Comment
Letter from Pulau Tikus
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Comment
Letter from Pulau Tikus |
Police law THE NEW Federal Traffic Chief warns us that those who trail (meaning follow) or obstruct fire engines or VIP motorcades can be fined 300 RM on the spot. This new "law" was prompted by the deaths of two police outriders who collided with the car in front. It's very sad but is the angry reaction right? The accident should instead have prompted a thinking about the speed with which VIPs and fire engines and ambulances hurry down the road. Years ago I wrote to the General Hospital, Penang, pointing out that their ambulances should not break speed limits or dash through the red lights. I reminded them that their drivers were subject to the laws of the road. The GH immediately gave instructions to their ambulance drivers to obey the law. Today, ambulances, fire engines and VIPs (who should know better) go screaming through the streets as if nobody else should be there. It was not like that before. I remember the Sultan of Kelantan's answer to the late Mr Justice Ali bin Hassan who had asked him why his car and escort travelled at a snail's pace. His Majesty's answer was that the speed limit in Kota Bharu was 30 mph. He as Sultan had to set a good example. Dr Mahathir too I remembered, on his last "state" visit to Penang travelled at a dignified pace, stentorian loudspeakers telling all and sundry that they should give way to the prime minister of Malaysia. Had the pace of the motorcade, two of whose escorts died in the crash, been within speed limits I am sure the accident would not have happened. And one question: are the the police motor cyclists not taught about riding behind another vehicle within thinking plus stopping distance? Meanwhile the traffic chief should have gone to the see the attorney general about new laws before announcing punishments as if she were a one person parliament. In a police state I suppose such things are said. But how do you explain an opposition member of parliament's telling the chief justice to make police reports against the judges he thought corrupt. Surely the suspect judges, appointed by the PM in hush hush consultation with the chief justice, should be called aside and whispered to resign or else face a tribunal. Remembering the fate of Lord President Salleh Abbas no suspect judge would reject the way out and lose his pension to boot. |
| And talking of
VIPs, I was witness to a local big shot parking his car on a
yellow line in Burma Road to do his shopping. This reminded me of
the time when the CM's car was parked right on the pavement in Pulau
Tikus. They hate paying parking fees don't they, these big shots. Talking of of big shots. Even the humble PC will want to be called Dato, a relic of colonial times. And there is a colonial law about insulting him. Only the other day, yet another person was fined for "insulting" behaviour. What surprised was that the prosecuting officer remarked that the policeman could have lost his cool and taken out his firearm. And even more surprising was the magistrate's "Even I have to show respect to a policeman." Are not policemen officers of the law and trained to be cool and always collected in all situations? Dirty drains The drains are getting dirtier in Pulau Tikus, green with age old dirt. Is it because the city council, like the MPSP, suffers from having too many contractors. The MPSP has 50 contractors for solid waste and complains it is difficult to monitor their performance. It should be interesting to know how many UMNO fellows have the contracts to clean drains in his city, how many actually do the work and how many farm it out. I shouldn't be surprised if all the contracts are sub-contracted. You come across this in every sphere of activity, from parking attendants to the security guards racket. Some guy in Trengganu has the contract for providing guards in some area of Penang. He hands the job to someone in Penang who finds ways and means to make as much profit as he can for himself. And no one seems to care how he does it - whether he pays his guards the full amount due, whether he sticks to the age limit, employs drunks, or unqualified ones like the 17 year old in KL who tried to rape a student in the building he was supposed to guard. And no one cares if the job well is done or not. Take that leak in Parliament. The MP that caused opposition MPs anger when he made a dirty joke about women leaking once a month. Honourable ladies and gentlemen of the House, wasn't he only saying "It's ok, don't make a fuss over a bad roof, after all it's an UMNO contract." ? Ijok Ijok was all about rough play and the police state denying opposition cheramahs. No one pretends any more. We are moving inexorably to the UMNO police state where Nazi youth types brandishing the kris will dominate the streets. An overweening arrogance frowns on immigrants and tourists whether they are coming to our hospitals or not, and even Make Malaysia My Second Homers are made to feel they are begging for a privilege to live in this top class Shangri-la.# Cheek! "Your Private Beach" (Seen in an RHB Bank advert on NST Online) |
 Penang?No, it is Cairns Explanade, Australia. They pefer a "Petaling Street" in Penang K L Chai |
|
LESTARI HERITAGE NETWORK
www.lestariheritage.net for urban conservation |
| ______ INDEX Point to the article that you want to read, and CLICK Index page Baba words Cricket in Penang The Fairy fish Food guide The jungle war (12) Letter from Pulau Tikus Pablo Neruda in Penang A reader from Chennai Restricting rubber production (Part 2) Temasek, a poem An untypical life |
| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 53 |