Gamuda-MMC from my point of view

By Stephen Ng

A number of people asked me what I think about the government's decision to terminate the contract with Gamuda-MMC.

This article will sum up my views. They are strictly my personal views  but before I go on, you should first read an open letter from Tony Pua, political secretary to the Minister of Finance.

The decision was made after careful deliberation by the cabinet. This, of course, followed many rounds of discussions between Lim Guan Eng and his team, with the top management of Gamuda-MMC.

There is no reason why the Malaysian Government would abandon the MRT2 project although its coffers have been left high and dry by the previous regime under Najib Abdul Razak.

With billions of Ringgit being siphoned off, the Pakatan Harapan government which took over Putrajaya has to settle huge debts and repayment of taxes owed to the people.

Naturally, the Government has an obligation to save every single Sen, and use it to pay the debts without creating further burden to the people.

Even the ordinary people were willing to come forward to raise funds to help pay off the RM1 trillion debts incurred by the Najib regime.

Under such circumstances, Gamuda-MMC should not behave like a big boy trying to arm twist the government of the day.

On top of that, they should not kick up a fuss for the failed negotiation. This has turned them into a scorn to the nation.

It appears to me that the campaign that they have hyped up is run by some public relations consultants. Everything appears to be coordinated by some professionals behind the scene.

It goes without saying how much Gamuda-MMC must have paid for these professional campaigners.

Why does Gamuda-MMC have to do this? This is a question that many of us have asked.

It is easy to hype up the numbers and make things look really bad after the government terminated its contract, but Gamuda-MMC as a government contractor must know that under the new Malaysian government, it is no longer business-as-usual for them.

For all Malaysians, a new contractor which can do the job better at a cheaper price would still be the best option.

I should also add the following comments by an engineer in the construction industry:

"Yeah I guess the previous government has indeed created a group of spoiled brat cronies.... Not forgetting that for the longest time Gamuda has been the biggest bully of all.... Bullying even the likes of IJM, SUNWAY and others.... And saving every penny they can is the correct way forward ....which is exactly the government we wanted to vote in...."

After all, we are also consumers. If we find that Pallas shoes are much better in quality than Bata, why should we spend so much to buy the Bata shoes?

END

An Open Letter to MMC-Gamuda

An Open Letter to MMC-Gamuda

By Tony Pua
Political Secretary to Minister of Finance
Member of Parliament for Damansara
10 Oct 2018



Dear Directors of MMC-Gamuda,

Let me applaud you for putting up a great show since the Minister of Finance, Lim Guan Eng announced the Cabinet decision to

(i) accept the offer from MMC-Gamuda to reduce the cost of the MRT2 Above Ground works by RM5.2 billion to RM17.4 billion (23% reduction) in the form of a turnkey contract and

(ii) terminate the Underground contract as both parties could not reach an agreement on the required price reduction.

You have issued a letter proclaiming innocence, claiming that you were awaiting for an offer from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).  You questioned the qualifications of the independent engineering consultant we have engaged. You implied that the decision to terminate was hasty and ill-conceived.  You sought sympathy claiming the loss of jobs for no less than 20,000 people (wow!).  Your social media actively promoted a campaign to “Save 20,000 Jobs” asking Malaysians to sign the petition.  There are viral Whatsapp letters from first class honours engineers regretting support for Pakatan Harapan in the last general election.

The performance and mobilisation of the above campaign are nothing short of impressive.  The question of cost of the project to the Government was conveniently ignored.

We had no intention of engaging with you in a public war of words. We tend to reserve that for our political opponents.  And after all, we wanted to continue the good working relationship to complete the RM17.42 billion worth of Above Ground works.

However, the obvious brazen attempt to paint yourself an innocent victim to an unjust Harapan government required a response to set the facts right and record straight.

1. The original Underground contract was awarded for RM15.49 billion. MRT Corp awarded additional RM1.2 billion of variation orders which resulted in the revised contract value of RM16.71 billion.

2. After numerous meetings and discussions, you wrote to the Minister on 15 August to offer a revised price of RM15.1 billion.  This was mostly a result of shelving the 2 underground stations at Bandar Malaysia North and South.

3. Subsequently on 7 Sep, you offered to reduce the price further to RM14.58 billion for the Underground contract (making it RM32 billion for the entire MRT2 project).  This represented a cost saving of RM2.13 billion or a 12.7% reduction.  In the words of the Gamuda director at the meeting with the Minister on 4 Sep – “we offer what we can offer, but anything beyond that will be meaningless to continue”.

4. However, based on the study by the independent engineering consultant, MRT Corp should expect total savings between RM4.19 to RM5.79 billion for the estimated remaining 60% portion of works yet to be completed.  Yes, this potential savings is just for the balance of works to be completed.  Imagine the potential savings if it was for the entire contract.

So the question to be deliberated upon by this new Pakatan Harapan government is very simple.

A. Do we say, “it’s OK la, let’s just accept the RM2.13 billion reduction offered by MMC Gamuda”?  After all, we can take this figure and boast to Malaysians of our ‘magnificent’ achievement, for they would know no better that we might have left another RM2 billion of potential savings on the table. Furthermore, it will certainly save us the trouble of having to deal with the negative publicity and the new international tender exercise which has to be carried out. Too much work... Or

B. Do we honour the mandate and trust the people has given us and maximise the savings we can reasonably derive from the project? RM2 billion can pay for 5 hospitals, or 50 schools. RM2 billion is hell of a lot of money when I see my MoF colleagues who are struggling and scrimping to find RM50 million savings here, and RM80 million cuts there for the upcoming Budget.

The Cabinet obviously made the decision to pick the latter.  And you seriously telling Malaysians to blame the Cabinet for the termination?

Or would you then pick a different target, as you implied in your media statement, that the independent consulting engineers aren’t sufficiently qualified – despite employing more than 500 staff with a track record of having completed more than 80 projects in 24 countries outside of Malaysia?

Or was it because the government-appointed independent consulting engineer exposed the frequently expounded lie that the cost of MRT1 and MRT2 are well-below the average cost of construction of various Asian Metros, because no one was actually able to substantiate the data provided?

Should we instead question why MMC Gamuda had initially agreed to, but subsequently refused to share costing data with the independent consulting engineer to justify its cost, claiming “trade secrets”?

To the 26 year old first-class honours engineering graduate, I empathize the turbulence you are facing in your life today which is due to no fault of yours.  However, should Gamuda decides not to retain your services, it would only be their loss, because you would build an equally successful career in many other companies.

To the purported 20,000 workers who, according to MMC Gamuda, would lose their jobs as a result of the underground contract termination, let me emphasize that the Malaysian government is not terminating the project.  You will find plenty of opportunities when the new project is awarded at a lower cost, while the savings generated would mean even more projects for the future.

But perhaps, instead of starting a petition on Change.org to seek the Government to reverse its decision on the termination, it might be more productive to start a petition to ask your bosses at MMC Gamuda to make the Malaysian government an offer they cannot refuse.

Thank you.

Improving Public Transportation – Getting to the Bottomline

Improving Public Transportation – Getting to the Bottomline 

By Stephen Ng 

While writing this piece, hundreds of stage buses are left to rot in the junk yards after the consortium formed, and supposed to manage the public transportation system in the Klang Valley, failed to deliver. 

We have also seen the implementation of all three railtrack systems – the monorail, the light rail train and the KTM Commuters – and now, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, but despite huge public spending, our public transportation is nowhere as efficient as even the neighbouring country, Singapore. 

As pointed out by a friend, most of the urban transport planners in Singapore are in fact Malaysians, so why is it that these brains that we have produced over the years not been able to benefit the country where they were born?

Several years ago, I did a study on the public transportation system in the Klang Valley. Like it or not, we have one of the best network of train tracks available. 

With the existing commuter network, one can get as far as Seremban, Port Klang and Rawang. This has since been extended. 

Weaknesses

However, the greatest weakness is connectivity between the different systems. For example, Sentul has two terminal stations – KTM Komuter and the LRT, however, both stations are nowhere near to each other. Why?

The KTM Komuter trains on the Sentul-Port Klang route crisscross the other trains on the Rawang-Seremban routes at one of the stations. This causes a delay to the schedule. 

Assuming a commuter rides on the train from Kepong to Sentul. It is fine to hop off from one train and immediately step into another train en route to Sentul. However, on arrival to Sentul, how does one expect to go to the wet market from there? 

Taxis are supposed to provide the much-needed short distances, but try taking a taxi during peak hours, and see if you can find any taxi willing to pick you up without charging an exorbitant fee! 

Their reason? Because they have to pay an exorbitant fee for a taxi license, which could have been issued for just a nominal fee to encourage even single mothers or unemployed retirees to take up taxi services the way how retired Singaporeans have been recruited to be gainfully self-employed.

We can understand that taxis provide a different level of comfort for those who can afford to pay. However, for the ordinary Malaysian wage earner, other forms of public transport would have to be the shuttle buses. 

Why is it that we cannot organise our public transport system in such a way that there will only be a few depots for both long-haul buses and trains. 

One reason why buses are inefficient to cater to the needs for public transport is because they have to stop at nearly every bus stop to pick up passengers. There is also the massive traffic jams that hold the buses up that they are unable to circulate on their routes frequently enough. 

Why can’t these stage buses be used as express buses to ferry people from one town to one or two major bus stations near the city of Kuala Lumpur? From there, let the shuttle buses pick up their passengers and ferry them to their destinations based on fixed routes. 

Perhaps, the Government should consider reviving the Mini Buses which used to serve the people well, except for a few incidents caused by some bad drivers, a phenomenon that never cease to haunt us despite one consortium after another taking over the public transportation system in the Klang Valley.

As long as we have enough shuttle buses to reduce waiting time, people would not mind parking their cars at the train or bus station, hop on the train or bus to a depot in Kuala Lumpur. After all, no one wants to get caught in a traffic jam! 

Four Major Selling Points

Throughout the research I carried out, I decided that there were at least four major selling points if we want to convert daily commuters from driving their own vehicles to work, to become users of public transport. 

Firstly, it is comfort. People want to feel comfortable when they are taking public transport. This is where our public transport system has failed badly. 

Secondly, the trains or the buses must always be reliable. This means they have to follow strictly the timetable. I used to give thumbs-up to the LRT and the Monorail but not the KTM Komuter trains. There were times when I was grumbling because it was either too packed to even get in, or it was delayed due to some faulty engines.

Thirdly, and I think is the key, is the frequency of trains and buses. People dread taking public transport because they know that if they miss the bus or train, they would be delayed by at least an hour or so before the next train gets them to their destination. 

By having higher frequencies (or reduced waiting time), you automatically solve the congestion problem in a sardine-packed train and make travelling more comfortable and predictable for most passengers. 

I bet, coupled with economical bus or train fares, which I consider as the fourth selling point, we will be able to lure more people to take public transport.  

END

National language does not lead to national unity

By Stephen Ng

There is too much fad over the idea of national language leading to national unity.

After reading an article in Free Malaysia Today by one Moaz Nair, I decided to write this piece to prove that this is nothing but a figment of one's imagination.

I am not against the learning of Bahasa Malaysia. Like any other languages, we ought to master the language if we do not want to be left behind in nation building.

However, one has to just look at countries where there is only one language used. The people in Ireland and those living in Britain both speak English, but they have been divided for many years.

The Arabs speak one language, but they are hardly united. North Koreans speak English like the Americans, but both nations are at odd with one another.

The Chinese in Malaysia speak Chinese but we can hardly say we are united as one people with the people in China.

Malays in this country are also divided because of their political ideology. In the last general election, we know that they voted in three different directions.

Do they not all speak in Malay? So, why are they not united despite having the same mother tongue?


I recall many years ago, there was one Chinese sitcom acted by four adults. Ah Chek spoke in Hokkien, while Wong Ho spoke in Cantonese. Lai Meng was Cantonese, but in the show, she spoke in Hakka, while Hon Ying spoke in Cantonese.

What amazes me is that, despite having different dialects, they were all friends. Hence, the sitcom was known as Empat Sekawan.

There can be national unity amidst diversity.


END.

Backbenchers have a big role to play

By Stephen Ng


In Malaysia Baru, the backbenchers have an important role to play to ensure that there is check-and-balance in the way how the government runs the country.

We have seen too many excesses in the previous regime, no thanks to all the yes men in the backbenchers.

Don’t think everything has changed overnight after May 9 general election when Malaysians from all walks of life united together to overthrow the corrupt regime under former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

I was therefore surprised when a lawmaker told me recently that, as a backbencher, he does not have the freedom to speak in the august house until he gets the greenlight to speak.

And, who decides who to speak as a member of the backbenchers? Why is the people’s elected representatives controlled from making their speeches?

While I can understand that time is limited and everyone has issues that need to be brought up but to allow one person to decide what and who can speak is simply incomprehensible.

I learnt from the lawmaker that the Backbenchers' Chairman, Johari Abdul is the one who decides who and what subject that can be brought up.

This goes against the spirit of democracy. Lawmakers are elected to speak up on behalf of their constituents. They should have the democratic space to speak up in parliament.

Even within the Backbenchers there are different camps. Who gets to speak and who does not is in the hands of the Backbenchers chairman.

It goes without saying that parliamentarians who are voted by the people would not be able to vote according to their conscience.

This is something as an ordinary rakyat, I hope to see reforms in our parliament to allow members of the august house, including members of the Opposition, to speak up.

Will we see this happening especially since our prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim has promised reforms in parliament once he returns, perhaps this time as the MP of Port Dickson?

I know I have to be vocal for the good of this nation. Being vindictive towards me for writing this piece is surely not democratic, especially since I am both a voter and an independent keyboard soldier who fought for Pakatan Harapan when it was still in the Opposition.

End

Expect criticisms from even friends in the New Malaysia

Credit: https://says.com/my/news/international-headlines-ge14

By Stephen Ng

Do not expect Malaysians to be stupid.

This message has been ringing loud and clear since Malaysia was under the old regime.

Post GE14, we now have a new government at Putrajaya, helmed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, which comprises both newbies, with a few more seasoned politicians.

Imperfect as it may be, the new cabinet has certainly brought about some much desired and progressive changes compared to the 61 years of rule under the BN regime.

At least we now have the world’s oldest prime minister, a woman as deputy prime minister, an Indian constitutional expert who is Attorney-General and a Kadazandusun who has risen to the highest judicial post in the country.

Malaysians have also waited a long time to see both former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor charged in court. Others who were involved in the 1MDB scandal have also been hauled up by both the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

We should also celebrate a first female president of Seberang Perai Municipal Council, and later mayor of Penang Island City Council, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, who became the first Asian woman and Malaysian to be appointed as the executive director and under-secretary-general of the UN Human Settlements Programme.

This is New Malaysia.

On record, Lim Guan Eng may not be the first Malaysian Chinese finance minister, but his experience in turning around Penang has certainly boost the confidence of Malaysians in the new Pakatan government in moving Malaysia forward albeit challenging economic conditions.

However, not everything is rosy. Lim will surely receive a lot of brickbats when he comes up with a shoestring budget. Even those who voted for Pakatan Harapan would also feel disappointed. This is all part of life.

All things said, the Pakatan government is not perfect. To ensure that it is kept in check and balance, its leaders even to be prepared to receive brickbats from the voters, including its most ardent supporters. Any explanation that does not appear plausible will surely be ostracised.

This is a fact in today’s political landscape.

For that reason, newly-minted ministers cannot expect Malaysians to buy excuses as justifications for the wrong decisions. After all, Malaysians are not stupid.

Of late, I have also been critical of the new government for some very good reasons. Perhaps, for the state election, I may vote for the Opposition, but where I am concerned, Putrajaya still needs to remain under the Pakatan government.

If tomorrow Putrajaya falls into the hands of Barisan Nasional, all the efforts to go after the culprits in the 1MDB scandal would have gone to waste. Public funds will continue to be plundered. In my opinion, the Opposition with its current batch of leaders, is not ready yet to take over the federal government.

Therefore, whatever criticisms that I make does not necessarily mean that I want the PH government to be overthrown. As rakyat, we have an obligation to speak up and keep the country’s leaders in check.

I quote two examples.

The first one is about Dr Mahathir’s decision not to deport controversial fugitive Muslim preacher Zakir Naik back to India to face charges of spreading terrorism and money laundering.

Dr Mahathir said that as long as Zakir behaves himself, he can remain in Malaysia. But did Zakir not advise Muslim voters to vote for “a corrupt Muslim leader” than one that joins hands with non-Muslim kafirs? We heard him loud and clear.

Now that Dr Mahathir’s cabinet is made up of several kafirs, when Zakir actually said that Allah would not be pleased with a Muslim leader, who in the context of new Malaysia, is referring to Dr Mahathir.

Since Dr Mahathir’s cabinet comprises of non-Muslim kafirs to run the nation, can we therefore afford to have such a hypocrite who now tells us that he is indebted to the Dr Mahathir’s government?

Even Anwar Ibrahim had to face the sodomy charges and despite knowing that he would not get a fair trial, Anwar did not apply for political asylum. There is no reason for Zakir to be treated differently, especially when he has hurt the feelings of non-Muslim religious groups by running down on their scriptures.

As Minister in the Prime Minister's Department P Waythamoorthy puts it, “I agree with Mujahid's statement on Zakir, as it can affect the racial unity and harmony in the country.”

Mujahid Yusof Rawa has said that “the combative style of propagating Islam, which puts down other beliefs, as practised by Dr Zakir Naik, is not suitable for Malaysia.”

Malaysians are waiting to see what actions the Pakatan Government would take after the two cabinet ministers agreed that someone like Naik should not be allowed to destroy our social fabrics. Would the government decide to deport Naik, or would it just close an eye on Naik’s style of preaching until some untoward incident happened?

The other observation that I made is the flip flop decision by the Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik in recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC). After his deputy, Teo Nie Ching announced that the UEC would be recognised by November this year, Maszlee made the U-turn, saying that more studies have to be carried out before the UEC is recognised.

What study is required? Hasn’t the former government already conducted its study and was willing to recognise the UEC? Barisan Nasional in its election manifesto promised that the UEC would be recognised. I wonder why Maszlee does not have the gut to make the right decision.

Didn’t the election manifesto promise recognition for UEC? Why the need to drag his feet? When over 1000 international universities and local private universities have no qualms in recognising the qualification as equivalent to a pre-university programme, why does it take so long for the UEC to be officially recognised?

All it takes is to learn how these international universities assess the UEC qualification and adopt it for Malaysian public universities. Period.

Where English is the medium of instruction for these universities, the students only have to sit for English competency tests such as IELTS or TOEF as compared to doing Bahasa Malaysia as a subject for UEC students to qualify for entry into public universities.

The same arguments used by Umno in the past are still being used to delay the UEC recognition. If the Chinese private schools do not emphasise enough of the national language and the national curriculum, then, why allow international schools to be set up? Maszlee might as well close these schools down.

Fellow Malaysians who read my articles in Malaysiakini for the past five years, you should take my views as constructive criticisms, not as an effort to derail the PH Government’s efforts to bring the country together again.

My criticisms written from the heart may be hard-hitting but they are meant to put the government in check. We want a government that performs even better for the sake of the nation.

Until Barisan Nasional can put its act together again, we do not want to be under Pakatan Harapan for another 61 years. For this same reason, we are watching BN component parties to see if  they will undergo reforms and prove themselves to be a better alternative, or else there is no turning back to the old regime.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008. Now, he is contributing towards nation building.

Dear Gina

By Mandeep Singh

Dear Gina,

I saw your lengthy instagram post about how you feel about your mum’s detention. You seem to feel extremely sad and angry over her detention by MACC. But Gina, it's too late to be angry at this moment.

Where were you when your mum was shopping around the world? Where were you when your mum was buying those handbags?

Did you ever ask your mum, how did your family manage to get millions of ringgit for your wedding ceremony, a luxurious celebration that lasted 3 to 4days?

Also, did you know how many mothers went through the same feeling, or even worse, after they were unjustly detained by your dad's regime... they were sent to lock-ups for simply calling out the excesses and greed of your parents, they were denied of their rights simply for fighting for a better Malaysia.

Some were detained under solitary confinement for eleven days. Again, where were you at that time? Did you question your dad about it? Let me tell you, Maria Chin is also a mum of three kids. You can go and ask her kids, how they felt when during those eleven days.

And let me tell you here, all of us who were detained back then, were always handcuffed. We were asked to wear the orange uniform... innocent people treated like criminals!

So, stop trying to get sympathy. At the end of the day, this is what you call karma... or better yet, justice.

(Mandeep Singh was formerly part of Bersih 2.0 Steering Committee. He was detained together with Bersih chairman Maria Chin Abdullah under the draconian law by disgraced former prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak).