Kuching flood background here. Background to the role of the Kuching Barrage here. Note that many people dispute the effectiveness of the barrage, calling it a useless project. CM Taib Mahmud did not make any statement on the Kuching floods at all. Instead, he was more interested in celebrating his golden wedding anniversary. How not to conclude that the CM is out of touch and beyond his use-by date? See his birthday party details here. Businesses were badly affected by floods. See details here. As for George Chan, he is of the view that Kuching folk need not worry anymore since the floods are over. But damage has been done. Here is another politician who appears to be out of touch. See his view here.Kuching and surrounding areas have been hit by floods, which has now receded. The Sarawak river overflowed its banks and water poured into the city. Floods also occurred in Sibu, Bintulu and the gold-mining town of Bau. My friend over there says, tongue-in-cheek, that it was caused by an “act of God”. More seriously, he thinks any combination of the following factors could be responsible for the flooding: heavy rainfall, high tide, historical factors such as poor planning of city buildings in the flood-prone plain. Global warming too? All “made worse by the useless barrage project which was supposed to control floods but which does not. Just a project for cronies”.
Where are these huge logs coming from?
A lorry laden with logs heading east near the exit to Kota Bharu: Where are all these logs coming from – and where are they heading?
Greetings from a dingy hotel in Kota Bharu, en route to Kuala Terengganu!
Had some tongkat ali coffee(!) this afternoon and then drove for almost six hours non-stop from Penang to the East Coast, accompanied by a friend. We left Penang at about 3.00pm and arrived in the midst of a steady monsoon rain in Kota Bharu just after 9.00pm.
It was a fascinating, cool drive along the East-West Highway from Gerik; magnificent views of rolling valleys and forest-clad hills. Along the way, we noticed signboards cautioning us to look out for cows, deer and even elephants. After Belum, thicks clouds hugged the hills and blanketed the highway, the dense fog forcing motorists to switch on their headlights in the early evening, and even then visibility was poor.
Standoff: Soldiers vs Peace activist
This is from a Korean TV show
The woman in the video is Huwaida Arraf, born in Detroit, Michigan, of the International Solidarity Movement. Married to Adam Shapiro, also of the ISM, whom she met while both were working at the Jerusalem centre of Seeds of Peace, an organisation seeking to foster dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian youth.
Huwaida is Christian, daughter of an Israeli Arab father and a Palestinian mother.
Terengganu poverty reduction: Did Pas do better?
Okay, folks, I will be off to Kuala Terengganu tomorrow with a friend to check out the by-election scene. All the hotels are likely to be full, so I will take a tent along and just rough it out. It will be a homecoming of sorts, as I lived in Kuala Terengganu for two years, going to Standard One and Two at the Sultan Sulaiman Primary School. I must check out our old house there to see if it is still standing….
In the meantime, this was was taken from a posting by Pelanuk on the Berita Malaysia email list. Did the Pas administration in Terengganu, without the benefit of oil royalties, actually do better than Umno in reducing poverty in the state?
> Staronline today reports Terengganu MB Ahmad Said as saying that “claims > that the Terengganu Government is rich but its people are poor are all > lies”, that “poverty rate had been reduced from 89.9% since independence to > only 13%”. The curious thing is that by the BN government’s own figures, the poverty rate in Terengganu: 1995 — 23.4% 1999 — 14.9% 2002 — 10.7% In other words, in the *four* years under the BN, from 1995-1999, the poverty rate fell by 36%, or an average of about 9% per year, while in the *three years* under PAS, it fell by 28%, or an average of just over 9% per year.
Gaza “a big concentration camp”, says Vatican cardinal
Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Vatican’s Council for Justice and Peace, has issued the Vatican’s toughest criticism of Israel, calling Gaza a “big concentration camp”.
“Defenceless populations are always the ones who pay. Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp,” Martino, whose informal title is Vatican “justice minister”, was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.
“For decades, human dignity has been trampled in the Gaza Strip; hatred and homicidal fundamentalism find fodder in social and economic injustice,” he said in another interview.
Meanwhile, the Latin (Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Fouad Twal, quoting from the 18th Conference of the Council of Oriental Catholic Patriarchs, criticised the siege of Gaza in his Christmas Day message:
Together with all the Catholic Patriarchs of the Middle East “we turn to our faithful and to all the citizens of the Holy Land, living in deteriorating conditions, especially the unjust siege that has struck Gaza, and the hundreds of thousands of innocent residents there.
Police order PJ Abolish ISA vigil participants to disperse
Police ordered the participants of an Abolish ISA vigil at the Civic Centre in PJ to disperse minutes after the event had started.
The vigil began at around 8.15pm but about five minutes later the OCPD of PJ ordered the participants to disperse.
“The authorities care a lot for the safety of the rakyat,” reports Rakyat@work, tongue in cheek. “They sent more than two police personnel for every vigil participant.”
Blog reader Adeline reports:
We came late to the vigil and saw only FRU and police personnel rather than ‘vigilers’. Met some ‘vigilers’ at the adjacent car park and was informed the gathering had dispersed. The main road leading to the MBPJ building was blocked off as we approached. There were at least four Black Marias parked at the main road shoulder. Pure police intimidation. Feel so incomplete without my Sunday Mesra Raykat. We must meet more often!Adds delCapo:
We actually managed to burn some candles, had one full speech and one short interrupted speech and a round of Negaraku before dispersing peacefully. Still… it was a case of harrassment, intimidation and violation of the rakyat’s rights.
Israeli women’s groups oppose war in Gaza
A Jewish-Arab peace song. Of course, lasting peace needs to be built on justice for all
A coalition of women’s groups in Israel has called for an end to the bombing and war in Gaza. The Coalition of Women for Peace “brings together independent women and 10 feminist peace organisations who work relentlessly for peace and justice. Founded in November 2000, after the outbreak of the Second Intifada, the Coalition today is a leading voice in the peace movement” in Israel.
Women’s organisations declaration against the war in Gaza 2009-01-01 We women’s peace organizations from a broad spectrum of political views demand an end to the bombing and other tools of death, and call for the immediate start of deliberations to talk peace and not make war. The dance of death and destruction must come to an end. We demand that war no longer be an option, nor violence a strategy, nor killing an alternative. The society we want is one in which every individual can lead a life of security – personal, economic, and social.
Three elected reps among 21 arrested at anti-war vigil
Twenty one people were arrested at an anti-war vigil held in Dataran Merdeka in KL tonight. The event was attended by some 200 people. More were arriving when police made the arrests at 8.45pm.
Among them were Klang MP Charles Santiago, Kuala Langat MP Abdullah Sani (PKR), Selangor state assembly member Dr Nasir Hashim and PSM secretary general Arutchelvan.
When contacted just before 11.00pm, Charles said he had been released on police bail and he expected the rest to be released one by one.
Over in Penang, a similar anti-war vigil, attended by over 100 activists and concerned Malaysians, took place without incident. Police, however, kept a close eye and snapped lots of pictures as usual.
Latest Herald out – minus Malay supplement
The latest issue of the Herald – minus the Malay-languange supplement
The KDN letter to the Herald, prohibiting the use of Malay until the court decides whether the paper can use the term “Allah”. (This letter was published at the bottom of the front page of the latest Herald.) The ban was later reversed – but will the paper continue using the term “Allah” pending the court decision?
KDN says it never prohibited Bahasa in Herald…
… but the latest Herald edition just out this weekend comes without the usual eight-page Malay supplement. And that’s thanks to a Home Ministry (KDN) letter at the end of last year, prohibiting the paper from publishing in Malay until the court decides if it can use the term “Allah”.
A subsequent KDN letter reversed the ban – but still left a couple of conditions intact – after the Archbishop had sent a letter to the Home Ministry, giving it seven days to think about the ban.
Wonder if all this back-tracking has anything to do with the by-election in Kuala Terengganu.
The Malay supplement is expected to resume next week – but will the Church drop the use of the term “Allah” pending a court decision on the matter, as the KDN would like?
This report from The Star today:
Govt not against ‘Herald’ publishing in BM PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has never prohibited the use of Bahasa Malaysia in the Roman Catholic Church’s publication Herald. “The Ministry is only against the use of the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
The 4 Nov raid on Gaza
This is one aspect of the current situation in Gaza, Palestine, that was not adequately covered by much of the mainstream media. It helps explain why the ceasefire, which had held for four and a half months, unravelled. The death toll in Gaza now stands at 771, including 189 children and 58 women.
US-MIDEAST: Media Eyeless in Gaza at Key Moment By Jim Lobe and Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (IPS) – Consumed by coverage of the Nov. 4 presidential election, U.S. mainstream media ignored a key Israeli military attack on a Hamas target that some Palestinians claim marked the effective end of the ceasefire between the two sides and set the stage for the current round of bloodletting. While the major U.S. news wire Associated Press (AP) reported that the attack, in which six members of Hamas’s military wing were killed by Israeli ground forces, threatened the ceasefire, its report was carried by only a handful of small newspapers around the country.
Mysterious mass fish deaths along Rajang River
How did these fish die along a stretch of the Rajang River?
The NREB should check on the siltation levels in the river. Have the levels increased after heavy rains or storms? Was there a sudden mud-flow which could have covered the fish gills with mud and silt or stirred up other sedimentation? If so, what caused the heavier siltation or mud flow?
The Borneo Post Online – http://www.theborneopost.com – NREB investigating cause of dead fish Posted By rajlira On 6th January 2009 @ 10:00 In Local KUCHING: The Natural Resources and Environmental Board (NREB) yesterday began investi-gating the cause behind the huge number of dead fish floating in the Rajang River between Long Murum in Upper Belaga and Kapit. NREB Controller Dr Penguang Manggil said in a phone interview the investigation was expected to take “a few days”. He stressed it was still too early to determine the cause of the problem. “At the moment, we can’t pinpoint (the cause) and nobody can tell what exactly is the cause until an investigation is carried out.” Penguang explained that the investigation would include taking water samples from the river for analysis.
Anti-war candlelight vigils on Sat night
“Last night I had the strangest dream”
Candle light vigils in solidarity with victims of war in the Middle East and elsewhere will be held in major cities on Saturday night, 10 January. It is being organised by the Anti-War Coalition/Gabungan Anti-Perang (GAP)
Penang
Time: 8.30pm
Venue: In front of Dewan Sri Pinang
Contact persons: Chon Kai 019-5669518; Kris 016-3337678
Other vigils are expected to be held in JB, Ipoh and KL.
George Town: Heritage conservation for whom?
Himanshu Bhatt, writing in theSun, worries that George Town’s traditional residents are being forced out by boutique hotels, pubs and restaurants. Whatever happened to the Heritage Master Plan, which stresses the importance of preserving the living culture and traditional trades of the historical city, he wonders.
All brick and no soul by Himanshu Bhatt IN NOVEMBER 1999, I was covering the general elections as a reporter for theSun, when I watched Lim Kit Siang campaign vigorously on a small lorry parked in the compound of the 19th century Khoo Kongsi – the grandest Chinese clan enclave in the country. Surveying the audience before him, the DAP secretary-general exhorted the enclave’s residents on the ills of the impending Rent Control Act repeal, which was threatening to displace them from their inner-city homes in George Town. If Lim were to visit the Khoo Kongsi today, he would find that none of the residents he had preached to that night are still around. They were all told to leave once the repeal was made effective.
Govt lifts ban on Herald’s Malay supplement, but…
The government has reversed its short-lived ban on the Herald’s Malay language supplement – but the weekly Catholic tabloid will still not be able to use the term “Allah” pending a court decision on the matter.
The decision was verbally conveyed by the Home Ministry to the Catholic Church today and a letter is expected to reach the Church tomorrow.
But three other conditions are likely to remain:
- a ban on the use of three other terms that are also used in Islam;
- a ban on the sale of the paper outside church premises (which is unnecessary as the paper is only sold or distributed in churches across the country); and
- a requirement that the front page should indicate that the paper is for non-Muslims only (which is again redundant as the paper is sold only in churches, and the masthead already indicates that it is a Catholic weekly.
A RM38 billion bridge from Malacca to Sumatra?
It’s the silly season again.
The takeover of IJN (thankfully aborted).
The proposed Sime Darby-Air Asia airport in Negri Sembilan.
Not to be left out, the Malacca government has suggested a fanciful RM38 billion 52km bridge from Malacca to Sumatra.
The bridge proposal is of course a resurrection of the old Mahathir administration’s ‘brainwave’ of a Malaysia-Sumatra bridge, which was fortunately scrapped with the onset of the East Asian financial crisis in 1997.
If I remember correctly, the estimated cost mentioned back then was RM60 billion?
These guys don’t know the meaning of sustainable transport and global warming, much less ‘opportunity cost’. At least Najib is smart enough to say the ferry service is sufficient. He says a feasibility study is needed first to evaluate this “bright” idea.
Says blog reader Ganesh:
Look at this brilliant idea. Only BN can think of it. The people here are suffering … and we want to spend RM38 billion on a bridge? With RM38 billion, we can lift every poor person in Malaysia to middle-class level.
This report from the NST:
Aborted IJN takeover a victory for People Power
Sime Darby’s decision to call off its takeover of the government-owned National Heart Institute (IJN) is a stunning victory for People Power.
The rakyat have spoken. Ordinary people, through their vocal opposition to the proposal, have defeated a plan put forward by the largest oil palm plantation firm in the world, which is also one of Malaysia’s most powerful conglomerates.
In a poll on this blog of over 800 respondents, 96 per cent of you were against the takeover, reflecting widespread public opposition to the move.
Petrol price down; electricity tariffs still the same
The crude oil price is now close to US$50 per barrel. The price of natural gas has plunged since July 2008. Coal, which at one time was US$192/tonne, is now hovering around US$80/tonne.
Earlier when the prices were soaring, Tenaga Nasional hiked its electricity tariffs on 1 July 2008.
The electricity tariff hike was to cover the gas price increase and to partially offset the rise in coal prices, which had also gone up 170% since 2007, said the TNB chief back then.
Now that fuel prices have fallen, blog reader Desmond is wondering why TNB hasn’t reduced its rates.
When the fuel price went up, Tenaga said their cost had gone up and it hiked the electricity tariff. Now petrol and gas prices have dropped and even fuel oil and transport costs, shipping charges for coal delivery, and the price of coal itself has gone down in the world markets but why is the Tenaga electricity tariff still so high when it should have gone down as well? Something is not right here.
High-rise hotels in world heritage zone to proceed
Sigh…. good luck to George Town and its heritage conservation. Looks as if the state government has already made up its mind to give the green light to the four projects. Why am I not surprised.
The state government says these hotels are needed to stave off the recession. But it forgets that tourism is a major revenue earner for Penang, and visitors don’t come to George Town to check out its boutique hotels. Rather, they are drawn to the historical character of the place. Once that is gone, George Town becomes just like any other city in this region.
This excerpt from a Business Times report:
Penang hotel projects on, Unesco guidelines awaited By Marina Emmanuel marinae@nstp.com.my Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday said the state authorities and affected developers are awaiting guidelines from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on whether any changes should be made to the project plans. “The developers fully understand that legally, the projects can still proceed, although Unesco needs to state if any modifications are needed. Penang needs these projects (investments) to offset the oncoming economic recession,” he told a press conference at his office in George Town.
Rocket fire into Israel: Lull until 4 Nov 2008
Much has been said about the home-made Qassam rockets fired into Israel in the same way that the United States cited WMD before its illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.
This is a chart that was drawn up by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center. It was removed from the website of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the eve of the ground invasion and replaced with an almost illegible graph in which the labels obscure the data, according to Jim Holstun and Joanna Tinker in the Electronic Intifada.