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A raw deal for KTMB?

Anil Netto
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Did you catch the front page of theSun today? It’s an important story not to be missed – for KTMB needs all the money it can get to upgrade its archaic rail system.

For a glimpse at what visitors think of our railway system, check out a feature in TIME here.

Yesterday, we saw how the Sarawak government would lose hundreds of millions of ringgit if land in Kuching was sold at bargain basement prices. And now this. The big question in this case is – apart from KTMB being deprived of the full value of the land – who is going to be the ‘lucky’ developer?

A 3-car KTM Komuter Class 82 EMU (Union Carria...
Image via Wikipedia

An unfair deal?
Terence Fernandez and Llew-Ann Phang

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 26, 2010): Is Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) getting a raw deal in the development of a piece of railway land in Bangsar?

This is the question on the lips of those concerned with recent developments of the 8ha site behind the former the Unilever headquarters along Jalan Bangsar.

Said to be worth at least RM400 million, the national railway company may be paid only RM50 million for giving up the prime real estate.

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The trams of Penang

Anil Netto
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This is a piece on the trams of Penang that I wrote as a guest blogger for The Guardian:

Georgetown, Penang. Photograph taken on the 27...
Image via Wikipedia

George Town on the island of Penang in Malaysia used to have a viable tram system in the early

20th century. It was part of a fairly integrated and efficient transport system.

But then the trams faded away in this British ‘Crown Colony’, with the advent of buses and private motor vehicles, at about the same time some of the tram systems in Europe disappeared.

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Video: DPP demonstrates ‘self-strangulation’

Anil Netto
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DPP Abdul Razak Musa demonstrates during the Teoh Beng Hock inquest how a person might strangle himself.

This clip is an except of a much longer video that was uploaded to the AG’s website this afternoon. Thanks to Malaysiakini for the editing.

Gasing Hill under threat

Anil Netto
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Blog reader Ganesh was alarmed by what he stumbled upon at Gasing Hill the other day.


Photo by Ganesh

View Larger Map

Ganesh shares with us what he discovered:

I saw plots of land being sold, starting from the bottom right up to the top, on both sides of the road leading to its peak.

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Pas reaches out to non-Muslims

Anil Netto
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PopTeeVee interviews Pas MP Mujahid Yusuf Rawa on the party’s efforts to draw in non-Muslim supporters.

What do you think? Is Pas really genuine in reaching out to the non-Muslims or is it merely for political expedience?

Now sleepless in Seattle?

Anil Netto
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2

Are you interested in mansions in the United States?

Check out the Sarawak Report here, which features a couple of exclusive tastefully appointed mansions in Seattle linked to the family of a familiar politician.

Cheap land for Taib’s family?

Anil Netto
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The MP for Bandar Kuching has reportedly accused the Sarawak state government of alienating 269 acres of land near the Kuching airport to a private company at a “obscenely under-priced” rate.

Chong Chieng Jen alleged the alienation rate was RM291,000 per acre on average, according to a Malaysiakini report. “The market rate is between RM1.5 million and RM2 million per acre. Had the government gone for public tender, the state could have (earned) RM400 million to RM500 million,” the popular web portal quoted him as saying. Monarda Sdn Bhd, a dormant company that has a paid-up capital of RM100, only paid about RM78 million for the three parcels of land, he claimed.

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Pornthip: Thailand’s trail-blazing detective

Anil Netto
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The New York Times carries a feature on Thai forensics pathologist Pornthip Rojanasunand.

BANGKOK— THE mild-mannered bank manager poked his head into the doorway, then quickly pulled it back. His wife was at work, and he did not want to look. He has never looked. He is afraid of corpses.

If the body on the stainless steel table inside had somehow awakened for a moment, it might have jumped, too, with shock.

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Pornthip in Crime Scene Bangkok

Anil Netto
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9

National Geographic Channel features Thai forensic pathologist Pornthip Rojanasunand’s role in the investigation of the sudden death of a Thai parliamentarian.

Sarawak assembly building – by CMS/Naim

Anil Netto
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This is the new Sarawak State Assembly building, built at a cost of about RM300 million, on the banks of the Sarawak River in Petra Jaya, Kuching.

Photo credit: Wikipedia


Source: Naim Holdings Bhd Annual Report 2009

The structure was developed by Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s family-controlled listed firm Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd and another listed firm, Naim Holdings Bhd. According to the Annual Report 2009 of CMS Bhd, the complex was developed by CMS subsidiary PPES Works (Sarawak), along with a Naim subsidiary, Naim Cendera Sdn Bhd. Naim Holdings’ Annual Report 2009 says these two companies were turnkey contractors for the project, which was completed in May 2009.

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