Hantu Laut
Former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad must have the crooked bridge very close to his heart. Even before Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak could warm the seat the issue of its resurrection from the ashes of former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's bonfire rises faster than the birth of the mythical Phoenix from the ashes of its maternity.
Former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and many uninitiated Malaysians and including many too smart for their own good foreign correspondents like this one who wrote for the Telegraph do not understand the benefits such bridge could bring to Malaysia.To them this is just another grandiose project of this crazy old man.
Singapore certainly wouldn't like the idea of such bridge purely to protect its economy particularly its shipping and maritime activities.Singapore is the second busiest port in the world after Shanghai which displaced Rotterdam in 2005.Singapore is also the world's busiest transhipment and bunkering port. Those were the reasons why Singapore is not keen on the crooked bridge because it may steal some of its maritime business if Malaysia could offer more competitive and efficient service. The crooked bridge has its merit, I don't think Mahathir wanted the bridge built for glory.
Mahathir might have forgotten it is now difficult times and a crooked bridge may not be a priority in such economic downturn.Although, he has contributed vastly to the economic growth of the nation, maybe, it's time he tones down a little and leave Najib to conduct his own affairs.
Najib has said that the government has not made any decision to restore the construction of the crooked bridge.
To constantly admonish Najib as he did with Abdullah would have dire effect on UMNO. The situation could be worse with Najib because of the excess baggage he carries.Najib has to do the right things in order to dispel the people negative perception of him.He has to bring about an ethos of good governance.
On the Penanti by-election Najib should not oblige or be obligated to agree with Mahathir.He must show he is a man of his own mind and not succumbs to pressure from anyone, more so, Mahathir.
By-election is Anwar's ball game to keep his shaky coalition alive. There are rumblings in Pakatan because Anwar is not the most democratic politician around and does not believe in consultation as can be seen from his poor handling of the forced resignation of Fairuz Khairuddin as deputy chief minister of Penang and assemblyman for Penanti that left Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in a huff.
Fairuz claims the MACC has cleared him of any wrongdoing. What is Anwar going to do ? Should an innocent man be punished because of Anwar's political manoeuverings?
Dismantling some of the old regime wilful placards should be Najib's priority if he wishes to regain the trust of the people and to stamp out the three evils ---- corruptions,cronyism and nepotism which have been the reasons of Pak Lah's denigration and eventual loss of office.
Is Najib ready to dance with wolves ?
He has to decide between obligation and obliteration, between Mahathir and the deep blue sea.
10 comments:
What dances with wolves?...He is the wolf and so is UMNO? So what's the problem with dancing with wolves?...Wolves don't dance with each other ka?...Ooooo..I get it...you're saying Najib is not a wolf and UMNO is also not a wolf...You can lie to the all the people, some of the time But you cannot lie to all the people, all the time...just can't do it...people are on to UMNO farce now...so sorry...People just don't believe UMNO propagandist anymore....Tough luck to all Hantu and puaka...
Siapapun yang menyalak..Najib akan bertambah kuat kerana jika dia ikut atas kebaikan bererti dia mendahulukan rakyat, jika dia memilih laluan dan keputusan sendiri bererti dia lebih mengutamakan keberkesanan..
Pembangkang adalah sekumpulan serigala yang sering menganggu ketenteraman rakyat dan kini mereka asyik menyalak antara satu sama lain..
Menyalak di atas pentas pilihanraya kecil adalah favourate mereka.
'Fairuz claims the MACC has cleared him of any wrongdoing. What is Anwar going to do ? Should an innocent man be punished because of Anwar's political manoeuverings?'
You think Malaysians are so stupid that they cannot see the MACC is clearing Fairus so that the government need not face a by-election. You UMNO as{{{{ must think Malaysians are plain dumb. Just like the power grab in Perak UMNO has no long term strategy to reform itself. Short term gains by hook or by crook are all UMNO understand. Look at the educational levels of the Malays today and tell me if the Malays are the same ignorant bunch which UMNO led by the nose for 50 years.
In many UMNO strongholds PAS is already getting 40-45% of the Malay vote. This was unthinkable a mere two years ago.
All I can say is not all of UMNO is rotten. I have UMNO friends who are honest, hardworking and God-fearing people. They do not clamour for the NEP to help them but they want a fair deal. UMNO leaders seem to have forgotten these are the people who make UMNO strong. Will UMNO ever remember who made UMNO in the first place?
Then why did the MACC go through all the sandiwara about forwarding the file to the DPP for?
I think MACC has become a political body and should be disbanded and replaced with one answerable to Parliament, like the Auditor General.
As for Dr.M's crooked scenic bridge, Ancient Mariner has given his expert opinion. It's long been known that the waters of Johor Straits are not deep enough for international ships to ply nor heavy boats.
So, who is spinning this arguement that S'pore is afraid or that the project is commercially viable? Yet another andiwaras by Mamakthir!
Many have also forgotten that we an expensive 2nd Link which again will restrict any plan for shipping lanes.
http://donplaypuks.blogspot.
HL,
The PR is a shaky coalition? Hahaha...as shaky as BN? Hahahaha.
Ya rite!
TDM has destroyed Badawi (& Najib benefitted). Now Najib has to deal with this old crook who does not know when to quit.
Najib obliged him by giving a Deputy Minister's post to Mukriz. However, with TDM, we all know that he is never satisfied & will not rest until he gets everything his way.
Najib will earn the respect even of his opponents if he "stands up" to this old crook!
donplaypuks,
You and many others are willing victims of wilful oppositions propaganda.
If they can dug up canals in the jungle of Panama and the desert of Egypt more than half a century ago to allow ultra-sized vessels to navigate through, what is the Strait of Johor which is already a seaway.With today's technology dredging the Strait would be much easier and cheaper, a child's play.
Your Ancient Mariner is captain of a ship, he is not an engineer or an enterprising businessman, his opinion is not an expert opinion, it's a biased and stupid opinion.
The Grand Canal of China which started construction in the 5th Century BC eventually reached a total length of 1114 miles without help of modern equipments.You mean the Strait of Johor is more difficult than the feat attained by the Chinese few thousand years ago.
Ancient Mariner should have his head examined for saying so.
If Singapore have no such fear why object to the crooked bridge?Malaysia is not asking them to pay for it, they just pay their portion.
Sorry mate, don't agree with you or that so-called expert opinion.
SM,
You over-estimated the cohesion of Pakatan.Although, they won 4 by-elections there are internal rumblings within the coalition especially with Anwar non-consultative attitude.It is a shaky coalition and time will tell.The honeymoon period is not over yet.
PAS and DAP tolerated the insufferable Anwar because he is the driving force and the reason the oppositions were doing well.Take him out of the equation than it would be different story altogether.
Well, I am an engineer by training, Masters degree in Business, and currently studying LLB.
I'll just say 3 things.
The Panama Canal and Suez Canal are viable because they save a mega-long journey around entire continents, through treacherous ocean. Even then, the building of both canals nearly brankrupted their original backer (Suez) and actually bankrupted the same guy (Panama).
It takes less than 12 hours for a ship to round Singapore.
The Water Supply agreement between Malaysia and Singapore, which is legally binding, forbids interruption to the pipes buried inside the Causeway without the consent of both countries. There is absolutely no way around this - the legal advise Pak Lah received is correct on this.
Last but not least. The KTM train is absolutely incapable of climbing or navigating The Crooked Bridge. Once the train service stops, Malaysia loses all rights over the railway land in Singapore.
I haven't factored in the cost of building an alternate railway hub in Johor Bahru.
Friend,
We are not all dumb fools. In fact many of us are very intelligent and knowledgeable....
kittykat46,
You must be a professional student.
Well, I don't quite agree with all the reasonings.Those are man made agreements and are open to negotiation.If money is not the object such project is not impossible and as I stated in my article if Malaysia can offer competitive price and efficient service S'pore can lose some of the shipping business to Malaysia.
I don't know which engineering field you major in but trains have been climbing mountainous terrain more than half a century ago.The Canadian Rocky Mountain,The Andes,French Alps and many others have trains going up steep gradients.With today's technology that would be like a breeze.
Just look at cars you drive 50 years ago, it has only 3 forward gears, now some cars have as much as 6-7 forward gears.
Well,it's just some parts of the world getting smarter and some don't.
HL,
No I'm not a professional student.
I'm a senior executive who earns well into the maximum income tax bracket.
I'm a life-long student, and I know what I'm talking about both on the economics and the engineering.
Dr. Mahathir and his cohorts have not been able to show any numbers which can convince the skeptics.
As far as I can see, the Crooked Bridge supporters are just driven on blind faith and adulation for Dr. Mahathir
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