PM Najib Razak said RM899 million will be allotted for rail facilities, RM820 million for ports and sea services and RM276 million for airport projects.
Surprisingly no mention was made regarding the upgrade and expansion of intra-city, intercity and rural-urban public transport system. There is a lack of connectivity between residential estates, office areas and public transport hubs e.g. LRT stations.
The whole public transport system has been quite piecemeal and inefficient. Using the public transport in Malaysia can also be quite expensive. A journey to the Pudu bus station from Petaling Jaya can cost a user more than RM20 if his/her housing area is not near a bus station which connects to the LRT station.
A foreign expatriate heading a major tourism board in Malaysia told me that a place like Penang needs a good, cheap and reliable public transport system in order to become a top tourist destination.
DAP's researcher Teh Chi-Chang pointed out accurately that the federal government should not run state based public transport. As a result, most of the cities (surprisingly including Kuala Lumpur) have suffered through a poor public transport system.
Tourists staying in Batu Feringghi would not venture out beyond 10pm fearing not being able to go back to their hotels. Hence, the city centre of Georgetown is anything but busy with activities. It is a boring dead city. It is a shame that it has yet to be able to live up to its world living heritage and culture status.
Buses were added only when there was an acute need. However, the number of buses and routes served are not adequate to provide a cheaper alternative to the public to assist their mobility.
Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat had recently taken a bus ride to experience for himself the public's frustration of the service. What is the government plan to help improve the public transport system?
Private car ownership is a burden to our consumption power. Most young graduates, many working in the sales and marketing line are obliged to buy a car, spend about 40% of their monthly salary on a car.
How many times do we have to remind the government to focus on the real issues? Funny, some civil servants are so reluctant to do something serious to address real issues but were so quick to help organise silly and risky events such as the 1Malaysia Camp to 'bodek' (apple polish) the government and impress the PM.
Najib said the government will also implement a more open automotive policy and will charge RM10,000 for each Approved Permit (AP) to distribute APs effective Jan 1 next year. AP will be scrapped after 2015.
My question is why only 2015? Why can't the AP be scrapped starting from next year if the government is serious enough to position Malaysia as a automotive hub? However, I am afraid that we have missed the boat. There is no way that we can match the prowess of Thai's Detroit.
Again, a portion of the fee will be channelled to the Bumiputera Development Fund in the automotive sector. How is the government going to determine that the fund is not going to go to the likes of Naza, Mofaz etc. which do not deserved to be helped?
Moreover, how many Malay SMEs can enter the auto parts market if the government does not change the whole education system to focus on merit and skills development?
I had a chat with a friend last night. Sadly, we both agree that Malaysia will be failed by the politicians.
Bad financial management, corruption and poor prioritisation will continue to bleed this nation.
11 comments:
Khoo,
I wish Malaysia just take a look at China. I was in Shanzhen and Guangzhau recently and I was surprised that China had advanced by leaps and bounds in public transportation.
They have a 15-minute bus service from the airport to different points in the city for a mere RHB 20.00. Similarly the bus leaves at 15-minute interval from these points to the airport for the same fare.
The subway is very efficient and dirt cheap. For a mere RHB 4.00 one can travel from one point in the city to another. The train leaves every 3-5 minutes.
A bus ride in the city costs RHB 2.00 from one point to another and these buses are very frequent.
Come home and we feel sick when taking public transport.
KL needs a subway real bad.
People..it is time to get rid of UMNO/BN regime come PRU13 !!
Enough is enough !!
Alf
Just look at France public transport system. It's so efficient that you do not even need a car. Singapore the same. Those middle to high income group that contributed taxes is supposed to help the low income group financilly. By right low income group does not require car or unnecessary burden financially to pay for a car.
So where are the fund for so many years? Sooner or later Malaysia's wealth will be suck out.
This is not people's budget. It is bullshit.
Got stuck in the jam of MCA politics, can we expect the current Minister of Transport will do a good job and carry our his duties well?
He needs the PM to go inspect the renovated PuduRaya; while he takes a bus ride in the chaotic transport route of KL.
Renovating Bus stops, and Bus stations seems to be the priority of the MOT. Meanwhile formulating a comprehensive transport system for KL and the country, seems so far away.
Nowadays, a slight shower will cause chaotic traffic jam on the streets of KL. What more a heavy downpour and flash floods? Even the Smart tunnel cannot cope, I think.
Then I suggest the MOT would have to think about water transportation along the Klang and Gombak rivers.
lets start acting. get your friends to register as voters and kick out BN morons out in the next election. that must be the PRIORITY!
the public transport system is in bad shape because umno/bn is putting the priorities in the wrong places. they are more interested to spend the $billions where pockets can be greased such as buying buses at inflated prices, building as many bus stops at incovenient places as possible so they can dish them out to their class F umno cronies etc. putting brains and hiring qualified professionals to map out logical integration of bus, rail & taxi links just does not pay, especially so if this expertise almost comes exclusively from non-umno companies or individuals.
during the last huge petrol price hike of almost rm1/l, the previous pm promised that the fuel subsidy saved estimate @ rm4billion/yr will be used to improve the public transport system. 1+ year later today, nothing has been done nor any plans even been proposed. the previous pm is a liar, and he was supposed to be an imam. do you expect the present pm who has such huge baggage to do better?
With all the respect to the writers above, we can speak, we can show it, but the people who's in federal and the cronies are so much in power that the chip in the phantom voters from out of knowhere, and here PKR, DAP, PAS in dilemma, How to change it.
How people really going to realise anyway that this goons from BN are the real idiots for our country shame and sad to say laughing stock throughout the world, even vietnam are laughing at us.
If only people would realise, just to show this time around whats onesness is all about.
Malaysians PLEASE RISE!!
the last huge petrol price hike, the sleepy pm promised that the fuel subsidy saved estimate will be used to improve the public transport system.....1 year later....
helloooooooo...any noticable improvement???? ~~~~where's the money gone??~~~~~~~
Malaysia Bole
Malaysia Hopeless
Malaysia No Brain
AIYAH BUDGET FOR RAKYAT BUT IS MORE OR LESS IS TO FEED THE MORONS BNUMNO. *MALAYSIA BODEK BUKAN BOLEH.C4 BOLEH,JUDIACIARY BOLEH,PDRM BOLEH,SPR BOLEH,MCMC BOLEH MACC BOLEH LEBIH BANYAK RAKYAT MATI AKIBAT BOLEH.LAGU MALAYSIA DARI HONOLULU.BOLEH!
MALAYSIA BOLEH ! OBAMA AND LEE KUAN YEW COCK IS LAUGHING ALL THE WAY.STUPID BNUMNO.
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