2356: The ceramah is over now with no announcement of the candidate made. My contact is on his way out, wondering when they will reveal the candidate. His final estimate of the turnout is around 10,000.
2328: Gantangian adds:
There are shouts of support from the crowd and cheers for Nizar and Anwar. Looks like it’s gonna be an easy win for Pakatan.
Hi folks, did you see the Al Jazeera focus on Sarawak over its 101 East programme just now? And how they highlighted the 12-dams overkill in Sarawak.
The programme spotlighted the role of Taib Mahmud’s family owned company, CMS. It also interviewed the CEO of Sarawak Electricity, who is Taib’s brother-in-law.
It was fun to watch Fauziah, the interviewer, roasting James Masing with a smile on her face. Did you notice James making some vain attempts to adjust his tie when the going got a little too hot?
The Borneo Bulletin is reporting that Brunei is denying that Limbang was discussed during talks between Abdullah Badawi and the Brunei Sultan on Monday. Wisma Putra and the local media need to clarify what’s going on:
Brunei denies Limbang story
YB Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Awg Lim Jock Seng, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade II, yesterday said claims on Limbang were never discussed during Monday’s deliberations between Brunei and Malaysia.
He was responding to YB Dato Paduka Hj Puasa bin Orang Kaya Seri Pahlawan Tudin’s query on the contents of the “Letter of Exchange” signed between Brunei and Malaysia, which also touched on Brunei’s claims over Limbang at the Legislative Council meeting yesterday.
Nizar and Anwar are due to address a “mega ceramah” in Simpang, Taiping tonight. (Police have since declared the ceramah “illegal” and the organisers are now reportedly moving the event to outside the Pas office in Bukit Cempedak, Bukit Gantang.)
Talk has it that Pakatan will reveal its candidate for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency tonight.
Tanjung Bunga residents are holding another coffee party on Saturday from 4.00pm to 5.00pm, this time at Solok Tan Jit Seng behind the Tanjung Bunga Secondary School. The tea party aims to bring together residents who are concerned about dangerous hill-slope development.
The state assembly member for the area, Teh from the DAP, who seems to share the residents’ concern, has confirmed his attendance. The residents have also invited the Chief Minister and other elected reps from the area to the event.
They are hoping that the CM will turn up to show solidarity with them.
On several occasions, Guan Eng has taken commendably strong positions against developers of other projects in Penang.
The proposed RM2 billion terminal – but not enough funds for public transport? (Image from penangsentral.com.my)
Worried about low EPF dividends?
Here’s some food for thought.
Did you know that EPF is somehow associated with Penang Sentral?
Note 47 of the EPF Annual Report for 2007 shows a list of the EPF’s associated companies. Among them is Penang Sentral Sdn Bhd and it shows that the EPF has an effective equity interest of 100 per cent.
A huge majority of Malaysians feel that Gobind should have been referred to the parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee instead of being summarily suspended from Parliament over his point-blank remarks aimed at Najib.
The results of an SMS poll over ntv7 last night revealed:
|
CURRENT
YEAR QUARTER
|
PRECEDING YR
CORRESPONDING QUARTER |
CURRENT
YEAR TO
DATE
|
PRECEDING YR
CORRESPONDING PERIOD |
||
|
|
31/12/2008
|
31/12/2007
|
31/12/2008
|
31/12/2007
|
|
|
|
RM’000
|
RM’000
|
RM’000
|
RM’000
|
|
| 1 | Revenue |
96,953
|
102,340
|
373,324
|
385,565
|
| 2 | Profit before tax |
5,612
|
23,992
|
7,821
|
44,179
|
| 3 | Profit for the period |
2,153
|
18,786
|
3,171
|
36,445
|
Source: Utusan’s fourth quarter 2008 unaudited results as submitted to Bursa
Utusan workers are demanding better terms from their employer. But the firm’s revenue shows a drop from the previous period.
Did the second stimulus package announced by Najib give enough attention to public transport – or did the discounts offered owners of older vehicles to replace their cars with new Proton and Perodua cars overshadow the public transport component of the package?
Blogger Ong Eu Soon has come up with a proposal to ease congestion on the Penang Bridge, which deserves serious consideration. It involves the use of shuttle buses (or trams?) and park-and-ride facilities. If ferry services are also increased, expanded and upgraded, we could go a long way in easing road congestion in Penang. I hope the Penang state government will seriously consider this. The state government is also considering an earlier suggestion to have a rail link from the mainland to the island. This is worth considering for that would mean folks from JB, KL, and the mainland could enter Penang Island by rail while leaving their cars at home. This would be a great first step in promoting the wider use of public transport in Penang in a bid to create a more sustainable and liveable habitat.
Each day hundred of thousands of Penangites face traffic congestion as they commute to work in their cars via the Penang Bridge. The impact from this congestion is substantial in time, resources, and pollution. The vehicle trips per day are estimated to be 120,000. It is estimated that the Penang Bridge congestion alone cost travelers 328 million hours of delay, 10 million litres of wasted fuel, and minimum RM140 million in toll fees per annum.
Finally, they seem to be taking the economic crisis a bit more seriously. Or maybe they just didn’t want to make us panic and to undermine business confidence any further by telling us that dark clouds lay ahead. But the cat is out of the bag now.
Here’s an analysis I did for Asia Times:
Malaysia wakes up to crisis
By Anil Netto
PENANG – A big new economic stimulus package unveiled by Malaysia’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak is being viewed as belated official recognition that the country is being hard hit by the global economic and financial turbulence, with worse to come.
The Malaysian economy grew by just 0.5% last quarter and many economic analysts have predicted a technical or real recession later this year. The government has revised its own forecast for 2009 down to between negative 1% and positive 1% growth in gross domestic product (GDP).