If Malaysia is bad rubbish to you, why bother to know our fate if you have nothing to help contribute. Shame on you, selfish brat!

I know where I have gone. I have migrated. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Opposition parties and consumer groups are planning a mammoth
protest against the increase in toll hikes for five major highways
in the Klang Valley.

It is learnt that thousands are expected to turn up at the protest
which will be held along the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP)
highway on Jan 7.

PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub said the Islamic opposition party
alone will bring between 5,000 and 10,000 protestors.

“We are sad that the government is not considerate towards the
people, especially those with low incomes,” he said when met after a
closed-door discussion in Kuala Lumpur last night.

The hour-long discussion at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese
Assembly Hall was attended by DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Parti
Sosialis Malaysia secretary-general S Arutchelvan, PAS treasurer
Hatta Ramli, Parti Keadilan Rakyat information chief Tian Chua and
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Syed Shahrir Syed
Mohammad.

A `Protes Kenaikan Tol’ committee has been set up and will be helmed
by Syed Shahrir.

Last week, the government announced that the toll rates for the five
highways will rise between 20 to 60 percent effective Jan 1. LDP
will see its toll rise from RM1 to RM1.60.

Tian said the Jan 7 protest will not only see the participation of
party members. “Local residents who are unhappy with the toll hike
will also participate, ” he added when met at the same venue.

Syed Shahrir said the committee has yet to decide on the exact
location to hold the protest.

“It would likely be somewhere where there are parking spaces for the
protestors. We would not be blocking traffic. However, we would be
visible to road users.

“It’s a big mobilisation. I don’t think it would be solely because
of the toll hikes. The public is very angry at a combination of
things that happened this year, including the fuel hikes,” he added.

Buy back highways

The committee will also submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s
Department on Dec 27 denouncing the toll hikes.

The memorandum will call on the government to make public the
clauses in the concessionaire agreements and to buy back the
concessions.

Works Minister S Samy Vellu disclosed that it cost RM4.13 billion to
construct the five highways: LDP, Shah Alam Highway, Cheras-Kajang
Highway, Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway and the Guthrie Corridor
Expressway.

The minister also revealed that a RM2.589 billion compensation
package for the five concessionaires was to be incurred from Jan 1,
2007 when the new toll rates take effect to the next review in toll
rates, which is between 2010 and 2012.

Samy Vellu also said the government had to compensate a total of
RM2.275 billion to the operators of four of the five highways, not
including Guthrie Corridor, which is a new highway.

However, while he gave a breakdown of this figure, he did not
specify over what period of time this amount was paid.

But going by this, the government could be paying as much as RM4.9
billion in compensation alone for the highways.

Opposition party DAP has urged the government to buy up the five
highways by paying the concessionaires RM4.13 billion for the total
construction cost.

In a related development, DAP will proceed with the Dec 31 protest
at the Grand Saga toll plaza along the Cheras highway. The protest
is jointly organised by the Bandar Mahkota Cheras Open Access Road
Action Committee (BMC-OARAC).

On Sunday, a protest organised by DAP and BMC-OARAC saw some 800
people taking to the streets in Cheras to vent their frustration
against the toll hike.

i quote”malays hanging on nep, chinese-still can make money maaa..by the way my family in perth, yours? and indians..we only go to them for medical and legal advice, right?”

i am a young professional, not unlike Ajay. despite my burning desire to see a better malaysia, i would not give up everything and spearhead changes ala reformasi. say what you may, but that’s what it takes.

chances are i’ll lose everything i’ve worked for and love doing. i know i’ll never win, because malaysians are not really concerned that our country is “not heading in the right direction”. the recent outburst is related to the lack of wealth, money, comfort etc along those lines.

During Tun’s time, the same (crap) happened, but nobody really cared, because they were speculating at the markets in comfort. now the econony isn’t doing so well..and we get the same (bullshit) comments. if you were listening, these were the same comments made during the economic slump in the early 80s.

since then, nothing’s changed.

in summary, malaysians don’t really care..so long as their coffers are full. if we really cared, Dr Bakri would have been back to contest in the next GE. but we malaysians are not worth the sacrifice. that’s why the good men and women will never stand and be counted.

Dr. Bakri, how right you are!!

We in Malaysia are too proud to learn from the good policies, practices and experiences of others. In this regard, we don’t have to go very far., Just look at Singapore, across Selat Tebrau, where “philosopher-king” and “mandarin” types administer the country. They are well paid no doubt but much is expected of them in terms of performance, integrity, and accountability. But then the very mention of Singapore turns our politicians and civil servants off.

We are even too arrogant to learn from Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the Emirates, where their leaders are making economic use of their oil resources and preparing for the day their petrodollars run out. There is a Malay term for this complex—”Bodoh Sombong”.

Now to be more specific. Compare our GLCs with Temasek, Malaysia Airlines with Singapore Airlines, or Kuala Lumpur International Airport with Changi International, or the Port of Singapore Authority and Kelang NorthPort and WestPort.

The rest of our GLCs have one problem or another; in stead of maximizing shareholder value, our GLCs tend to be value destroyers. Focus on personal KPIs, asset stripping and creative accounting seem to be their common practice. At this rate, even the Blue, Green or Red book won’t help. What is required is great strategic thinking and brilliant execution to enhance productivity and competitiveness.

Why? Firstly, there is too much political inteference at the execution level in pursuit of the so-called Social Responsibility Agenda. Secondly, top positions (at Board level especially) are given to ex-Civil Servants as reward for past services to their political masters. Such personalities have no basic understanding of the business world. It is no wonder that we have “mini sultans”, “little Napoleons” and “ahli bodeks” in our system.

If we want things to change we have to vote corrupt and incompetent politicians out of office. In this case, we should be reassessing our support for the BN. After 50 years at the helm of our country, the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional should now experience the ire of voters for spinning and empty promises. Let us give them a thumping in the coming elections.

Next. we have to close down non-performing GLCs in stead of bailing them out using scarce tax dollars. We were recently told that some rm11 billion have been spent on bailing out failed GLCs. Then, we must engage the best people irrespective of race, colour or religion to lead of GLCs and make that directors enforce good corporate governance.

Unfortunately, if we can go by past experiences, this will not happen in Malaysia because every one wants to become popular like a politician, and irresponsibly benevolent in the use of taxpayers’ money. Furthermore, there is a prevailing attitude, or standard operating procedure (SOP), that the Government will always restructure, maybe by way of huge mergers, restructuring schemes, or cash injections.

If we cannot make money as in the case of our toll roads, concessionaries can arrange for sweetheart deals with the Government so that the Government underwrites commercial risks by way of subsidies. When such such subsidies are not given, they can ask the Cabinet on the advice of Works Minister Samy Velu for substantial increases in toll rates.

In Malaysia, it is easy to be a businessman, if one has the right connections. Overnight, two ringgit paid-up capital company, usually if it is shadowed by an UMNO politician, or iit is sponsored someone’s son-in-law, can be multi-million dollar business with an early public listing potential.

So welcome to business ala Malaysia. Where do we go from here? What is the fate of genuine businessmen and entrepreneurs?