burden the villagers on the island as many were renting out rooms to budget travellers.

He also said only a handful of irresponsible chalet operators were directing the waste into the sea.

The state government, he said, should build a centralised sewage treatment to deal with the waste disposal problem.

Not only NGO, public like me also angry at this stupid proposal.

The problem is enforcement, but to hide this weakness in his government, they propose to build high end accommodation so that only higher end lodgings will be placed with proper systems.  Its very much against 1Malaysia. Dah la we have 1Malaysia, 2Staatus. No we going to discriminate against our own rakyat, whom average monthly income is RM4000++.

Obviously those with business agenda to target more income will support this move, with niche market plan,  but what about the social agenda? How the own countrymen going to experience their own national marine park?

Government should intervene but not in this way. They should build proper infrastructure, come out with the rules and regulations, and most importantly, improve the enforcement. This proposal sounds more like money making scheme instead of environmental protection. If really care about environment, should issue passes and limit monthly visit to certain number of visitors only.

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Inter Religious Understanding Committee coming soon

April 6th, 2010
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Not sure how this committee is going to function. I’m still waiting  for some numbskulls who will be protesting on the basis of some supremacy nonsense to start their drama.

Its good that the minister says committee should not be having politicians, but the chairperson herself is an ex-MP, so it doesn’t really seem to be politically independent. Probably need to get a declaration from the committee members that they are not members of any political party as first criteria. However, this is Koh Tsu Koon’s justification (guess we have to take it at face value):

Koh elaborated that Ilani was the right person for the job.

“She is a hajah. She is the former MP for Kota Bahru but she has not been active politically for quite a while. Very significantly, she has been in good personal contact with all the major religious leaders in the country.

The Star reported as inter faith committee (article title) when in fact its not:

“We don’t want to call it an inter-faith panel, but a special committee to promote understanding and harmony among the various faiths.

“The idea of the committee is for the members to hold informal dialogues, not on only one issue, but also matters such as inter-marriages, religious conversions as well as custody of children.

“The committee will exchange their views and we will get feedback and get a better understanding on religious issues,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby on Tuesday.

Malaysiakini reports:

An ‘Inter-religious Understanding Committee’ is being set up under the National Unity and Integration Department to promote harmony between the different religions in the country, Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Koh Tsu Koon told Parliament today.

“It is a committee to promote understanding and harmony, straightforward. Purely leaders of various religions sitting together with the relevant government departments. Let the religious leaders with all their spirituality sit down and have a dialogue.”

Koh (left) said the committee would be chaired by Ilani Isahak, the former MP for Kota Bahru, and would comprise senior representatives from the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), the Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim) as well as from the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).

Koh said the special committee was not a rigid structure and was just a framework to provide an interaction and interchange of ideas.

If we take two representatives from each group/religion, then it should be 2 from Jakim, 2 from Ikim, and two each from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism for a total of 14 members. If one each, then its 7 in total. Or if “imbalanced” representation is used, then expect the number of people from Jakim+Ikim to be more than the total of others.

How about lesser known faiths like Bahaism, the indigenous people’s faith, Jainism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism etc?

So, would Indira Gandhi get her baby back? Would her children still be Hindus? Would converts who repent able to return to their original religion? Would there be a legal mechanism to monitor conversions? My expectation is for such a committee to “help” solve these kind of problems by providing the right inputs to cabinet, and I don’t think it will be wrong to assume that right-thinking Malaysians would expect the same. Anything less, and its would be just another empty talk and waste of tax payers money.

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2010 Government Scholarship statistics

April 6th, 2010
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This is interesting.

RM1.24 billion for 1500 students for overseas study (average of RM826,667 per student).

The 1500 students were from a pool of 10,114 applicants (14.8% chance of getting selected). A total of 465,853 students sat the SPM examination last year and PSD received 18,844 applications for scholarships. Of this, 10,114 students met the minimum qualifications and criteria set by PSD.

The 1500 students are based on 4 categories: (i) academic excellence; (ii) racial ratio; (iii) Sabah and Sarawak bumiputra; (iv) socially disadvantaged group.

If you are selected under the (i) option: Academic excellence, it would be based on: academic performance (85%), co-curricular activities (10%) and Public Services Department interview (5%). No info on the other categories criteria is revealed.

Out of the 1500 students, 56% (840 students) will be given option to study critical courses such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. Balance 44% (660) will study engineering, architecture, accounting, law, biotechnology, agro-sciences, science, and information and communications technology.

Those offered scholarships in critical fields such as medicine, dentistry and pharmacy will go to Australia, New Zealand, India, the Czech Republic and Poland. Twinning programmes will be conducted with institutions such as the Penang Medical College, Melaka Manipal Medical College and International Medical University.

Students chosen for engineering degrees will go to institutions in France, Germany and the US.

Separately, there’s another 100 scholarship for top scorers who opt to study locally at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Malaya.

AND, another 1900 students will be offered place to study in IPTA and local branches of selected IPTS (University of Nottingham, Monash University, Swinburne University of Technology and Curtin University of Technology). These are the students who did not get the overseas scholarships offered to 1500 students.

Then, there’s another statement saying scholarship worth RM1.2 billion is to be offered to 10,500 students (RM114,286 per student) undertaking degree programs. No details on selection criteria, which IPTA/IPTS etc.

So, all in all, about 14,000 students will get scholarship. I wonder if it includes those under MARA sponsorship or not.

The Star: Govt offering scholarships worth RM1.24b to 1,500 top SPM students
NST: PSD grants for 1,500

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Good fortune for Hulu Selangor folks

April 5th, 2010
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Whoever stands for whichever party, the Hulu Selangor folks stand to benefit a lot. From soaring rental rates (RM20,000???) to promises of new schools (I thought no campaigning yet?), looks like the idea that representatives serve best when they are “removed” is correct again.

The feeling is that the seat is for 1Malaysia as the majority last time around is a mere 198 votes. Even though some internal jostling for the candidacy is happening, I think MIC would get the seat as MCA and UMNO are well represented via state seats. Only way BN would lose if there’s an internal sabotage (can’t rule this out).

Throw in a few more goodies or feel good news, and can expect BN to win with an healthy majority. Prefect gift for first anniversary.

As for Pakatan, there’s nothing much to talk about other than Israeli links, a litany of court cases, Perak takeovers and such which may make for coffee shop talks and ceramah time, but won’t really affect the folks there. They have to rely on their track record of governing Selangor, and Hulu Selangor especially (a bit of a problem if their representative was not around often).

They are also doing their own campaigning and “distribution”:

DAP Kampung Tunku state assemblyperson Lau Weng San(left) confirmed to Malaysiakini that the state government will play an important role before nomination day. 

The political parties will then start campaigning, while government servants will play no further role, he said.

PKR election director Fuziah Salleh had earlier made a commitment that the party would not abuse state-owned resources in the campaign. 

However Malaysiakini has learnt that Pakatan is aggressively engaging voters through activities and meet-the-people sessions organised by state agencies.

Allocations and other forms of ‘sweeteners’ – including land titles and financial aid – have been distributed by Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and state exco members via state government departments. However, it was claimed that voters had applied for such assistance earlier.

Pakatan’s argument is that state government programmes cannot be described as campaigning, so long as campaign material is not distributed and there is no fishing for votes.

I hope the winning candidate is one of poor health or with some criminal background so that when he/she is “removed”, the folks can enjoy another round of goodies. Maybe MACC will catch one or two representatives. Maybe someone will resign due to whatever reason. Let’s pray for another by-election soon, folks, preferably in our backyards 🙂

Note: Voter breakdown is as follows:

Hulu Selangor has 64,500 voters , with Malays making up 52.7%, Chinese 26.3%, Indians about 19% and other races 1.7%.

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