Woodlands-Johor Causeway Congestion: What Malaysia can do to ease it

(Pic obtained from AsiaOne)

Regularly referred to as the busiest land crossing in the world, the Woodlands-Johore causeway sees traffic from Malaysia alone hitting the low 300k daily, and coupled with Singapore's outgoing and incoming vehicular traffic, one can only imagine the chaos especially during rush hours.

Hence, the Singapore's ICA implementation of the QR Code access by 2nd time or more visitors will help reduce interaction time between enforcement officers and transients, this alleviating traffic congestion.

Malaysia, though lagging behind these initiatives, have a pro-active Chief Minister in Johor's Onn Ghafar whose surprise checks of the Malaysian border crossing complex is seen as a hindrance by immigration officials. The latest outburst by the union of Immigration officers only goes to show that the problem lies not with the government but at the agency itself. 

While Singapore's ICA is often seen to review and implement measures to ease congestion, the same cannot be said about Malaysia. In the latest visit by Onn Ghafar, he pointed out 13 closed counters by Malaysian Immigration officers, a logical deduction, on why congestion is often experienced, notably by Singaporean who frequent Malaysia for obvious reasons.

Malaysia's failure to address these issues will only cause more frustrations to drivers from both sides and can only letout the 'Malaysia mah' sigh (in Singlish, 'Malaysia-mah' means it's because of Malaysia, and is often let out as a sigh when things are done differently from Singapore)

Given the upcoming long weekends both for 29 March Good Friday & Easter as well as the next 10 April Hari Raya Puasa, which will see an added increase in traffic, let's hope the Malaysians will wake up and up their game to better manage the border crossing.

Just a note, wouldn't it help better if Malaysia's immigration change their shift assignments rather than smack right during rush hour?

May the real Malaysian Foreign Minister please stand up?

 One of the images constantly still being carried by Channel News Asia when in between slots for the 'Live' News broadcast depicts our very own Vivian Balakrishnan and Malaysia's former (or rather one of the former) Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.

image from google

For the ill-informed, Saifuddin Abdullah, was Foreign Minister on two occasions, once under the PM-ship of Tun Mahathir as well as under the 9th PM Ismail Sabri. It must have been difficult for our editors of CNA to keep track with Malaysia's musical chairs of Ministers during that tumultuous period of 7th to 8th to 9th and now 10th, better known as PMX.

While Singapore being the closest neighbours to Malaysia is still keeping old images of Malaysia's former Foreign Minister, it is not surprising then that the former Foreign Ministers themselves have found their voices to be heard. Not Saifuddin for sure, as he is probably toeing his Political Party's line by maintaining silence on the recent issues, foreign or domestic to Malaysia, but from one that is more vocal and certainly experienced Anifah Aman. Yes, it is the very same respected person that is now a member of the Malaysian Upper House of Senate. The same person who is also the Special Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sabah for Foreign Affairs and Investment.

His statement in the upper house recently, highlighting the ineptitude of one of Malaysia's foremost trading partners , the United States of America's nonchalant response to the growing calls for an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza shows that Anifah is still the same person who helmed the Foreign Ministry in the past.

From previous global issues involving Sri Lanka to Myanmar, the Palestine question has always been Malaysia's stance in seeking a two state solution for the besieged country. Hence, Anfiah's statement to a top US official recently, in which he expressed his respectful view of having lost all respect for the US is both subtle and loud, something Anwar's current Foreign Minister is somewhat shy off. 

Yet, battling political crossfires within the Malaysian political landscape is somewhat expected of the much touted stable unity government; the many underlying currents that threaten Malaysia is very much present, from the new King of Malaysia's very strong Royal address to the current Parliamentary session, to the ever-growing discontent of the opposition from being left out of power amidst the ankle high socks that have been plaguing the nation through this holy month of Ramadhan. Anifah's strong rebuke of the US seems to remind the US that Malaysia though a small country, is ever steadfast in defending the Palestinians. 

Singapore too has been doing our part in upholding the principles of humanity, not just by sending aid and voicing neutrality for the support of a two state solution, yet recognising the need for Israel to defend itself, though difficult to understand for many of our neighbours, it is clear that Singapore will not be taking sides. In fact, Singapore too should stand alongside Malaysia, to lead what the west would not and do not want to do, calling for a ceasefire to restore any ounce of humanity to safeguard those innocent Palestinians. 

Axed Tourism Malaysia Chairman Wee Choo Keong gives his story to Malaysian Police

Former Member of Parliament more remembered as the vindictive former Chairman of Tourism Malaysia Wee Choo Keong (seems to be more focussed on Siew Ka Wei) has been called by the Malaysian Police to have his statement recorded following months of tweets alleging that a crime has been committed in business dealings between MAHB and BXC Travellers Sdn Bhd.

MAHB's recent upheaval where the removal of 3 Directors whom Wee have been thought to have been getting his information from, has seen Wee being cast off without a sail. The Malaysian Police has opened investigations into Wee's actions under the Malaysian Penal Code for Criminal Defamation, likely section 499 of the Defamation Act 1957.

Wee has now reported that after his 4 hours of questioning, he in turn lodged a counter report that stated the police report against himself was made falsely, tweeting again that 2 named individuals should be charged by MACC.

Wee has gone about this issue in a roundabout way, one can say. For IF he has the evidence, why has he not reported it in the first case, and instead proceeded to spam on tweeter with the allegations instead?

Let's delve a little on about Wee (whom I believe that he is out to grind the axe with Siew for Wee was replaced by Siew after failing in his duties as Chairman of Tourism Malaysia and proceeding to fall then into the bad books of Najib). In fact, it is public knowledge that Wee is a vindictive person who continues to bad mouth the Lim father and son of DAP. He has not gotten over his episode of losing his MP seat back in 1995.

His political track record isn't stellar, and having last stood for elections in GE15 under Warisan, he failed to make a comeback understandably, and leaves a trail of political membership in ruins. His 2 years in PKR prior to his swapping camps to go 'independent' that saw him pandering to Najib was his feather in the cap. One that rewarded him with the position of Chairman of Tourism Malaysia, which he lost to Siew. 10 years before PKR, he left DAP claiming that Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng was threatened by his rising star, and went out of their way to kill his DAP career. 

No fairy tale there, and evidently he is going after Siew. 

While in Parliament, he positioned himself to focus on tourism matters and going after MCA's Ng Yen Yen gave him some footing for the Tourism Malaysia position, and his failure at it too was because he continued to go after Air Asia at that time, Tony Fernandes who was busy colouring airplanes the colour of Blue for BN. No secret there why Wee lost his job right?

So, one can see why Wee is still trying to stir this issue, now that he is cornered into his own mess. Social media is definitely a tool to gather Netizen-ry support, and in Malaysia unlike Singapore, calls as such against corruption will create a frenzy where those following who do not know the facts will continue to re-tweet for support. In the case of Wee, he too has been tagging another conglomarate kingpin alleging crimes in the auto industry, however what is not known to him is that in that case the perpetrator is the one making the accusations!

With Wee Choo Keong now having already made both his statements and police report, will we see a charge against him first, or a charge against MAHB's dealings that are continually being cried wolf by Wee?

The Malaysian Police is not Twitter, and Wee should now know that accusing someone of corruption MUST be backed by hard evidence and not just twitter rant. IF the PDRM's IT forensics unit is looking into these allegations, they will find out soon enough the source of the criminal defamation.

As the young generation is used to "Bring out the popcorn". Not likely that Wee can enjoy his Huyos now.

Board frauds and sold secrets

 If there are any misdeeds in Malaysian companies, boardrooms are where you might want to look first. After all, there hae been many cases where specific information were pushed to certain parties to oust others for corporate takeovers.

What Wee Choo Keong is implying is that just that. What we do know now is not quite how Wee puts it. There is a conspricay, and Wee has ended up being a part of it. These boardmembers have been feeding Wee with half-truths in hope that they can ouster the Chairman and MD of MAHB.

It appears that the missing link to the boardroom weasel, is revealed by no other than Wee himself. The naming of names in his tweeter thread aims squarely at only certain members of the board. This would surely point to these as 'protected' by Wee himself. Surely, the boardroom weasel has been feeding Wee with these information? It seems NuclearMan has the clearer picture, however what I do know is that the 'four' named by NuclearMan isn't quite accurate.

This four, has gone on about their 'business as usual' , and while NuclearMan has indicated that the rat has been found, the trail of one's boardroom antics will reveal the nature of that very same Director repeating his or her's mistakes pointed out here, in that particular case being part of a boardroom approval for what was later revealed as against the company's charter.

Wee Choo Leong has been dishing out names, purportedly for not questioning some decisions however he has not been talking about these 3 + 1. And for good reason, Wee who has been squarely targetting Air Asia from at least 10 years ago, does not want people to know even his sitting together with 'Danny' when the first failed AA MH merger was being bandied around. The rumour of a former MP asking for 'peaceful' sum of some millions in exchange for now 'blowing up' the matter remains a strong rumour for some to know, including me.

Alas, the MAHB Boardroom tussle, with a proxy former MP as attack dog is going to unravel sooner than later. Perhaps a strong mandate from the shareholders to the Chairman and MD should signal a timely change of the boardroom to get rid of these rats that have been sending wrong signals to try to drag the stock down. Perhaps.

A little "W"ee here and there, and you will smell Pee from a Dick!

 It appears, nothing has changed much despite thinking that I have left the scene for good.

Retiring as they say, but with many little secrets and continued whispers, I can tell you a little Wee as described in Websters for small ain't quite the same as we say it in Singapore, what more if we say "wee wee"  (which I guess isn't all that different from Britain!)

When an ex-colleague kept tagging me to alert me about a former Malaysian Member of Parliament whom I had shared a few Hoyo No.1s with while he was tagging along disgraced Malaysian ex-PM (MO1) Najib Razak on that trip to South America, I knew it was worth writing this on my long forgotten blog.

So, who is this former MP?  This might ring the bell.

Just one glance at Wee's twitter feed, will show a former politician who failed in making his comeback in the most recent 15th Malaysian General Election grasping at straws but pointing to his preferred target Air Asia, and of course his former DAP colleagues whom he continues to despise for obvious reasons. One very obvious one is from Wee's mouth himself when he used to gripe about 'Tokong' and what his dad did to Wee. You see, Wee's pet peeves can reveal the sort of person he is. For example, he had targeted the Minister of Tourism Ng Yen Yen when he was last in parliament for a specific purpose, and many will remember it was Wee that Najib appointed to Tourism Malaysia years after that.

'W' for Vendetta?

I digress, but so what is Wee trying to say now?

Perhaps the frustration on being replaced as the Chairman of Tourism Malaysia, by who else but the person Wee named in his posts, is the very driving force of these postings.

What I do know about Wee is this, he had an axe to grind with that entrepreneur many have come to shy away from, lets just call him TF. 

From what I have known, and certainly come to know , there is a certain Datuk Azailiza that Wee has recently come to work with. In fact, the beginning of the act stemmed from the 2018 Mahathir return era, whom many now know was a show. And a show it was that, Wee was somewhat involved with the report with MACC that lead to those photos so commonly shared by Wee. Perhaps instead of asking questions, Wee should make a report again, this time also including himself and his own actions when he himself chaired Tourism Malaysia.

Having experienced a few dead ends, Wee together with Azailiza are now again training their sights at the same target. Wee for his poorly taken removal from Tourism Malaysia whereas little known Azailiza is setting her sights on MAHB's Chairman and MD by team tagging with Wee.

MAHB isn't Air Asia. And this is a point that Wee should already know. Azailiza's painting of what is happening and Wee's wholesale buying of her picture is what will perhaps lead Wee back to his dark old days of being cut off yet again. 

I can safely say, PJ Moorthy is back, and once again getting the low down of low lives that continue to humour the Malaysian Social Political scene.

Follow us, and find out who is doing who what next!

 

Return of the PJ

 Those who know, knows!

All those little knudge has worked. I am back, squirmed out of my dark corner.

Why? Because I know more than the other guy, and here is what I know....

NEVER BELIEVE A RUMOUR UNTIL IF IS OFFICIALLY DENIED

Never believe a rumour until it is officially denied. You know what they say about a sleazy or delicious sounding rumour: believe it only after the person or persons linked to it puts up a strenuously official denial. It’s an old dictum of politics that has been confirmed and re-confirmed many times over. The names of previous rumour models are many: DP Vijendran, Chua Soi Lek, Anwar Ibrahim rings a bell.

Usually, rumours made in Malaysia centre on the usual corruption and sex scandal. Sex scandals involving government leaders and officials are dished out every time there is an alignment of the planets, or if the powers-that-be want someone out even if that someone stubbornly and desperately clings to power.

However, corruption involving senior leaders of opposition parties is rarer than the Asian tsunami but when it comes, it is inundating and intoxicating, more so after they have received a taste of real power. Finally the DAP leaders understand now how their BN counterparts feel when they get accused with all kinds of treacherous allegations.

Check out the overflow of outrage after Ean Yong Hian Wah was fingered again in the inquiry for making false claims of investing in development for the people, but in actuality, reaping the funds for himself or his cohorts, all covertly from the Selangor Government.

The assemblyman for Sri Kembangan was all bluster and fury when denying the charges, repeated by MACC investigation unit head Hairul Ilham Hamzah when he was replying to questions posed by the RCI examiners.

That a DAP branch received an illegal cut from payments for state government projects in the Seri Kembangan constituency in 2008 is now difficult to prove because the true testimony that would nail Ean Yong died with Teoh Beng Hock, so much so that the MACC is unable to proceed with charging the DAP assemblyman, a situation reminiscent of movies of gangsters trying to protect their assets by eliminating evidence and witnesses.

The situation is intriguing: who stands to gain more from Teoh’s death? Not the MACC, now vilified by the DAP for what is essentially a cover up of the DAP’s corrupt deeds. It is fortuitously convenient, isn’t it, Teoh’s death?

The DAP’s complicity is more apparent after the father-son lawyer duo of Karpal Singh and Gobind Singh Deo kicked an unnecessary but almighty fuss - biased Attorney-General’s chambers, conflict of interest from a sitting judge who heads the RCI that tried to mask the DAP’s liability but instead enhanced their corrupt nature more glaringly.

The Singhs’ derailment plot failed because RCI chairman Tan Sri James Foong is not only tough and forthright but also shrewdly saw through the smokescreen.

He is still a candidate for Most Neutral Fellow of The Year who, like all of us except the frightened DAP leaders, is determine to find out just how exactly Teoh died.

Already three forensic scientists have established how Teoh did indeed die - from jumping out of a building, a suicide arising from immense guilt and shame of unwittingly exposing his DAP superiors with the evidence of fake invoices he kept inside his laptop.

Once Teoh realised the magnitude of his evidence and the fact that he spilled the beans more than he relished, he simply refused to go home even after the long hours of questioning by the MACC. Teoh even requested that he be given a resting place in MACC’s office, which the MACC obliged as simple courtesy, unaware of its deadly consequence.

Here’s a logical twist to Teoh’s behaviour. If he was abused as to what the DAP would like us to believe, then Teoh would have naturally fled the MACC office to the sanctuary of his DAP peers and then conduct the perfect photo opportunity for Opposition-friendly media, websites and blogs by lodging a police report from strength in numbers.

Besides, Teoh was getting married the next day. Why would he remain in the MACC’s office when he could be in the comfort of his fiancé? What was he so fearful of?

MP for Wangsa Maju Wee Choo Keong had steadfastly pointed out that the suicide established by three qualified forensic scientists was already a common knowledge between fearful DAP leaders. But if the truth was out, there goes the DAP neighbourhood and bang goes the dream of re-conquering Selangor in the next general election, scheduled for a slot maybe by mid-next year.

With suicide a likely verdict in the RCI, the bigger question would be is, how high does the DAP conspiracy go? Right now, all suspicion is on Ean Yong but he can’t be operating solo for a caper that extends to the millions. Someone else too within the Selangor DAP wants their cut.

Since only Teoh knew for sure, based on the documents he possessed, it will be the MACC’s responsibility to divulge them in the next few weeks. The DAP, whether they realised it or not, forced the MACC’s hand - the more the DAP tries to flash the spotlight of liability on the MACC, the more the DAP is exposed.

If the MACC has proof, then the law enforcement agency should charge the guilty in the court of law, ranted Teresa Kok, the Selangor DAP chief but that was what the MACC was about to do when Teoh met with his unfortunate death, fortunate though for the people who want him “silenced”.

Since a case for corruption is difficult without Teoh’s material testimony, the next best thing for the MACC was to divulge the information they secured from Teoh to the RCI and in the final analysis, the court of public opinion.

The DAP should be familiar with this - they have shamelessly seized on it every time they plot against their rivals in the Barisan Nasional. Now, they are painfully consuming huge doses of their own bad medicine.

The weeks to come before the RCI wraps up its proceedings will be crucial. What is up next will depend on how badly the DAP screams and shouts and how much they would insist on covering up with denials and distractions.

Ultimately, the DAP might try this desperate ploy - put the blame entirely on Teoh when the evidence is mounting and let a dead man take the rap. - PJ Moorthy - Malaysia Instinct