Tuesday, April 25, 2006

The Bridge and the Ripe Low Hanging Fruits

A Kadir Jasin


WILL the no-new-bridge option, decided upon by the Cabinet on April 12, be the answer to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s, dream of “plucking the ripe fruits first” in the acrimonious Malaysia-Singapore relations?

Ahmad Fuzi

[LATEST, April 27,

"THAT there should be any Malaysian leader willing to entertain this idea, to destroy Malaysian seas to satisfy Singapore speaks badly of his love for this country," said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, replying to Ahmad Fuzi. Full text see www.kmu.net.my and malaysia today.net]

[JUST A THOUGHT, 2 Mei

Bercakap mengenai buah, teringat kepada Perjanjian Kerjasama Ekonomi dan Perdagangan Bebas Malaysia-Jepun yang ditandatangi oleh Perdana Menteri Malaysia dan Jepun Disember lalu.

Dalam perjanjian itu, kita buka lebih luas pasaran kepada kereta Jepun dan Jepun buka pasaran pertaniannya kepada hasil keluaran kita.

Kenderaan Jepun terus masuk ke Malaysia dan sempena pelancaran Dasar Automotif Nasional, harga kenderaan turun, termasuk harga kenderaan buatan Jepun.

Tetapi kita nak tanya Rafidah dan Muhyiddin, kalau Jepun sudah bukan pasaran pertanian, kenapa petani Perlis terpaksa membuang bertan-tan buah mangga yang tak laku dijual?

Di mana Menteri Pantau RMK-9? Kalau pantau, tentulah petani tak terus susah macam sekarang. Takut-takut "Bumi Hijau" bukan dipenuhi tanaman yang subur menghijau tetapi bendera sebuah parti politik yang berwarna hijau.

Niat ikhlas, Perjanjian Antarabangsa dan Bumi Hijau belum tentu yakinkan rakyat kalau hasilnya belum dirasai, apatah lagi titik peluh berakhir dalam parit kerana mangga Thai lebih murah.

Inilah yang nenek moyang kita maksudkan dengan "kera di hutan disusukan, anak di rumah mati kelaparan." Apa kata hero Perlis?]

That’s among the many questions that Malaysian voters and taxpayers may want answered in the light of the lengthy “diplomatic” explanation of the bridge cancellation by Ambassador At-Large, Tan Sri Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak, and the continuing challenge against the decision.

Ahmad Fuzi, who is now the sole authorised spokesman on the bridge issue, had released a statement (in English) explaining events leading to the April 12 cabinet decision to cancel the project.

His statement, which was issued to the Press on the evening of April 24 and embargoed until 1.00am, April 25, injected the diplomatic and legal flavours to the hot and, by now, highly confusing issue.

“Plucking the ripe fruits first”, according to Ahmad Fuzi , was the metaphor Abdullah used to describe his approach to the negotiations with Singapore. Abdullah, according to Ahmad Fuzi, was also hoping to pluck them first from the lower branches.

Although Ahmad Fuzi is not a politician, his explanation included several strong political statements, like reminding us that the present Government has a two-third majority in Parliament and could, if it wants, decide on the issue and get the people to agree later.

[[[[Update, April 27,

LET'S take a coffee break from this heavy stuff. Or shall we say comic break? The Minister responsible for monitorng the 9th Malaysia Plan, Affendi Norwawi, could end up in jail if his ex-wife Zariah Hashim, formally known as Farida Affendi, is successful in her contempt allegation against him.

The Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court had set Aug. 10 to hear contempt proceeding against Affendi for allegedly failing to fulfil a multi-million ringgit divorce settlement entered into on Jan. 28, 2005.

When Muhamad Muhamad Taib faced currency charges in an Australian Court in the 1990's, he was "forced" to take leave and later resigned as Selangor Menteri Besar. That was transparency and accountability. He was later found not guilty.]]]

In fact that’s what it did, actually. It decided to abandon the bridge project and only later informed the people. This happened only weeks after a soft-launch of the project was carried out, officiated by Deputy Works Minister, Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed, and when the construction of the new Custom, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) in Johor Baru is almost completed.

The Role of AG’s Chamber

AHMAD Fuzi’s statement gave the impression of how seriously the Cabinet viewed the opinions of the Attorney General’s Chamber on the legal implications, which appears to be confined to two areas.

One was the relocation of PUB water mains in the Malaysian territory and the likelihood of Singapore not authorising the use of the railway track on its side of the Causeway for reason of structural integrity. This may, in turn, affect the position, thus ownership, of KTM’s assets in Singapore.

Ahmad Fuzi spoke of the Government having four options, namely:

First was to approve the BPU (broad political understanding) and proceed with detailed negotiations to conclude a Final Agreement;

Second was to proceed with the scenic half bridge that would join the Singapore part of the Causeway;

Third was to unilaterally build a scenic half bridge that could eventually be linked to become a full scenic bridge with Singapore; and

Fourth was not to proceed with any bridge at all, which, according to Ahmad Fuzi, was the decision taken by the Government.

Ahmad Fuzi said if a compromise is considered too much under the first option in view of strong public sentiments, this should be the best option.

The Simplest Way Out

THIS option (i.e. the no-bridge-of-any-kind option), according to Ahmad Fuzi, means that Malaysia does not have to consider lifting the ban on the export of sand and granting to Singapore Air Force the limited privileges in the use of its airspace for Search and Rescue missions and as the Northern Corridor Transit.

Malaysia can now even consider imposing a complete ban on the export of sand to any country as a matter of policy if public sentiments on the issue are as strong as being reflected in the media, said Ahmad Fuzi.

It would appear that the Government, acting on the advice of diplomats and legal people, had decided on the simplest option – not to proceed with the project.

But the people’s sentiments are not the only consideration. Singapore’s feeling and/or interest, it appears, are not altogether ignored. Ahmad Fuzi noted:

“ The Government’s decision to scrap the bridge project would also have the advantage of preventing the two sides from being embroiled in endless political bickering and legal disputes.

“The decision is not necessarily a win-lose situation. Malaysia did not really lose even if it did not get the bridge. Singapore too did not look at Malaysia’s decision in terms of victory or defeat. After all, Singapore too did not get what it wanted in respect of sand and airspace.”

Despite his own failure as the head of the Malaysian team to the last five rounds of negotiations with Singapore to make any meaningful headway, Ahmad Fuzi continues to dream of better days in the relations with the island republic.

He said: “More must certainly be done by both sides to allow the two countries to move ahead in nurturing mutually beneficial cooperative relations.”

Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Option ke 3 cakap Singapura boleh ambil tanah KTM jika keretapi tak berjalan lebih dari 6 bulan. Rasanya reason ni dah cukup kuat untuk membatalkan projek tersebut.

Anonymous said...

Datuk,
AAB administration is attempting to "menegak benang basah" and the harder they try, the more they make fools of themselves.

Dr. Mahathir's open letter is an eye opener, the Great man has lost none of his intellect and feistiness, he is a Malaysian patriot of the highest order.The present Cabinet combined pales in comparison.

I wonder if the Singapore government had revealed secrets that scared the daylights of AAB administration to force them to shamelessly catapult and make this 180 degree decision to cancel the bridge project. I think they should just keep quiet starting today before their statements could be misinterpreted as being apologists for Singapore.

Anonymous said...

True to his image...Mr Nice guy!

Unknown said...

1. Sekarang ni timbul isu rel keretapi pulak. Kerajaan AAB buat keputusan dulu baru cari alasan.

2. Sebenarnya apa penting tanah KTM tu dalam singapura berbanding menyelamatkan perairan Selat terberau dan menjimatkan kos PTP daripada terpaksa membiayai jutaan ringgit setiap tahun bagi kerja-kerja mendalamkan laut akibat mendapan kerana air yang tidak mengalir melalui Tambak Johor.

3. Singapura lebih memerlukan KTM berbanding KTM memerlukan Singapura. Negara tersebut tidak akan menarik balik stesen KTM. Kalau dia tarik balik perkhidmatan KTM bermakna akan lebih banyak Bas dan Lori masuk ke republik tersebut. Dia mau ka? Kalau AAB tak paham sangat mai sini nak terangkan. Jangan dengar cakap budak yang tak sekolah kat Malaysia pun.

Anonymous said...

Kalau depa jambatan pun kelam-kabut, macamana depa nak bincang pasai FTA dengan Amerika. La ni dah dengaq cerita Proton nak buang banyak local supplier. Mungkin Datuk Kadir boleh mai habaq pasai Proton punya plan ni dalam blog ni. Aku nampak tak lama lagi, tag Melayu jadi semacam liablity di negara sendiri!

A KADIR JASIN said...

The "New" GLCs and PLCs

WHAT Proton and other GLCs and PLCs (party-linked companies) are doing today, like retrenching staff, reducing vendors and suppliers, abandoning the Bumiputera policy and dressing up the bottomline, is the consequence of official policy.

By stressing solely on profitability, GLCs are transforming themselves from economic creatures to creatures of the market place.

When the Government, starting with the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussain, vigorously promoted the formation of trust agencies and companies, the idea was not solely to get involved in business.

The more important consideration was to serve and promote the neglected and backward Bumiputera economy through the injection of capital, training and employment, promoting Bumiputera entrepreneurship and last, but not least, to provide platform for meaningful partnership between Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras.

It was only a year or two ago that these trust agencies and companies are being treated as the normal profit-oriented business entities with their own key performance Index (KPI).

In such a situation, firing the staff, terminating vendors, stripping and selling off assets and abandoning the Bumiputera policy are a fundamental part of good management. The justification is the bottomline.

It's, therefore, unfair to blame the GLCs managers. They are merely carrying out the wishes of their majority shareholder.

They cannot be selling assets at one Euro or firing 6,000 staff unless consented to by the Government who is represented at the board and management.

Anonymous said...

i'm just perplexed. how can they concluded that malaysia is not losing (our sovereignty is intact by not selling our sands and airspace) and s'pore is not winning cause they can't get those things. Can we at least go back to the main purpose. BUILDING A BRIDGE. We are losing cause we can't build that bridge. And not able to get all the benefits that everybody knows that we should get by building the bridge. Period. S'pore not being able to get those sands and bridge is not in the picture in the first place. They are just smart enough to try their luck!

Anonymous said...

Datuk AKJ,

I have been reading your writings post-Mahathir era quite closely.

It seems that you have been serving Dr M quite well even though during the time when he is no longer in power (aka "Rakyat Biasa").

Keep it up your good work Datuk!

makdom said...

I don't see any valid reason as to why some people are making a big issue about this BRIDGE. The PM has stoped it and all negotiations are ceased for now. This does not mean that there will be no negotiations anymore in future. I agree with the PM on this matter. It will be a good thing as it will let Singapore Officials realise the consequence of their unrealistic demands. Its not a matter of who gains or who loses and its not a matter of who is capable or who is not. This sudden decision is taken well by the rakyat and I think that it will be for the best interest of all Malaysians to stay firm to the decision of our present Prime Minister.

Anonymous said...

Makdom,

Hang punya komen buat aku teringat cerita Melayu tahun tujuh pulohan - Esok Masih Ada! Banyak orang Melayu masa tu pakai falsafah "takpa la, esok masih ada!". Tapi aku risau sikitlah kalau hang seronok tenguk depa pakai benda yang sama untuk tahun dua ribuan ni!

Anonymous said...

The new GLCs and PLCs...

Datuk,

I suggest this topic should be categorised on its own with its own set of comments which I am sure will be fully subscribed . The KPIs and KRAs are indeed actually directly affecting the bread and butter of many Malaysians.

Anonymous said...

drmuzi, I enjoy your posting as I believe you speak from the heart.

I do not agree though, about you comparing the education attainment of the various members of the Malaysian and the Singapore Government. Excellence in Politics and the governing of a sovereign nation has got nothing to do with the educational attainment of an individual minister.

What is important is that the ministers and in particular the Prime Minister who makes the ultimate decisions must be surrounded by a group first Class Advisers.As a good example Dr. Mahathir had a good set of advisers from a broad spectrum of experience. I wonder if AAB had that kind of advisors, well, obviously not if his decision on the bridge and the recent fuel price hike is anything to go by.

Izham Miyake said...

Malaysia definitely has a lot more thinkers, but would the government listen to them.

It doesn't really matter.

Anyway, in this case, why can't we just proceed with building the bridge just in our side?

Nothing's wrong with that. And Pulling of KTM to no longer operating from Singapore is the best thing to do.

I may not be an intelligent, still young, but i'm patriotically objected the decision to cancel the bridge.

There are so many way outs, why retreat so early?

Why would the current PM defend himself now because he never did. He just let things be, Rafidah vs Mahathir. Now he let Syed Hamid to face all by himself.

He was just sitting behind the scene thinking of nothing.

-Izham Miyake-

Anonymous said...

datuk..about your comic break... saya setuju....patut datuk affendi berenti dulu..settlekan dulu masalah peribadi beliau...bukannya sedikit..berjuta2...dan dia bertanggungjawab utk EPU (kalau salah tolong betulkan) jadi macam tak berapa seronok kita kita tengok...

tapi takp@a..tengok macammana kerajaan mentadbir sekarang..saya tak heran...just talk the talk..cakap lain buat lain..jadi lain-lain

Anonymous said...

point tun yg paling best

7. Because Singapore was unwilling to make a decision on building its side of the bridge to replace its side of the causeway, I informed Singapore that Malaysia intended to build a bridge on its side to land on a part of the causeway also on its side. The Singapore side of the causeway will not be touched. The connection will continue to be between the retained portion of the Johore Causeway and the Singapore half of the causeway.

Anonymous said...

Siapa kata pentadbiran AAB tak baguih?....Woi, semasa Tun M dulu mana ada special draw untuk berjudi sampai berkali2 dalam sebulan?
Aku ingatlah...special draw ala islam pun kalau ada baguih jugak. kalau Ist prize dapat pergi Naik haji, kalau consolation prize dapat gi buat umrah. Cam mana?

Anonymous said...

saya sayang parti.pemimpin kerdil datang dan pergi.harap tun.kembali

Anonymous said...

boy nak cerita sikit.panjang sikit.takpekan.ISLAM HADHARI.yang bolih hadhari ialah manusia.jadi sepatutnye HADHARIAH ISLAMIAH.ISLAM dah complete.manusia yag tak complete.ok.mana2 pemimpin yg menggunakan islam untuk mendapatkan penghormatan itu namanya hipokrit.sanjungan dan penghormatan akan datang dari perbuatan kita yg suci dan murni dari kacamata allah bukan manusia.bila kita sibuk nak jadi imam atau pertuturan kita di parlimen asyik menyebut nama allah dalam ucapan kita tapi perbuatan kita otherwise tak semesti allah sayang kita.firaun pun tuhan bagi kuasa dan rezeki yg banyak tapi..saya generasi yg ketiga yg menyayangi parti.tapi pemimpin yg hipokrit saya tak sayang.saya mohon pada allah saja untuk jatuhkan mereka.saya bukan che guevera.nak bagi tau orang melayu satu dua generasi ni baru kaya.dulu kasut pon tak pakai.orang putih dah lama pakai kasut.beratus tahun.orang kaya sini pakai mercedes.di eropah jadi teksi.orang melayu baru aje ada kuasa.ada kuasa ada duit.baru glamour.baru orang pandang.maklumlah rezeki bukan dari allah.hanya dgn titik peluh sendiri.orang melayu lain pon pandai rajin kuat sembahyang tapi tuhan sayang kita.allah bagi kita kuasa jadi pemimpin besar lepas tu banyak duit.persetan dgn melayu islam lain.tuhan tak sayang dia.tuhan tak sayang banda aceh jadi ranaplah.banyak yang bolih memimpin tapi tuhan sayang kita sebab kita rajin jaga rakyat.bela nasib rakyat.duit yg kita dapat dari kuasa kita setengah bagi rakyat.allah yg bagi jawatan kan bukanya rakyat.apa yang orang lain sibuk.kalau rakyat mati tak makan pon takpelah.jgn sibuk2. umno dulu2 lain.naik basikal.ganjaran takde.politik wang takde.nak pastikan cucu nasib terbela.nak jadi wakil rakyat bertolak2.takut.sekarang pakai bomoh nak jadi pemimpin.pakai duit ni jangan ceritalah.datok kata fire in the belly.dah dapat songket pon berharga berpuluh ribu.maklumlah allah sayang kita.kita pemimpin hadhari.bini artis.kita jaga anak bini lah.rakyat lainkalilah.ok nanti sambung lagi.rehat.hihi

Anonymous said...

sambungan.jadi decisions made on jambatan bengkok ke glc ke mrr2 ke mas ke semuanya tak hadahari sebab kita rasa kita smart tapi tak .kita rasa allah sayang kita tapi tak.kita rasa orang miskin sayang kita tapi tak.jadi bila silap kita kata rakyat yg nak.rakyat yg mentaliti kelas dua.lupa bahawa takde rakyat takde pemimpin. rakyat tak paksa kita jadi pemimpin.kita yg nak sebab kita rasa kita pandai,baik,bijak nak bantu orang miskin.sebab nak sangat jadi bos umno,wakil rakyat,mp,menteri kita bermati2an lobi melobi,pakai dukun,bomoh sebab nak tolong rakyat.sayang sangat ke rakyat.dgn takdir allah jadi,duduk di parlimen senyap sunyi.takut cakap banyak.nanti bos marah.tak jadi calon lagi.bos baru ini kata ok jgn jadi rubber stamp.perjuang nasib rakyat.masih takut.hilang glamour,projek. asalkan hidup senang.rakyatlain kali.yg bagi rezeki tuhan bukan rakyat.bila tanya taktakut tuhan ke kalau allah bagi rezeki jadi menteri.dia kata tuhan sayang dia.akhirat tak nampak.dunia aku punya.rakyat sayang.kereta besar.bil air kerajaan bayar.nikmat allah.allah sayang aku walaupun aku hipokrit. firaun tuhan bagi senang lenang sebelum....yang kita taulah . syok sendirilah pak menteri,mp,wakil rakyat.tuhan sayang dia kan...... tuhan butakan mata,akal pendek,keputusan pon tak hadharilah.orang mintak pasir takut.orang nak masok ruang udara takut.semua takut.cuti ke amerika,australia tak takut.bagi projek ke gerbang perdana sebelum finalising decisions tak takut pulak.untung kontraktor.pampasan.takhadharilah.beli senjata baru2 ini banyak berbillion tapi takut.allah tak takut. senator2 pon takut.cakap banyak susah.next term habis.maklumlah rezeki datang dari orang yang melantik bukan dari tuhan.takut takut. perhimpunan agong semua terror cakap.datang dgn kereta besar.songket tukar hari2.mahal2.kita taulah.rakyat tengok aje.terkebil2.wakil2 kaya raya idup,wang ringgit,kuasa berkekalan.tuhan sayang dia kan.anak sihat bini artis.minyak naik takpe.semua takpe.persetanlah rakyat.pilihanraya 5 tahun sekali.kita usung lah kerusi roda makcik2 bila nak menang. rakyat apa tau.buat monsoon cup rakyatseronok dah.kerana kapal layar bawak balik ikan bagi rakyat.hospital tak cukup katil takpe.tidor atas lantai lah.hadhari kan.monsoon cup dulu.pprt takpayah buat masjid kaca dulu.hujan batu ranap masjid.buat stadium dulu beratus juta.hospital tak payah.pprt tak payah.duit takde.wang ehsan untuk stadium,masjid kaca.monsoon cup.projek2 hadhari.takpe tuhan sayang dia.kawan saya kata takpayah undi lagi.mb ganu kata rakyat kena ada mentalitikelas pertama.sebab rakyat bodoh kerajaan dia pandai.yalah tuhan sayang dia kan.kesian anak cucu kita.anak cucu dia takpelah lari duduk mekah nanti.duit banyak kan.tok2 saya berjuang mati2an untuk umno supaya dia dapat jadi mb.maklumlah melayu masih kuat.cucu kita taktaulah.sambung lagi

Anonymous said...

The option 3 can be done because:

The Way leave agreement and precedent allows for the moving of the pipeline as said by Tun Mahathir.

The KTM canbe replaced by a swinging track as per in teh design.

The negotiation power given to Tan Sri Fuzi is about the full bridge and not about half bridge which was long gone a done deal.

The fact that the long gone issue of sand and air space is brought back in when it was ignored since its attempt to reinclude in November and December 2004 seems to indicate that there are "interested parties" ready to give teh sand away.

And this speculation is further reinforced by the misadvise provided by Dato Syed Hamid and Tan Sri Fuzi to the PM.

The fact that Pm can be swayed aside when he had earlier clearly agreed that he wanted the half bridge indicates that the PM is swayed and influenced by some fact not disclosed to the public and enforced the wide perception that PM bites whatever is spooned into his mouth by his "advisers" without knowing what is being ushered in.

Anonymous said...

Fuzi bercakap mengenai options. Macamana soal option boleh timbul pada peringkat sekarang? Kalau kita sedang dalam peringkat perancangan, then proses menyenarai dan memilih option adalah relevan. Kita kena pasti betul2 option yang kita pilih adalah yang terbaik untuk menjayakan projek kita itu. Misalnya apa yang kita nak buat, di mana kita nak buat, berapa kos yang terlibat, apa implikasi-implikasi yang terlibat.. Selepas kita menentukan option yang terbaik, barulah kita bergerak ke arah perlaksanaan. Dalam kes jambatan ini, projek sudah pun berjalan, kontraktor sudah pun melaksanakan kerja. Kalau ikut logik, mana boleh timbul soal lagi dah. Kalau baru nak cerita pasal option buat apa suruh kontraktor masuk buat kerja?

About Me

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I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).