只顾扑火而忘了大计

在这次几件中国女郎受羞辱事件中， 俺观察到以下几点：

1. 政府再好的政策都没用， 以为在执行政策的时候往往都出现偏差， 上层的指示下不达意。 官僚作风永远摒弃不了。
   
2. 政府往往总是等事情发生了， 才来亡羊补牢。 所以当等事情发生后， 它所造成的破坏力更大， 影响更深。
   
3. 目前只看到政府在努力“扑火”， 却没有看到任何人提出什么具体的措施以避免同样的事一再发生。
   

因此不要一味声明将会阻止同样的事件再发生， 请告诉我们您官老爷如何能防止类似问题重现！

来看， 先进州！

这样的一个儿童游乐公园， 叫咱们的孩子怎样玩呢？

这並不是一个被抛弃的公园。 这里是雪兰莪州其中一个住宅区里的公园。 这样的设施不只是不适合儿童游玩， 在雨季的时候， 积水的“水潭”还是蚊虫滋生的温床。 俺真不明白这先进州的名称是怎样来的？

Why traffic jam? Part 1

Look at this video clip, this is one of the reasons why KL is all-time jammed!

Drivers indiscriminately park along yellow lines, blocking the smoothness of road traffic. Interestingly, one can be rest assured that no traffic police will be around to issue you a summon! So, why bother?

过分打压必反

且让我们把焦点移回到博大学生被打压的事件上。 毕竟最近因为太多有关中国女郎被羞辱的事件和报道而分散了大众的注意力。

我国政府在国际反恐的立场上， 一向都以“回归至问题的根本”为原则。 因为如果对某些社群过于打压， 在没有能力用正确的管道来争取自己的利益下， 唯有靠暴力或恐怖活动来解决问题了。 最典型的一个例子就是巴勒斯坦解放阵线。 由于在没有得到任何强国的支持下， 而本身的武力也比不上以色列， 进而走向通过恐怖事件以达至建国的目标。班虽然这是相当不智的举动， 但想一想他们还有什么可以做的呢？

同样的， 如果本地的某些组织或社群被过分打压而又没有地方申屈， 你说最终会不会发生不愉快的事件呢？ 其实， 俺觉得非常荣幸的是大部分的本地人都非常热爱和平的。 但俺却不希望当局利用这点来为所欲为， 得寸进尺。 大学管理层有没有想到如果大学生连搞个和平聚会的机会都不给， 言论自由也没有，如何能培养独立的思想和成熟的判断能力。 那样的大学生对国家以后的贡献是怎样的呢？ 他们又如何面对全球艰峻的竞争呢？

Aku janji!

内阁的劝告也可以不用遵从， 警察部队的纪律去了那里？

Banking is not for the poor

What is the message you receive from this notice?

To me, it means: the rich get richer; the poor get poorer!
For an above average person, keeping an account above RM5000 is not a problem. So not only he/she does not need to pay for the monthly service fee of RM5, he could also enjoy some interest from any balance above RM5000.

For those in the lower income bracket, it is burden to keep at least RM5000 in a current account. Usually they will top up the fund whenever issuing checks. So this is the people who need to pay the RM60 service fee per year, on top of losing all the interest for whatever amount below RM5000.

The effect of the capital market is getting worse now here. Life is getting tougher, you better do something!

穷者越穷, 富者越富!

Bravo, SWRTA!

According to BERNAMA’s news on it’s web site, Selangor and Wilayah Radio Taxi Association has just won the Quality Crown Award London 2005. Looking at the bad track record of taxi services in KL, it really surprises me that one of the taxi operators here could even win such a highly acclaimed international award in overseas.

So next time if you need a cab, give it a try on Selangor and Wilayah Radio Taxi Association. And please give me the feedback on their service, compare with others.

The contact number can be found here:

Persatuan Radio Teksi Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan
Tel: 03 2693 6211

Enforcement Is Part Of Education: Part 2

In my opinion, no doubt that heavier punishment is one of the prevention measurements. However, if there is nobody or not enough people there on the street to nab those stubborn traffic offenders, it is useless altogether. Whenever we mentioned about poor enforcement, the excuse is always lack of resources. Just look at the typical Malaysia streets:

• car owners parked their car alongside the yellow line at their own desire without even bother about being summoned (why worry, there is always mega sales time to pay our summon)
• road bullies who force your car or sometimes scratch your car with their vehicle body to switch lane arrogantly (when report to police, police officers would say: ini bukan langgar, geser sahaja, tak boleh buat apa!)
• beating of traffic lights (not only motorcycles, there are lots of cars doing that)
• double line overtaking; speeding; road hogging and tailgating (why bother, nobody will see me doing that!)

I would say education is important. While this would take longer time to see the effect, enforcement will be the immediate medicine to these social disease. Our Education Minister has proposed to include the traffic safety code into the school curriculum, but please don’t forget theory and practical are two different things! Teachers says that parking at the yellow line is offending the traffic rule, but my dad who wait outside the school at yellow line to fetch me home says that it doesn’t matter because it’s just for a short time only! Teachers says that we must be keep our seat belt fastened whenever we travel, but my parents say it’s ok for me to jump around in our MPV! Now do you see enforcement is part of the education to our next generation? And who is the actual educator? When come to enforcement, do we really need to learn from our neigbouring country, which our government is very reluctant to do so?

Related links:
PM at a loss on how to reduce accidents on the roads [The Star 15-Nov-2005 ]
2,000 booked for speeding during Ops Sikap [The Star 11-Nov-2005 ]
Higher death toll this time around [The Star 11-Nov-2005 ]
Irresponsible parents are to blame [The Star 10-Nov-2005 ]

Enforcement Is Part Of Education: Part 1

Lots have been discussed on how to reduce road accidents and transportation related fatalities in Malaysia. So far, it seems that none of the effort by the government has been successful! With the conclusion of the recently launched Ops Sikap IX during the double festivals which claimed that the operation was “not a failure”, but it didn’t seems to improve much in reducing road fatalities.

Some said imposing heavier punishment may see some results; while some said everything should start from education. A series of measurements have been taken by the government to curb the increasing traffic offenders. These include shortening of maximum driving license renewable years from 10 to 5 years; on-the-spot suspension of driving license for severe offences; express bus black box white-elephant project, and now the proposal of higher premiums for errant motorists. Do all these work?

只是善待中国游客吗？

针对今天星洲日报头版 〈內閣指示移民局不可越權．善待中國遊客〉, 大家或许松了一口气。 因为在日前被警方性污辱的3名中国妇女终于可以讨回个公道了。 俺也觉得非常高兴，因为政府总算做对了一件事。

然而， 如果再深一层的解读以上说法和行动，你是否看得出那里出了差错呢？

俺希望政府不只是善待中国游客而已， 而是所有前来我国观光的游客。 这样才能真正维护我们大马的形象。

Want to see how Malaysian drives? Part 1

Do you want to see how Malaysian drivers behave on the road?

These are some of the real life photos of how people drives on our streets. The first picture shows us those who already understood that cars are not allowed to stop at yellow boxes but still left their cars on the yellow box while waiting for green light.



The following 2 pictures show those stubborn drivers who use bus lane for their own convenience, although they know it is an offence.


Many of you might think that these are small mistakes and will not cause fatalities anyway. But please don't forget serious traffic offence start from the small one first. I believe all the drivers here understand it is not right to do all these, but they want to do that because:

1. it's convenient (selfish)
2. nobody is going to catch me (no enforcement. Yes, I would say no, instead of less)
3. other people are doing that also (if you don't start, who will do)

So what do you? Where went wrong to Malaysian licensed drivers?

More photos are on the way ...

ITIS – Another proud project in Malaysia

For several days, I have passed by several stretches in KL town that are “monitored” by ITIS. These are what I observed during peak hours in the evening.

What is the purpose of the VMS (the big screen) if it is blank during the peak hours when the motorists need them the most?
You will notice that there are a lot of cameras already installed in every corner in the city. However, when you visit the ITIS web site, most of the cameras are either not available or not working. I hope this is not a another white elephant project in Malaysia.

P/S: I have observed an interesting message found in one of VMS, saying “Kesesakan biasa berlaku di Jalan Semantan …”. First it tells everybody that the road is congested as usual (biasa); second it also tells the road users that that road is as congested as usual. If I’m not the frequent road user of that road, then I’m not biasa to that road, so there’s no way for me to imagine how jam is the road!

许子根，有胆的就站稳立场！

起初是支持母语教数理。 过后则说没把话完整的说出来。 最后就干脆不说， 一切由“内部”讨论。许子根博士， 有胆量的就站稳立场， 我们会支持你的， 就如你身边的战友一样。

英语是可以教数理， 但俺认为不适合在小学实行， 因为各源流小学的媒介语都不是英语。 而且小学也正是用来打好语言基础的时刻， 连基础都还没稳， 如何能搞好用自己听不懂的语言来教的科目呢？ 如果为了用英语教学来提升英语水准， 那就应该猛攻英语语言科， 而不是牺牲原本可以以母语掌握得更好的数理科。

原本还以为终于有人在国阵说真话了， 可是如今俺看到的是一切扫入地下， 有点像黑箱作业的感觉， 真令人发指。

延长退休年龄可以留住人才吗?

日前星洲日报报道的高教部檢討機制留住人才．專才退休年齡或延長给俺留了一个问号。 本地大学人才外流的真正原因到底是什么？如果靠延长退休年龄来留住人才， 这是否一味着本地人才年轻与资深两辈衔接出现断层现象？
依俺看， 与其延长退休年龄， 倒不如实际点儿。 除了提高工资之外， 俺相信拥有公平的跃升机会机制和更开明的学术研究环境是很重要的。

Who owns the media

[Courtesy of Malaysiakini]

As an update to my previous blog: 首要媒体拥多家电视的隐忧 which mentioned the worrying situation of media monopolies in Malaysia, I have attached this piece of information, telling us who owns the media locally.

Senarai URL dan Emel Kementerian

Cuba jawablah soalan pengetahuan am ini. Berapakah kementerian wujud di dalam kerajaan Malaysia?

Dengan bantuan laman web Pejabat Perdana Menteri dan Sinchew Daily, saya mendapat maklumat mengenai kementerian-kementerian di Malaysia, termasuk URL laman web dan Emel masing-masing. Bagaimanapun, hanya satu kementerian tidak mempunyai emel iaitu Kementerian Pelajaran. Sekiranya anda mempunyai maklumat tersebut, silalah hubungi saya supaya saya dapat mengemaskinikannya.

*****
I have been curious about the report saying that there are about 10 ministers without email address. So I went on and do some searching and indeed there were 10 minitries without such information. With the help of Sinchew Daily and PMO, I have finally consolidate all the URLs and Email addresses for each ministry, except Ministry of Education.

*****
俺早在案1995年就已经在JARING 设立一个电邮户头了, 可是俺对于最近一篇报道感到惊诧。 因为我国竟有10位部长没有电邮户头，在这个网络时代竟有这等事情， 真是不可思议。 接着第二天才有6位部长随后補上电邮。俺借着星洲日报网页和首相署部门官方网页的资料，统核了各个部门的网址和电邮， 以供读者参考。 惟缺教育部门无法取得有关资料。如有错误请大家通知纠正。


1. 首相署 (Jabatan Perdana Menteri)
http://www.pmo.gov.my/
mailto:ppm@pmo.gov.my
mailto:tpm@pmo.gov.my
2. 財政部 (Kementerian Kewangan; Ministry of Finance)
http://www.treasury.gov.my/
mailto:ppm@pmo.gov.my
3. 國防部 (Kementerian Pertahanan; Ministry Of Defence)
http://www.mois.gov.my/
najib@mod.gov.my
4. 國內事務部 (Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri; Ministry of Home Affairs)
http://www.kdn.gov.my/
azmi@moha.gov.my
5. 房屋及地方政府部 (Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan; Ministry of Housing and Local Government)
http://www.kpkt.gov.my/
menteri@kpkt.gov.my
6. 公共工程部 (Kementerian Kerja Raya; Ministry of Works)
http://www.kkr.gov.my/
menteri@kkr.gov.my
7. 國際貿易及工業部 (Kementerian Perdagangan Antarabangsa Dan Industri; Ministry of International Trade and Industry)
http://www.miti.gov.my/
rafidahaziz@miti.gov.my
8. 外交部 (Kementerian Luar Negeri; Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
http://www.kln.gov.my/
syhamid@kln.gov.my
9. 人力資源部 (Kementerian Sumber Manusia; Ministry of Human Resource)
http://www.mohr.gov.my/
fongco@mohr.gov.my
10. 青年體育部 (Kementerian Belia Dan Sukan; Ministry Of Youth And Sports)
http://www.kbs.gov.my/
mailto:datukazalina@menteribeliasukan.net
11. 國內貿易及消費部 (Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna)
http://www.kpdnhep.gov.my/
menteri@kpdnhep.gov.my
12. 能源、水務與通訊部 (Kementerian Tenaga, Air Dan Komunikasi; Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications Malaysia)
http://www.ktkm.gov.my/
kmlim@ktak.gov.my
13. 教育部 (Kementerian Pelajaran; Ministry of Education)
http://www.moe.gov.my/
14. 高等教育部 (Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi; Ministry of Higher Education)
http://www.mohe.gov.my/
shafi@mohe.gov.my
15. 企業發展與合作部 (Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan Dan Koperasi; Ministry Of Entrepreneurial Co-Operative Development)
http://www.mecd.gov.my/
mailto:khaled@kpun.gov.my
16. 天然、資源與環境部 (Kementerian Sumber Asli Dan Alam Sekitar; Ministry of Natural Resource & Environment)
http://www.nre.gov.my/
adenan@nre.gov.my
17. 農業與農基工業部 (Kementerian Pertanian Dan Industrian Asas Tani; Ministry of Agriculture And Agro-Based Industry)
http://agrolink.moa.my/
muhyiddin@agri.moa.my
18. 交通部 (Kementerian Pengangkutan; Ministry Of Transport)
http://www.mot.gov.my/
menteri@mot.gov.my
19. 科學、工藝與革新部 (Kementerian Sains, Teknologi Dan Inovasi; Ministry of Science, Technology And Innovation)
http://www.mosti.gov.my/
menteri@moste.gov.my
20. 旅游部 (Kementerian Pelancongan; Ministry Of Tourism)
http://www.mocat.gov.my/
mailto:menteri@mocat.gov.my
21. 藝術、文化與文物部 (Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian and Warisan Malaysia; Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage)
http://www.heritage.gov.my/
drrais@heritage.gov.my
22. 婦女、家庭與社會發展部 (Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga Dan Masyarakat; Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development)
http://www.kpwkm.gov.my/
shahrizat@kpwkm.gov.my
23. 鄉村與區域發展部 (Kementerian Pembangunan Luar Bandar Dan Wilayah; Ministry Of Rural And Regional Development)
http://www.kplb.gov.my/
mailto:aziz@kplb.gov.my
24. 種植與原產業部 (Kementerian Perusahaan Perladangan Dan Komoditi; Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities)
http://www.kpu.gov.my/
peterchin@kppk.gov.my
25. 衛生部 (Kementerian Kesihatan; Ministry of Health Malaysia)
http://www.moh.gov.my/
CHTeck@moh.gov.my
26. 聯邦直轄區部 (Kementerian Wilayah Persekutuan; Ministry of Federal Territories)
http://www.kwp.gov.my/
ybmenteri@kwp.gov.my
27. 新闻部 (Kementerian Penerangan)
http://www.mois.gov.my/
abdullah@mois.gov.my
28. 国内安全部(Kementerian Keselamatan Dalam Negeri)
http://www.kempen.gov.my/
menteri@kempen.gov.my

First class technology; third class service

When have we become the quality control of our Malaysian Registration Department? As appeared in a report at the Star on November 3, 2005, our Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho asked those who apply for MyKad should check the religion as stated in their identity card.

No doubt, whenever we perform any transaction at bank counters, government offices, one should always check the transaction details before leaving the counter. However, the government official should seriously look into the number of mistakes made by their staffs as it is getting worse nowadays. Even though we have found out that there is error in the MyKad and reported immediately, in a number of cases the staff would ask them to reapply, making the process of rectifying the details so complicated and tedious. That is one of the reasons why those MyKad errata victims would often look out help from MP.

In my opinion, why make it wrong at the first place? By observing most of the news reporting, it is actually the staff who often took it for granted, by putting the wrong religion, sex and even the card number or name. Some of the mistakes are obvious. For instance, how could a man assigned with a sex female and vice versa; a Singhalese man is of Islam.

Personally I have this very bad experience with the tax department, LHDN. My brother, who worked for a year after graduate, visited the IRD office in Perak to open a tax account. Upon checking from the computer system, the staff there said he actually had an existing account, and subsequently gave him the account number, which was mine. Apparently the staff mistakenly found my name, which is similar with my brother’s with the first and middle name, and assigned my account to my brother without even look at other details. My brother, still fresh at that time, just accept whatever was given.

Since my brother was with a company in Perak, he then wrote a letter to transfer the file from KL to Perak. To my dismay, LHDN office in KL dully accepted the application and transferred my file to Perak, even though the undersigned is NOT ME! And this is the beginning of a series of trouble processes to get everything correct and rectified. This took me few months, and throughout these processes, there were even mistakes in between, including transferring my file to PJ, before transfer back to my home branch in KL.

The major problems in our civil service are: lack of efficiency and accuracy; staffs are always complacent and sometimes even bossy. We, the rakyat are the one who pay them the gaji, and yet they act like king or queen. I would say Pak Lah, it is really time to seriously make good in civil service for the sake of our country. Inefficient in government service would chase away foreign investors, depleting our people’s living quality and kills productivity.

Related links:

“我是錫克教徒！”．大馬卡又錯置宗教信仰
Check info in your MyKad
大馬卡宗教資料．更換程序將簡化

又是谁在控制大专生的思想

[Courtesy of Screenshots]

不说大家也许不知， 俺昨早浏览 Jeff Ooi 的部落阁时阅到一篇blog。 马来西亚学生（大专）事务处竟然干涉到老远的芝加哥大学生的活动。大家不妨参阅该篇blog 里读者寄来的一封信。

大致上该篇blog的内容是这样： 前副首相安华将于今天在密芝根大学（Michigan Unversity）给讲义。 而当地的学生事务处总监拉欣竟发出一篇通告， 警告並禁止马来西亚学生， 尤其是政府赞助的攻读生出席这项演讲。拉欣所给出的理由是， 学生不能参与任何和政府政策有抵触的活动， 因为这些活动和反对党有牵连。 他还鼓励学生们互相监视对方以通知该局是谁牵涉这种活动。

对于以上事件， 俺本身有好几项意见和疑问：

1． 是谁授权于拉欣发出这项通告？ 政府， 高教部还是国阵？
2． 这项限制是否与该大学或地方法律有所抵触？
3． 是谁在控制大专生的思想？ 如果这样子下去， 我们以后会有独立思想， 具分析力的大学生吗？ 我们的大学生是不是会完全接受或吸呐所有讲师所讲的东西呢？
4． 有些人一直认为国阵就是政府，政府就是国阵， 而且还企图对人民灌输这种思想。我们必须分清楚，国阵和政府是分开的。 如果有一天国阵在大选里输了， 那国阵就是反对党。
5． 反对党的活动一定是和政府的政策抵触的吗？ 反对党或许在一些理念上和国阵不同， 但未必和政府的政策抵触， 这是我们必须搞清楚的。
6． 大学生， 或是民众就不可以挑战或质疑一些政府政策吗？

俺真是无法想象我国的教育系统会训练出怎样的人才出来？ 而什么样的人才就会统治出舍样的国家出来！

首要媒体拥多家电视的隐忧

随着首要媒體（Media Prima Bhd）收購NTV7 100%股權后, 首要媒體将成为本地最大的私人免收费电视频道拥有者. 除了原本的TV3之外, 首要媒體也同时控制Channel 9 和八度空間.

无论从经济或政治上的角度来看, 俺总觉得这现象不太健康. 第一, 一些人可能认为有间庞大的独立公司与寰宇衛星電視(ASTRO)对抗或许会比较有竞争力. 但由于两者的市场目标稍微不同, 也就是免收费电视与收收费电视, 因此可以说是各做各的. 但是如果从免收费电视的领域来看, 这其实就出现了垄断的局面. 无形中对消费者可说是一大悲剧. 怎么说呢? 因为没有竞争嘛, 所以业者通常也不怎么考虑消费者的意见. 只要本公司喜欢播放什么, 你就要看什么! 就比如日前一个活生生的例子: NTV7华语新闻将从7日起減至45分钟! 俺相信这又将会引起华社的另一轮反弹. 可是首要媒體却可分分钟狡辩, 说这是商业考量, 您又奈得了我何!

第二, 首要媒體一早就控制着新海峽時報集團，它出版英文《新海峽時報》,《馬來郵報》及馬來文《每日新聞》及《每日大都會》. 从俺过去的观察, TV3和以上一些平面媒体的报道都相当亲国阵政府. 尤其在大选的当儿, 你会发觉到非国阵候选人所所得到的暴光率是少之又少. 而且有相当多的报道都不是很中立. 因此, 俺认为首要媒體接管了所有私人免收费电视台后, 俺觉得对本地民主开放的进程是一个阻碍.

Happy Deepavali & Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Hi all readers,
watraffic wish all of you a very Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. I shall be on holiday until this weekend. So see you all again on next Monday.

Happpy holiday!
watraffic