12 œ theSun | FRIDAY MARCH 20 2009

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Excitement over Nationalise highways!

Think again

Gobind, Karpal and Ali

At the Dewan Rakyat
by Zainon Ahmad
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GOBIND Singh Deo (DAP-
Puchong) was suspended on
Monday by the Dewan Rakyat for
a year for calling Deputy Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak
a murderer but reference to the
decision punctuated much of the
debates throughout the week.
Discussion on that and on two
events outside the House – the sedi-
tion charges brought against his
father, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit
Gelugor), and the travails of Ma-
lacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ali
Rustam – raised the temperature of
the House as members abused their
counterparts across the floor.
They generated a lot of excitement
and this caused the Dewan Rakyat,
its lobby and Members Lounge in-
cluded, to become such a happening
place that it attracted more visitors
to the national legislature than previ-
ously. Finding a parking spot in the
morning was like winning a lottery.
Sitting in the public gallery, the
visitors would not take long to notice
that there are more shouters than de-
baters. Of course there are those like
Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit
(BN-Mambong) and Dr Dzulki-
fli Ahmad (PAS-Kuala Selangor)
who come prepared with notes like
veteran Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh
Timur) who is never without his
notes, newspaper cuttings and even
reference books whenever it is his
turn to speak.
But except for the numbers, lit-
tle has changed. Of course, where
the BN side could shout down any
attempt by the other side to raise
their voices before March 8, 2008, the
roar that comes from the opposition
pews now is equally powerful, if not
more so. This was the case during
the debate on the motion to ban
Gobind from the House for a year
without allowances and benefits for
his unparliamentary behaviour last
Thursday which included shouting
“you should be ashamed of yourself”
to deputy speaker Datuk Ronald
Kiandee when ordered to leave the
House.
There were lots of shouting
especially when Minister in the
Prime Minister’s Department Datuk
Seri Nazri Aziz was rounding up the
debate on the motion. All the opposi-
tion members stood up and shouted,
and for a few minutes drowned out
Nazri before they walked out.
Kit Siang, who appeared rather
subdued since the meeting began in
February, was his ebullient self again
during the debate on the economic
stimulus package presented by Najib,
who is also finance minister.
But the package was more an
excuse as he had other bones to pick
with the government. For instance,
on Tuesday, he told the House that
the charges brought against Karpal,
his party chairman, was “a politically
motivated persecution”, a victim of
“the addictive politics” that the ruling
BN is involved in.
And old campaigner, he pegged
his railings against the government,
BN and Umno to their failure – due
to too much politicking – to rally the
people to unite to face the economic
turmoil that the country is facing.
Still, when he brought up the
subject of money politics in Umno,
a number of BN MPs stood up to
question the relevance of what he
was saying to the stimulus package.
He easily side-stepped them and
went on to say that money politics in
Umno was the worst this year.
When he brought up the subject
of Malacca Chief Minister Ali, sev-
eral BN members tried to prevent
him from continuing by asking for its
relevance to the stimulus package.
When he asked whether a man
who has been found guilty of money
politics and barred by the party to
contest in the party election could
continue to be chief minister, those
behind him in a thunderous roar
said “tak boleh.” He was unstop-
pable. Mohd Nor Othman (BN-
Hulu Terengganu) tried. Datuk
Ahmad Hamzah (BN-Jasin) also
tried when he stood up to protest Kit
Siang’s reference to Ali saying that
the chief minister was not involved
in corruption but had merely violated
some ethics of Umno.
The DAP strongman even went
into details of how money is solicited
and offered, saying the whole proc-
ess of money politics in Umno had
produced its own nomenclature.
For instance he said when some-
one asked whether it was sekolah
kebangsaan and sekolah Inggeris,
he actually meant SK or SI which
are abbreviations for salam kosong
or salam isi which mean “empty
handshake” or “handshake with
something inside”. The whole house
reverberated with laughter especially
when he said satu tiang, or one pillar
means, a hundred ringgit and dua
tiang means two hundred ringgit.
Tiang sri, or main pillar, means a
thousand ringgit.
Outside the House the excitement
was palpable as press conferences are
held to clarify what has been insuf-
ficiently explained about a topic or a
stand or to counter earlier statements
to the press. Again Gobind, Karpal
and Ali were the subjects with Ali
being the hottest. He was neck and
neck with International Trade and
Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin
Yassin in the race to be deputy Umno
president, with Rural and Regional
Development Minister Senator Tan
Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib a
distant third.
A backlash against the decision
to bar Ali is forecasted by the wags
in the Members Lounge and when
they saw the senator in the lobby on
Wednesday they nudged each other
and whispered: “Behold, our next
deputy prime minister.”
I REFER to “Nationalise toll highways, let Selangor man-
age water” (March 19). The groups making the appeal have
not thought out the issue properly. Have they considered
the impact of “nationalisation”?
» Whether the government nationalises the highways or
not, these tolled highways will revert to the government.
» If the government nationalises the highways after paying
“market price” for them, will the workers involved in the
operations and maintenance of the highways become civil
servants? Will they fit into the pensionable schemes, or will
they continue to contribute to the EPF? What about their
length of service?
» Do the groups assume that the “nationalised” companies
will then not collect toll? If so, how will the government
find the budget to pay for the operations and maintenance,
etc? Remember, this will be in addition to the lump sum
Gobind… paid to “nationalise” the highways.
suspended » Have the groups given any consideration to the several
listed companies that have toll highways as their core busi-
ness? What will the impact be on the Bursa and the foreign
investors if these toll companies are to suddenly fall into
government hands. Will the other shareholders have con-
fidence in the companies anymore?
» If the tolled companies are taken over by the government,
will the government continue with all the maintenance and
third party contracts that have been entered, to maintain
and keep the highways in optimum condition?
The groups should consider asking the government to
give ownership of the highways to the concessionaires in
perpetuity, in exchange for immediately reducing toll rates
to a fraction of current rates, and not pay compensation.
This will ensure that toll rates are collected to maintain
the highways and operations, while ensuring that these
companies still survive as business entities, albeit without
Karpal… making super profits. Nationalisation is easy to talk about,
charged but have these groups thought about the repercussions?
Tam Yeng Siang
Petaling Jaya
Enforce no-smoking rule
AFTER the initial (and inter- know that the authorities
mittent) flurry of enforce- are serious, and that No
ment of the no-smoking Smoking signs are not mere
rule in gazetted areas, the decorations.
authorities are getting lax And my message to
again. smokers: please be con-
May I request the Health siderate in the presence of
Ministry to strictly enforce non-smokers and children
the rule. It is pointless hav- – and just look around and
ing No Smoking signs in note that many students in
Ali… barred air-conditioned premises uniform are already boldly
and ignoring them. smoking in public – do you
Perhaps we should fol- really want to encourage
low Singapore’s example that?
and change our signs to: No
Smoking, By Law, and strictly D Yap
enforce it – so that smokers Kuala Lumpur

Add value to buses, trains and taxis

WE are in dire need of
a good public transport
system. Its development
should be a major part of the
stimulus package. Enough
of the many studies just do it.
Common sense tells us that a
good system is the signature
of a developed nation.
A good public transport
system comes with a strong
political will. Before Rapid
Penang, the transport system
in Penang was in a shambles.
It was scary to use public
transport. Over-charging
cabbies, pirate taxis and ille-
gal van operators were king
makers. Since Rapid Pen-
ang’s start in July 2007, the
state’s public transport sys-
tem saw much improvement
despite the many challenges.
Nevertheless, there is always
room for improvement.
A good public transport
system needs subsidies to
sustain and break even. It
should never be profit driven
but be progress driven and
change with time. All public
buses that are not road-
worthy must be replaced.
A good public transport
system is among the many
pre-requisites for any country
desiring to host events such
as the prestigious Olympics.
Hence only developed na-
tions are qualified to host the
Olympics.
A good public transport
system requires good infra-
structure, among which are
basic bus shelters. A bus
shelter should serve all com-
muters, including the physi-
cally challenged. It should
act as an information kiosk
on the buses serving the
routes. Without this proper
pairing, it would be an uphill
task to encourage members
of the public to choose public
transport.
An action plan is neces-
sary to upgrade existing bus
shelters and build new ones.
The government can work
with the private sector, espe-
cially property developers to
undertake this exercise and
design the bus shelters as
another advertising medium
where the revenue could be
used to maintain them.
A good public transport
system needs proper depots
to park all the buses after the
daily operation.
A good public transport
system must be supported
by effective enforcement.
Rightly, a good public
transport system should be
spearheaded by an effective
public transport council,
which listens to members
of the public and relevant
stakeholders.
The council must act in
an impartial manner, lead
by example and above all
assume the role as agent
of change. Gone are the
days when public transport
served the lower-income
group only. Everyone must
play their role to arrest the
fast declining state of our
eco-system by making public
transport a way of life.
MPs and state assembly-
men should use the buses
and trains at least once a
week for a start. By doing so,
they can feel the pulse of the
rakyat and understand the
transport system better.
Bus The Way
Penang