Monday 11 June 2007

Which Come First

I have been wondering these past few days about the Smart Tunnel. Which comes first, Smart Tunnel to fight flooding in KL or Smart Tunnel as a new highway? Now why is it so important to me?

Well it is the responsibility of the federal government to solve the flooding problem of KL. If they were to build dams like they say they would, would they be charging the people for it? Look since it is the duty of the federal government to solve the flooding problem, it is they who should cough out the money. As it is right now, motorists who use the tunnel are financing the cost of the tunnel and as always enriching some bloody well connected arsholes.

If on the other hand, if the tunnel was initially meant to ease traffic flow and cut short the time taken to travel from point A to point B but at the same time they found out that by modifying certain designs, it could also be used to help solve this flooding menace, then shouldn't the federal government at least bear half the cost and cut half the toll charge?

Sorry if the question sound stupid to some but it has been nagging me for quite some time and I just had to ask.

25 comments:

zewt said...

did you read my entry on 'sam jiu'.... it's a chinese phrase to answer all the question you raised...

Mat Salo said...

Damn right it's a question that all heavily-indirectly taxed Malaysian motorist should ask! Now why don't they? Why enrich "some bloody well connected arsholes?" Are we that gullible and stupid?

Malaysians don't realize we're really very heavily "taxed" on what it amounts to basic services.

Come on, I think it's about time the people express their displeasure...

No, far from being a stupid question at all Chegu...A very timely and relevant commentary indeed!

Unknown said...

Zewt,
'Isn't the answer obvious?' I know the answer is obvious but I dare say that this is the reason for this Malaysian mallady. We all say, evrything is like this in Malaysia and in the same breath we talk about something else. We have made it into another Malaysian Way of Life. We must never do that. If faced with something wrong, take up arms. If you can't then say you disagree. If you are not able to say it for some reason, then disagree in your heart. Don't ever accept the wrong as a right.

Unknown said...

MS,
As Zewt said above, its Sam Jiu. We Malaysian are partly to blame also. We just accept what they dish out to us. No we don't need an arm revolution here. We need a mental revolution.

Apandi Reviews said...

Another perspective to this. I just read in National Geographic about a similar (in type only) project in Japan. It is humongous, 9 storey high underground chambers and retentition ponds at a cost of (if I am not mistaken) USD21 billion and more than 10 years. Compare that to the teeny weeny one we have here that a full sized truck can't enter (so I was told) and see if it is cost effective... I mean, 21 billion buys a working system while less than a billion buys us what ?

Unknown said...

Apandi,
If wonder if they collect toll there and if something of that magnitude is built here at that cost just imagine how much motorists would have to pay.

Anonymous said...

cikgu, sorry off topic sikit. infact totally...hahaha...

but why the re-branding of kata tak nak? my guess is nak tak nak u picked up smoking again recently. hahha..just curious thats all.

Unknown said...

Kerps,
Nak Tak Nak is my Malay blog. To show some connection I just changed a little. Kata Tak Nak does not mean that I have stopped smoking. When I started Kata Tak Nak I was smoking 2 big packs a day and still am 9no I am not proud of it)Kata Tak Nak actually mean Say No to injustice. Nak Tak Nak to me means, like it or not I will fight on my way.

Anonymous said...

ahh, thats a piece of good info, cikgu. I may have missed the train altogether. life's a bit in slow motion being on wheels. but i'll definitely check out ur malay blog soon.

so anyway i tried to kata tak nak but the best i cld do is to TRY and cut down, which predictably didnt happen most of the time..hahaha..

ZABS said...

Che'gu, ini saya dapat dari laman web SMART;

The Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) project was incepted by the project proponent, namely MMC Berhad-Gamuda Berhad Joint Venture, primarily to mitigate the recurring floods in the city of Kuala Lumpur, the financial, business and commercial hub of Malaysia. However, at the design stage of SMART, the dual purpose concept was born from the ingenuity of the project proponents and the motorway tunnel was integrated into the system to relieve traffic congestion at the main Southern Gateway to the city centre."

Kalau dah macam tu, kenapa nak pungut tol yang dilebihkan, sedangkan masalah banjir tak dapat nak selesai sepenuhnya. Buek habih bogheh yo..

tokasid said...

Salam che'gu:

Yes its a Malaysian mallady. The govt/authorities will do "whatever" necessary to alliviate the rakyats' problems and along the way offer cronies to make millions on the rakyats' expense( even if we do not pay toll, we hace been "tolled" all along like bro matsalo said.We are heavily taxed!

Why does the authorities steamrolled us with these projects? Because they know the majority of us couldn't care less about it. They will make noise no doubt.But will they dare make the political changes needed? Don't think so che'gu. We've seen it before. Most of us tak dak teloq to make the changes. They say its better to have a devil that they are used to.
Our balls have been squeezed tightly by BN till we get blue in the face but we will never kick BN out. Mark my words. I have seen a lot of ppl in this category.I'm sure you've seen more.

Unknown said...

Zabs,
Tak buleh ka depa satu benda untuk rakyat yang betoi2 menguntungkan rakyat? Ni any project depa buat depa hike the price dan bagi kat kroni untuk buat. Kroni pinjam dari bank bukan harga cost dia which is much lower. Depa pinjam keseluruhan harga tender maknyanya termasuk untuk sekali. Bila dah pinjam banyak tak ka interest dia banyak. Untuk cover interest yang tinggi kita la yang kena bayaq. Sikroni, projek belum start dah dapat untung dia. Lepas tu dapat pungut toll lagi. Untung lagi. Lepaih tu dapat naikkan toll pulak, untung lagi. Kalau tak untung jugak kerajaan bagi subsidy pulak, untung lagi. Kita bayaq, bayaq dan bayaq.

Unknown said...

Doc,
Bila nak mai pilihanraya macam2 good news kunun depa announce dan orang kita tepok tangan dan kata kerajaan bagoih kita mesti undi depa. Kadang2 frust betoi dengan attitude orang kita. Apa tak, pakcik2 dan makcik2 sekali sekala depa bawak pi padang besaq, haadyai pi makan angin. Ini sudah cukup buat depa terhutang budi selama-lamanya.
Adakah kita ni tak work hard enough untuk convince depa yang Dacing bukan segala-galanya.

Daily Nibbler said...

Which Comes First?

The questions you asked are not stupid. In fact, the very questions the planners and our gomen should answer.

The sad thing is the answer to the above question: toll collection comes first - RM 2 one way, dahulu. To mitigate flood or not, belakang kira.

Okay, okay, give the concessionaires and the gomen the benefit of doubt. Once the flood mitigation function of the tunnel is fully operational middle of this month as announced by Keizul in the papers today, lets see again. In the meantime, warga warga kota: braced yourselves for 'unmitigated' floods!

Unknown said...

DN,
I bet you Keizul has already prepared
what to say should the whole thing fails. One thing I have learnt from this people is to not take their promises seriously.

Anonymous said...

Really the whole lot of them. Nak show off je lebih, show off their car, house etc. nak tengok among them, siapa punya terbesar, termahal.

Orang-orang macam ni will NEVER think about how rakyat can benefit. They only think of how THEY can benefit instead, while they are still up there. They still need the kaki ampu to keep them there. And the kaki ampu,so pathetic, duit sikit yang tak bersih pun nak. yang dia orang tak nak adalah harga diri!

Unknown said...

Accia,
You tepat sekali. Bila kita marah, orang kata kita tak kenang budi. Budi apa? Depa kena buat kerja untuk kita sebab kita (bukan saya) yang undi depa. Depa dapat gaji jadi depa kena buat kerja untuk kita. Gaji depa banyak bukan sikit. Elaun depa banyak bukan sikit. Privilages depa banyak bukan sikit. Tak cukup lagi ka? Tugas depa bagi rakyat senang. Selagi rakyat di negara kaya tak senang maknanya kerajaan dia half past six. Kerajaajn dulu dan lani.

Unknown said...

How about starting a blog talking all filthy things with the nick.."nak nak tak?".....hahahahahahaha

Unknown said...

Monty,
Yes Nak Tak Nak is my BM blog. Basically it is the same as the English blog. My first 2 postings were just intros and my 3rd posting talked about how UMNO fucked up Malay singers in favour of Indonesian singer. Give it a try.

Daphne Ling said...

Hi,
This is my first time here...
I was actually asking the same questions when I read about the SMART tunnel...
I mean, I'm wondering why people are being charged in the first place...It is the duty of the government to see to this, so why are they charging the people to build something which is a neccesity?
It's not like the highway, where people have a choice whether they want speed or not...
Flood-control is a duty of the government...And tax money should be used here, instead of charging tax payers (who already paying tax) to use the tunnel, so they can claim back the money used to build/maintain the tunnel...If we're gonna be charged everywhere, why pay tax in the first place?
I'm not living in KL...But I empathise with the pinch KL'ites have to go through...
I'm sorry I sound so hostile, but I'm thinking it ain't right...

Unknown said...

Daphne,
Thanks for coming. I am honoured. You have every right to sound hostile. Already we are paying through our noses for utility, which they dare claim to be cheap compared to this and that country, while not revealing the income of the people there, now they want to charge us for doing something for us, which failed its 1st test miserably, which in actual fact is their duty tyo provide with the money they squeezed from us in the 1st place. And the icing, which tastes so damn bloody bitter is that some bloody crony is alaughing all the way to bank. This is not 'Sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga', this is 'sudah jatuh dibaham buaya'.

zorro said...

KTN...my Hantu told me that in times of emergency, they will flood the tunnel so that our submarines can have a safe home. I know I am being cruel. but you have to be cruel to be kind (sometimes).

Daphne, since you are in Penang you should meet up with Chegu....pick his brains over a cuppa.

Unknown said...

Zorro,
Yeah like they claimed the north south highway will be a landing strip for our obsolete fighters. Look at the condition of the highway, the fighter stands a better chance if it lands in the ocean. Maybe it can rendevous with our submarine and they all live happily ever after in the Smart Tunnel.

zewt said...

yeah, we all disagree and all we do is keep it in our hearts. cant blame us... not many dare to speak... or should i say... we are made not to speak.

Unknown said...

kata tak nak....Concerning singers....it seems most malay good singers made their money selling their discs in Indonesia.
Depending on Malaysia...most may not make a living out of singing.
Even live shows were arranged there.
And if you listen to both the countries singers..Indonesian do have 10 times more to choose....therefore competitions are really terrible there to succeed....thus they are really better than most of ours...when singers are more hungry than ours.
I maybe wrong....but everywhere I go..they love few of our Malaysian singers. I guess the producers insist they also promote Indon singers too...that's fair and most will out beat our locals.

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