The second Penang bridge is expected to be completed by November 2013, barring delays. The big question now is how are the roads on the island going to cope with all that traffic?
My main disappointment is that planners never thought of building an inter-city rail link to the island instead. That would have eased inter-city traffic on the existing bridge. Without a rail link, the traffic pouring into Penang will reach nightmarish proportions. Anyone who was in Penang Island over the Lunar New Year holidays will have got a taste of things to come (in terms of traffic congestion).
Meet C.S.D.P. @ CikShidaDariParit, a 38-year-old school-teacher and mime artiste from Perak, who is breaking out of the mould of what society expects of her.
“I’m not a professional artist. I have no basics in acting, singing or dancing and I’m not an IT expert also. I’m just an ordinary woman and a teacher. I do all the videos by myself from recording, make up till the editing and I’m only using used materials,” she says.
A friend sent me this news commentary and I thought I would share it with you. Does it ring a bell by any chance?
Under sweeping privatisation policies, they appropriated profitable public enterprises and vast areas of state-owned lands. A small group of businessmen seized public assets and acquired monopoly positions in strategic commodity markets … While crony capitalism flourished, local industries that were once the backbone of the economy were left to decline. At the same time, private sector industries making environmentally hazardous products … have expanded without effective regulation at a great cost to the health of the population.
A tiny economic elite controlling consumption-geared production and imports has accumulated great wealth. This elite includes representatives of foreign companies with exclusive import rights in … automobiles. It also includes real estate developers who created a construction boom in gated communities and resorts for the super-rich. Much of this development is on public land acquired at very low prices, with no proper tendering or bidding.
Why is it that we always have to wait for tragedy to strike before we implement safety measures?
These photos above were taken on 2 January 2011, just a couple of days after a beach accident involving a seven-year-old Japanese girl. They show beach buggies on the sand, parasailing activities and water scooters all on the same stretch of beach where toddlers and young children are playing, blissfully unaware of the danger lurking all around them. Notice the buggy wheel tracks across the beach.
More images and accounts have emerged of the Muslim-Christian understanding on the streets calling for a new dawn in Egypt.
A Muslim holds aloft a Qur'an while a Christian carries a cross in a mark of Muslim-Christian solidarity in Tahrir Square - Photo credit: Huffington Post
MUSLIMS PRAYED with Christians yesterday in Tahrir Square at the heart of Cairo. A priest from Egypt’s ancient Coptic rite held high a cross, read verses from the Bible and in a deep, sonorous voice led hymn singing. The mostly Muslim throng joined in, familiar with the Arabic phrases the faiths share.
Muslims prayed while Christians protected them. And today, Muslims returned the favour as they stood guard around Christians participating in a Sunday service. Tahrir Square continues to witness remarkable scenes of inter-religious solidarity in the struggle for freedom and justice.
Visual of the day: Father Fawzi Khalil holding the Bible standing next to an Imam holding the Qur'an.
Remember this renewed solidarity is happening in a land where a Coptic Church in Alexandria was attacked on 1 January 2011 in a suicide bombing, killing 23 and injuring 97.
CAIRO: Christians and Muslims recited in unison the “Our Father” prayer in Tahrir on Sunday, a day intended to commemorate those killed in pro-democracy protests since Jan. 25.
I can’t say I am surprised. He joins the ‘illustrious’ ranks of US-backed dictators such as Suharto, the Shah of Iran, and Marcos, who enjoyed fabulous wealth while their people suffered from poverty and repression. That’s also what happens when the political elite mix business with politics and engage in lots of corporate wheeling and dealing.
Here’s an excerpt from the Guardian report:
President Hosni Mubarak’s family fortune could be as much as $70bn (£43.5bn) according to analysis by Middle East experts, with much of his wealth in British and Swiss banks or tied up in real estate in London, New York, Los Angeles and along expensive tracts of the Red Sea coast.
We know that the United States provides military aid to the Mubarak regime. But where does much of the money actually end up (leaving aside the ‘commissions’)?
… Mostly to U.S. corporations. I asked William Hartung of the New America Foundation to explain:
“It’s a form of corporate welfare for companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, because it goes to Egypt, then it comes back for F-16 aircraft, for M-1 tanks, for aircraft engines, for all kinds of missiles, for guns, for tear-gas canisters [from] a company called Combined Systems International, which actually has its name on the side of the canisters that have been found on the streets there.”
A rare video report from the ground looking at how pro-democracy activists defended Tahrir Square – at a terrible cost, several killed and over 5,000 injured – after coming under waves of attack from pro-Mubarak thugs.
On this ‘Day of Departure’ protests, some three thousand people have gathered in KL calling for Mubarak’s ouster. They join protesters gathering across the world.
Watch Aljazeera’s live streaming of the’ Day of Departure’ from Cairo. (Why is Astro’s screening of Aljazeera’s ‘live coverage’ a few minutes behind Aljazeera’s live coverage over the Internet?)
Photo by Khalid Samad's stream Twitter photo by FaizFazil Twitter photo by FaizFazil Protest in KL on the 'Day of Departure' - Photo via tweet from pmnicol
1616: Eight people are believed to have been arrested. Those arrested are in police trucks outside the PNB building.
1556: Protesters have dispersed from the Tabung Haji building area, as police linger on. Meanwhile, Latheefa tweets: “They tried to arrest Fadiah who went to inquire about the arrests! – shouting at her ‘budak baru! very prof indeed!'”
1551: A least four protesters have been arrested, reports my contact.
1546: Police fired water cannon briefly to disperse the protesters, reports a contact. About a hundred people are still around the Tabung Haji building area. My contact says he saw police taking one of the protesters away, and he believes there could be a few arrested.
1538: Police are spraying stuff on the demonstrators. They look poised to make arrests, reports a contact.
1532: According to a tweet from Latheefa Koya citing her source Fadiah, police have arrested some people including an old man. They are being brought to IPD Dang Wangi.
1522: A contact at the scene reports that the turnout was in the region of 3,000 to 5,000. Riot police blocked the road leading to the US Embassy, leading to some commotion. Some teargas was sprayed (but not fired using tear gas cannisters.) By 3.20pm, the protest was drawing to a close after demonstrators were pressured to disperse.
1453: Riot police have taken up positions about 50 metres away from the US embassy.
1440: The crowd has reached 2,000 people, according to a tweet.
1427: Some 500 people have gathered in front of the Tabung Haji building in KL. Several hundred more, carrying banners, have just arrived from KLCC. A contact at the scene reports that the crowd has reached a thousand. They might be heading for the US Embassy.
About a hundred police personnel are already at the scene as sirens wail.