Are the Organisers criminally negligent?

This is indeed a great tragedy, Hanging bridge collapses, 22 pupils drown in motivational program training.... and it illustrates once again the "tidak apa" attitudes of those who have been entrusted to do a job, and to ensure the safety of our children. Its hindsight comment unfortunately, but it has to be brought out for public opinion the question; "did the organisers actually went through the "course content" and the sites designated for the program to ensure that every part is in tip top condition (or repairs made) and the routes safe for the children, BEFORE the commencement of the training. I think answers have to be givien in order that the aggrieved parents and relatives know that their children's safety have not been compromised. Lessons will have to be learnt from this needless tragedy

Can an Aussie Expert save our motorcyclists?

I have read the letter WHY DON'T WE HIRE AUSSIE EXPERTS ON ROAD SAFETY? and I share the writer's concern over the mounting road deaths in our country especially of our motorcycle riders. I agree also with his comment that issuing police summons which largely remained unpaid and unenforced, and have to be collected through the giving of huge discounts, but I disagree with his suggestion that we hire an Aussie Road Death expert to study our problem and offer solutions. We know the problems causing such unnecessary deaths, we only need to brainstorm the solution. Hiring an expensive "Aussie Expert" who does not understand the local social and political culture in the country, will only be a waste of our funds on solutions that do not fit our needs. The causes of our high road deaths are as follows:

• The inadequacy of our motorcycle "testing" program. We all know of our infamous testing schools with "guaranteed" passes that can produce motorcyclists who have not learned how to ride properly
  
• Australians, by and large, follow all traffic rules, including putting on the indicator light when changing lanes, failure of which will result in a fine. Do Malaysians indicate when they change lanes?
  
• Australians generally are polite; cars which reach a cross junction first will be the car that leaves the junction first. In Malaysia, it's the bravest or the most reckless who will jump at the crossroads.
• Motorcyclists in Malaysia generally shoot the Red lights, or make U turns anywhere there is a space.
• Most motorcyclists have expired licences and insurances. Most of them also wear helmets that are not tied properly to the chin. Yesterday I saw a motorcycle with a pillion rider shoot the red light at a junction, crash into the side of a big car, and both the riders fell off the bike, and their helmets went hurtling somewhere else.
  
• 50% of our foreign workers use motorcycles. Are they properly "tested" and covered with insurance?
  
• the police seems to be ineffectual in catching these rogues, but with such reckless attitudes and selfish riders, doubling the police will not make much of a difference.
  
• In the outskirts of a city, finding 3 or more persons on a motorcycle is not unusual. Sometimes without helmets.
  

So, what will the Aussie expert tell us to do to solve our traffic woes? Unless we can change the attitudes of Malaysians (and the foreign immigrants) when riding, there will be little that we, or the Aussie Expert can do to help ourselves. Unless Malaysians know the laws are there to protect them, not otherwise, the deaths will mount....

One million summons, 4 arrests and 50% discount on fines.

I read through this article in Metro MPSJ says there are about 900,000 summons still unpaid..and I wish to quote from the column the statement made by the Honorable president.. "Adnan said that there were 900,000 unpaid parking summonses at MPSJ. He urged those with the summonses to pay quickly to avoid legal action. “We are giving a 50% discount until December and people can even make their payments online via our website. “Out of the 13,627 cases, we have issued 9,522 arrest warrants and 694 warrants have been successful served. “We are planning a big scale arrest operation for repeat offenders from mid-November until December with the help of the police. “So far, 4 arrests have been made and the offenders will be brought to court,”

What can be gleaned from the statement is that out of the almost one million UNPAID summons, only 4 arrests have been made, and a mere 694 warrants have been successfully served. It is a sorry statement of performance (OR NON PERFORMANCE) by MPSJ and the offer of 50% discount to those who have not since paid their fines must be sending absolutely the wrong message to those perpetual offenders. No wonder we find that parking and littering problems continue to be unsolved in PJ and KL ; in fact they seem to be getting worse! Rather than offer discounts, the authorities must redouble their efforts to nab the offenders. It would appear to me that issuing tickets and summons are not effective at all, IF the authorities are not serious in enforcing those summonses. Every offender now knows they will get away cheap, and the chances of being apprehended is next to nil. I am aware that this is not an easy problem to solve, but to continue issuing millions of summonses and letting offenders get away with their "crimes" is just a slap in the face of the Authority.and a waste of everybody's time..

Outlet still operating after more than 10 Police Raids.

Dear Editor,
Reading your report on a raid made by the Police state anti-vice, secret society and gambling branch.Police sources said the outlet(a karaoke joint with illegal foreign workers) had been raided at least 10 times., it is somewhat unsettling to read that the entertainment outlet which employs illegal workers and GROs have been raided AT LEAST 10 TIMES by the Police and the local anti vice authorities! I am not sure what to think of the enforcers, that they have allowed the continued operations of the business blatantly done in defiance of the laws. This begs the questions:

• Are the fines and other penalties so trivial that the owners of the business gladly pay them and then commence again their "monkey business"?
• Don't the authorities have the power to close down the premise, and prohibit it from doing the same business again? In this respect, I am aware that in the licensing of gaming and 'entertainment' outlets, a SPECIFIC Police approval is required before such a licence is approved.
• Does that mean the police have approved the business to be carried out there, IN SPITE of having raided this particular outlet at least 10 times?

It would be good if the Public can know of the reasons why such outlets have been approved to cotinue their businesses in spite of regular "enforcement". Personally i would be terribly embarrassed, if the illegal business have continued to flourish in my jurisdiction in spite of raiding it and closing it down for more than 10 times. It must show that the authorities have not been serious in doing their jobs?

Why is the outlet still operating??

Sex Predator in School?

I am reading this news report with disbelief,Man (secret health research assistant?) tries to con teacher into having sex I can glean the following from the details of the news article:

• Police Report made on August 18, after continuous sexual harassment made by the "teacher"
• The person has been remanded for 7 days, but subsequently released and is still apparently teaching in the same school
• Sate Education Officer and State Police have confirmed the case.
• Report of harassment also reported to Health and Education Departments.

I cannot imagine the stress that the lady teachers of the school must be enduring as the alleged sex predator is still in the same school. I also cannot imagine that this guy will ever be voted as the "most dedicated" teacher too, as I think his mind is only on "statistics" of the other female teachers. Will the Ministry come up with a decision that the correct action will be taken to address this issue. It is morally wrong to subject female teachers to such duress, and whether the case is proven or not, administratively, some action should be taken to allow the teaching atmosphere in the school to return to normal.

3 years to get the DNA of a dead bird??

After reading your report SWIFT DECISION and the statement that Swiftlet Farms in Sepang are to stay, I was however struck by the statement made by Mr Mah, the apparent spokesman for the Swiftlet farmers. I quote below:

"...The airport authorities suspect that the birds getting tangled into aircraft were swiftlets but there was no proof from Perhilitan to back their claims.It will take between two and three years for a DNA report to determine the species of birds that get tangled in the engines. They should get proof and provide data on how many accidents have been caused by swiftlets before asking the farmers to relocate...."

I was dumbfounded by the statement that it takes up to three years for somebody to identify the DNA of swiftlets? Other than the obvious cleverness in titling this report a "swift" decision, I feel such an important issue being treated so frivolously is NOT FUNNY at all. Firstly, if the airport authorities and MAS suspect that the birds that were sucked into the engines were swiftlets, the Department of Wildlife and Perhilitan should take immediate measures to ascertain the facts of the case, and that the swiftlet farms in Sepang DO NOT cause such dangerous incidents.Does Malaysia want to be the centre of some notoriety if one of the planes using the airport is brought down by swiftlets crashing into the Engines causing the deaths of hundreds of passengers? Knowing the fact that swiflet farms are in the vicinity, will Malaysia Airports Holdings be then deemed to be negligent, and be held responsible for the deaths? Why does Perhilitan allow the spokesperson of the Swiftlets Merchants Assocation to justify their existence (and to speak on Perhilitan's behalf) by announcing that it takes up to three years for anyone to determine the DNA of the birds that were sucked into the jet engines? Are our Ministries and Departments involved in this issue so inefficient that they cannot find a way to determine the DNA of the dead birds, say in three months? I think the travelling public deserves a proper explanation and better protection, from Malaysia Airport Holdings, not from the Swiftlet farmers..

City Hall must be joking!!!

Reading the news City Hall: It is beyond our jurisdiction to act against cybercafes with tinted glass and the subsequent letter written by me Bar tinted glass at Internet cafes I cannot believe that City Hall and other local authorities have made the excuse that it is beyond their jurisdiction not to allow massage parlours and Cybercafes to have tinted glasses on their doors to "hide' the activities happening inside. Let us make something clear. The issue of a business permit for the premise comes from the Local Authority or City hall, and it is accepted that certain conditions are always stipulated for compliance, or the licence can be withdrawn. What is the difficulty for City hall to stipulate that the Cybercafe or Massage parlour must operate in conditions that are easily visible or accessible to the public and the authorities, and NO effort must be made to hide or avoid such activities from being observed by the public. Such conditions to the licences conform to reasonable Moral requirements of our society. Failure to comply can mean the forfeiture of the licence. The excuses "cooked" up by City Hall that MCMC is "in charge" is laughable at best, and is the worst example of an indifferent Govt at its worst...

Come on, why are we having KPIs when such nonsense is continuously being perpetuated?

Have Toll conscessionaires got the BEST toll system?

Thank you for your report on "Toll Tales" No chance for toll collectors to pocket change and I was struck by the comment of one of the concessionaires, responding to a question by your reporter, I quote, "..However, one big question remains — the treadle would not be able to differentiate taxis and private cars as both have four tyres and two axles. Litrak admitted that it was the only setback but the company was aware of the pattern, as in the number of taxis using the highway, thus it was capable of spotting any unusual collections..."

This is surely NOT a satisfactory situation to be in, and I feel the concessionaire, has not properly evaluated or installed a system with proper controls, to completely eliminate this weakness. I understand that there are concessionaires who have eliminated this menace, by installing CCTVs on each lane, which takes as snap shot (frame grab) of the vehicle each time a Class 4 or taxi is indicated. At the end of shift, these 'frame grabs' are viewed by the supervisor, and if for example, a "non taxi" is classified as a taxi, appropriate action will be taken against the toll collector. Such a system will remove any doubt, and enhance the security of the Toll collections..I wonder if this concessionaire has considered this option, instead of relying on "traffic patterns" to do his job

What's there to hide, if Cybercafes are legal?

I am relieved to read that regular checks are made on illegal Internet Cafes,Raid on Illegal Cybercafes! but I have one comment to make. I am sure the local authorities have guidelines on how an Internet Cafe should be set up, but I am wondering, if the Cybercafes are legal, why do they ALL have dark tinted glass on their doors and windows? I have just noticed a new Internet Cafe being opened in my Section in PJ , and I noticed the glass door is dark and the activities cannot be viewed from outside. Is the dark glass a REQUIREMENT, for Internet Cafes? I would like to presume that since licenses have been issued to these cafes, it would be easier to monitor and enforce the rules, if the premise can be easily viewed by the public from the outside. We then can see if, for example, there are kids playing in the cafe, when they should be in school (by the way, a primary school is less than 50 metres from the shop), or if the cafe is engaged in Gambling or other undesirable activities. If the dark glass is a requirement for the licence, so as not to unnecessarily "attract" patrons to the cafe, then based on the same principle, it would be consistent to require all Gaming outlets** to have dark glass doors to cover up their gaming activities...

Bar Tinted Glasses

Malaysia a "politically maturing" society??

MCA battle enters its final round

Extract... " The public punishes even the slightest indiscretion. Tainted leaders are condemned, discredited and hounded out of office without mercy. An example is what happened to Shoichi Nakagawa, a rising Japanese leader of prime minister material who quit as finance minister after appearing to slur at a press conference in April. Nakagawa, who was found dead on Sunday of yet unknown causes, apologised and resigned for the mere appearance of slurred speech. It cost Nakagawa his job and his career, what more a big-sized sex scandal like the one that hit Dr Chua in 2007...."

Dear Barada,
I think most of of us, who do not care a hoot about MCA and its shenangins, (those members putting self interest over national interests), cannot but detect that your article is biased, to say the least. The MCA president must be pleased. I actually do not have any dislike for Dato OTK, but I am not particularly fond of Dato CSL either, though I feel he could have been a moderately successful "actor" in some movies. But I am writing to dispute your view that we are maturing society (though chronologically speaking I agree), and that we will not stand for any "tainted" politician or Government official to continue holding on to his position. You further illustrated this by describing what the Japanese Minister S. Nakagawa did, to the extent that he may have taken his life for some drunken impropriety while represnting the country. Give us a break!!! I am sure you have read all the news in the mainstream media, but mainly on the Internet, that our politicians are still alive and kicking after being deluged by all sorts of scandals and crimes, like rape of young girls, blatant corruption, staying in residences far beyond what their proven wealth would allow, alleged murders, being caught wearing only a towel with a young actress, overseas "training" junkets using Govt funds, proven to be involved in money politics, and many many more.Have you seen these guys declining to stand for elections, or even commit harakiri? Also, if you look at recent examples that English MPs getting into trouble using Govt funds to buy horse manure for their gardens, you can see how "corrupt" our politicians are. My personal view is that whether CSL or OTK will lose will not depend on MCA members voting "maturely", but rather on " politics" which actually will mean anything goes....................... God save us Malaysians....