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The failed US occupation of Iraq

Anil Netto
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14

The front page of today’s Sun shows George Bush ducking as an Iraqi journalist hurls a shoe at him.

That may be surprising if you are following the global television stations, which tell us that the situation in Iraq is improving for the occupying powers as the worst of the carnage since the Anglo-American invasion subsides.

Some 1.3 million people have perished in Iraq as a result of the invasion – so you can understand why George Bush is not the Iraqis’ most favourite person.

The lower level of carnage now does not translate to victory for the United States as this Counter Punch commentary reveals:

It’s All Spelled Out in Unpublicised Agreement
Total Defeat for U.S. in Iraq

By PATRICK COCKBURN

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TNB left holding the Bakun undersea cable baby

Anil Netto
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11

Power demand is dropping as the economic slowdown creeps up on us, but TNB is being forced to pay more in capacity charges to IPPs and take over the laying of the Bakun undersea cables (to transmit even more electricity to the peninsula) after Sime Darby wisely pulled out.

By the way, TNB is 38 per cent owned by the Finance Ministry’s Khazanah and 14 per cent owned by EPF.  So guess who is ultimately bearing the risk? Us.

A political economist has sent the following comment to me.

TNB is complaining that Peninsula Malaysia is going to have 45 per cent excess capacity within the next eight months. TNB also says that this excess capacity is due to the Jimah IPP coming online in January 2009. Given the terms of the IPP between Jimah and TNB, TNB expects to see a drop of about RM500 million from their overall profit margin since the IPP contract cannot be re-negotiated. TNB actually also said that they do not need the excess power but have to buy it. See story here.

Amazingly, this is going to happen within the context of a decline in power demand in Peninsula Malaysia which is set to drop with the coming downturn..! See this power demand drop story here.

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Vigil outside Rawang police station as cyclists held

Anil Netto
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7

2050: Police are now recording the details of 45 Jerit northern team cyclists in the Rawang police station (phone 03-6091 6222). Outside the station, a candlelight vigil is now being held

At first, the police tried to use Section 32 of the Child Act; they wanted to hold the cyclists until their parents came. Then they tried the usual s112 of the CPC. Now, they are just documenting the particulars of the cyclists – name, IC number, address.

“They seem disappointed that all the cyclists below 18 have consent letters from their parents,” says one of the Jerit coordinators inside the station.

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Three dozen Jerit cyclists detained

Anil Netto
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10

1453: The Jerit southern cycling team have been hauled up near Bangi Lama.

Thirty six of the cyclists will now proceed to the Kajang police station (phone: 03-8736 2222 for more details).

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If Perdanas are too expensive to maintain…

Anil Netto
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60

… what about Proton Personas? They seem quite popular.

Or if you don’t want Protons, how about Myvis? I hear they are quite reliable and low maintenance.

While most of the country is bracing for an economic downturn, exco members in several states have turned their attention to procuring fleets of new cars.

Maybe it’s beneath the “dignity” of the Pakatan folks – they are supposed to be different from the BN folks, who are accustomed to big flashy Mercs and BMWs  – to use the ordinary cars that many of the rakyat use. Don’t forget many of the rakyat don’t even have cars.

I guess they must have their “foreign” 2.4-litre Camrys or what-have-you … In Selangor’s case, they are even thinking of 4WDs so the state exco members can travel to rural areas. Last I heard, such vehicless are fuel guzzlers. It’s not as if the only thing stopping them from visiting rural areas is the lack of a good 4WD!

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Komtar tree-hacking: Was approval really given?

Anil Netto
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11

A spokesman for Pacific Hypermarket and Department Store (so now we know who’s responsible) was quoted in The Star today as saying that the company had received approval for trees near Komtar to be pruned.

First question: Did the Council really give approval for tree pruning? Or was the approval only for minor renovation work and retiling? Do they really need to chop trees to re-tile?

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Saving jobs – the alternative way

Anil Netto
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21

A joint committee has suggested that companies should prepare for next year’s economic downturn by reducing workers’ overtime, cutting working hours, laying off staff temporarily and slashing workers’ pay packets.

I have some suggestions of my own:

  • Sell off the flashy company cars meant for top management; use fuel-efficient vehicles or the bas kilang.

Komtar tree-hacking: More than meets the eye

Anil Netto
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11

From what I hear, the project work going on outside Komtar, in which trees were hacked, has been undertaken without the approval of the council.

This is part of a priority project to upgrade Komtar which, I gather, will probably see the area near the large outdoor staircase being turned into F & B outlets.

The upgrading work is to be undertaken by a private firm, believed to be a hypermarket.

An application for the upgrading work was submitted to the one-stop centre (OSC) last November.

But, from what I understand, the only approval given was for some retiling work. If that is what the ongoing work is all about, surely they could have left the trees alone.  A related question is, will the upgrading work reduce public space?

How could trees be chopped at the door-step of the state government and the council?

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A disaster waiting to happen…

Anil Netto
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14

Rather than banning all hill-slope development, the developer-friendly Penang state government wants to emulate Hong Kong in monitoring hill-slopes and it has set up an expert panel.

In Hong Kong, those who flout regulations end up in jail.

This could be the panel’s first assignment. A long-time Penang resident has alerted me to the following:

(A couple of days ago,) when driving back from a day of walking in the Penang National Park, I saw a hill-slope project that is surely one of the worst along the Batu Ferringhi road…. It is east of the Rasa Sayang and on the hillside opposite the Malaysian army base (former Gurkha base) at Fort Auchry.

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Chinese city to chop towers in bid for Unesco listing

Anil Netto
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9

While Penang is allowing high-rise buildings to be put up in George Town, thus risking its prized World Heritage status, officials in Hangzhou, the capital of ancient China, plan to slice off the top floors of high-rise towers, including exclusive hotels and a TV tower, in a bid to secure similar status.

Imagine, they are even talking about reducing the height of their Shangri-La Hotel. Now that shows real determination to maintain the historical character of their city.

Now I am not advocating that we slice off any existing buildings.

But here we are in Penang, merrily approving and allowing more high-rise towers in our heritage zone before and after winning World Heritage status.

What a contrast!

Check out this BBC report:

Chinese city downsizes for Unesco

The top floors of several high-rises in the Chinese city of Hangzhou are to be lopped off to help the city’s bid for world heritage status, officials say.

Two exclusive hotels, a TV tower and a number of other buildings around the beautiful West Lake area will all be made shorter, the developer said.

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