Kopivosian Tadau Do Kaamatan

Happy Harvest Festival

This is an event which falls on the 30th & 31st of May each year.
What had started as a religious ritual in the pagan time, involving God (Kinoingan), his sacrificed daughter (Huminodun) and thus the rice spirit (Bambazon), had turn into a cultural, secular festival.
The ritual, in essence gives thanks to god and appease with the rice spirit for another bountiful harvest the next season.
This deep culture is the soul of the native kadazan/dusun/murut group and sub-group of people of Sabah and through this they do find themselves.
In recent time, other traditional items such as food, sport and houses are showcased in this festival and organised by the Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association. The festival concludes with the selection of a beauty queen, symbolising Huminodun.

To The Native Group of Sabahans, Kopivosian Tadau Do Kaamatan.
May the force be with you.

KICK THE TOLL OPERATORS OUT

When it comes to concession road operation, I have always believed that we have the wrong people and companies operating them.
They operate unilaterally, oblivious to whatever consequences it may result.
They do not have the business acumen to run it in such a way that it is a win-win situation for everyone. It would be cheaper for the country to rid off this bad situation.

It costs us roughly 20 cents per kilometre, to run a small car like Kancil 850 and definitely more for higher capacity cars.
The cost is inclusive of petrol (major portion), tyres, oil and the scheduled maintenance.
It is indeed quite expensive to run a car, since the petrol price increased to RM1.92 per litre, not to mention the toll as well. I believe car owners are well aware of this.

The stand-off between Bandar Mahkota Cheras residents and Grand Saga is totally unnecessary, and I would blame it on the Grand Saga management for being so foolish or they think they can bully the residents, with the federal government on their side?
Grand Saga could not care less if you have to spend RM1.20 to get to their toll gate and waste unnecessary ‘heavily subsidised’ petrol, as long as they get their 90 cents.
According to the developer who built the access way to Cheras – Kajang highway, they had the approval from the authority for the access way then, but the concessionaire said it was an agreement that they were never a part of it.
The government must have realised then, it would create overall saving for the government and its people, but here, the concessionaire just could not care less. I can see it coming, they want compensation.
This toll system, intended for the country to have better road system, for the benefit of its people and economy, has turn out to be a burden and a waste of public funds under the wrong operators.

The present concession operators are here to screw the public funds.
They get compensation for not increasing up to the intended price, and at the same time, make sure that their highways are more expansive to use, than the longer but free, public road.
You cannot blame the public to think that the government work hand in hand with the concessionaires to siphon off the public funds.
So, we are swirled into having higher subsidised petrol, higher toll, higher compensation ..... in a deepening whirlpool.

Update (May, 31st 2008):
As reported, the access road from Bandar Mahkota Cheras to Cheras-Kajang highway will remain open, pending court decision.
Also reported, under concession agreement, the concessionaire could claim from the government up to RM9,000 daily.
Under simple calculation, there are 38,000 residents (as reported), up to 6 km to the operator’s toll gate, the operator had calculated there is roughly 1 car to every 4 residents and would spend 2 trips per day, i.e. Rm1.80 and at least half of these motorists will use the toll gate. This works out to be Rm8550. The operator conveniently ignored the fact that at least a third of these residents would pass through the toll gate anyway. How in the first place, can our government get themselves cornered into such position? Any dispute of this nature will be very welcomed by concessionaires, no wonder such news are always well covered by our mainstream media, the more disputes the merrier.

SABAH & MALAYSIA

What is the most effect way to get a recalcitrant to stay in line.
The art of this is practised in many ways. Some by offering incentives in the form of monetary gains, some by giving more power (of course, will also result in more money, a stupid repeat) and the best are those that can be ‘blackmailed’ to submission. None of the Malaysian politicians will ever admit they are subjected to such demeaning incentives or threats, all will insist that they work for the interest and harmony of the nation, very noble indeed!

As for Sabah politicians, the pattern is becoming clear, where you can distinguish the black sheep.
All the forays from politicians who initiated the determination to have illegal migrant issue in Sabah settled, turned pale when it came to real confrontation. It turned back to, tried and discarded plans, such as, select committee, another proper study on the situation, etc.
Perhaps the present guys think they can do a better job, they think the past selected people and the approach were ineffective. Or perhaps they just want another charade, hoping Sabahans ‘senang lupa’ and take the bait. This will at least buy them time to the next general election. Smart play.

It would be difficult to expect any favourable outcome from this present crop of Sabah parliamentarians, if they can be easily reign in by those in real power. They would not be given a chance to stand as candidates, if they are uncontrollable, given the fact that the federal government is never sincere in investigating this issue. One can also wonder will the Lingam case ever come before Royal Commission, if Dr. Mahathir had not been so provocative and determined to run down the PM.

While the state of Johor mauled the loss of Pulau Batu Puteh, due to their negligent effort to emphasise their sovereignty over it, over the past 60 years. This is only an outcrop of rocks and inhabitable by any standard and it takes only less than sixty years to be judged otherwise by ICJ.

With the incessant entry of illegal economic migrants, how long do you think it takes Sabah to become a foreign part of Malaysia.

CHERAS BARRIER

The barrier is again rebuilt to prevent the Cheras residence to access the Cheras-Kajang highway.
The reason is to prevent motorists from accessing to the highway without paying. Grand Saga is the the concessionaire to this highway.

For the past month, this barrier was consistently torn down by the residence there, but this time around, they met with a group, armed with sticks and are prepared for physical confrontation with the Cheras residence who dare to remove the barrier.

Though I do not fully understand the whole story and whether the concessionaire has the right to put up the barrier, but from the mainstream media reporting so far, something is very wrong.

If there is law and order in Malaysia, there is no need to resort to gangsterism. This group of gangsters, who threaten to beat up those who dare to remove the barrier, cannot be acting on their own. They must have been paid for ‘protection’.

Now, something is very wrong, if this kind of action is condone by the government. If not, then Grand Saga is not the right type of company for the government to deal with, for the interest of the Rakyat and do not talk about the mandate you had, and that the majority are with you!
Why is there such a need to have the gangsters around if we have our security force to maintain the law & order.

These gangsters should be rounded up and slapped with deterrents, we cannot allow such behaviour to perpetuate and there is no reason that these gangsters cannot be identified.

According to the mainstream media, a court order was obtained and that the concessionaire has the right to erect the barrier. It was later reported, that FRU arrived and used water cannon to disperse the crowd.

Common sense again, tells me something is very wrong here. You have this road from Cheras connecting to the Cheras-Kajang highway. How did this come about in the first place?
If the concessionaire is building a paid highway, why link it to a public road. The public road at this junction must have led to somewhere before or was part of the public road turned into a paid highway by the concessionaire by linking their portion to it? Why should the motorists pay, if they were using what was supposed to be the route they had enjoyed before, built by public funds.

We have too many dishonest businessmen around, proposing grand schemes for the interest of Malaysians and our government should not be part of it.

MALAYSIA CRUDE SITUATION

It is baffling to any Malaysian, whoever it is, with a bit of brain, to analyse as to what were said recently by our ‘smart’ Deputy Prime Minister.
He said, the price of crude had risen to the level that it is imperative for us to rethink on the subsidy, as it had eroded into our development expenditure. Meaning the price of petrol, diesel & gas have to be increased, otherwise future development, immediate or otherwise has to be put on hold.

Is there any logic in this? Malaysia is a net exporter of crude & gas. Would she rather want a lower international price for such product?
I would have thought the higher it goes the better, rather than the reverse. Don’t you think so? In fact the higher the price, the more we would have, in net revenue, or we can only count to 10. This would be the bonanza, we all have been hoping for and the funds for development should be over-flowing.
With this windfall, we should be able to control inflation and depreciation of our ringgit, to such time until the world economy stabilises and finds its balance, which is, the country made poorer should not be artificially made or seemed to be rich and vice versa.

What the DPM proposed or intended to do, mounts to stealing from those who had been saving the little bit of extra cash, over the years, for the rainy day or their intended purposes. Whatever money that was saved for children education, health care or retirement would not be enough, in time to come.
I, for one, do not wish to see those mega projects if my very own survival is in jeopardy.
To encourage inflation in Malaysia, while we still have the ability to avoid it is more than seditious, it is criminal!!!

MASSA - WHAT A PRICK

Have you ever noticed that should Raikkenon qualify behind Massa, you can be sure that he will lose at least one position into the first corner of the race, more so if Hamilton is in the vicinity.
However, if the opposite were to happen, Massa will gain at least a position to the first corner. Funny is it not? Not so if you were observant enough.

It is the attitude of Massa that caused such to happen, he is more interested in fighting Raikkenon than helping the Ferrari team to have a comfortable run to the finish. He will pay more attention to Raikkenon and make sure that he does not pass him and ignore the rest, in other words, he is not a team player but just wants to spoil his teammate run of success.

Massa could be a good driver, but his attitude and body language leave much to be desired. Just look at his face when he lost to his teammate, even if he came in 2nd, he seemed happier to be in lower positions, as long as he is in front of his teammate, what a little prick!

Ferrari should get rid of Massa before more damage is done to the team, he is there to sabotage the team and ends up helping specifically the McLaren.
You will notice also that he makes sure credit is given to him should he contribute any success to the team.

The last GP in Monte Carlo is a farce, there must be proper rules, should protests be made, it must be done immediately and not in the session that immediately follows the Safety Car Period. This mounts to cheating, the protest would have little effect if a comfortable margin had been built up but to initiate the protest immediately after Safety Car Period, the effect can be profound and it is frustrating to see the sport is been abused this way.

SABAH LAWMAKERS AGAINST ROYAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

Are Sabah Lawmakers Like This Sign; JUST EXTRAS!!!

As a residence of Sabah, you have to feel frustrated and disappointed with Sabah lawmakers, who time and again recently, voiced the hot topic of illegal immigrants in Sabah obtaining citizenship through the backdoor but when it comes to the gist of it, they rejected the proposal.
We can understand if not all of them are in favour of this, because some had probably benefited from it and perhaps financially as well.
But the proposal was dismissed without protest from all the 25 lawmakers from Sabah, are disappointing and downright disgusting.

This was not a problem that had arisen recently; it had been with us for the past 40 years and becoming more severe in the past 15 years.
The backbencher chairman from Sabah said, they do not need the opposition to help them and are capable in handling it themselves. As Sabahans, they are the aggrieved party, affected more by it and should be more concerned and no need for the opposition to interfere and help.
Do they really? Sabah has only 25 parliamentarians out of the 222 in total and past records showed that the central government had always not been keen in solving this issue.
For all you know, the suggestion of increasing Malaysia population to 60 million during Mahathirian period had Sabah in its design.
I do not think pride has anything to do in this non-supportive approach to the opposition proposal, more of the benefits that local politicians had benefited from this fiasco.

Sabah had a turbulent history and who would have remembered what had happened 40 years ago during USNO period.
Sabah politicians are still handling it the same way their forefathers did, grab as much as you can, my eyes no see the future and who is going to remember anyway.

Sabah does need a higher population in order to be progressive and competitive, having it through the natural process would be slow, but Sabah needs quality migrants, not the illegal ones that come to commit crime and rape your daughters. We already had plenty of them.

We just have to resign to the sad fact that we are unlikely to get any help from those who are involved in this grand scheme.
Shame on you, Sabah lawmakers, you don’t represent Sabah at all, bloody jerks. And it is all a mistake.
Even west Malaysia umno members had the guts to condemn PM, where are your guts just to help the Sabahans.

Sabah needs lots of divine interventions.

TRANSPARENCY

Transparency is something Malaysia lacks.
Sadly, it is not part of our culture, we tend to hide behind our mistakes, be it natural or by design, this unfortunate guilt snowballs to our own detriment.

Wenchuan earthquake struck Sichuan province at 14:28 hours on 12th May 2008,
China got into action, letting the world know the extent of the calamity, its short comings and measures taken to overcome this.
Such transparency creates a lot of good wills and contributions poured in from both within and outside to a tune of more than 2 billion USD in cash and material aids beside physical aids in the form of rescue and social workers.

An important lesson for all of us to see and follow, we all know where the contributions will go and the authorities assured sympathisers on their efforts.

In Malaysia and Sabah in particular, we have transparency problems with our authorities, be it development work, distribution of social benefits or even on the political scene of Sabah.
This lack of transparency had caused a lot of mistrust, not only towards the authorities but also amongst its people.
Can we afford to allow this dreaded situation to perpetuate? If the local politicians are mindful of this, they should stop the rot, unless they are just another one, the rot, no need to elaborate further.
Proposal to have a Royal Commission to look into Sabah’s illegal migrants and its unnatural population growth is nothing new.
The unlikely resistance, apparently comes from the politicians in power themselves.
This is the very reason why there is no progress on this nagging issue and there will forever be no solution to it.
If we have not awakened to this, just take to the example, what gigantic step the judicial status had taken since the Lingam Royal Commission.

Perhaps it is easier for us to look at something, whereby the local politicians in power can understand and will also benefit. Let us ask for more allocations for Sabah, since this state is contributing more than its share and had been neglected. But if the funds were to filter through so many sieves, the likely outcome in development is very short changed, another bottleneck!

There is so much mistrust, no matter which direction we take, we are viewed with suspicion.
What to do?
May I be crazy enough to suggest that the allocations go direct to Sabah people, not in cash of course, but in the forms of lower taxes, like for clothing, food, cars, whatever taxable materials or income.
This will put more purchasing power back to the locals to stimulate its economy.
This unparallel system with Peninsula Malaysia is possible because of its isolation and would not have cost the central government much because of its relatively small population.

Will our law makers care to propose?

AMERICAN IDOL 2008

If you have been a follower of this program, there should be no doubt on the final outcome.
As predicted, it is David Vs David in the final, but the difference is the other name, Archuleta, a teenager of 17 years old.

Since the selection on the finalist of 12 contestants, there is no doubt in my feeling that Archuleta will eventually be the American Idol 2008. It is not the innocence, likeable, clean cut kid look that popper teens or grandmas will pour their hearts out but more on his unique voice.
Unlike other contestants, his voice is gifted and unlikely to be imitated. He can sing naturally and yet sound very unique and melodious.
Many of us would have noticed and predicted his winning, right from the audition when he sang, HEAVEN by Bryan Adams.
I vote, he is likely to win this on his gifted voice than on the technicality of singing and we can hope that he will improve from strength to strength and entertain us for years to come.

MAS Vs AirAsia - IDRIS JALA Vs TONY FERNANDES

When you have a sore thumb, it always attracts more attention, it is uncomfortable and to say the least a bloody nuisance.
Lately the CEO of Airasia, Malaysia low cost carrier, is behaving like one, accusing its competitor of having unfair advantage and competing squarely on the routes they operate.

Has he lost the sense of competition.

Airasia were given regional domestic monopoly before, it turned out to be in such a mess that they eventually gave up, due to incessant complaint, and handed the job back to MAS. Billions were lost in the short stint by Airasia, lost of regional connectivity affects tourism and business. Air worthy plane were rendered grounded when the responsibility were handed back to MAS. It took MAS more than 6 months to have the system in sync again.
Unlike MAS, there were nothing to show that Airasia had intended for a long haul in regional domestic business but only to make a fast buck.
MAS, now have make plans for new crafts to be in service and complaints are virtually a thing of the past, the system is working like clockwork.

Accusation/campaign of late, sound more like personal attack on MAS CEO, rather than on why Airasia gives better value to its customers.
Idris Jala, CEO of MAS, in my opinion is no ordinary corporate mastermind. He has been able to turn MAS (a GLC) around and at a surprisingly short period of time. Not many government appointed employee in government-linked-companies (glc) have done this and come to think of it, Idris Jala is the only one so far. MAS then, a company that was haemorrhaging and to many, had no chance to recover and best just fold it. But recovered it did, under present CEO guidance, it manages not only to compete internationally but also against LCC and still make exceptional returns to its shareholders.

Airasia is not going to be popular, if they force MAS hands to increase its fare through government intervention.
For the first time in over 40 years of Malaysian history, people are able to enjoy travelling with reasonable comfort, in 3rd class fare. Why the complaint, after all CEO of Airasia said their business had improved since MAS ‘unfair competition’.

When you have politicians butting in, it means complaint has reached them to apply a bit of pressure, failing which will be drastic change and the beginning of a down trend in a competitive atmosphere.
You never want politicians to interfere in any business, especially someone from the transport ministry, which had a record of inefficiency and lopsided decisions. They had just extended PUSPAKOM exclusive monopoly for another 15 years.
We were just about looking forward to a more competitive vehicle inspection services, come 2009, but they just can’t let go this money making machine.

CONSUMERS Vs ONG KEE KEAT

SABAH LAW MAKERS

Sabah - Land Below The Wind

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Sabah law makers had always demonstrated great disappointment, right up to GE12.
Immediately, after having won handsomely, there were determinations to correct the unfair treatment Sabah was receiving.
Each component party of Sabah fell in line to have a love affair with PM(more like an interview), something like applying for a job. After the meeting, each party will try to outdo each other and empathetically said, they had demanded this and that, and the PM is SERIOUSLY looking into them.
History repeats itself, whenever the YBs are making noise, the PM will come over and as always, he is seriously looking into them.

Sabah law makers finally got on the right track lately, albeit just a few individuals.
If they can’t get any of their demands fulfil now, it is unlikely that they will ever be able to do it in the future.
All the rhetoric on how hard they work, how concerned they are with its people well being, only result in being unrealistic fools, not worthy of the job entrusted to them, to cut out a path for Sabah.
Yes, federal government is in a precarious position and Sabah law makers are in the position of strength, though not entirely but strong enough.

History had never been kind to Sabah, probably of its own making, billions in wealth in resources had been taken out of Sabah and there is nothing much to show for the present generation.
Despite its depleted resources, the ugly pictures are, poorest state, uncontrollable illegal economic migrants, scarce job opportunity, unsatisfactory basic amenities, uncompetitive salary, atrocious transportation and road condition, just to mention a few. Had our former leaders plundered all the wealth or was it our federal’s grand scheme to wrest control on Sabah, stripe it and lead them by the nose.
This could be the turning point for Sabah, we need more autonomy in the government, need more share of the wealth, whatever still remained, to be circulated in Sabah.
It is indeed encouraging to see that Sabah politicians are making the right kind of threat and bargain lately but there are not enough of them. Quite a few are actually a disgrace to Sabah, making noise and talking rubbish in Parliament, trying to shine balls?

Fortunately, Sabah is still attractive enough for a different group of exploiters, the planters, and more than a million hectare of land had been developed for oil palm.
These investors had thrown in billions of ringgit and unfair criticism was on them for taking advantage.
Now again, Sabah showed its ugly side, why complain when in the first place you willingly give away this opportunity and not having the patience to nurture the industry.
More important now is how to encourage these entrepreneurs to reinvest their money in the state and that could be in billions.
Do Sabah government and its YBs have the courage and intelligence to change the faith of this state that remains to be seen, this far its record had nothing to shout about.

it is WAR in MALAYSIA

No one is smiling anymore, all the mudslinging and the likely victims will be our Royal Highnesses.
What started off as innocent insinuations, ego damage checks, some stupid self-satisfaction had turned into an open war and no one is smiling nor it is entertaining anymore.
The pot is calling the kettle black, what will all this lead to eventually... a waste of time, these elected representatives will not be able to get on with what they are supposed to do, working for the Rakyat!
Call a truce and get down to work. We are not paying you to nurse your ego!

The new batch of law-makers, those given second chance and some even many chances, are huge disappointment to date.
Get it to your thick head, it takes more than this, some slender & mudslinging to be icons for the nation.
Stop wasting the home forces time and that of the judiciary, both sides of the political front are just as guilty. If you are not convinced let us make you recall the following.

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*** KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 (Bernama) — Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail today stressed that there was no tussle between the Regent of Terengganu and the Regency Advisory Council with the state government pertaining to the appointment of the Menteri Besar of the state. He said this was because the process of appointing the Menteri Besar for the state was spelled out under Article 14 (2) of the state constitution. “As such, the candidate appointed as the Menteri Besar is not the nominee of the Regent or the Regency Advisory Council but a person who is appointed according to the laws of the state,” he said in a statement here. He said the person must be a member of the state legislative assembly who in the opinion of the Regent and Regency Advisory Council commanded majority support in the assembly. He said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was fully aware of the provision and that His Majesty cannot interfere in the appointing of the Menteri Besar. “This is because under Article 34(1) of the Federal Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong cannot function as a ruler of a state except as the head of the Islamic religion. “In connection with this, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong does not have his own candidate for the post (Menteri Besar of Terengganu),” stressed Abdul Gani. He said that His Majesty was aware of the fact that appointing of the Menteri Besar lied fully with the Regent and the Regency Advisory Council, and that His Majesty had no role whatsoever under the law concerning it. Gani’s explanation comes in the wake of speculation about the position. Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh whose appointment as the Menteri Besar of Terengganu has been delayed since the 12th general election ended on March 8***

*We need not reproduce the images of our DPM or UMNO youth chief to prove, it is just shameful, best it is forgotten.*
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*The likely victim in this storm will be Raja Petra but bloggers like us are tough, we chew hides for dinner, we are passionate on our nation and we care for each other, so don’t play play!*

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Let’s give each other a chance to prove themselves, stop the undermining, only people of lesser integrity and capability resort to that.
Show us, there is still a lot of common sense in this pile of shit.

RICE

RICE, I am not talking about someone in USA but our staple food.

Remember the days when kids were told to be seen & not heard?
I remember those days when adults sat together to have their opinions expressed and we just sat around and listen, generally ignored, when we budded in and accordingly reprimanded to keep quiet, though we hardly knew why.
As we grew into our teens, their argument seemed far fetch, to a point of being ridiculous, yet we were still considered immature and our opinions were dismissed unceremoniously, without an attempt to let us know why.
This led to loss of communication with our seniors, right into our adulthood and perhaps that is how a generation gap is created.

It is funny how events of the past unfurled and now we are told by leaders of the day that unavoidably essential items are to increase, drawing examples from the world and neighbouring countries.
Malaysia is unique, we have a fast maturing population and sweeping statements can now be dismissed as rubbish. The politicians of the day better realise this and fast.

RICE, as a build-up, murmurs are in the background that government may have to increase its price.
Is it necessary for such talk or is it just a side-track on more important issues looming in the horizon.
Triumphant at last, due to diligent management of the government, we are able to maintain the price of staple food, rice. This is what we will hear at the end of the day.

The international price of rice, as reported, had gone up 3 times since the beginning of this year to USD1200 (RM3840, 1USD @ RM3.20), meaning previously at RM1400 (USD400, 1USD @ RM3.50) or maybe lower.

Prices of local retail: (just a rough analysis)
Local rice, 15 to 5% broken: Range from RM1500 to 1900 per m-ton
Local &Imported, fragrant, super grain: Range from RM2500 to 3800 per m-ton

Looking at these figures, I am still blank if the government needs to subsidise but they definitely had surplus in the past.
The prices of our rice had always been higher compare to international prices, maybe until recently.
Where had all the differences gone to, all the years.

Malaysians of today know how to live and let live, be compromising to fellow citizens, so be transparent.
We know that we need to subsidise the farmers, to have better equity in our nation’s wealth, besides it is also a strategic crop.
There is no need to hide, as if you are doing something shameful. This, I think has always being the problem with our law-makers, they think their fellow citizens are stupid or what.

With all the obscurities, how can we believe the law-makers anymore, especially its leader.
Being controlled item, why can’t the consumers have a breakdown on its price structure just like for the car industries, unless there is really something to hide and for us to find out.

RAJA PETRA KAMARUDDIN ESQUIRE

The unthinkable happened, they put RPK in jail. RPK refused bail even though he was given the opportunity and he certainly can afford it, instead he opted for detention until trial begins in October.

Now, he has a point to prove and RPK has the guts to do it, against government repressive attitude towards public who cried out for open criticism against wrongdoings of people in power.

The government has surprised me that they would want to cap the opinions of readers & bloggers in the bloggersphere by this action.
The world of internet has no boundary, if one still doesn’t realise it, opinions will forever be expressed against any wrongdoings, be it at home or abroad. What better ways than through the bloggersphere, for an opinion of the Raykat and the true feelings of fellow Malaysians. This is even better than ‘turun padang’.

There are plenty of equity laws for one to have justice in Malaysia, if one is innocently wronged. But by slapping the draconian law only shows the level of intelligence of those people involved. Justice will always prevail if one is innocent.

A fund was initiated to assist in RPK’s bail, on the day he was charged in court. Many supporters and well wishers got its intention wrong, by donating more than a ringgit per person as requested. Imagine, what would have happen if everyone followed as requested and the fund reached RM26 million, this will stop any wrong or right thinking person on its track!
I wish our law makers were smarter, than to use seditious act on RPK

MALAYSIA BOLEH IN CREATIVE BUSINESS

Question: Why satellite disc is illegal unless it is provided by Astro

I still briefly remember those days when we did not have Astro, we paid rm25 per year, if we were honest enough to own up that we had TV, or play hide & seek with RTM inspectors to find out.
Well, in those days, if you don’t need external antenna, you could probably get away with it.
But anyway, our government, those days were not really interested in catching you.
What was more important, was the information/propaganda that they could dish out. Eventually this gave way to 'free for all' and a few more channels were added, those were the ‘golden era’ of RTM and Malaysia broadcasting.
Those days, the shows seemed to run longer between advertisements, in fact I think just about 3 minutes of ads between show, with more up-to-date movies/entertainments and less repetitions.

Like everything in Malaysia, all good things must come to an end, it is just too tempting for creative entrepreneurs, not to take advantage of it.
Inevitably, then came Astro, packaged it up with tax payers’ paid stations and other free stations, threw in some extras and priced it at minimum rm37.95, and payment on monthly basis. A far cry from those days when we paid only RM25 per YEAR and later free.
The days that we had 'free and good' entertainments were over or at least partially curtailed. One may argue, we can still get it free from those broadcasted from ‘local originals’.
But there is no longer any improvement, the transmission is so bad & weak that you just have to give up. Because Astro is making all the money, it is just like a free for all scramble, you get more advertisement-time programmed, cheap & outdated entertainments with lots of repeats, just like the Astro.

It is just so typical with Malaysia's so-called entrepreneurs, get the tax payers to pay for it then package it up and sell it back to them, nothing beats such 'creative business'.

COAL FIRED POWER PLANT FOR SABAH - NO OTHER CHOICE ???

The columns of 'smoke', actually are steam + other contaminents

Malaysian forest with early mists

The chairman of TNB recently confered to Sabahan in Kota Kinabalu that they have no choice but to accept the coal-fired power plant as the best alternative. Sighting also the improved technology, unlike the old, and presented it as ‘clean coal’ technology power plant.
He said coal is black, giving the impression that it is dirty but he impressed, we will be using the latest technology and the pollution is minimal. Drawing example also from Peninsula Malaysia, where such plants are also used and situated in close proximity to populated and tourism areas.

I do not consider myself to be an expert in this area but his argument seems flawed, insincere and hiding a lot of important facts from us, while trying to justify the negativities, at the same time take advantage of our ignorance. By saying that coal firing is clean, he only refers to what we can see, smell and hear but not what are continuously exhausted into the atmosphere unseen.

Why then coal is considered the worst polluter.

Chemically, it is almost 100% carbon and depending on the grade, it may also contain varying degree of sulphur and other elements which can pollute the atmosphere to different degree. Ever heard of acid rain? Not only this, there will be other colourless noxious gases constantly emitted from the flue.

Sourced - (Makeup of Coal and Ash Coal is one of the most impure of fuels. Its impurities range from trace quantities of many metals, including uranium and thorium, to much larger quantities of aluminum and iron to still larger quantities of impurities such as sulfur. Products of coal combustion include the oxides of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur; carcinogenic and mutagenic substances; and recoverable minerals of commercial value, including nuclear fuels naturally occurring in coal.)

Carbon Dioxide is the major Green House Gas (GHG) that is raising the temperature of our planet. It took thousands, maybe millions of years for earth planet to reach an equilibrium whereby the GHG absorption and its radiation of heat, can maintain an atmosphere that is habitable to all present living things on earth.
Records have shown, due to our activities in the past 30 years, we had increased the GHG by almost 30% and I don’t think we want to continue this way, to know the actual consequences when it becomes irreversible, which is in not too long into the future, if everyone doesn’t give a damn but only aim for immediate gains and advantages over others.

Perhaps, TNB or Malaysia, doesn’t see it this way, if it is not going to hurt their pockets. But from what I can see, lobby is already in place to have these polluters disadvantaged. Very soon, direct-foreign-investment or world credits/lenders, will only be made available to countries whose power is generated in environmentally friendly way. We just have got to be good neighbour to the rest of the world.

Bakun Dam, area soon be flooded

All mineral fuels are polluters when burnt, it is the carbon element which was ‘sunk’ from the earth atmosphere by plants and other lesser means, over thousands/millions years, is now being burnt and brought back to the atmosphere in concentration. That is what, concerned earth citizens, are talking about, we need to have a balance, a ‘carbon sink’, best known now being plants/jungle, to capture back this element from the atmosphere.

Coal as we know, is just carbon, what you burn is what you pollute. Other mineral/biological oils or gas, have hydrogen element in its molecule, thus you get CO2 and water. Hydrogen fuel is the cleanest because what you burn only results in water. Whatever advantage we get out of coal now, we may have to pay many more times in future, to get rid of the GHG.

We do have alternatives, contrary to what TNB chairman had painted, we can have palm-oil fired power plant, the carbon element is ‘sunk’ back to the oil palms in sustainable basis. Alternatively we can source from Bakun, contrary to what TNB suggested as impractical and yet it is practical to channel the power over twice the distance to Peninsula Malaysia, in which half the distance is undersea and is not going to benefit anyone else in whatever future distance.

By diverting the power from Bakun to Sabah, the distance is only from Bakun to Sabah west coast and in future, areas between these two points, can also benefit from it. Sabah needs, not only, power grit between east & west but also a looped power distribution, I do not know if this is already in place, if already in place, I see no difference in where the power source is situated. If there is none, what better opportunity than this, to have it done now.

We had already wiped off a ‘carbon sink’ in Bakun, the size of Singapore, let us make the best use out of it.

Oil Palm