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is this the complete audio?

JEFF OOI says: No. Just excerpts.

The basic principle of a efficient, competant
govt. is the competition between the civil service and the Cabinet including those holding lesser posts. Tell me honestly, how competant and knowledgable are our minister ect.The civil service too is nothing really great to talk about. The best the minstwers cab do is to say yes to all those cabinet papers tabled.What can the country expect? Not to talk about all the taking care of vested interests corrution etc.etc.That is the reason why the country is in the present disgraceful state of affairs in spite of all our riches we are blessed with.
S'pore is good example of good government made up of capable Ministers and Civil Service and the results are there for the whole world to see.

hmm.. He could have been a lot more aggressive and condemnatory. Almost kid's gloves by TDM's standards. Does he also have some involvement to hide?

And this calling cabinet merely a rubber-stamping body - wonder how that came to be? :P

trying to twist and turn and ran away from the responsibility!!

Incidently, my colleagues and I were having this discussion over the weekend. Some may say TDM is a great man for the development work he has done for the country and etc. On the flip side, TDM was able to attract huge foreign investments and execute most if not all his policies because of the country's stable political climate, english speaking citizens, relatively corruption free and etc. In short, everything was in place when the country was handed over to TDM. But look at the situation which is plaguing the country.

The foundation for the future is shaky, are we able to compete in the age of globalisation given the fact that we are most interested in "Arabisation" and the Malay Agenda, things that we dont hear frequently 20 years ago.

TDM has destroyed the foundation of which this country was built upon, the recent book titled "The Reluctant Politician" showed Tun Dr. Ismail's assessment of TDM is proven to be correct.

Similarly, TDM has to be responsible for the current toll debacle and the obvious lop-sided agreements sign with the concessionaires.

When the fish rots, it starts from the head.

I have never been a fan of TDM.

But perhaps it's time for us to be more utilitarian in our perspective - that things are right and wrong in their consequences -
and right here right now, TDM is right.

Many things he did in the past were wrong on principle and on a utilitarian basis because of what we experience today, but looking at the present and the future, he needs all the support he can get.

He is the voice of dissent at the moment; on this toll issue and any other public issue, dissent is crucial

No point beating up TDM on this..he no longer has any executive power.
Hmmm...TDM is basically pleading dumbness and laziness in the Cabinet for the awfully one-sided toll agreement which the government signed up to.
26 million citizens (about 10 million working adults) and this bunch of jokers is the best that we can come up with to run the country ? And most of them are still in the Cabinet.
Once upon a time, I used to vote "Dacing", so in a small way, I, too,was guilty of putting these clowns into power.

taiko_besar

Don't talk so loud. If you, the citizen of the day now, choose not to do anything to correct the situation and rather blaming the past... I think you are also trying to twist and turn and ran away from the responsibility!!!

Don't forget there is responsibility for everyone of us...

yah..taht's why i'm gonna exercise my right..and do something in the next GE..albeit a small one...

listening to all these uncertain and twisted statements by so certain politicians for the past 2years, I weep for my nation, and my future generations.

Tahniah tun@!!!
you just created another illusion for yourself to run away from your responsibility!

Its just another way of TDM to put the blame on sum1 else, and never accepts his own misstake! shame on u!

Mmm... didn't Anwar say in 1997 that he refused to sign toll hike. And didn't the toll was raised after Anwar was sacked and Mahathir or Daim took over the Finance Ministry...

So now bila tembelang pecah start to blame everyonelah but himself. AP blame it on Rafidah, toll blame it on stupid ministers just like himself.

Can all the monies lost in Fanicial scandal pay for all the highways?

Sorry Tun this time we are not buying your story. Didn't Lim Kit Siang raise the issue why a company got inoexperience UEM was awarded the contract.

Din'd Tun Sallah said that Lim kit Siang no locus standi to question the agreement. Even if you were as stupid as you claim you would taken action atleast to hear out LKS unless you had different agenda. Which if what Anwar said were to be believed (and why should we since no one bother to rebut nor ACA keen to investigate) than many from Perlis to Johor sucked rakyat dry with TDM's stupid cabinet.

Is there a clause that stipulates that the prices can be reviewed from time to time, so that pricing reflects the current economy? Just like a tenancy agreement, for example, there can be an increase of x% maximum within y years.

The formula that computes the rates may be realistic during that time but not now.

Excuse me while I PUKE my guts out!

I cannot even give Dr M the benefit of another attack of "Melayu mudah lupa" syndrome.

The Cabinet, which he now claims to be "not knowledgeable, all the time" was esentially appointed by him. Yes, we cannot expect the ministers to be infalible super-humans. But repeated mistakes like the many toll concession contracts? I don't buy that excuse.

What's more, why were the erring minsters who did not show any sign of improvement not booted out? Shall we take the case of Samy Vellu? Excuses like "no design fault" MRR II... and the recent rubbish he dished out about the toll hikes? Including his highly questionable claim that Kit Siang had examined the toll contracts and has nothing to say afterwards?

And did I miss his apology? As PM when "crucial component of the highway concession, for example traffic volume, were not given full consideration", he bears the responsibility for a very major and long lasting error which is now hurting the rakyat very badly? The least he should have done is to humbly say "sorry". Tidak ada pun...

If he is truly sorry, how about using his influence to get Rangkaian Segar to contribute at least half of their cut of the toll payments paid using Touch n' Go to the toll concessionaires and reduce the toll by the same amount. The resultant reduction will not be all that the rakyat deserves, but at least it is a meaningful token of sincerity.

As it stands, (correct me if I am mistaken) Rangkaian Segar gets something like 2 - 5% of tolls paid using Touch n' Go - and that works out to a hugh amount!

Greetings Leithaisor,

hey the old man already apologized for the lack of conisderation ...

but again u seemed to be flagging a dead horse.

Whom do we have as the new PM and cabinet ?

If there are things that Dr M can do, is that he gives support/legitimacy to the questioning of the way in which the govt. is NOW RUNNED by whom ?

He is already retired, do anyone of you think that even if he has the means to pay for the TOLL lust by our concessionaires, please remember our B.L.O.O.D.Y TOLL is for another 20 more years ...

If the government is sincere, these concessionaires which is also government-linked companies ought to be booted out for increase TOLL whilst making RMxxx millions of profit every year ...

This is just allowing these so called GLC companies to post a hefty profit/turn-over to the KLSE and declare that the ECONOMY is all well whilst the REAL rakyat suffers for paying all sorts of price hike

Both are equally rotten.

We have always been voting and supporting for the lesser devil.

mandelism, Leithaisor,

When you all will stop the yesterday nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh? Come on!

So you want your future generation for blaming you for not doing enough for their future?

Some Q&A I like to tell to friends...perhaps to some bros here too

1. Opposition doesn't offer any solution

We do not need any silver-bullet solution. What we need is just a government which can basically ensure the civil service is clean and efficient. In fact, the government could just build the highways ourselves with the JKR(we had) at that time.

2. The bloody term is already signed in the contract

Then we can just look into the agreement and investigate on (starting from) the person who signed it. If it involves corruption, the current government can sue the company and therefore revoke the agreement. This scenario has happened many times in other countries, i.e. Brazil & Korea.

3. It's Dr.M fault so don't blame pak lah

Pak Lah do not have the political willingness to correct the situation, that's why you still see the same old corrupted cabinets. Instead, he increases the prices for fuel, toll, electric & water.

4. Street protest is useless

Yes, you can't expect the an ignorant government to remove the tolls the day after the protest. But, it would definitely fulfill the long-term goal, which is to make more Malaysians aware of what is happening to the country so that they will vote wisely. If our mainstream media can work on their own, we won't need the street protests for this purpose.

Bullshit as usual. Kalaulah menteri-menteri bukan expert, kenapa tidak guna open tender? Kenapa pula perjanjian-perjanjian ni dikelaskan sebagai bahan rahsia ?

With this revelation from Tun, isn't it time we demand all concession agreements to be de-classified to see what other "mistakes" our government had made? Isn't it time to push for open tender and require all terms be made transparent to the public?

Bullshit as usual. Kalaulah menteri-menteri bukan expert, kenapa tidak guna open tender? Kenapa pula perjanjian-perjanjian ni dikelaskan sebagai bahan rahsia under OSA?

With this revelation from Tun, isn't it time we demand all concession agreements to be de-classified to see what other "mistakes" our government had made? Isn't it time to push for open tender and require all terms be made transparent to the public?

Steve
There is another point to add..
5. Renegotiate.
The new President of Liberia (a lawyer) is looking into many of the contracts signed by the previous government which have been disadvantageous to the country and people,and is rewriting them. Her justification? They were disadvantageous to the people. She's not dredging for the presumably obvious corruption, she just wants to get things right. Much as it grates to see the evil ones get away with it, sometimes you have to bite your teeth to get an overall better outcome. It just takes strength to get it going.
This would be Pak Lah's finest hour if he could do this. It would also give him the opportunity to nicely 'retire' the bad guys. Only problem.. Who is there to take their places. Even the clean (apparently) can quickly get the taste of the fat when it's there. He would then have to empower the ACA to act woithout fear or favour and grab them. Hard.

What we have in the cabinet now is what TDM had created during his times.

Before anything, maybe he should swallow the pride and admit the short-sightedness of his visions and lack of long term strategy.

He may not be around at 2020. And it's too easy to blame it on subsequent government for failures. But all the rots we see now do not happen overnight.

TDM wanted to create a group of pioneer to drive the economy and distribute the wealth to "certain" group of people, but he did it the wrong way. When these companies get such easy money, they pass the burden to the people. Instead of encouraging Msians to earn it, TDM spoon fed them. This is what we get from TDM, and he conveniently distancing himself from his own mistakes now.

I still remember Rafidah dashing to TDM crying "Ayahanda" when he mentioned about retiring. These are your putris and putras, TDM.

I have never been a fan of Dr.M yesterday, today or will i tomorrow.

what i read here is basically one of the problem in this country. ACCOUNTABILITY. Instead of the minister held responsible for bad nego term, now he is shifting the blame on the senior geovenment official. funny isn't it...??? At the end of the day, the prime minister is the leader of the government. If he is not responsible for civil servant action, who is???

the part "Minister as stupid as I am" is really classic Dr.M sarcasm. Its sad to see a former PM systematically undoing hiself in the eye of the public.

The government today and the government yesterday is the same. Its still BN. The minister may have change but the mandate is still the same. so don't come around telling people that its was negotiated in the past and there are nothing we can do now.

I hope I got your meaning accurately, "jeffdaman".

I seem to get the notion that by "you want your future generation for blaming you for not doing enough for their future?", you are implying that people like Dr M have done enough, or have tried to do enough, for the future generations' future.

If that is the meaning you intended, I cannot agree with you.

No man is immune from making mistakes, and while Dr M deserves a hugh amount of credit for steering Malaysia from a primary resource based economy to its present much more advanced state, he has to acknowledge and accept the blame for many major mistakes too. Hugh bummers which are impacting the rakyat severely and for many years to come. Even the future generations will be paying for his mistakes.

But, as in the case of the toll concession contracts, Dr M is even now trying to push the blame to others.

SO is pointing out Dr M's attempt to divert the blame just "yesterday nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh"?

Generally it is good to move forward, to progress, to forget about past mistakes when it is wise to do so. I think it is not wise to do so when culprits deny their past actions, not when they attempt to put the blame on others.

There is also the need for justice, a need to point out hypocrisy.

It has been said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. What more if there are attempts by some to bury or twist history?

JEFF OOI says: "It has been said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." Well said. Please suggest how should we deal with this lop-sided highway concession issue and not be cursed for another 24 years (as the concession expires in 2031? We can collectively sumbit your suggestions to the relavant parties, whose names you may also suggest.

give me a break man.
what???? they were no experienced...?/??

is this the superconfident [ DELETED ] ex-premier of us who called other head of states recalcitrant n SAVED our economy in 97?

so how can he + cabinet be incompetent and competent at the same time!!!

TWIT

JEFF OOI says: Please suggest how should we deal with this lop-sided highway concession issue and not be cursed for another 24 years (as the concession expires in 2031?

LLtwigs:

Thanks for the Liberia example! I never hear/read about it actually :-)

That's why we need independent media, ACA, justice system and strong opposition party to make sure those at the top will never try to play dirty.

Unfortunately, largely thanks to Dr.M, we don't have any of those anymore now. That's why personally I think a complete revamp will be needed instead of hoping the current government to improve.

Barely 30 posts on this topic and we've got all sorts of namecalling by smart alec know it alls who only knows to comment, but does not have the audacity to even attempt being a leader of 25 million people.

I wonder how naive we can get if we expect the Cabinet, compose of people elected to their offices, are expected to comprehend every single contract that comes by them? The same goes for laws being passed by parliament. Do you really expect each act to be scrutinised by the MPs line by line?

We see this being done on a daily basis, not just by the government,but also in the private sector. And we complain for what perhaps most of us are guilty off.

Hey Samy the meaning approved by the Cabinet takes on a whole new meaning. Your minsitry submits and cabinet just approves. So how?

Dr.M bucks stop at you. You carry the blame here together with all the other cabinet members. That said, the agreement can be renegotiated since it is seen as unfair and is unfair in all sense. butPak Lah doesn't have the guts to do it nor any one will give in to a weak leader.

So time to vote for opposition or cast a spoilt vote!!! Make yourself heard.

If their job is not to go through every single words in the contract and make a good judgement in best interest of the nation; the people who put them in office, what is their job then? If they need to take 1 month to finish reading the contracts, so be it.

I can't imagine if laws passed in our country is not really thoroughly scrutinized. Not only they should be scrutinized line by line, they should be understood word by word!

You will see the point when one day, your lose your rights because the person you whom you put into office skipped a word in the law he helped to pass.

JEFF OOI says: "It has been said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." Well said. Please suggest how should we deal with this lop-sided highway concession issue and not be cursed for another 24 years (as the concession expires in 2031? We can collectively sumbit your suggestions to the relavant parties, whose names you may also suggest.

Greetings Jeff, it seems that other than taking a swipe on Tun for what he has and hasn't done, no one in this line of thoughts had ever penned down anything CONSTRUCTIVE ...

So what if Tun is blameworthy ? Other than the usual rant as to what he has done and hasn't done for 22 years, we should be MORE CONCERNED as to WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE IN THE COMING 20-30 years ...

The easiest way out is to buy out the highway concessions ! If the government can spend RM600 million for every UMNO constituency in Peninsular / Sabah and RM11 billion to bailout failed projects AGAIN like last December 06, just buy out the concessions !

Govt to take over infrastructures once and for all. Lift the petrol/fuel subsidies and let prices be dictated by market forces. Sell of government investment in Proton, Mas, TNB etc for short term funding. Lower corporate tax rates to stimulate the economy/ jobs etc. In this manner the market determines prices and if there's a short term budget shortfall, government spending should be further reduced. A slow transfer of economic activities to the private sector.

I knew it.. I knew it..

When someone keeps whispering 'Dont beat the dead horse' for more than 10x, it sure has something behind it - simple mind sometimes does its own wonder. Now I repeat - this is a total shameless-so -called-confession that selectively (read: liar) blurt out whatever so that he again looks correct.

Have you read his Malay Dilemma? (And I will want to read Tun Dr Ismail's). And compare that with whatever he did during this 22 years tenure? Some of them are complete opposite isn't - this fella will always want to be hero no matter what.

Now.. and now..read this: The lime light should be on opposition - no for TDM. Please retire altogether.

Again a dead horse is flogged and for nothing better to say. What matters now is not who to blame rather solutions .
TDM is a great man of stature who managed to build many things that we enjoy today , taken for granted and yet we do not praise it rather we find faults within his successes with his past mistakes.

I reckon because current PM have too long list of mistakes to be listed down. If the current PM have half of TDM balls to tackle this issue straight away instead of raising prices , thing would have turned out a little better.

Jeff,
The solution is to NATIONALISE this and other projects not fair to the country and the people of Malaysia and give them to be run as Govt. entities and appoint the most able people with integrity to run them.
What do you and your readers think about the above suggestion? You asked for it Jeff.

"So what if Tun is blameworthy ? Other than the usual rant as to what he has done and hasn't done for 22 years, we should be MORE CONCERNED as to WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE IN THE COMING 20-30 years ..."

Agree. We should not vent but I think what some people here wants to make it known for those that are less informed, that it was TDM who started it all during his time and should be held responsible for the situation the raayat is in today. He should also go down in history for all the good and bad things he has done. That's why it is so important to get historical facts right. Apart from looking at constructive suggestions on how to untie this dilemma, by pin-pointing TDM as being responsible too for this fix we are in, it serves to remind us to never give any govt a 2/3 majority to do what they pleases. TDM had that 2/3 majority when the concession was designed and approved.

Now, perhaps some lawyers could assist to provide some suggestions on how we could get out of this lopped-sided concession? Please?

All this blaming of Dr. M or Pak Lah isn't getting us anywhere, especially when both parties are guilty to a point for this mess.

We cannot renegotiate a deal, nor can we nationalise the roads until 2031.

If the government cannot renegotiate the concession agreements with the toll operators, then we should find something that they can change to lessen the burden of costs.

What costs can the federal government reduce and increase at will, in the given period of a year?

Election should be next year, the government would try to angle for something to make the rakyat happy enough to vote for them.

The way I see it, if the present Administration feels that the Toll Agreements are a burden and too one-sided, they should renegotiate. The GOvt. can also perhaps sign an order that the Toll Operators only pay say 5% corporate tax and not be allowed to increase their toll anymore. There are provisions for the Finance Minister to issue such an Order.

If that fails, then the Govt should break the agreement and cancel the Toll Agreement and take over the Toll Road. I believe the Land Acquisition Act can be used for "National Interest"

The issue of compensation should then be left to the Courts to decide. Take the bullet once and for all.

"He also recalled that there were clauses in the highway concession agreements which allow the government to take a share of the revenue if the concessionaires are able to achieve projected traffic and make profits.

“If there is an increase in traffic, and the company collects more than the projected amount, then the government has a share. If the projected traffic does not happen, and the amount collected is less, then the government has to compensate."

So the actual amount of traffic is less than the projected amount? If so why are these highways heavily congested? You mean to tell me that highways are supposed to be congested?

If the actual amount of traffic exceeds the projected amount (which I believe is the case), why can't the gov take a share of the profits or use these profits to offset the toll rates?

Also, why is it so hard for the government to buy back those concessions? Credibility should be last concern on their minds as they do not have any left.

Talking about credibility, the gov has to choose between 25 million citizens and a the few rich crooks. If they want the rich to feel they are credible, then they will loose the credibility towards 25 million citizens, where they will get a taste of the consequences in the next GE.

Some people, including Jeff, kept saying that we should move on and not rant or rave on what's already spilt milk. Well, I say the key solution to all of this lies in understanding what went wrong. Unless and until we have general consensus of the problems under the previous administration on these concession agreements, I don't think we can come out with any good solutions to fix the current problems and avoid repeats.

If the Tun can come out and openly identify all these problems, I think a solution can be found. History will also be more forgiving to any of Tun's failings.

For example, if Tun can come out now to admit publicly (and not sarcastically, I must add) that it was all a mistake by the past administration on all these contracts (because of incompetence!), I reckon there would be a groundswell of
political pressure on the present government to reexamine every single one of these contracts and figure out how to "fix" the problem. As the review process takes place, ministers previously involved will likely be associated with the "incompetence" label, which could pave the way for them to be dropped. Moving forward, the rakyat can (on the basis of previous f**-ups which had been admitted) require concession agreements to be made public and proposals to be made subject to public consultation before being implemented.

If something more sinister was the problem (eg the cabinet being misled due to corrupt acts by the negotiating parties) and Tun admits this, aiseh, there should be a good chance to overturn all these affected contracts under law. All involved parties can be investigated (sure the concession companies will agree to renegotiate if they kena investigation by ACA). Moving forward, a proper system of check and balance can be instituted.

Do you agree, Jeff?

JEFF OOI says: The should be avenues to change for change is the only constant. The Opposition will say you should changethe government, whereas the incumbent will have counter devices. But what have the governed -- the taxpayers -- got to say? You get the government you deserve. That's a cliche.

And talking about projected target, LDP current rate is roughly 400,000 vehicle passes through 3 of the tolls daily and still gov has to compensate the concessionaire RM75million/anum. Nobody mentioned about the projected target, maybe Jeff can give us a light, I'm guessing it's in the range of 1,000,000 vehicles per day! Because of the current bottle-neck at the tolls, that means the rate will NEVER beat the projected target!

Jeff,

I think it is important to note that in terms of those who want to highlight and seek an end to major problems, there are 3 groups of such people.

1. Those who can see the problem.
2. Those who can see solutions when a problem is highlighted.
3. Those who can see a problem AND offer possible solutions to it.

Not all of us are lucky enought to be in the 3rd group. Many a time, we are in the first.

But that is still an important start to the resolution of the problem, and no one should belittle the input of those who can only see the problem. Nor should they be discouraged from raising the issue just becuase they cannot offer any solution or suggestions beyond just highlighting the problem.

JEFF OOI says: No one belittles oneself better than those who keep running on the spot, refusing to move on while willing getting screwed like those 22 years -- and insisting that others should follow. We should agree to disagree for this is a democracy.

Example: Should the victims of (ever more vicious and increasingly frequent) snatch thefts keep their mouths shut just because they cannot also offer the method[s] to stop snatch thefts?

JEFF OOI says: Some would say this is knee-jerk.

The toll concession nightmare is one of a number of major wrongdoings of the Dr M era. I shall try to dig further into my brain later today to see if anything worthwhile surfaces which may be worth offering for discussions, but I am not an expert in that field, nor do I have the sources and resopurces which can offer details and names which may not already be widely known I to the public. There are others who are far better skilled, knowledgable and equipped for that role than me. Some of them frequent your blog too, I think.

JEFF OOI says" We got him to own up in publis. It happened yesterday. He offered a way out: ( 1 ) Expose the traffic figure; ( 2 ) Share the profits with the government so that the giovernment's coffers get refilled; ( 3 ) renegotiate teh toll agreements without making them lose money; ( 4 ) Correct all past weaknesses where concession agreements were approved by the Cabinet without the small print and without considering the implication. Dr Mahathir said that in my presence and I had the podcast for all to listen. I have done my part, sneaking out of office and skipping lunch. What's yours? Rant some more?

However, I shall try to offer some relevant points for our joint evaluation. I trust we can all agree that a meaningful solution to the toll nightmare [which is otherwise going to be a curse on the rakyat for another 24 years] is something practically all of us want for Malaysia and her people.

JEFF OOI says: Don't ask us to keep staring at the rear view mirror when the whole globalised world is zooming past us at break-neck speed. Else it will be trainwreck ahead.

(As for whether it is true (as cre8tif) opined that "it seems that other than taking a swipe on Tun for what he has and hasn't done, no one in this line of thoughts had ever penned down anything CONSTRUCTIVE ...", I think that is best left for each one here to conclude on his or her own.)

JEFF OOI says: This is the least important of all intellectual arguments. Give us concrete do-able plans to take us out of this mess of the many messes. If you think we should throw out the BN, say so! And I MAY agree to disagree. But don't bid around the bush... and rant on the past.

A a reference, I will post another podcast with Khalid Ibrahim. He tells us how toll aggrements were crafted, proposed and got approved. The avenues to change are there for those who can look ahead and think. Khalid is out of the race. But he doesn't mourn the past

So, I ask you to come out from your mourning of the past. The past is a corpse that is dead and cold that you should visit only once a year on All Souls Day, if that applies.

The bottom line is: It's the same government that first drafted the toll agreements, and the same government that currently sees it through, no matter if the rakyat's interests are compromised. The original driver has retired, but the new driver has taken over. You are his passenger. You decide your destination. Don't just shout in the same bus if bus fare is being increased heftily en route. And remember, the original driver is retired, riding his horse into the sunset.

Again, Dr Mahathir is shooting himself in the foot. He is, after all, the man behind of these contracts when it was first drafted.

The primary objective of privatisation is to lessen the burden of the Govt and likewise, taxpayers' monies. Instead of the govt. building highways using taxpayers' monies, the private sector come in and build it with certain privileges accorded in the form of grants, soft loans and etc. In exchange, the private concessionaire would then build tolls and collect monies from road users.

However, in Malaysia, it seems that the private concessionaire are the biggest beneficiaries ultimately. The handful of cronies are always laughing their way to the banks by continously milking the coffers and the Rakyat.

Lim Kit Siang, a month ago , made a valid point by pointing out that more than Rm7b have been paid out to a few toll concessionaires when the actual cost of construction of those highways were only RM5b. In other words, would the country and likewise, the govt. be better off by building the highways themselves? With RM7b, it makes better sense for the Govt. to build the highways at RM5b and the remaining RM2b can be set aside in Govt treasury bills to pay for maintenance etc. Thus, the need to collect toll from road users does not arise here.

In Malaysia, the objective of privatization is abused here. It appears that the toll concessionaires are always ensured of handsome returns by the toll collections and also. govt. subsidies and compensation.

Why must the govt. always ensure that the concessionaires continously making profits at the expanse of the Rakyat?

Nationalizing is equivalent to communism.

The gov can buy it back, allowing some profit for the company involved. But make sure gov knows how to take care of it.

Agree with Jeff, we all know we've been screwed by BN as far as tolled roads & highways are concerned.

Pak Lah & Samy couldn't careless if things that they do, whether it's raising the price of petrol, electricity, water, and, now, tolls, burdens us as taxpayers.
We should all, as the rakyat, send them a strong message. Batu Talam would be a good litmus test.

Lets do your bit as registered voters (if you have not yet registered, plz get register!) and point out BN's mistakes via the ballot box. The message to them should be strong and simple. Lessen our burden by stopping all the government leakages & corruptions. Otherwise, you'll know where is the "Exit" door!

While we are all calling for a re-nego on Toll operators lets not forget the IPPs as well!

Nothing wrong to rant I feel simply because thats what we do best when things are wrong .

Best thing to do is rant but vote wisely ! However there is still Mr Gerry Mandering that we have to also deal with .Democracy is such a dream the Greeks had thousand of years ago .

By the way TDM should stay in the sunset after he has ridden on ....

I wait eagerly for the anti-mahathirists to rise to this post with guns blazing. I’ve surfed the wave of dissent, and have seen certain things I was not supposed to see, lost my balance and crashed into the ocean of darkness. Well, when I surf this wave again, I know better how to balance myself.

Dr M knows too much and if he keeps his "big mouth" open, it spells nothing but trouble for the PM, the ministers, the 4th floor advisers, the government media, the government officers, the umnoputras and the croniputras. That’s why they want to shut him up. And when they can’t shut him up, they create diversions to throw the rakyat off balance.

I will surf the wave of dissent by fighting to keep Dr M talking and behaving as "nosy parker". It is from his "big mouth" that I, one of the blindfolded rakyat, get to know what I don’t see, don’t hear and don’t know.

After giving a trouncing victory to the government of Mr Clean, Mr Nice and Mr Religious, I am worse off today than before. Today, I feel threatened on the internet.

If I want the transparent truth about the highway concessionaire robbers, I don’t expect it from Pak Lah, or his kitchen cabinet, or his 4 floor blooper advisers.

Pak Lah and Samy Vellu, please don't tell me you don't know what happened in Dr M's government, or that you peacefully slept through the cabinet meetings, or that you regretfully left the details to your ministry officials.

And, don't tell the rakyat that nothing can be done.

richL, agrees with you. However, we must first fix our electoral mess first. The EC guy himself already admitted it (surprisingly!).

Check it out here:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/61821

Is TDM trying to tell us something when he mentioned "The Stupid Ministers" ? I am just trying to read between the lines...

He did say he's not that smart himself, did he not?

Anyway, what's done is done. Let him talk & keep exposing BN's dirty linens in the public. Afterall, he was part of BN/UMNO. Let every Malaysians know that BN has been screwing the rakyat all this while, and will continue to screw them unless and until we unite together and vote them out, come next GE. Impossible? Let's do the impossible.

Leithaisor,

I think you forgot another group:

The one that see the problems and make sure the culprit gets all the blame, even though it's many years ago. But still blame! Cause no one is immune!

You say "we got him (Dr M) to own up in public". Did he? Partly yes - he did admit that there were major shortcomings in the toll concession nightmare. But did he admit his own role in the mess. No. That to me matters a whole lot - in the vein of not corrupting history lest the record left in the public recollection is a sanitised, twisted version which leaves the culprits snow-white, saviour white-knight even.

To me that is an important role of an accurate historical record, one which can help Malaysians not to go down the same path again, and have more of our future generations subjected to the same old nightmares again. Full steam ahead at break-neck speed - right into another similar train wreck.

But you seem to consider that as ranting with rear-view mirror views, so I shall not persist in trying to defend that stance.

You say that Dr M "offered a way out" with ideas like exposing the traffic figures, profit sharing with the govt, renegotiation of the toll agreements and correcting all past weaknesses (small prints matters and such). Good for him. And worthwhile ideas too. That I credit Dr M with. But I shall not comment further on these points aside from asking the retired bus-driver Dr M a question: "The past is a corpse that is dead, but the ghosts of that corpse is still going to haunt Malaysians for 22 years to come. What are you (Dr M) going to do about the worthwhile ideas?" (I shall omit "which you yourself are responsible for" since you insist on no "rear-view" corpses)

Dr M may have retired, but his influence is still very strong in many areas. Much can be done by him to correct past mistakes - to get the ideas he offered acted upon. As someone commented in a small discussion recently that I participated in, "Dr M is far from senile; he is still smarter than you and I combined". I would even say that he is smarter than you and I combined right now. Far from being "stupid" as he called himself recently.

You mentioned Khalid Ibrahim. Good example. There may be some allegations about Khalid which can hold water, but he IS doing what he can to undo the wrongs of the past. Putting his words into action. Helping to uncover past corpses, helping to steer Malaysia away from another replay of the past mistakes. For that, I take my hat off to Khalid, however black or white his past record may or may not have been. Heck, I may even vote for him if he is standing in my constituency.

But enough of my comments, lest I lapse into ranting and more rear-view mirror antics.

Only to say this - it may be good to consider that each of us has his own abilities and constraints. For a millionaire to donate RM10,000 is nothing compared to a poor villager giving RM10.

So while it is true and good that you have contributed and "done my part, sneaking out of office and skipping lunch", there may be others who have also contributed in other ways, maybe even more than you have.

(Oops - this portion got chopped off from the top when I was posting the above comments.)

Jeff,

I had intended to put in a lot more time and effort to dig deep into my brain to try to come up with more detailed and hopefully worthwhile points and ideas.

However, it seems to me that you have already made up your mind that I am ranting with "looking in the mirror" stuff which is impeding 'moving forward". But it is your blog, and I shall not try to influence your views and opinions about how those who are your guests as commenters should be treated. As such, rather that waste even more of my time and energy, which I have very little of to spare right now, I shall just reply in brief. Hoefully, at the end of the day, we shall be able to see more of each other's side of the story, and remain mutually respectful enough to "agree to disagree for this is a democracy" as you put it.

jeffdama wrote :

mandelism, Leithaisor,

When you all will stop the yesterday nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh? Come on!

So you want your future generation for blaming you for not doing enough for their future?

NO bro, its not only the issue of WE not doing enough for their future, that is one part, the main part is BEING RESPONSIBLE to what you have done, stand by it and not point the fingers on others.

I think as leaders the country's current and certainly the PAST leaders must admit their misstakes, and be held responsible~

JEFF OOI says: Just take leaf off Iraq's present day history. The devil was Saddam. The caught and kept Saddam for over two years. They made Saddam responsible for sactorian massacre. The now hang Saddam. End of story?No. The sufferings persists and there's no end in sight. But the nation still has to move forward.

Flashback to China and Mao Zedung. Mao was also blamed for the repressive Cultural Revolution and setting back the clock on China's economic train for over 20 yearsby waging "on-going class struggle of the proleterate by purging and incarcerating the t=intellectuals. Did China mourn the past and blame its past leaders when Mao was history? Deng Xiaopeng did the pragmatic round and let in all "black cats and white cats" so long as they catch mice. It experimented with out-of-box strategies, replacing socialism and communism with capitalism, and opening up coastal cities as exclusive economic zones. Flash forward and they now have a run-away 10% growth for GDP, almost YOY. That's thinking out of the box without staring at the rear-view mirror. We don;t learn a thing or two from these? Talk is cheap.

Let's challenge ourselves to provide us all a MOVING FORWARD solution to this 33-year rent seeking issue on toll. We can then move on to other issues like the IPP, APs. If you have a colossal resolution to do an all-in-one, so do tell us. But to follow your rant, we will all die locked in fatal embrace, economically and governance-speaking.

The year I was born is the year DrM came into power. Suffice to say, I never voted for him nor his party in my life and I still got screwed! I'm not even living in KL!

He did of course admit his mistake in this toll debacle which is kind of a miracle to me since the image that I have of him is simply a man who is too stubborn to admit he made a mistake. However, I still find it hard to forgive him.

Now about the toll debacle, he offered ( 1 ) Expose the traffic figure; ( 2 ) Share the profits with the government so that the government's coffers get refilled; ( 3 ) renegotiate the toll agreements without making them lose money; ( 4 ) Correct all past weaknesses where concession agreements were approved by the Cabinet as a solution. Let see.

(1) Good realiable information exposed but what for purpose? Possibly to generate studies to solve this problem?
(2) To me this is like trying to take away the sweet from a 3 year old. I highly doubt its going to happen.
(3) see no 2
(4) Great idea. I hope its fast. Although I would to suggest the government replace the idiots that are not qualified for their job. Oh wait, isn't that our job instead?

Heres my suggestion though.
(a) Pool resources to alleviate traffic on alternative roads (e.g having more traffic police or a system to eliminate bottlenecks, etc. Note: I find sometimes traffic jams on roads exist for no reason and if you stop the group of cars behind a queue for a period of time before letting them go. The traffic jam, it dissappears.)
(b) Build more alternative roads and improve existing ones.
(c) Conduct academic studies to solve the current problem. But for goodness sake, please oh please, do not allocate resources for a commitee or a study visit other countries. Somehow in Malaysia it mostly doesnt work. I vividly remember a incident about belly dancing. A better idea would be holding a contest. Provide reward for the best solution. Strictly must be academic, not some idea you thought up from nowhere. This idea will work for (b) as well.
(d) Make sort of a plan to reduce and eliminate the subsidies on the toll after a certain period of time. This should coincide with (b). Make those who want to use roads and highways pay for them and please dont ask the others whose not using it to pay for it either.
(e) Pool resources to research more efficient cars. I believe the government can generate research by using the reward system rather then appoint a think tank. I believe the illegal modification done by illegal racers will come in handy since usually their cars are more efficient. The government should criminalise illegal racing but not modification on cars. See (f)
(f) Reform laws on concerning with transportation. Get rid of inefficient cars. Provide subsidies only for efficient cars.

All the above will provide some sort of solutions to the toll and oil I believe.

Oh yeah before I forget, the reason for (d) is simple.

It is a leverage for the government to renegotiate. Simply because

no subsidies = higher toll = people avoid using highways = less revenue for the company

Its like the government going to the company saying, 'look if i provide subsidies, i get screwed by the rakyat, and if i dont i get screwed by the rakyat as well. since either way i'm screwed, i don't mind screwing u as well. so how about a renegotiation?'

Kind of unethical, nor do I condone it, but I don't see any other way.

Leithaisor,

You do your part of trying to contribute on how to solve the issue. You have your points and of course we won't put down someone just because their opinion is different from us.

But we just want to highlight what is the point of blaming the past? What else we still can demand from them?

Moving forward is a must and must be swiftly. We don't want everyone to be screwed further.

It's easier to be said than done, don't worry, we are playing our own part as we cannot wait for others to act on behalf of us then resort to the only option left by blaming the person again.

jeffdaman,

You just reminded me that I must not forget that while we may argue hard (and sometimes sparks may even fly!), and we do not agree on the approach / way to view certain aspects, we are both aiming for the same ultimate target.

I think we both want a fair resolution of the toll nightmare in particular, and in general, the fight against corruption in Malaysia to succeed.

Peace, brother!

greetings Leithaisor,

get to the point please ...

to-date, I have already been *broked* by the tolls that troll the road-users with bottlenecks after the toll notwithstanding the long queue to endure owing to the slow-change of $$$ provided by the toll cashier ...

I used to pay RM1 from LDP Kepong and RM1 from Sunway and altogether IT USED TO BE RM4 per day AT LEAST ... now I'm paying at least RM6.40 per day and it is the sum for 30 days = RM192 compared to RM120. I've already cut down on my lifestyle from buying newspapers daily and now have to REFRAIN from RM0.50 chinese tea ice daily which should gives me a saving of RM15 per month by me drinking from tap water/wash basins already

Suggesstion PLEASE !