Damn I Hate Fridays !!!!

Checkpoint traffic jams(vehicles or humans) on Friday evenings are usually the worst in the week.

Yesterday was no different. I reach Woodlands at 6.30pm. The motorbike que had already reached the bottom of the viaduct. I was only able to clear Woodlands checkpoint around 7.40pm. Betul-betul stuck dari siang sampai malam.

After queing for 20 mins, the checkpoint was still so far.

On the bright side a lot of tambak riders shut off their engine yesterday because the weather was cloudy and not hot. Lucky no rain in spite of the dark clouds. Or else I would be really crying in the rain.

Regards,

Kaki Tambak

Freedom Film Festival 2009 (FFF2009) Coming To JB

For those of you who do not know what Freedom Film Festival(FFF), it is actually an annual film festival organized by an NGO named KOMAS.

Their original site freedomfilmfest.komas.org has been taken down due to heavy bombardment by B-End cybertroopers. So I guess they are pretty independent. All is not lost, as they have created a new blog quickly to replace the original site.

KOMAS basically uses video and media creatively to narrate the different aspects of issues that do not get the any significant coverages in the mainstream media. Undercurrent issues that we must confront in order for our society to move beyond modernization and material development.

Hey I know this blog isn't trafically buzzing. Nonetheless I hope this post can somehow reach some in JB and Singapore. This film screening would definitely be a refreshing experience.

I would like to especially invite Singaporeans to come over check it out. It will be slightly different from the film fest that you have Singapore. In Singapore, the focus is more on the arty side. Singapore is home to a vibrant arts circle but it relies too heavily on govt and corporate support(esp GLCs). I am not saying there are some sort of direct control over media freedom or independence in Singapore. Its just that there isn't that much of a space to work on.

Hopefully FFF2009 can give a more independent take on some topics that are made controversial by our mainstream media.

FFF2009 in The Star :

http://star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/2/movies/4806175&sec=movies

Screening Schedules :

http://freedomfilmfest.blogspot.com/2009/10/freedomfilmfest-schedule.html

Film Sypnosis :

http://freedomfilmfest.blogspot.com/2009/09/film-synopsis-saturday.html#ALL

http://freedomfilmfest.blogspot.com/2009/09/film-synopsis-sunday.html#FOI

Admission is free. To get screening passes please contact KOMAS at :

Tel/Fax: 03 - 7968 5415

HP: 017 - 3749 887

Email: freedomflmfest@komas.org

Thank you.

Regards,

Kaki Tambak

Response to anonymous criticism

Got a pretty strong anonymous comment on my last post.

I would like to thank him for his concern on this issue. Although I am dead tired now and have to travel outstation tomorrow, I feel obliged to write a new post in response to his/her comments.

"Wah,bro, S'pore give you a chance to Earn S$$$$$$ and you are not grateful?"

Bro I am very grateful that I have been given a chance to earn the precious SGDs. I am so grateful that I am willing to take on 30% more workload than my Singaporean counterparts. I am also grateful to the extent that I happily receive 70% of what my Singaporean counterparts normally earns. To repay Singapore gratitude I am ever willing to help in driving Singapore economy forward so that SGD can go up even further. So that Singaporeans can buy plenty of goods from poorer country using their big strong SGD.

I am sorry if my incoherent writings does not contain enough goodwill . I am not perfect and won't pretend to be a sportng gentleman(I grew up in JB wat u expect).

Honestly Bro, do you think Singaporean government and bosses give a crap about my sense of gratitude. May I add, they don't pay me or other foreign workers for doing nothing. Singapore Inc has always been about the bottom line!!

"Just when the relationship between S'pore & Malaysia is getting warmer"

Bro, you have too much of mainstream stuff in your system. I suggest you try more of alternative flavored media. Malaysia-Today is a good start.

A gentle reminder :

i)During Abdullah Badawi administration, it was more of Khairy leveraging on his Singapore connections to get a turbo-political headstart. And Singapore got her fair share from such co-op. Search the 2006 archives Raja Petra writings to find out more.

ii)The current cross straits ties under Najib is definitely. It is so warm he is feeling the heat right under his balls. Try google 'Najib Mongolia Singapore hotel exhibition' if you know what I mean.

As much as I want to believe that foreign relations are about gentlemen diplomacy, I cannot ignore that everything everything just boils down to the bottom line!! Its just about getting the most out of any bargain.

'When do you think this KTM will ever be resolved?'

Bro, the more important question is how to properly resolve the issue. The tracks and station has been around for a 100 years. It did not prevent Singapore from becoming a first world country.

"'Do you think if it is true, Msia will lose out?"

Yes I do. It has more to do with my zero confidence in Najib, Anifah Aman and other bumbling BN goons.

"Why always think S'pore is too cunning and will always get the Cake and Msia only the Cream?"

I hope you take it as compliment that the Singapore government is full of intellegent quick thinking people.

An example of some creams that Malaysian licked:

i) Singapore landfilling causing the shipping passage of Tebrau Straits to narrow. Thereby negatively affecting Pasir Gudang Port and Tanujung Pelepas Port. You might argue who cares about lousy port operators like these two above, they are doomed anyway. Just use our super efficient PSA. Singapore development more important mah! Singapore 1 Malaysia Nil

ii) CPF withdrawal of Penisular Malaysians. Hey crazy meh, even Singapore citizens find it difficult to take money out of Singapore piggy bank. Singapore 2 Malaysia Nil

iii) Pedra Benca, Singapore could have won hands down with the sole fact that the Birtish gazzeted Pedra Branca as part of the Negeri-negeri Selat. Why did Singapore claim that it was terra nullius (uninhabitted empty land)? When it was a common knowledge that these islands were Orang Laut whose allegiance to the Melaka/Johor Sultanate is well documented inhabitted Pedra Branca and its surrounding island.

Why so kiasu in using terra nullius? Coming up with all sort of timeline and legal discrepancies to paint the picture that Johor Sultanate had never had any sovereignty or legitimate influence over these islands. The answer is simple winning the prize.

Singapore 3 Malaysia Nil.

iv) 2006 Kota Tinggi great flood. Did Singapore made transperent its operations record of Sungai Linggu reservoir(upstream of Kota Tinggi)? To convince the public that there was no negligence on Singapore operators that could have worsen the flood. Or could there have been steps taken to mitigate the extent of damage.

Water very important Singapore mah.No lah cannot reveal too much. Later terorrist attack Singapore people die lah. Kota tinggi just kampung folks, very nice people sure the understand one.

Singapore 4 Malaysia Nil.

We could go on non-stop in digging Malaysian government incompentency and Singapore ruthlessness in taking advantage of it. But lets just stop here.

Singapore is successful partly because of its good operation management. But the most important factor of its success is its ability to attract money from all over South East Asia. Southeast Asian tycoons, military rulers, corrupt politician and officers stash away their billions in Singapore.

Where does all these billions come from? They are suck from poor ordinary people of your poor neighbouring countries. Then all these poor folks will go to Singapore and work like hell to drive your economy.

So please forgive us ordinary folks for not being enthusiastic enough in your swap deal or prime CBD or IR real estate.

Singapore needs its neighbour as much as we need your Singdollars. But a little gratitude from Singapore would be nice.

My country is sick but I am not blaming Singapore. My bottom line is helping my country to stand up again. And I believe everyone has their on bottom line to chase.

Regards,

Kaki Tambak

PS : I will be away for the next 3 days, have a nice weekend.

Anonymous, if your not from the Home Ministry (Malaysia or Singapore), maybe we can have Teh Tarik sometime.

Light at the end of the tunnel for KTM? So bright that we cannot see the lost of KTM Jurong Line.

Familiar filming site for SG soapy drama serials.

An article yesterday by The Malaysian Insider was very disturbing. It seems that MI tried to spin in favor of a land swap deal to settle the longstanding issue of KTM land in Singapore. What the article did not mentioned was the long forgotten KTM Jurong line that branches from Bukit Timah to Shipyard Rd. More info can be found in the 2 every good singapore blogs below : old-tracks-new-trail-bridge-on-river old-tracks-new-trail-in-search-of-river ulu-pandan-heritage-trail-8-bridge-that ulu-pandan-heritage-trail-9-lost ulu-pandan-heritage-trail-10-lost

I really like the way Peter and Chun See writes in their blogs. It feels great in the ways of how Malaysians would normally talk of their nostalgic past. Be it Ipoh, Penang, Kedah, Sabah and so on. Anyway back to the topic, you see the Jurong Line has stopped operations and has not been maintained by KTM for quite some time. Enroached by development, the Jurong Line land area has shrinked a lot over the years. During the British times, it was common for the KTM's track land to be as wide as 100 feet. Well rumours has been circulating in KTM circles, that PM Najib administration will quietly relinquish all of Jurong Line to the Singapore Government within a year. The shiny lights IR/Casino related carrot seems to made us totally unaware of the old Jurong Line being taken away right under our nose. If rumours Some would argue it is useless for KTM to hold on to their land in Singapore. Since KTM is another loss making government link company who cannot properly utilize or develop these SG lands in their hands. So just cut the losses and take the billions that Singapore goverment is offering. I say think twice. 1)Some might argue the lands were given to KTM by some outdated colonial legal agreements of the British. We cannot just dishonour an agreement (no matter how old) for the sake of a few quick dollars(well maybe a few billions). The same way Singapore argues that Malaysia cannot anyhow cut water supply to the island because of another dusty British legal documents. 2)The billions of SGD on offer might just dissappear into some BN politicains pocket. as in the case of 9 million Telekom shares dropping into the pockets of a prominent Indian leader. 3) Do we have the people intelligent enough to play in glitzy prime development. Playing in someone else backyard is by no means an easy feat. Just ssk Old Lee on how they got burnt in Suzhou. But the above 3 points are not the most important. The most important thing is Political Bargaining Power. Money we can get from other resources and industries. Its a well known fact that SG government is way more cunning and smarter than us. Malaysia need all the ammunition it can get. So its not good to become shortsighted and flimsily give away our political chips. BN's propaganda exercises is not a measure of a nation's sovereignty. Abdullah Badawi practically gift wrap Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore. The rot is even more worrying with Najib seemingly playing into the hands Singapore ever since he became PM. Tun Mahathir was one hell of a corrupt and crazy politician. But at least he did not wanted to be remembered as the man who sold out to Singapore. Any negotiations with Singapore is futile unless our leaders can stand up fearlessly with integrity even when chips are down. But with the bunch of Najib and his BN goons, it seems we will be outthought and outwtted in no time by Singapore government. PS : I am not anti Singapore government or anything like that. They are just not the people I would trust with things important to me (e.g my life). Regards, Kaki Tambak

2nd Link Touch 'n Go Chaos

On the 14 Sep 2009(yesterday), PLUS made Touch 'n Go as the compulsory payment method for 2nd Link tolls.

Morning was still ok for those going south into Singapore. But yesterday evening was chaotic at the motorcycles section heading north. As shown in the video above, it wasn't any much better earlier this evening either. I was stuck at the toll booth jam for about 10mins.

I must admit some tambak riders who cut que by riding onto the grass areas should be blamed partly for the chaos. Compared to the deadlock on the Singapore side, this is peanuts and they ought to have restrain themselves from exarcebating the situation.

However, one thing we should notice though is how very little cars, busses and lorries that are queing for toll payments. Somehow we tambak riders have sort of prevented the 2nd Link from being a 100% white elephants.

Maybe PLUS should consider increasing a few more toll booths for us tambak riders. But please don't increase the toll any further. RM1.60 per trip already very ciak lat.

Regards,

Kaki Tambak

Seductive SingDollar infects Sabah/Sarawak Too

Weeks ago I wrote on Tambak Money Carriers, runners who help corrupt cops stash their bribes in Singdollar.

In a post from Malaysia-Today entitled Selamat Moodeka, RPK mentioned that :

"Imagine how many bags you need to pack to bribe a Malaysian politician RM10 million in cash if you pay them in Ringgit compared to using Singapore Dollars. So the Singapore Dollar is more useful if you need to pay off a Malaysian politician. And this is why East Malaysians prefer Singapore Dollars instead of Malaysian Ringgit. So what is the purpose of Sabah and Sarawak being part of Malaysia when it is so difficult to deal in Malaysian Ringgit when bribes need to be paid?"

Its amazing how in South East Asia, that the Singdollar so seductive to the extent that almost all corrupt politicains and goverment officers drooling all over it. In Malaysia, whacking Singapore is the mainstay of UMNO propanda programme. And yet this UMNO supporters will bend over backwards to stash their loot in the currency of the so called Israel of S.E.A.

So Old Lee actually mange in taming the tigers(ditry ones) from Malaya using his almighty Singdollar. This perhaps could be Old Lee's greatest counquering legacy.

2 tigers cannot share a single mountain? Or 2 kucing jantan cannot share a single lonkang?

Please click to enlarge. All this MCA power struggle hoo haa have been given too much publicity lately. I mean it is public knowledge that CSL have been gathering troops to kick OTK off his seat. OTK will loose hands down in terms of grass root support. So he opted for a premptive strike. Its nothing but pure MCA syok sendiri political gamesmanship. People are just reading it as the tabloid stuff as it is. MCA has already lost its father figure status in the Chinese community. As for other communities, I doubt they have any sort microscopic kinship with them. The reasons for their continue existence has been reduced to serving BNs cronies business interest. So we have a huge organization with big portfolios reduced to a 'Yes men' role. Nowadays being a MCA fella is nothing you can shout out with pride on the street. Their only consolation are their share of ATM cash. And perhaps intimate personal friends too. So what do you think, 一山不能藏二虎 （2 tigers cannot share a single mountain)? Or 一沟不能藏两只猫公 (2 kucing jantan cannot share a single lonkang)? Just for laughs, Kaki Tambak