Malaysia's Definitely Following Greece but who will Bail Us Out?

We all know that the government has been living beyond the nation's resources, spending on mega projects that do not justify the economic returns.
The EDL is one such project that although very beneficial for motorists does not justify the high costs of construction and now even worse, the method in which the project owners will be rewarded.
The government failed to ensure proper transparency and hence the project cost is estimated to be about double what is the equivalent type of highway project in Malaysia.
Now it is pay-back time and it seems this company has an iron-clad protection against any business risks as the government is going to compensate them for the toll system they did not provide.
At the rate of 60,000 vehicles times the agreed toll of RM6.20 for one way, that's a cool RM720,000 per day!
Now some folks will call that highway robbery and we can only wonder why this EDL was shrouded in such great secrecy. Motorists have been crying FOUL over the previous secret toll deals and even in 2010, they still insist on such shadowy and shady deals.
Don't you think a collection of over RM700,000 per day is a better business deal than getting a bank licence?
I suggest the government should buy back this project after a proper audit that would probably reveal the realistic price tag for the project should be nearer RM700mil and maybe sell it to the public as an IPO and install the overhead gantry collection system; ie no collection at the CIQ.

malaysiakini decribes Najib's Rant on the Agong's Birthday.....what an Insult on such a Happy Day

This article from malaysiakini is quite disturbing. It seems that the BN regime is threatening violence to stay in power if it loses in the next GE. It is also an insult to the Agong to deliver such a warning on the king's birthday - instead of making the event a happy one, Najib has shown his greatest fear- that he will be ousted by the rak'yatin the polls. Given his basic lack of leadership, what is so wrong about that?

BERSIH3.0 - the JB Experience

I almost didn't go as I had a slight back-ache and the thought of having to run from tear gas did not appeal to me. Luckily a friend offered me a ride and in a way, that committed me to go. Earlier I read reports that MBJB had denied the use of the Dataran JB and that there was a misleading bit of into that the venue had been shifted to Larkin Stadium. Someone had posted info on what to do if detained etc and also how to reduce the effects of a tear gas attack. So I took the necessary items like some salt, extra bottled water, a wet cloth and swimming goggles. I had an early lunch and the drove to Taman Sentosa, the rendezvous place and waited for my friend to show up. There were 5 of us going for the rally and the driver dropped us at an overhead bridge near Jalan Sungei Chat, one of the side roads bordering the Dataran JB. It was quite an energetic crowd gathering, mostly younger Malaysians and the chants of "Bersih, Bersih" filled the air. Many passing motorists also hooted to show their support. There were traffic police and the normal mata-mata about, with the MBJB enforcement officers all around the planned venue; perhaps a total of 200. There was a football tournament taking place at the Dataran JB and it looked like a subtle plan by the authorities to frustrate the BERSIH gathering.The crowd was good-natured with an air of festivity that infected everyone. At about 2pm we were told to move towards DJB and it was an orderly march. The local BERSIH leaders had persuaded the authorities to allow the Dudok Bantah to be held at the left space near the clock tower....this was a good outcome as the place is nicely shaded. I moved to a spot under a large tree towards the back and made myself comfortable....sitting on the ground and then getting up was a challenge with my bad back and I usually don't sit on the floor! That is why I chose a spot near a metal pole as a prop. So from about 2:30pm to 4pm most of us sat and there were many chants of "Bersih, Bersih!" interspersed with some speeches. Please watch the video that shows the event and also a few interesting interviews of folks who came for the rally.

Rushing through the Malaysian Parliament with GROSS INDECENCY.......why BERSIH3.0 is Important for ALL Malaysians!

So the Malaysian Parliament worked very hard the last few days......rubber-stamping a record number of bills that they even made use of "freeze the clock" rule so that the bills could be passed in haste.....now Malaysians have to live with the consequences.
If you don't care about politics, nothing much will happen except the 13th General Elections will be stolen even before you do your duty and just go out to cast your vote.
I have attended a few sessions about being a polling agent/counting agent and it was interesting to discover many methods of how your vote could be "stolen" via the cheating that can occur during polling day.
With the latest amendments, it seems the Elections Commission(EC) has introduced new measures that make a free and fair, TRANSPARENT Elections impossible. It is quite probable that the EC has seen fit to follow the PM's call to win BIG at all costs.
You can read the Press Statement of BERSIH3.0 on how the new laws can make cheating easier. There is also a video of the BERSIH3.0 leader Ambiga who has taken a brave role to help safeguard our democracy.
So what can you do to show your disapproval of the new laws that effectively is going to massively handicap the need to have fair and free elections? These laws will not only affect the coming elections but will forever change the face of Malaysia.
There are BERSIH rallies being organised in KL and JB on Saturday 28th April 2012 from 2pm to 4pm. If you value democracy and want a fair and free elections, please show your support for this cause.

malaysiakini and Malaysian Insider Readers :"Can YOU Uncover RM1.6bil the BN Regime OVERPAID for Highways?"

A picture paints a thousand words but do you know I have uncovered RM1.6bil that the government appears to have overpaid for the highway projects in this study?
Mind you all these projects were all negotiated contracts that means that the "I help you, you help me" mantra applies?
I leave you to ponder how much is the amount above and beyond the values that is available in newspapers and online portals like the Malaysian Insider and malaysiakini. Studies elsewhere indicate that dubious practices like corruption will add 30% to 35% more to the overall costs of doing business. We have the MACC in Malaysia but so far there have been no major coups in nabbing corruption kingpins.

Back to this highway cost comparisons:
(click on the table to see the spreadsheet and it's best to open 2 windows)
Table 1 is based solely on the picture at the top, except that the latest highway, the EDL is also included.

Both AKLEH(2001 with 3 interchanges)and SHAMELIN(2012 with 3 interchanges) projects provide a good yard-stick as they are mostly elevated highways, with only 2.4% of SHAMELIN's highway being grade level.
If we analyse the cost per km of these 2 highways, the results are startling.

AKLEH's cost per km is RM95mil per km whereas SHAMELIN's cost per km is RM50mil per km and SHAMELIN is 11 years later than AKLEH.
Let us assume that SHAMELIN's cost per km is reasonable at RM50mil per km and let us also assume that the Grade section of highways is less than the elevated section. For this exercise, let us assume that the cost is RM30mil per km. I know some of you will kill for such a deal but let's how reasonable is that assumption.


Now examine Table 2.
I have used the unit costs for the Elevated and Graded Sections and mulitplied by the actual highway distances for the different highway projects. Any SPM student is capable of doing such an exercise.
The column of "ReCalculated Costs" shows how much the different projects should have cost using the RM50mil and RM30mil per km values.
We can then compare that with the actual costs and determine how much we have overcharged for our highways.
The figure in red indicates that we have overpaid RM1.6bil for these highways.
I wonder what the Works Minister has to say.

What is most shocking is that the EDL project costs appears to be 3 TIMES above the estimated cost.

malaysiakini asks "Did You Receive RM500 or RM976Million?"

There is a lot of publicity generated in the media about the tens of thousands of poor Malaysians who were given hand-outs recently by the Malaysian government out of the generosity of the taxpayers' funds.
Never mind that the poor folks had to travel for miles and wait for hours before some VIP came to ensure they made the newspapers headlines.
But did you know there is another special assistance scheme that has not been given any publicity?
Apparently there is one company that received a grant for RM976mil in 2007. Using some simple maths, it is about RM195mil per year and that is significantly more than RM500; don't you think?
You can read the story in malaysiakini here.
The gist of the story is simple: The government grants the company RM976mil in order to complete the tolled highway and now the company has decided to sell the project for RM1.7bil and the takeover is going to be financed by borrowing RM1.2bil.
Some shady financial happenings going on here. First of all, surely the grant to execute the project must have some undertakings or was it another generous gesture like the RM500 to the poor?
Common sense will dictate that the government's interest in the project must still be protected and surely the original owner cannot cash in the RM976mil by selling the project outright. Also why would any bank want to grant a loan to a company that actually "owes" the government RM976mil and why does the government allow the grant to be encashed so readily? It is a good example of financial manipulation and a major burden to taxpayers...in other words, the Finance Ministry is abetting a financial crime!
It is commendable for the PKR and the DAP MPs to highlight the kind of highway robbery that the government is indulging in.
So don't feel so grateful about that RM500 award....we are being robbed blind elsewhere!

Voices for PPSMI

I managed to create my first video and loaded it to YouTube
.
First I had to learn Windows Movie Maker.
The process was quite interesting and fun.
Hope you like it too!