Opportunities

What College Tuition Will Look Like in 18 Years (in the United States of America)

By Stephanie Landsman | CNBC 

It's not just the nation heading for a fiscal cliff.

Soaring education costs could end up rupturing your nest egg-and bring your child to the brink of bankruptcy before he even gets his first job.  Even the top one percent may get a panic attack from the latest projected tuition rates.  Campus Consultants Founder and President Kal Chany figured out what college will likely cost by 2030 based on inflation rates. He wrote the book "Paying for College Without Going Broke."

The findings? In 18 years, the average sticker price for a private university could be as much as $130,428 a year (See chart.) The situation isn't much better if you go the public route. Sending your child to a state university could set you back at least $41,228 a year. 

Folks, going by this news, a four year college program at a private university in the US will cost RM1.6 million, 18 years from now. Nine years from now it may cost RM800,000. A State university education will cost RM507,000. This is a lot of money.

Maybe our local universities especially the IPTS, should start opening their doors for American students. This is globalisation - the world is shrinking.  Forget about the Nigerian students and the drug pushers and black money scammers.  Lets get the Americans to study here.

There is no free university education in the US. In Scandinavia, they offer almost full financial aid - just like our PTPTN (maybe a little better).  However in Scandinavia their Income Taxes are near 57% per annum.  

Massive Cheating By SPR

Folks this is from Stop The Lies Blog here

"In the 1999 General Elections, (Theresa) Kok won the Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur with a majority of 5,200 and was re-elected in 2004 with a majority of 12,895, the largest winning margin among the 13 elected DAP MPs.  In the 2008 General Elections, Kok retained her Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur with a majority of 36,492 the largest majority in any constituency."

How can anyone win any Parliamentary seat with a 36,492 vote majority? I think this is not possible. But this is what Theresa Kok of the DAP acheived in the 2008 general elections. This was the largest majority in any constituency in 2008.

Since the Bersih monkeys say that the elections are dishonest and full of cheating, I think Theresa Kok's huge majority at Seputeh must be relooked. How do we know the Elections Commission was not infiltrated by DAP and Pakatan supporters who then rigged the results at Seputeh?

I mean 36,492 vote majority ? ? Is that possible? Some thing is not right there.  I smell a rat.  Dont you?

By the way here is an interesting video about more corruption in Pakatan run Selangor. Courtesy of Minaq Jinggo's Blog.

Anwar Ordered Police To "Gempaq" Dr Ristina

This is from the Utusan  here  :    

Arahan Anwar bukan luar biasa

• KUALA LUMPUR 30 Mei - Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad mendakwa, tindakan Anwar Ibrahim untuk mengarahkan pegawai tinggi kerajaan melakukan sesuatu bukanlah perkara yang luar biasa.
• "(Anwar) suruh polis 'gempaq' (menakutkan) pakar pergigian, Dr. Ristina Majid ..yang terlibat dalam perbicaraan. Dia guna kuasa polis dengan cara salah," katanya.
• 
  

So he had 'ordered' the Police to 'gempaq' the late Dr Ristina as well.  I thought he only ordered the Police to 'gempaq' Ummi Hafilda, a defenceless young woman at that time  and Azizan Abu Bakar - who was only a driver.  

1. Dr Ristina kena gempaq.
2. Ummi Hafilda kena gempaq. 
3. Driver kena 'gempaq'   
4. Then 'coffee boy'  pula kena sue for RM100.0 million

Folks, kalau anda sudah lupa, Brader Anwar Bin Ibrahim was found guilty and jailed for six years for the corrupt abuse of power to order the Police to arrest and torture Ummi Hafilda Ali and Azizan Abu Bakar just because they had written a signed letter (with name, address, IC number) saying that Brader Anwar Bin Ibrahim was involved in some immoral activities. 

Until today, Justice Augustine Paul's verdict of guilty and his written judgement have never been challenged by any Pakatan lawyer, both competent or incompetent.

And this is the man the Pakatan people have hoisted upon their shoulders as their saviour. There is something seriously wrong with these monkeys.

Minimum Wage : I Told You So

This is from The Star 

Unfair to implement minimum wage policy in Terengganu, say groups

KUALA TERENGGANU: Trade organisations in Terengganu have asked to be exempted from the planned minimum wage ruling.

They argue that the cost of living in the state is comparatively lower than in the more advanced states like the Federal Territory and Johor and so, the RM900 minimum wage would not be justified here.

The organisations, which represent over 3,000 employers, include the 

1. Chinese Chamber of Commerce, 

2. the Indian Chamber of Commerce, 

3. the Islamic Trade Union, 

4. the Terengganu Tourism Association and 

5. the Terengganu Wood Industries Association.

6. Terengganu Budget Hotels Association, 

7. Terengganu Batik Manufacturers and the 

8. Terengganu chapter,  Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA).

Standing united: Low (fourth from right) and heads of trade organisations posing for a photograph during a press conference in Kuala Terengganu Sunday.

They have jointly signed a memorandum asking the Human Resources Ministry to exempt them from the policy.

“It is not fair to implement the policy in Terengganu, given the low cost of living here.  “Small businesses will not be able to cope,” he said.

Citing the example of nasi ayam sellers, Low said they would not be able to cope with the minimum wage and, rather than increase prices, they would lay off workers.

Here are my comments :

Didnt I say so already? I told you so, half a dozen times. The Minimum Wage will cause problems.  

Why werent these many groups in Terengganu consulted before the Gomen implemented the Minimum Wage Policy? I mean do you seriously believe that the :

1. Chinese Chamber of Commerce, 

2. the Indian Chamber of Commerce, 

3. the Islamic Trade Union, 

4. the Terengganu Tourism Association and 

5. the Terengganu Wood Industries Association.

6. Terengganu Budget Hotels Association, 

7. Terengganu Batik Manufacturers and the 

8. Terengganu chapter,  Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA).

do not know what they are talking about? These are the business people - those who actually run businesses. Versus those politicians and "dont know what the hell is business" types who have been blindly calling for Minimum Wages.

OK folks, this is what is going to happen in Terengganu and in the rest of the country.  

The young people who are looking for jobs at nasi ayam joints, keropok lekor factories, batik factories and batik outlets in Terengganu will now say, "Saya nak gaji minima RM900". 

The keropok lekor, nasi ayam and batik factories will say, 'Gaji Boss pun lebih kurang saja. Macam mana saya nak bayar awak pula RM900. Sorry lah. Saya tak mampu nak isi jawatan kosong ini'.   So the young people are not going to get the job. The unemployment will increase.  

Keropok lekor and nasi ayam joints will get their children to work for them instead. School attendance is going to drop.  Children will be forced to help their parents at the warongs and the factories.

As for existing nasi ayam and keropok lekor workers whose wages have been increased to RM900 overnite, well their productivity remains the same. They are paid more now, but their output of keropok lekor and nasi ayam will be the same. Why? Because the higher wage has been caused by waving a magic wand. Not because of any humongous productivity increases.

Secondly, just because their wages went up to RM900, it does not mean that they magically started selling twice the amount of keropok lekor or nasi ayam. In other words while their wage costs went up, the sales volume remains the same. 

So now, the usahawan, the factory owners, the nasi ayam owner, the keropok lekor boss are already at their wits end. They have to pay higher Minimum Wages but the workers output has not increased and their sales volume also has not increased either.  

The solution : they will have no choice but to increase the selling price of their goods and services. Why? To cover the higher costs.  This is bound to happen, especially in Terengganu. Not so much in high cost locations like Klang Valley, Selangor or Penang (where most wages are already above RM900)..  There is going to be serious inflation in "low cost"  places like Terengganu.

Businesses inside Terengganu producing goods for sale outside the State who have to raise their prices (to cover the higher Minimum Wage Costs) will also lose sales to other lower cost producers (or imported products from China). They will close shop. More unemployment in Terengganu. 

So to lower their wage costs, businesses and factories will hire even more low cost illegal workers (from Thailand, Indons, Banglas, Nepalis etc).   This will happen in Sabah and Sarawak where lower cost illegal Indonesians and Filipinos will be imported to work in the oil palm plantations through the very, very porous borders.

And here is one more point. Those who will be hiring these illegals in large numbers will be the Chinese towkays, Chinese plantation owners and Chinese businesses.  (Folks, if you have not noticed the Chinese still do a lot of business in the country - and quite succesfully too, please do not disturb them, just let them do what they want).

And those who will get laid off, become unemployed etc will be the bumiputras in Sarawak, Sabah and the Malays on the Peninsula.  The Chinese business class will have to work even harder while the unemployment among the bumiputras and Malays will increase. (In Malaysia everything is racial remember.)

Folks, all this will happen. I can see it as clear as daylight. Dont say I did not tell you. I told you so already.

Fa Wasatna Bihi Jam'an

Mat Sabu Next PM?

This is what Sri Tri Buana says in his Blog here.  

Tri Buana says that the PKR will be quite wiped out in the next GE. PAS will also be sidelined, leaving the DAP as top dog in the Pakatan.  

Even if by an offchance they win, this formula will still apply.  PAS will have more Parliamentary seats than PKR. The DAP will not be able to form a Government without PAS. And since Kim Guan Eng may not be acceptable as Prime Minister, it will fall on PAS to nominate the next PM.

PAS President Hadi Awang has announced that he will not be standing for the elections any more. That leaves Mat Sabu, the PAS No. 2 as the Pakatan's choice for PM.  

So folks, we present you Mat Sabu - maybe your next PM.

I like this next one better :

Reuters : Felda Listing 2nd Largest In The World After Facebook.

This is about the hoohaa over the fact that an international commodity trader Louis Dreyfuss (Top 4 in the world) are buying a minority 4.9% in the soon to be listed Felda Global Ventures. 

The PAS and the Brader's supporters are saying this is a Jewish owned company. Err..I think they are public listed lah. The CEO is a German, a grandson of the Hitler generation. 

But so what? The Jews also own Coca Cola, IBM, General Motors, Pepsi Cola, George Soros and the Republic of Turkey (which has diplomatic ties with Israel. Yet the Brader ran away to the Turkish Embassy when that boy made the Police Report about the Liwat charge).  I am just ranting ok - being illogical. 

Folks this 4.9% stake is going to cost Louis Dreyfuss about US$150.0 million or RM450.0 million. Since this is an IPO, they are investing RM450.0 million directly into our country.  At least they are not mining Dead Sea mud on illegally occupied Palestinian land.  

Anyway, here is some old news  :

Dreyfus to take stake in palm oil group Felda

PARIS | Mon May 14, 2012 7:30pm BST

(Reuters) - Commodities group Louis Dreyfus has agreed to take a minority stake in Malaysian palm oil firm Felda ..

Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGVH) is preparing to sell shares in what promises to be the world's second-largest initial public share offering this year after Facebook.

(Wow, the Felda listing is second only to Facebook. The market capitalisation of FGVH is projected to be around RM18.0 billion or USD6.0 Billion).

Sources told Reuters last week that FGVH officials had invited Louis Dreyfus to take a 4.9 percent stake in the company ahead of the $3 billion initial public offering.

Louis Dreyfus said in a statement on Monday: "This strategic partnership is a major step in Louis Dreyfus Commodities' development in Asia and a unique opportunity to cement its role as one of the largest integrated players in palm oil activities."

The proposed transaction involves both a strategic cornerstone investment in the IPO and the creation of two joint ventures, Louis Dreyfus added.

Louis Dreyfus Commodities has its headquarters in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands."

The part that I like is  "the creation of two joint ventures".  I hope this collaboration with Louis Dreyfuss will take Felda to greater heights. Folks did you know that Felda already has plants operating in Canada - managed and run by anak Felda engineers and executives?    

Anyway here is more info about Louis Dreyfuss.  This is taken from Only The Facts Blog here

1. Louis Dreyfus

Louis Dreyfus Group is a diversified French private holding company that is involved in agriculture, oil, energy and commodities (global processing, trading and merchandising), as well as international shipping. It is one of the world’s four traditional agricultural giants, which are known by their initials: ABCD - Archer Daniels Midland Co., Bunge Ltd. and Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus.

The company has 34,000-plus employees in more than 55 countries and posted $74.3 billion in 2010 revenue. Louis Dreyfus is the biggest fund manager in agriculture futures; the No. 2 wheat, corn and sugar trader; the third-largest coffee seller and juice processor; and a major farmer and biofuel processor.

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, the Russian wife of the previous Chairman, is the current Chairman of Louis Dreyfus Group and the largest shareholder via the Family Trust with a 65% stake in the parent Louis Dreyfus Holdings. The day-to-day operation is run by Serge Schoen, a German.

Key points

1. Louis Dreyfus supplies 30% of the rice requirements in Africa and 10% of grains requirements in the Middle East and Africa. It does not discriminate between Muslim or non-Muslim countries and see their role purely as providing commodities including food to the global population.

2. Loius Dreyfus has established presence in OIC member states. Their commodities division has registered offices in the following countries:-

-          PT. LOUIS DREYFUS COMMODITIES INDONESIA PLC. – Indonesia

-          LOUIS DREYFUS COMMODITIES MEA TRADING DMCC – UAE

-          LOUIS DREYFUS COMMODITIES ALEXANDRIA LTD - Egypt

Alamak - habis Pak Arab beli beras dan gandum dari Yahudi boleh ke? I think it is the other way around, kalau Yahudi tak jual beras dan gandum kepada Pak Arab, roti naan tak jadi kut.  

Folks, have to go. The KFC just arrived. (Wife belanja).  KFC is also Jewish owned. You know how I know? Because their chicken is kosher :)))  

Corruption : RPK Exposes Documents About Anugerah Tuhan's Anugerah

You can read and see the documents here

I found RPK's reference to this man quite interesting : Shafee Yahya. RPK says Shafee Yahya was the Director of the ACA at the relevant time, when Anugerah Tuhan was Finance Minister and Deputy PM. 

Please read RPK and see the links between them all.  Things were cosy I suppose. 

Just to refresh your memory here is  something about Shafee Yahya from Malaysiakini here :

"Former Anti-Corruption Agency director-general Shafee Yahya has stood by his sworn testimony in 2000 where he alleged that former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had interfered with the agency’s investigations."

Is that so? What an angel. We should have more of these angels flying around. Sadly, they often come crashing to the ground.  

Folks, I think RPK has just put the shoe onto Shafee Yahya's other foot.

RPK Exposes Major Corruption

Read RPK's Blog here. 

Here is an extract :


Files proved Azmin is corrupt, says RPK

(Free Malaysia Today) - The blogger says there are paper trails showing the Gombak MP owning shares, houses and cars totalling about RM1.5 million and almost RM10 million in cash.

Firebrand Raja Petra Kamarudin claimed to have “buried” files showing PKR deputy president Azmin Ali’s involvement in graft when he was still with the government in 1995.

The self-exiled Malaysia Today webmaster also implicated PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim whom he alleged in his latest posting today to have ordered the cover-up of the probe on Azmin at the time.

Anwar was then the deputy prime minister while Azmin, known to many as the former’s “blue-eyed boy”, was his private secretary.

The fugitive blogger said a disillusioned high-ranking officer with the then Anti-Corruption Agency had met him in London to hand over a thick file of hundreds of documents which contained enough evidence to charge the PKR No 2.

The case, however, was allegedly classified as “no further action” under Anwar’s instruction.

My comment : I told you so

Bila PRU13?

Malaysia

Najib’s government still in weak position, says Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has warned Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the latter is still leading a weak government, repeating his call for federal polls to be held off until after the fasting month which ends in August.

The influential former prime minister told Bloomberg in an interview published today that the prime minister should delay plans for a general election that must be held within a year.

Najib took over from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April 2009, ostensibly to reduce the record loss of 82 federal seats and five state governments. 

Dr Mahathir also told the international business wire in an interview earlier this month that Najib should take more time before holding the next election in order to win more support from groups such as the country’s ethnic Chinese. 

Najib said earlier this month the election will be held “very soon” amid rumours that he would dissolve Parliament before its resumes in June.

I was discussing this yesterday with some people. Time is actually running out. June is two days away and August is just 60 days after that. But even one week is a very long time in politics. Anything can happen in one week. 

There could be another Liwat case. By the way, since the guy was acquitted, he can now walk on water. They say he can now perform live on stage in a gay club  in Bangkok, Tokyo  or somewhere and no embarrassment will befall him at all.  He is now immune. Pity the wife though.  And they still have not found that lost watch.

Anyway the UMNO boys are getting a little impatient. They are rearing to go. They want the general elections held as soon as possible. They are ready for June, July or August. No problem. 

And here is a big factor that was not present in 2008 : UMNO is more united now than ever before. The party is very united, especially at the grassroots level. 

Here is a bigger factor : the Ketua Bahagian have little or nothing to do with this unity in UMNO.  Meaning the grassroots has rallied behind the president and behind the party. The Ketua Bahagian can go and jump in the lake or lombong. 

This is a new development in UMNO politics. The war lords are losing their grip on the grassroots. 

As for the opposition here are some facts. Their leaders and supporters are :

convicted criminals, ex jailbirds who were jailed for torturing women, ex ISA detainees, homosexuals, gay activists, racial chauvinists, religious freaks, social misfits, UMNO rejects, people who had multiple marriage break ups, people who had affairs with multiple partners (read Stop The Lies in my Blog Roll), people who have been caught on camera (video as well as digital cameras) in very compromising situations (lelaki Melayu dua, wanita China satu), religious hypocrites who beat up their wives (ada Police Report) and bankrupts. And now, as the stomach churns, they themselves have denounced some of their lying cheerleaders as 'liars' - after he started writing against their leader. There are names for each of these categories (I think you can fill in the blanks yourselves). That is the Opposition. 

And they say they are not corrupt. Pi dah mabuk. I agree with Helen Ang that they are more corrupt. We have already seen what they are doing in Selangor. Just wait and see. They will hang themselves.  

The Bloggers are ready for the elections even today. We can wait for August too. Its not too far away.  Just bring it on.

Strange Statistics By Merdeka Center & Malaysian Insider

This is from the Malaysian Insider here  :   

"A survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center revealed last Friday that 92 per cent of voters want the electoral roll cleaned up before elections are held, while 48 per cent agreed that the present electoral roll was inaccurate."

92%?  Wow.  They did not poll me. Folks, how many of you were polled by the Merdeka Center? Can you please hit Enter, then Leave (he he - just kidding ok). Just hit Enter lah  :)

OK so 92% want the electoral rolls cleaned up. Then they say '48 per cent agreed that the present electoral roll was inaccurate'

Hmm...lets run by that again. "..48 percent agreed that the present roll was inaccurate". 

First of all this was obviously an answer to a loaded question.  What is a "loaded question"? Here is the Wikipedia :

"A loaded question is a question which contains a controversial or unjustified assumption, e.g., a presumption of guilt.  Aside from being a logical fallacy, such questions may be used as a rhetorical tool: the question attempts to limit replies to be those that serve the questioner's agenda."

In other words, the questioner already has an agenda and the question is framed in such a way as to elicit a reply that suits that agenda.  Here are some examples :

  

1. Who is more undemocractic the DAP or the PAP?

2. Here is another one : Who was more authoritarian in their style of leadership Lee Kuan Yew or Lim Kit Siang? 

3. Here is another one :  Which political party kept returning the same strongman to power over 40 years the PAP or the DAP?

4. Another one : Which party has the longest serving politician as its leader the PAP or the DAP?

5. Or this one : Which political party is perceived as the personal family fiefdom of its leader the PAP or the DAP?

6. Or this one : Which party has kicked out more members opposed to its leadership the DAP or PAP?

Folks, these are all examples of loaded questions. They are crafted in such a way as to embarass the DAP and the PAP.  We all know for a fact that both the DAP and PAP are 

i. 100% democratic, 

ii. not authoritarian at all, 

iii. they have frequent change of leadership every five years, 

iv. their family members are absolutely not involved in the party leadership and 

v. they have rarely kicked out any of their party members or supporters just because they opposed the leadership.  (Yap Gim Ghuan, Fan Yew Teng, Lee Lam Thye, Wee Choo Keong, Hu Sepang, Kua Kia Soong, etc may disagree but so what)

But lets get back to the statistics again, put out by Merdeka Center and Malaysian Insider. They say "...48 percent agreed that the present roll was inaccurate."

I say Mr Munafik, if 48% say the roll was inaccurate then it means that the remaining 52% said it was accurate !!  The remaining 52% must have said :

i. the present roll was accurate 

ii.Tuesday comes after Monday

iii. so what if Tuesday comes after Monday

iv. all of the above

So Dear Blog readers you can see how biased these people are when they ask loaded questions and then "spin" the statistics as well. 

The funny thing is even their loaded question can only get a 48% response which they favour. 52% (the majority) did not agree with their loaded question. 

I have one last question : If only   "..48 percent agreed that the present roll was inaccurate"  then how did they get the other figure that  '92 per cent of voters want the electoral roll cleaned up"?

Surely the people who agreed that the roll was inaccurate (48%) must be the same people who want the roll cleaned up.  


According to Merdeka Center  92% want the roll cleaned up but only 48% said the roll was inaccurate ! ! 

Poll lah betul-betul. And dont hide the results lah. Kalau 52% tak complain, sebut sajalah 52%  tak complain pun.  

Yennadey?  Single malt sudah habis ke?

Karpal Defeats Kit Siang ! !

Here is a very famous faux pax or big time boo boo by a world famous newspaper. On November 3rd 1948 the Chicago Daily Tribune intentionally ran a front page headline saying that incumbent President Harry Truman had lost the elections to New York Governor Thomas E Dewey.  The election results which came in after the paper had gone to print  confirmed the opposite - Dewey had lost. 

Here is another picture of the victorious President Harry Truman gloating over the Chicago Daily Tribune's bungle.  Things like this do happen even with world class, world famous newspapers.

Well folks, yesterday I ran the poll "Which Non-Muslim would you vote for Prime Minister of Malaysia?"  I only provided two choices : Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang. After one day, here is the tally :

Karpal Singh	109 (76%)
Lim Kit Siang	33 (23%)

Votes so far: 142 

76% of the people polled chose Karpal Singh over Lim Kit Siang. I think somehow the Lim Kit Siang cyber troopers were mobilised to vote for Kit Siang because as of yesterday evening the vote for Lim Kit Siang was only 14%. The number increased suddenly to 20% last nite. It is now at 23% (for Kit Siang) as you can see.  So do you think this is a free and fair poll? I have my doubts.

Considering that the readership of this Blog is very multi-racial with many, many Pakatan supporters among my loyal readers (thank you guys)  I consider this Poll fairly representative of the country's population.  Yet Karpal Singh has got more than three times as many votes as Lim Kit Siang.

But here is a question folks : What do you think are Karpal Singh's chances of getting three times as many  votes as Kit Siang in the DAP's party elections?  

Here is the answer : What are the chances of seeing a Sikh wearing a red crash helmet inside a Sikh temple? Almost zero.

So do you think they have free and fair elections inside the DAP? How do you explain the fact that Lim Kit Siang has ruled over the DAP longer than Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Mao Tse Tung? 

Ok we digress. Karpal Singh is more than three times more popular than Lim Kit Siang.  Why not the DAP make the announcement that if the Pakatan Rakyat wins the GE13, then Karpal Singh shall be their candidate for Prime Minister? Whether it happens or not does not matter but they can at least make the announcement.

Or is that post only reserved for the Son - Kim Guan Eng (thanks Helen Ang!!)  

If Dr Mahathir had said : 'only my son can replace me' you hypocrites would have screamed. But Dr Mahathir did not allow his son to even become Ketua Stesen Bas Kubang Pasu. Only now poor Mukhriz is clawing his way up the ladder in Kedah. 

Habis macam mana pula bapa Lim 'warm the seat' for baby Lim? That is ok? That is why you hypocrites are not going anywhere.   

Nasharudin Mat Isa On LGBTs.

Ostat, soalan saya simple saja. Ostat dah sampaikan mesej ini kepada Brader Anwar Bin Ibrahim ke atau belum?

Poll : Which Non Muslim Would You Vote For Prime Minister Of Malaysia

Hi folks,

I am running a poll to the right of the page : 

Which Non Muslim Would You Vote For Prime Minister Of Malaysia?

Please feel free to take the Poll. Thank you. 

Part 3 : Pengerang Integrated Petrochemical Project - Lobsters

Hi folks, as I said over a week ago this is Part 3 of Pengerang.  KIta buat berita bergambar sajalah. A picture is worth a thousand words. 

Yesterday while over 500,000 people gathered peacefully in Putrajaya, the Liwat fellow was in Pengerang stirring up trouble again.  I received these two pictures here yesterday just as the events in these pictures were happening. 

This is Pengerang Johor where Petronas and Dialog are developing an RM62.0 billion integrated petrochemical complex which will basically change the face of Johor as well as the energy geo-politics of this region permanently. It is a damn good project. We should all support it.  Do not expect any of the Pakatan dunggus to understand it. Many of them hardly read anything. (Reading the label on a whiskey bottle does not count ok). 

Anyway my source says only about 300 people turned up to listen to Liwat in Pengerang yesterday. You can see the pictures yourself. Tak ada orang pun. 

Pengerang in Johor has an extremely interesting history. More of this later. 

Back to the project, the PIPC will displace about 3000 plus people from their homes. At least two pretty large masjids, more than one Chinese temple and 18 graveyards (11 Muslim, 7 Chinese) will also be shifted.  

Folks let me ask you something  : have you had to answer this question from your wife  before : Which way shall we take to get there? Sounds like an easy enough question.  For those of you who are not married (atau bini sudah lari) you wont know how complicated this question can get.

Now imagine solving the problems of transferring 17 graveyards of people who have been buried as long as 200 years ago - including members of the Brunei Royal family.  And compensating people for their houses, their land and their livelihood. All this is being done in Pengerang.  

As I have blogged earlier, we were in Pengerang to study the project and see what was happening on the ground.  A picture is worth a thousand words. In these two pictures, you can see a huge bungalow house on a hilltop.  (You can click on the pics or zoom them up on your screen). The distance from the massive gate to the house is easily half a kilometre - up the winding road.

This hilltop bungalow house in Pengerang is built of imported pine wood by a Singaporean millionaire. It overlooks across the Straits to Singapore.  We are not supposed to reveal exactly how much compensation will be paid to this Singaporean bungalow owner but it runs into millions of Ringgit. 

So folks, kalaulah non-citizen, non-voting Singaporeans are going to be compensated millions of Ringgit,  wont it be absolutely foolish of the Gomen NOT to properly compensate our own voting citizens in Pengerang ? ?

Thats me (tummy is post lunch ok) talking to some Pengerang residents at the Information Center that has been set up to engage with the residents. We noted that none of the many posters were in Chinese. This is a mistake - plenty of the affected residents are Chinese. There were also no Chinese speakers to explain the compensation package to the Chinese people.  Kekawan, this is Malaysia lah. The Gomen says Chinese schools akan kekal. So please get some Chinese speakers to talk to these people. 

Anyway the man who is speaking to me is also seeking compensation.  But I found out that he has just returned from Singapore - after working there for seven years. He left his factory job in Singapore (with seven years seniority)  and is back in Pengerang.  I think he is expecting some good compensation.   

The compensation package is good. Say your grandpa bought a piece of land in Pengerang in the last century and now there are three generations of your family living there - in multiple houses built on your grandpa's land. As long as your dwelling has a separate front door and kitchen  you get a brand new rumah batu - bungalow type.  There is cash compensation which will be used to pay for the new house (easily half the house cost) and the balance is payable via an easy loan (about RM125 ++ a month for 25 years !!).

The new house is built on 6000 sf of land for which the affected residents pay RM1/= only. If you had agricultural plots, you will also get compensated with two acres of land (about three kilometres away only). 

Folks - there are numerous "bird hotels" in Pengerang. You know those tall buildings with tiny holes for the swiftlets. Most of these swiftlet hotels are illegal (no license) or they are built illegally on TOL land. Listen to this - they also get compensation. 

Some fisherfolk complained that they will lose their jetties. "Where will they land their fish?" they asked.  No problem. The Gomen is building a brand new RM87.0 million  fish landing jetty for the fisherfolk. Complete with ice making machinery.  Everything has been thought out. Tapi still, some boat owners are unhappy. Why? Please read on.

I have to say something about moving the graveyards. The old graves have to be moved to new graveyards. Now the Muslim graves are pretty straight forward. Prayers must be read and new graves prepared. They estimate about RM2000 to move each Muslim grave. 

With the Chinese graves it is a bit more complicated. The sinsehs have got into the act. Some have suggested that to move each grave there must be a brand new funeral all over again - complete with music players, paper Mercedes Benz, official mourners,  hearse and such. Cost : up to RM100,000 per funeral !!  Wow !! Now can you appreciate how trivial is arguing with the Mrs about "Which way shall we take to get there?"   I am certain the Pegawai Daerah Kota Tinggi never imagined in his life that all this will come his way in quiet, forgotten Pengerang.

Here is a picture of that beautiful bridge across the Sungai Johor estuary (Desaru Hiway)  which connects south east Johor (the Ramunia and Pengerang area) to the rest of Johor.  Please see the map next.

Before the bridges across the Johor estuary were built this was among the most isolated places in Malaysia. To go to Johor Bharu, it was easier for people to take the ferry from Pengerang to Singapore, then take the bus to Woodlands and across the Causeway to JB. 

Folks say when the Indonesians landed here during the Indonesian Confrontation, it was two weeks before anyone else got to know about it.   That is how isolated this place was.

Which also made the Pengerang area a haven for smugglers. This business is still going on until today. In the old days, there was plenty of smuggling going on between Singapore and Pengerang. Just to refresh your memory, Singapore used to export a few times more tin than it officially imported from Malaysia.  Not all of that tin crossed the Causeway.

Tin is not smuggled out anymore.  N'theless there are other things being smuggled into the country as well.  So some lobsters will not find the new RM87.0  million  fish landing jetty of much use to them.  An entire way of life is changing for them. 

Dirgahayu Dr Mahathir Oleh A Samad Said

I received this in the email from a tokoh negara. It is about a famous pantun by A Samad Said titled  Dirgahayu Dr Mahathir.  

Some background from my tokoh negara friend :

"Petikan  beberapa bait dari puisi A. Samad Said  DIRGAHAYU DR MAHATHIR yang diciptanya antara 28 Ogos hingga 8 September 2003. Sajak ini panjang tetapi saya ambil sebahagian kecil sahaja.. 

Mungkin dia gila nak dapatkan hadiah nobel yang memerlukan orang yang memperjuangkan  demokrasi ala barat.  Semuga dengan sajak ini Saudara Samad akan mendapat hadiah nobel."

DIRAHAYU DR MAHATHIR OLEH A SAMAD SAID.

Kau seorang pemimpin paling sering mengejutkan

sehingga dalam panas kami mudah kesejukan

dan dalam sejuk tiba tiba kami kepanasan.

kau seperti damai menyaksikan kami terkejut,

kau ransang kami menjadi juara jangan takut.

Daki gunung, lawat Antartika, rayapi buana

rentasi samudera dan saingi berniaga-

segala yang puncak-selalunya itu kau pinta.

Kau pengingat bangsamu yang sering benar pelupa

penyedar suatu perjuangan yang belum selesai;

juga penghayat tanah airmu yang sungguh damai.

Memang ada yang senantiasa membencimu

dan sesekali,soal bahasa yang mampu,aku juga begitu.

Tapi daun bakti yang lain wajar jua dikira

pemimpin tak semua benar,tak semua salah.

Dan dalam sedikit gulana resah batin bangsa

aku tetap menerima pemimpin berharga.

Memang kau telah berjaya menumbang banyak bakti

menjadi amat payah untuk sekedar membenci 

apalagi yang diragukan lebih teka teki

end quote.

Puisi nukilan A Samad Said sebelum beliau tercemar.  Here is a picture of A Samad Said, this picture was possibly taken before taking his medication.