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As expected, no undersea cables from Bakun

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Just as I thought, there are not going to be any submarine cables from the Bakun Dam to the peninsula.

Check out this Edge report here.

It was always going to be a risky and expensive proposition to lay submarine cables across the South China Sea even though the technology is there. The project, had it gone ahead, would have been the world’s longest undersea power transmission link; it would have entered uncharted territory, an expensive journey into the unknown.

The whole rationale, during the Mahathir administration, for building this jinxed dam was to supply power to the peninsula.

Now that the original justification for the dam is no longer there, what are they going to do with all the power from the Bakun Dam? Has Tenaga now realised that Bakun could be choked with sedimentation in a few years? Check out the warnings here. And look at this lamentation from Belaga over the social and environmental cost of Bakun.

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Hulu Selangor by-election afterthoughts

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For the BN, nothing to be proud about winning in this way. The means are just as important as the ends.

It was always going to be close, either way. In the end, it was 52:48 in the BN’s favour.

A political economist friend of mine was right when he told me to listen to the Pas campaigner I referred to a number of times in this blog (even though I did get a bit swayed by the large turnout at the PKR ceramah on the eve of polling).

This Pas campaigner was accurate in his prediction of a 54:46 outcome (plus/minus 2 per cent margin of error) in favour of the BN, which he consistently stuck to throughout the campaign and polling day itself. He had campaigned for Pakatan across Hulu Selangor and developed a gut feel for the area, especially the kampungs and Felda settlements. He felt Pakatan could have received around 35 per cent support (“not more than 40 per cent”) in these areas. This seems consistent with a Pas MP who predicted 36 per cent support in these areas.

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And the award goes to … Rosmah

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In case you missed it during the thick of the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign, Rosmah has clinched the inaugural “International Peace and Harmony Award” in recognition of her “extensive charitable work and to celebrate the important links between Malaysia and the US”.

The award was presented at a dinner in New York hosted by the United States Sports Academy and the Business Council for International Understanding.

Rosmah and Najib joined in with American celebrities in a rendition of “We are the world”. Among those attending the gala event at St Regis Hotel on 16 April were Jamie Foxx, Robert de Niro and Paris Hilton’s parents.

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Live – Hulu Selangor polling day and results

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Who’s it going to be – Zaid or Kamalanathan, PKR or BN? All the action from polling day at Hulu Selangor and live coverage and discussion of the results.

Live – Hulu Selangor by-election eve

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Live discussion in the final hours before the Hulu Selangor by-election.

10,000 ceramah crowd boosts Pakatan hopes

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LIVE discussion on this blog today from 4.00pm to 5.00pm

Some 10,000 people turned up for a PKR ceramah at Sungai Buaya in Hulu Selangor last night, seemingly supporting the optimism in some PKR circles of a favourable result.

The crowd packed an area the size of a football field. For details, go here.

Another 2,000 turned up for a PKR Chinese dinner in Rasa last night.

A PKR MP told me he was confident of a positive result. “On paper, there is no way we can lose.” But he cautioned a lot would depend on how smooth polling day is tomorrow, especially if the 13,000 voters, whose polling stations have been changed, can find their correct polling centres.

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BN holds edge; Pakatan builds momentum

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LIVE discussion on this blog tomorrow from 4.00pm to 5.00pm

A Pas grassroots source tells me that he feels the odds in Hulu Selangor are 46:54 in the BN’s favour, with a margin of error of plus/minus 2 per cent. (I asked him how come his instincts are so precise!)


Niz Aziz having dinner with Zaid Ibrahim tonight before hitting the ceramah circuit. They will attend a PKR Chinese dinner in Rasa at 9.30pm attended by 2,000 people. Nik Aziz will also be speaking at a DAP ceramah in Asam Kumbang and a PKR ceramah in Batang Kali – Photo courtesy of Fahmi Fadzil

Another Pas source, an MP, who has campaigned in Hulu Selangor, concedes that Felda areas are proving “difficult to penetrate”. All the top guns will be descending there in the next couple of days. Najib, for instance, has reportedly distributed RM50,000 each to 100 Felda settlers and promised more money. (How blatant can you get! – and this was aired over television news at 8.00pm.)

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Penang Botanic Garden can learn from Thais

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Have a look at what could have been possible instead of the ugly concrete structures in the Penang Botanic Garden.

Penang Botanic Garden - the admin block under construction near Moon Gate
This is the concrete office block sprouting up along the road near the Penang Botanic Garden

And this is some sort of research and coordinating outpost set up by the Thai government up in the mountains in the north of Thailand near the Burma border. The outpost, which blends with the environment, aims to help the many village councils engage in agriculture, farming, orchards and animal husbandry on the mountainous slopes so that they can be self-sustaining in food and generate some income by selling any surplus.

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Pas goes on all-out ceramah blitz

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Pas is stepping up the pace with a gruelling ceramah schedule tonight, working its way deep into the estates and kampungs of Hulu Selangor.

The party has lined up a total of 16 ceramahs tonight, according to a circular sent out.

Mat Sabu heads the cast of speakers in Hulu Bernam, which has seven Pas ceramahs in various kampungs and estates.

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Hulu Selangor: Cops haul up 7

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2330: All seven have now been released on bail.

1909: Seven people, including six political science students from a local university, have been hauled up for questioning.

The six were being taken around Hulu Selangor to observe proceedings by a PKR party worker when they were stopped, according to lawyer Latheefa Koya. Apparently, the vehicle contained PKR campaign material.

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