Km302 Of North-South Highway Closed After Landslide

[Loke]

All,

Drove back from Penang yesterday afternoon. Noticed the traffic from South exiting Tapah is terrible. The jam started a few hunderd metres on the h/way all the way to the traffic lights junction at Tapah (a few kms long). So my advise is to exit at the Bidor intersection instead of Tapah to avoid the long queue.

Cheers.

[euro_usj]

"..Are you trying to get the old man to shut us down?..." quote AdministratorChang

C'mon, Administrator Chang, this is no primary school forum, if we are constantly worried about being watched or being shut down by the oldman/HM, I think we need another forum for USJians , where we think we're in the forefront of many things?

[Jaygee]

QUOTE FROM NST DATED 13th Oct 2004
Letters to Ed column.

PWD PROJECTS: Minister wasn’t speaking off cuff
E. SIVABALAN
Press Secretary to the Works Minister

Oct 13:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I REFER to the letter "Minister should stop these remarks" (NST, Oct 11).
All statements by the Minister of Works, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu pertaining to the Middle Ring Road 2 flyover in Kepong was based on the findings of the Public Works Department, and this included the cost of the repair at RM20 million.
The same was the case with the East Coast Expressway and the Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baru.

In fact, the minister visited the expressway and the hospital to see for himself and be briefed on the findings by the independent consultants.

Even before the so-called killer stretch was highlighted, the minister was travelling regularly on the expressway.

As such, it is incorrect to say that the minister was making "off-the- cuff" statements as claimed by the writer.

The Public Works Department is entrusted with the mandate to advise the minister accordingly on all projects under its purview.

The minister has, time and again, stated that his conclusions were drawn from the reports submitted by the experts and in this case, the Public Works Department and the Malaysian Highway Authority, not to mention the independent consultants.

One should not just draw a conclusion by merely reading what is reported in the media.

There have been times when statements by the minister have been taken out of context.

I wish to state here that he has always emphasised in his statements to the media that his priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of the people.
UNQUOTE

Now let me see how I can keep my comments within "non-derogatory" limits ....... hhhmmmmmmmmmmmm

And Sivabalan .... his comment about the MRR2 cracks i.e. not caused by design failure was off the cuff, off the top of his head, off the wrong end ..... keluar dari mana ?

Not bad.
I did it.
I stayed decent.

[Jaygee]

"..Are you trying to get the old man to shut us down?..." quote AdministratorChang

C'mon, Administrator Chang, this is no primary school forum, if we are constantly worried about being watched or being shut down by the oldman/HM, I think we need another forum for USJians , where we think we're in the forefront of many things?

You know, euro_usj, kwchang had directed that comment at my posting and I agree with u ............ at least upto to the point where u say " worried about being watched or being shut down ".
This "worry" is symptomatic of a deeper / wider malady with Malaysians and is totally discordant with these non-Mediaeval times.

Even tho there is life out there i.e outside this forum, THE FORUM SHD SURVIVE at all costs, right ? Even if it stops serving the original Thinking Allowed, Thinking Aloud tag line. Even if this forum has seen real and much worse threats ( AND SURVIVED ) to its existence ( the S*** & Ur*** episode is case in point ) than angry comments leveled at Semi Valu .......

I do understand the effort that would have been invested in getting a forum such as this one from infancy to maturity. But what if all this came to nought because some sanctimonious pr*** in the government took offense to a comment in this forum ..............and God forbid THIS FORUM IS SHUT DOWN. (For the moment ignore the derogatory label " old man " used by kwcang).

I do also empathise with kwchang and all the other mods in the context of the onerous task these guys have on their shoulders.
Some forumers can be difficult ( like yours truly ) some cld be plants from the opposing camp ( dead bent on shutting this forum down ), some cld be friends of that one Kuey Teow seller about whose unsavoury ( unhygenic ) dishes a comment was posted, some cld be friends of gov-vermin's ( refers to govt servants of the lazy irresponsible variety only - not the good ones ) who have had their depts taken to task in this forum ........... long story short .... there are all kinds of characters who hop on to a forum of this nature.
So how shd the mod handle ? ......... Capitulation ( on principles ) is not one of the things I wld prescribe.

Anasthetised thinking is no thinking at all.

But sanitised ( i.e disinfected ) verbalization is highly recommended, as in, forumers shd avoid cursing people's mother and father-lah.
Some more .... say what u have to say but keep people's hairline, hair transplant, hip replacement, etc out, maaaah ?? ... here I agree with kwchang entirely.

[Jaygee]

To side track a little bit, I hear that this stretch of the highway is 'puaka'. Anyone with some interesting story to share?

tan_r ..... search me ....... i dono.
BUt surely there is a way to counter-"puaka" the place .... can or not ??
Suerly we have people with the necessary skills !!!

Malaysia boleh !!!

[pcyeoh]

I think what Jaygee has to say is fair comment and non-derogatory. I won't say it is even a criticism. Even if it is, didn't we read today news that leaders must accept criticism. If they cannot, might as well join the other ministry of the holy kind as we tend to be very careful to criticise them knowing well who is behind them. One wrong comment, it is worst than a red card - caripochi lah. Jaygee is not the first to ask Pak Lah to sack him. Even PAS and DAP are crying out for that. We just have to give him enough ropes to hang himself. One of these days when he runs out of reasons for something he is responsible for, that will be the day. Roads like those in Cameron Highlands and Fraser Hill have stood for decades. Those that were built under our Semi Value are falling apart even before they are opened to public like the recent one leading to Cameron Highland where the slope is dangerously at 70%. If God is not happy one rainy day, caripochi again. Even a child using a protractor can tell it is 70% The recent highway leading to Kuantan is the cause of hundreds of accidents just because it is bumpy and the cornering is too "chiap." So I am also joining the queue calling Pak Lah to sack him or alternatively place the Works Ministry to the other old Chinaman who can count and that is Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik. He is on our side rather than Samy Vellu who is usually on the other side.

[Jaygee]

I think what Jaygee has to say is fair comment and non-derogatory. I won't say it is even a criticism. Even if it is, didn't we read today news that leaders must accept criticism. If they cannot, might as well join the other ministry of the holy kind as we tend to be very careful to criticise them knowing well who is behind them. One wrong comment, it is worst than a red card - caripochi lah. Jaygee is not the first to ask Pak Lah to sack him. Even PAS and DAP are crying out for that. We just have to give him enough ropes to hang himself. ..............

Give to whom ???? Jaygee or what ?? ...... wink wink wink

[KH EE]

"He is on our side rather than Samy Vellu who is usually on the other side." wrote pcyeoh.

Samy on the other side? It should be "on HIS (own) side."

[Jaygee]

pcyeoh ..... I was just pulling your leg. I know u mean Semi Valu.
But how sure are you that another Minister ( who just happens to know how to count ) will save us Malaysians from similar national ( and International ) embarassment in future. We shd avoid the "we need a hero to save us" mentality.
It is not the personality-lah it is the system.
It is the mind set that says that " I am in the govt so can I can do no wrong ".
Trust me ............ if the jokers from PAS or DAP were to occupy the places occupied by Barisan the same malady will continue.
WHY ? Cos we the Malaysians deserve to b sc***ed.
WHY ? Cos we got sc***ed several times b4 and took it galantly and welcomed more by remaining silent.
WHY do we remain silent ? Cos we are told that " We cld get shut down".

Pak Lah has set his lieutenants a huge goal.
But hell !!! .... he has at least started saying the right things. He is very particular about what he says and he very well means it.
However, some of his lieutenants have let him down in the past ( and will continue to in future ) but at least we know Pak Lah is a right thinking individual.
However, why he is unable to shrug off 30-year old baggage like Valu .... time will tell.

[pcyeoh]

You beat it to me by self answering your question. We don't hang our fellow forumers and we don't provide them the ropes. We just kick the chair underneath he is standing!!

Everytime I talk about our Works Minister, I end up doing no work. In fact I get very worked up that it affect my present work so I shall leave him alone. I am sure he is going to shoot from the hips again. I don't expect any other minister to be a saviour as the saying goes "Semua satu macam." But not our Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik. So far he is OK. While he was the Ministry of Primary Industry, he was very protective about our oil palm and timber INDUSTRY and not the contractors and vendors who profitted from it. He dared to shoot reporters with his saliva and asked for proof for any allegation and committed to take action if given. When he took over the new ministry, he put a stop at the water privatisation project and said "Unfortunately for these people, they don't know that this Chinaman knows how to count." He even warned TNB before they even think of increasing the electricity tariff to show prove that they are productive first and then justify the increase. Yeah they are productive at teh tarik shops and under flyovers doing their afternoon siesta. To PUAS, he said "You must not charge based on the volume produced lah. 40% are non revenued water that went wasteful into the longkang and therefore cannot charge. You can only charge for revenued water." And in the most recent case happening in our own backyard where ministers were all ready with the ropes to hang our Jeff Ooi over a degarotory remarks on Islam which was posted by a perpetrator in JO weblog, it was again Datuk Seri Lim who is more rational dared to say otherwise. The same principle should apply to highway contractors and concessionnaires. You must make good for the damage and inconvenience caused. Cannot say 18 years and what do you expect. Eternity? Cannot say if we blacklist the contractors, there won't be any good contractor left. He is indirectly saying there is no honest or good contractor left in Malaysia. All are lousy. And cannot always blame God. One day he has to face his Maker. Just like one Minister who is always wrongly misquoted was asked "Which is the leading newspaper in our country?" he replied "None as ALL are misleading.

[KH EE]

lately keng yaik & gerakan, IMHO, rocks! wonder if LKY is the Works Minister, things will be different?

[Jaygee]

You beat it to me by self answering your question. We don't hang our fellow forumers and we don't provide them the ropes. We just kick the chair underneath he is standing!!

Everytime I talk about our Works Minister, I end up doing no work. In fact I get very worked up that it affect my present work so I shall leave him alone. I am sure he is going to shoot from the hips again. I don't expect any other minister to be a saviour as the saying goes "Semua satu macam." But not our Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik. So far he is OK. While he was the Ministry of Primary Industry, he was very protective about our oil palm and timber INDUSTRY and not the contractors and vendors who profitted from it. He dared to shoot reporters with his saliva and asked for proof for any allegation and committed to take action if given. When he took over the new ministry, he put a stop at the water privatisation project and said "Unfortunately for these people, they don't know that this Chinaman knows how to count." He even warned TNB before they even think of increasing the electricity tariff to show prove that they are productive first and then justify the increase. Yeah they are productive at teh tarik shops and under flyovers doing their afternoon siesta. To PUAS, he said "You must not charge based on the volume produced lah. 40% are non revenued water that went wasteful into the longkang and therefore cannot charge. You can only charge for revenued water." And in the most recent case happening in our own backyard where ministers were all ready with the ropes to hang our Jeff Ooi over a degarotory remarks on Islam which was posted by a perpetrator in JO weblog, it was again Datuk Seri Lim who is more rational dared to say otherwise. The same principle should apply to highway contractors and concessionnaires. You must make good for the damage and inconvenience caused. Cannot say 18 years and what do you expect. Eternity? Cannot say if we blacklist the contractors, there won't be any good contractor left. He is indirectly saying there is no honest or good contractor left in Malaysia. All are lousy. And cannot always blame God. One day he has to face his Maker. Just like one Minister who is always wrongly misquoted was asked "Which is the leading newspaper in our country?" he replied "None as ALL are misleading.

pcyeoh, I like the kick the chair analogy ............ will surely use it on my unsuspecting friends !!!

As for topic ........... it is not LKY's credentials that are being scrutinised. I have a load of respect for that man's ( saliva spray notwithstanding ) crude, down-to-earth way of speaking his mind.
But my point was ........... why choose Rajnikanth when you feel disappointed with Kamalhasan ?

Both will not deliver if the Director ( in this case he public ) justs sits on his hands i.e. is worried that his film sets "will be shut down" if he exercises his reponsibility i.e. DIRECTS these Super stars ?

I know that both Rajni and Kamal will forgive me for equating them with Semi Valu.

[Jaygee]

QUOTE FROM NST DATED 13th Oct 2004
Letters to Ed column.

PWD PROJECTS: Minister wasn’t speaking off cuff
E. SIVABALAN
Press Secretary to the Works Minister

Oct 13:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I REFER to the letter "Minister should stop these remarks" (NST, Oct 11).
................

Even before the so-called killer stretch was highlighted, the minister was travelling regularly on the expressway.

As such, it is incorrect to say that the minister was making "off-the- cuff" statements as claimed by the writer.

...............................

Poor Sivabalan ............
I wonder how he reconciles the green and the red portions.
How does he conclude the red part from the green part ?

I hope "poor" is not a derogatory term that could threaten the very existence of this forum.

[Cindy Kee]

All I am interested to know is, can I still drive to Cameron Highlands this weekend? Can somebody please advise? Thank you.

[orchipalar]

Err...CindyKee ...the Tapah exit on PLUS is unaffected by the landslide....ahem...however...you may wanna be prepared being caught in the traffic Jam....where most Northbound traffic would have to directed to use this exit to continue the journey via the old trunk road thru Kampar..n Ipoh...

Err...however...Orchi wishes to say here...that you might wanna consider not heading to Cameron Highlands for this coming weekends...until they sort out the mess over at the landslide area....as people would wanna use the same route....as an alternative to get to Simpang Pulai via Cameron Highlands...it is a remote possibility....as that is being a longer way to get Northbound...but you never know....motorists might get desperate...n they would use any alterntives for the matter....

A friend heading north called today....thinking about using the Bentong-GuaMusang-Grik-Pengkalan Hulu way....instead....to get to his 2nd home....