Sad day for Malaysian Indians

I read news about the massive protest by Malaysian Indians (Pix source: The Straits Times. You can see more pix at Screenshots) in Kuala Lumpur with a tinge of sadness.

I feel sad that many Indians feel marginalised over the years in their country of birth due to socio-political reasons, one of which is the Bumiputra policy that has been favouring the Malays since the 1970s.

Their unhappiness over a litany of issues, including the recent demolition of a temple in the state of Selangor, erupted over the weekend.

Reports said Malaysian riot police fought running battles with more than 5,000 Hindu protesters gathered at various places for the banned rally in the Malaysian capital yesterday.

ST reported that many held posters of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi and waved identity cards and Malaysian flags to show they were also Malaysians, as they demanded equal rights.

The report said the gathering was organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force, ostensibly in support of a suit it filed against Britain in August claiming US$4 trillion for the suffering of Indians, whose ancestors were taken to Malaysia by the British as indentured labourers 150 years ago.

Another report cited the organisers as claiming that more than 100,000 members of the ethnic Indian community had signed a petition, addressed to the Queen, asking for help to end racial discrimination under Malaysian law.

Apart from feeling sorry for their plight, I feel sad that some Malaysian Indians made such a ridiculous appeal and claim against the former colonial master.

Yes, the British brought Indians and Chinese to Malaya then. But Malaya, like many other former colonies, has since gained independence. The country has had 50 years -- read half a century -- of rapid economic development, albeit several dark chapters of its history.

The answer is not to make the ridiculous appeal to the Queen or the huge monetary claim, which is equivalent to nearly one-third the value of the US economy today!

Instead, the Indian community should work within the system to improve it instead of blaming the former colonial master. At the same time, the Malaysian government, which is led by Umno and other members of the National Front coalition, must not ignore the grievances of the Indian community or any other marginalised communities anymore.

All parties must work together to help improve the system, and show that Malaysians can run the country well, long after the departure of the British.

Postscript: I have just read the petition by the Hindu Rights Action Force and am totally disgusted with the complete misrepresentation of the situation in Malaysia. The petition even resorted to describing Indians as being "persecuted by government backed Islamic extremist violent armed terrorist" and even suggested "ethnic cleansing" in Malaysia. The petition is even more ridiculous than what I have imagined earlier! Gandhi would not have condoned such an act!!!

RIP: Lim Goh Tong

This a lovely snapshot of the life and achievements of the late Lim Goh Tong, who built a built a mountain-top casino resort in Malaysia and a sprawling empire from scratch more than 40 years ago. All the pix came from The Star, which has a gallery and a video as a tribute to the tycoon who died yesterday.

Goh Tong at the celebration of his 90th birthday earlier this year. Probably his age in Chinese calendar as he's supposed to be 89 based on official records showing his year of birth as 1918.

Aerial view of the Genting Highlands resort, about 50km from Kuala Lumpur. The Star said First World Hotel is currently the largest hotel in the world with 6,118 rooms. The resort has the only legal casino in Malaysia and theme parks.

He started building the casino and the resort when he was already in his 50s.


Goh Tong and old friend, former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. They probably had mutual admiration for each other.

Genting is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, taxpayers in Malaysia. Last year, Genting dished out more than RM500 million in corporate income tax. This does not include all the other gaming duties paid by gaming arm Resorts World. Genting earned nearly RM2.8 billion in pre-tax profit last year on the back of revenue of nearly RM7 billion.


A 1969 photograph showing Goh Tong briefing the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was Malaysia's first PM, on the plans for Genting Highlands Resort.

Genting has announced that it will close its casino and theme parks for 12 hours on Monday as a mark respect to its founder. Read more news reports on the funeral.

RIP: Lim Goh Tong (1918-2007)

Updated: UnSmart flood

Sigh, another flash flood happened in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, which is aptly known as muddy estuary in Malay. Dad has lost track the number of times KL has been submerged in muddy water, as shown in the pix today from The Star photo gallery.

Mom was caught in a massive traffic jam due to a flash flood last week in the heart of KL, while grandma's car was once submerged in water near Shah Alam more than five years ago.

The immediate thing that came to dad's mind is the RM1.93 billion project known as Smart (Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel). Has the stormwater tunnel come into effect to help divert flood water in the Malaysian capital? According to project developers MMC-Gamuda, the three-tier tunnel will act as a motorway and a bypass channel for floodwater at the confluence of the Klang and Ampang rivers into a storage reservoir in Taman Desa, before being discharged into Kerayong river.

The Star and New Straits Times didn't mention the Smart project although the 3-km motorway portion opened to the public last month. According to MMC-Gamuda, the final phase of the Smart project will be the official opening of the 9.7-km stormwater tunnel targeted in June 2007 (It's already June 11).

Dad used a stretch of the tunnel when he was driving back from KL back to Singapore last week. He even made a U-turn when he first overshot the tunnel entrance so that he could experience it for the first time. The one-month trial run was still free when dad used it.

Dad now has a lingering feeling that the priority seems to be the opening of the tolled motorway, instead of completing the stormwater tunnel as soon as possible to help drain perennial flood water from the muddy estuary.

Update: The Malaysian government is upset over the tardiness in the completion of the stormwater tunnel portion of the project. But it doesn't change dad's view that the developers seem to be more concerned about the opening of the tolled motorway, instead of completing the stormwater tunnel as soon as possible.

Rising cost of crime

It dawned on mom and dad some time ago that the spate of crimes in Malaysia is probably due to one key factor -- the fast rising cost of living in the country.

Many goods in the Malaysian capital, which saw a mind-boggling 40 per cent jump in crime rates in the first three months of this year, appear to have gone up quite substantially in the last one year. Dad noticed that prices started creeping up quite rapidly after the Malaysian government cut state subsidies drastically last year to help cope with the big jump in global oil prices.

The removal of the oil subsidies resulted in an overnight jump in retail pump prices to about RM1.90 from about RM1.60 per litre. Dad believes many businessmen and even traders at pasar malams (night markets) have marked up their price tags, citing higher transportation costs owing to higher petrol prices. Some increases could well be justified. Others simply smacked of profiteering.

Mom noticed tonight that many retail items are now priced higher in Kuala Lumpur than those in more developed Singapore. For instance, she noticed a pendant being priced at RM119 at a shop in the second wing of One Utama shopping centre on the outskirts of KL. She reckons the same item is priced at less than S$35 in Singapore or about RM89 based on the current exchange rate ($S1 = RM2.22). Dad noticed a linen shirt at Island Shop being priced almost the same as that back home in Singapore.

Cost of many items has gone up although the Malaysian currency has strengthened considerably in the last two years since the 7-year-old peg broke in July 2005. The ringgit has strengthened to RM3.40 against the US dollar from RM3.80 per USD -- an appreciation of over 10 per cent.

But the stronger ringgit doesn't seem to have a major impact in capping prices of many goods in the country. Malaysia imports quite a big chunk of intermediate and final goods.

Hence, it won't come as a surprise if more people in the country -- both Malaysians and foreign workers -- find it increasingly difficult to cope with the rising cost of living and resort to criminal activities.

Johor a safe haven?

The Malaysian government has been going on the offensive to show that it's determined to fight crimes in the country, especially in crime-infested Johor which is next to Singapore.

According to reports, the southern state of Johor actually saw a drop of 8.9 per cent so far this year in serious crimes such as murders, muggings and extortion. Property crimes such as carjackings and burglaries dropped by 6.73 per cent in the same period.

Well, dad and I are not totally convinced that the crime rate in the state is on a real downward trend. Not when crime rates in the state had gone up by double-digit rates in the past. Even the fuming Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum (NST Pix) accused the police of manipulating crime rate figures to confuse the public, according to New Straits Times last month.

A report even said that the crime rate in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur shot up by a mind-boggling 40 per cent in the first three months of this year. And KL seems like a safer place than Johor Baru as there are more transient residents and visitors in the latter.

No doubt, Malaysia is trying to contain the crime situation in Johor as the federal and state governments step up efforts to woo Singapore and other foreign investors to the Iskandar Development Region.

But as mentioned in an earlier posting, former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew was definitely correct when he said in a defamation suit in 1997 that Johor was "notorious for shootings, muggings and car-jackings".

So dad will remain sceptical about the current blitz against crime until he is certain that he can drive in JB, KL or elsewhere in Malaysia without having to lock his car, like in Singapore.

Updated: Malay Land Railway

The massive rains have caused havoc to southern and eastern Malaysia. The country is still cleaning up the mess.

As widely reported, the rail service from Singapore to certain parts of Malaysia has been disrupted due to the floods. The service disruption is aptly captured in this rather interesting picture in New Straits Times. Several observations can be made about the disruption of the train service in Malaysia:

1. First, the current single track system operated by the anachronistically named Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malay Land Railway or Malayan Railway instead of Malaysian Railway) is obviously inadequate. Malaysia needs a double-tracking system to allow two-way traffic. The second line can still be used in the event of disruption to the first line. How can Malaysia move goods and people fast using a rail network that was built by the British in the late 19th century?

2. It's perhaps better to embark on a fast train service project in Malaysia that will require a stronger foundation for the tracks. Such tracks won't be as easily dislodged as the old gravel system to support the single track.

MMC and Gamuda had proposed a double-tracking railway system for a fast train service but the RM14.5-billion project was shelved by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi three years ago. Malaysian tycoon Francis Yeoh of YTL is now proposing a bullet train service between KL and Singapore but it's not known if the train service will materialise as well.

3. The disruption of the rail service has raised an interesting academic conundrum for bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore.

It is well known that Malaysia has legal title to the railway land in Singapore to operate a railway service through KTM. However, under the terms of the lease, should Malaysia stop operating its railway service to Singapore, the Malaysian railway land in Singapore reverts to Singapore (That is why KTM had been runing the shabby train service to Singapore although it was probably losing money from carrying so few passengers on each trip!)

The point is probably moot because Malaysia and Singapore had signed the so-called Points of Agreement to jointly re-develop the Malaysian railway land in Singapore in 1990. However, the two governments have not been able to come to terms on basic points in the POA in the past 16 years.

In fact, Malaysia's former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad didn't quite recognise the POA, saying it was not ratified by the Malaysian Parliament -- eight years after it was signed by former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew and ex-Malaysian Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin.

So what will happen to the Malaysian railway land in Singapore if Malaysia uses the damage caused by the flood as an excuse to stop its unpopular* train service to Singapore indefinitely?

*The train service is not the most popular mode of transport between Singapore and KL as it takes more than seven hours on the current single track. Furthermore, it's faster to travel by highway (4 hours) and planes (45 minutes). The KTM service will become even more anachronistic once the Asean open-skies pact takes effect in 2008, a move that will allow budget airlines to fly more freely between KL and Singapore and other Asean cities.

Latest: KTM has resumed train service since Christmas Eve, according to Singapore TV channel Channel NewsAsia. But KTM is still a shabby service!