« Bullet The Blue Sky | Main | More Trouble »
August 26, 2006
Diddly-Squat
No one is happy to get kicked out of their homes:
About 150 residents of Kampung Loke Yew, Kampung Semarak and Kampung Padang Tembak staged a peaceful protest at City Hall recently. Their contention was that they wanted homes to call their own, not rent them.The dissatisfied residents were those affected by the construction of the Duta-Ulu Kelang Highway (Duke Highway) that would pass through their villages. City Hall had asked them to evacuate their homes by the end of the month and shift to rented homes in Air Panas under the People’s Housing Project (PPR) scheme. [The Star]
These people are basically squatters, and it's not like they aren't being compensated:
Though Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd (Kesturi) will compensate them with RM2,000 each, the residents aren’t satisfied. In any case, City Hall will deduct RM470 from the amount as deposit for the rented homes.
Still, they argue:
Residents Pro Tem Action Group chairman Azman Abd Majid said most of the residents had been living in the villages for over 40 years.
Forty years is a long, long time. As we celebrate 49 years of independence this Thursday -- which is the deadline day for the squatters to move out -- spare a thought for the urban poor in this bountiful country of ours.
SPEAKING OF TIME, it would be useful to note that the concession period for the RM1.2 billion Duke Highway is 34 years.
Two years ago, the concessionaires said they expected traffic volume to be around 40,000 to 60,000 cars a day on the 19km highway.
To cover the cost of building the highway, and assuming that Duke does 50,000 cars a day, the concessionaires would need to charge an average of only about RM1.90 per vehicle over 34 years.
But there are other costs associated with operating a highway, not to mention the toll rate reviews that Malaysia is famous for, so the toll charges are neither likely to be that low nor remain unchanged.
Be that as it may, like the squatters who said that "we are not against development or the building of the highway", I am all for Duke.
In fact, it looks like I'll be using the highway regularly, travelling between the workplace and my house, which, unlike the squatters, I own.
I'll be zipping up and down daily, happy in the knowledge that besides paying for the use of the highway, the money I fork out will also go towards uplifting the economic status of my brother in Bumihood, Haris Onn Hussein, the managing director of Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd.
Ooops ... did I forget to mention that earlier?
Kesturi is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nuzen Corporation Bhd, which is 30% owned by MRCB and 70% by Wira Kristal Sdn Bhd.Bloomberg reported that Wira Kristal is a closely held company controlled by Haris, who is a younger brother of Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein. [The Edge Daily]
And if I happen to be smoking each time I drive on the highway, I'll actually be helping my poor downtrodden Melayu brother twice, at the same time:
In mid-July, ... cigarette companies received a letter from Lembah Sari's chairman Haris Onn Hussein informing them that it was taking over the security labelling facilities provided by Kod Efisien for a three-year period.According to documents lodged with Malaysia's Companies Commission, Lembah Sari is a RM2 company - it may have increased its capital to its authorised RM100,000 by now - with two little-known shareholders.
Its chairman, Mr Haris, however, is the youngest son of Hussein Onn, Malaysia's third premier, and a brother of Hishamuddin Hussein, the country's Education Minister. [Singapore Business Times]
You know, it's good to know that some Bumis are making it big.
And although it's unlikely I'll ever be rich, it's good to know that I will have had a hand in helping one or two get there.
Maybe the squatters should feel more contented. Like I am.
Posted by aisehman at August 26, 2006 02:23 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.aisehman.org/cgi-bin/mt/mtb.cgi/383
Comments
The government is a cozy cartel of families. Change of government? It's definitely only a transfer of cronies, nothing more!
Posted by: bayi at August 26, 2006 02:57 PM
You are so ungrateful. We will make you the new chairman of the Residents' Pro-tem Action Committee.
Posted by: Godfather at August 26, 2006 05:21 PM
I waded through the whole article waiting for the tirade rage to burst forth in a creative slur of expletives.
But it never came. Kudos for your biting sarcasm and self-restraint. My hands are trembling with anger as it is now.
Funny how ironic it is that both kids would always include "Onn" in their full names, when the man whose legacy wraps them and keeps them afloat left UMNO because of the very stuff they're committing today.
cheers
Posted by: oster at August 26, 2006 10:55 PM
will Hisham fight for this Malays with his Keris? where is he? will KJ give them a loan to built new houseslike how two non malays gave him money to buy shares from them? The poor bumis gte screwed further. The rich ones get richer!!! UMNO Boleh!!!
Posted by: rocky at August 28, 2006 01:49 AM
what other things Residents' Pro-tem Action can do..
maybe we can discuss here..
Posted by: zul at August 28, 2006 12:05 PM
Hmm, it seems that Malaysia will become like some of the Asian countries where the politicians and their childrens, in-laws & relatives will keep on ruling their countries.
Examples? north korea Kim Ii Sung's son inherited from his father. Singapore LKY's son, Taiwan Chiang Kai Shak's son. India's Indira Gandhi etc. All these are through lawful means ie through party election & country election.
And now, Malaysia's turn?? Tun Razak's son, Hussein Onn's son and maybe our present PM's son-in-law??
aisehman, may be like U, my father is a not a politician. So, I have to be contented that me & my children, my children's children will be ordinary citizen & unlikely to become filthy rich.
Posted by: opera7 at August 28, 2006 01:13 PM
You are making light of squater's right here. Malaysia have laws on squater's right. It dates back to colonial times went property rights of local indigenous people needed to be protected. By law, the government have to pay reasonable compensation to squaters. If they have been there for 40 years, its deem that they have partial ownership of the property and compensation of $2,000 is hardly close to reasonable compensation.
Someone is railroading this...
Posted by: Bigjoe at August 29, 2006 12:20 PM
Quote,
"Singapore LKY's son, Taiwan Chiang Kai Shak's son"
unlike Malaysia, however, Lee Hsien Loong's PAP government looks after their ciizens much better than the Malaysian government while Taiwan has a thriving democracy where after 50 years of rule by KMT, the population elected Chen Hsiu Bien and currently, his son is being indicted, his wife's SOGO voucher is openly criticised in Taiwanese talk show beamed overseas and locally.....so there is no cover-up of presidential blunders....
Malaysia have no chance for true development the way I see it. After some many cases of muderous robbery, we have this 2 response from the supposedly top brain of the country,
- do not sensationalise crime reporting as this will encourage more people to be become criminals
- revive rukun tetangga
Anybody got lubang to migrate overseas with ready work permit? sigh
Posted by: lee wee tak at August 30, 2006 09:08 AM