No political party, whether Barisan Nasional or the Opposition, can confidently claim they are in a position to go to the polls now. As far as most political analysts know, only preliminary preparations have been conducted. 

In some parties, several new faces have been identified to contest in certain constituencies while some veterans have been told, through third parties, that they could be dropped. 

Last week, the Election Commission said it would only be ready to conduct the general election after September. Its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the Government had asked the commission when it would be ready but did not indicate when the election would be called. 

He added that by the end of September, the EC would have trained 200,000 election workers and procured all the equipment needed for the polls, including see-through ballot boxes and special punchers to be distributed to the country’s 25,000 polling districts. 

Rashid also said the EC had budgeted RM220mil for the general election but might have to ask for RM100mil more for the new equipment. 

Most analysts have ruled out the holding of elections this year because, over the next few months, the national leaders would have their hands full. 

Preparations for next month’s 50th National Day are peaking. Celebrations have been planned nation-wide for a month, which would certainly have an impact on the “feel-good” factor, which is essential in the run-up to the polls. 

In fact, on July 30 and 31, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is expected to announce a slew of projects in Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Perak as part of the Northern Corridor Economic Region project. 

From modern agricultural practices involving harvesting padi three times a year to the construction of Penang’s second bridge, the projects are expected to fire up voters in these four states. 

For sure, it would put a serious dent on Parti Keadilan Rakyat-DAP plans to capture Penang this time. 

Despite the seemingly anti-establishment sentiments among urban voters at this point, the predominantly middle-class Penangites have always been more concerned with bread-and-butter issues. 

Barisan campaigners are so confident in the mood swing that many want to take on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the polls. 

The bridge, together with plans to turn Penang into a regional transportation hub, will surely bring spillover benefits to the various sectors. In short, Penangites can look forward to a better standard of living over the coming years. 

Abdullah and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak have a tight schedule ahead of them in September. The Budget, which many expect will be “an election budget”, is to be tabled in Parliament on Sept 7. 

Abdullah is scheduled to fly off to Sydney the next day for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Then he has to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York in the third week of September, which is during the fasting month. 

We can rule out the possibility of the elections being held during the fasting month or Hari Raya (Oct 13-14). 

The feel-good factor is expected to continue with the likelihood of more national celebrations – the first Malaysian would be in space by then. 

By November, Abdullah has two important dates on his diary. First is the Asean Summit in Singapore, where his presence is regarded as crucial, as the Asean leaders deliberate over adopting the Asean Charter. 

Equally important for Pak Lah is the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda, to be held around the same time as Malaysia lobbies for the election of Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim to be the secretary-general, which would make him the first Malaysian to hold the post. 

At home, the two-month school holidays would have started and the monsoon season would have set in by then in the east coast. 

But by November and December, the drumbeat for the elections will become louder. Politicians can forget about taking a long break with their families at this time because election preparations would be in full swing. 

For the Chinese, the year 2008 is a prosperous year. In Cantonese, 2008 rhymes with “yee teng teng fatt” or “sure to prosper”. Perhaps it’s also a good time for elections. 

How did Malaysia manage to secure such a huge loan with low interest? It had plenty to do with the friendship between Malaysia and China. 

We were the first among the Asean countries to have formal ties with China.  

Not only that. As Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop put it, that special relationship began during the days of the Malacca Sultanate and, therefore, doing business between the two countries “is in our DNA”. 

The friendship factor is also important, especially the personal ties between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. 

The two leaders have met formally and informally on numerous occasions over a decade, particularly when Abdullah was Foreign Minister, and that special relationship is of tremendous help. 

In many ways, the two men share similarities in their demeanour. Both are modest, popular and approachable. 

Regarded as a fourth generation Chinese leader, the 65-year-old Wen is popular with the people. He has been credited with China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, a move that has turned his country into an economic powerhouse. 

According to sources involved in putting the loan deal together, Abdullah wrote to Wen last year, inviting the Chinese to take part in building the 24km-long bridge, which will be the longest in South-East Asia. 

The island’s second bridge will help ease traffic congestion in the state and is vital to meeting the Government’s objective of turning Penang into a regional transportation hub. 

The bridge is designed to resemble a pearl and will have a four-lane carriageway with two observation platforms at the central span. 

The Japanese, it seems, also lobbied for the job after getting wind of plans to build the second bridge. But Malaysia’s expensive experience with the Japanese, particularly with loans when the yen appreciated, put the Japanese in a disadvantageous position. 

China is only asking for 3% interest when the market rate is at least 5% to 6%. 

However, the special loan for Malaysia has put China in a somewhat difficult situation. Chinese officials have privately expressed concern that other countries, including those from Africa and South America, will make similar demands. After all, Malaysia is not in the category of poor, under-developed countries. 

The low-interest loan, said the officials, was unusual and certainly unprecedented – with orders from the top Chinese leadership to act immediately. 

Wen responded quickly after he and Abdullah met in Nanning last year. The bilateral meeting was held during the Chinese-Asean Commemorative Summit to mark the 15th anniversary of establishing dialogue relationship between China and Asean. 

Wen, a trained geologist and engineer, expressed interest in taking part in the second bridge project and a directive was issued to Minister of Commerce Bo Xi Lai to handle the financing. 

Last week, Bo came to witness the signing of the loan agreement between state-run Exim Bank of China and Bank Pembangunan Malaysia. 

The presence of Bo itself is an honour for Malaysia because he is regarded as a rising political star in China. 

Bo, 52, is the son of Bo Yibo, a legendary Chinese revolutionary leader regarded as one of China’s modern Eight Immortal Leaders who are likened to a group of mythical heroes with supernatural powers of the Tang and Song dynasties. 

Bo is a former mayor of Dalian in China’s coastal economic hub. He worked in Dalian for 17 years, making him the longest-serving Chinese official in any single region in the country. 

Dalian, regarded as one of the cleanest cities in China, also has strong economic ties with Malaysian companies. 

With a long resume of constructing some of the best highways and projects in Dalian – including the Shenyang-Dalian Expressway, the first expressway in China – Bo threw a challenge at the signing ceremony. 

He wanted to return to Malaysia by Nov 1, 2010, to witness the opening of the second bridge – a year ahead of schedule. 

It’s a challenge put forward not just to the China Harbour Engineering Company that will build the bridge but also to its Malaysian partner, UEM Construction, and our officials. 

The second bridge, which is the signature project under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, will not just be an iconic project. It will stand proud as a symbol of friendship between Malaysia and China.  

* The story on the bridge loan was an exclusive in The Star on July 11.

THE past few months have been hectic for Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi as the Government pushes the rollout of major Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) programmes and high-impact projects, including the Iskandar Development Region and the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), which will be launched at the end of the month. 

Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi

The expectations are high and as the clock ticks away, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department has found himself and his staff racing to meet the deadline.  

It was already 6pm when he walked into his apartment in Kuala Lumpur – two hours late for this interview. “I am sorry as I had to attend a last-minute meeting in Putrajaya on the Northern Corridor,’’ he apologises profusely. 

“We are in the exciting phase of the implementation process. The masterplan for the Northern Corridor will be unveiled soon, followed by that for the Eastern Corridor,” he adds. Sime Darby Bhd, one of Asia’s largest conglomerates, with substantial plantation and property holdings, has been given the job of drawing up the masterplan. 

“In the coming weeks and months, more initiatives will be unveiled, especially in areas that require fresh changes and where there have been dialogues and discussions between the public and private sectors,’’ says the minister. 

However, he is not prepared to disclose more about the NCER, well aware that it should be left to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to spell out the details. As part of the launch of the NCER, the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Kedah and Perlis on July 30, and Penang and northern Perak the following day. 

To be accompanied by other Cabinet members, he is expected to announce a slew of initiatives that are set to transform the four states. The development focus for each state will leverage on the existing economic strengths of the area, such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and human capital. 

Big plans up north 

Bits of information on the NCER have already been floating around for some time. For example, one component will be the RM1.1bil Penang Monorail, with two lines of 37km to be built on the island and future extension to the mainland. 

A bus network, along the lines of Rapid KL, with 150 buses will begin operations soon in the state. 

Penang’s much-awaited RM2.7bil second bridge, which will link Batu Maung on the island and Batu Kawan on the mainland, is also set to bring spin-offs for the state, especially in the property sector. The 24km bridge is likely to ease the congestion at the present 13.5km bridge, which is already 21 years old. 

The network of roads through the Penang Outer Ring Road, the second bridge and the public transport upgrade are essential elements that must precede the rollout of other projects in the state. 

Penang will also be made a regional transportation hub. There is talk that Air Asia would fly to major destinations from Penang. One project, also expected to be announced soon, is the setting up of a low-cost carrier centre at the Penang International Airport. 

The container wharves at the Penang Port will be deepened, while on the mainland, food processing centres (including a halal hub) will be set up to handle agricultural products from Kedah, Perlis and northern Perak. 

Kedah and Perlis have been earmarked for an agricultural push, with modern padi farming techniques to be introduced to boost the earnings of the farmers in the country’s Malay heartland. One plan is to increase harvesting to three times a year from the present two. 

The Prime Minister is expected to unveil a special padi grain on July 30. This is meant to improve the padi yield in Kedah and Perlis. Also, Sime Darby is likely to provide details of its seeds research centre, whose key aim is to develop quality rice. 

Potatoes will be cultivated for non-food use, particularly as bio-plastics and composites, as part of the downstream activities to improve the livelihood of farmers. 

Irrigation and flood mitigation projects have been conceived for padi farming areas in Kedah, while an inland container depot will be built. In Langkawi, tourism facilities will come up on the outer islands. 

Corridors of dream 

In northern Perak and Perlis, the thrust will be on human capital development, such as the building of vocational and skills training centres. In Selama, for example, animal husbandry will be the focus. 

Vocational training and an agriculture faculty in a northern state university are being planned to help school-leavers and agriculture graduates to become modern farmers. 

Says Effendi: “There is also the Penang City Park, a mixed development which we are facilitating and assisting. It will be iconic and exciting.” 

The proposed project is a 15-year project covering serviced apartments with healthcare facilities, houses, retail outlets, a hotel, convention centres and office space. The development will boost the state’s economy and create thousands of jobs. 

A metropolitan park that will link the City Park, Youth Park and Botanical Garden is on the cards. This will preserve the state’s 860 acres of green lung, reflecting the authorities' commitment to protect the environment. 

There are other environment-related aspects of the NCER project. In Perak, the Belum Forest has been earmarked for herbal plants research. The northern region has 51.9% of forestland, which the Government is determined to preserve. 

While the finishing touches are being applied to the NCER plan, follow-up actions have been taken on the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in south Johor, for which over RM4bil has been allocated for infrastructure development. 

“These projects embody the Government’s ambitious goal of making the whole country a hassle-free place for the private sector to flourish,” says Effendi. 

“However, it will take time to cover the entire nation. This corridor development approach, covering the major regions of the country, offers the advantage of speedy implementation, excellent infrastructure and a one-stop agency to deal with.” 

The Second Penand Bridge is an essential part of the state’s development plans

Private sector to the fore 

There is an element that makes the 9MP different from the previous five-year plans. Effendi points out: “In the past, the economy has been predominantly driven by the public sector. But now, since we have a more developed and mature private sector, it’s time to change that. 

“We would like the private sector to be the prime mover of economic growth as is the case with the developed economies. 

He adds, “The 8MP saw the ratio of contribution to the economy as 60:40, the public sector accounting for 60%. The 9MP aims to reverse this so that the public sector’s contribution is reduced to 40% and the private sector goes up to 60%. 

“To sustain the country’s GDP growth at 6% to 7% or higher, the private sector must continue to invest, add production capacity and become the main engine of growth. 

“During the 8MP, the private sector investment growth was – 1%, compared to the 7MP period. Our challenge in 9MP is to achieve 11% growth. In order to accomplish this, the private sector has to invest RM378bil from 2006 to 2010.” 

The IDR, for example, will need plenty of private investors, particularly those from Singapore, to make it a reality. 

The Penang City Park, a unique housing development scheme that cleverly blends in with the environment, including the setting up green lungs, is a private initiative. 

Equine Capital Bhd subsidiary, Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, which is already developing a township in Batu Kawan, is handling the Penang City Park, which hopes to draw top-notch buyers. Foreign fund managers and investors in Europe have already expressed their interest in the project as Penang is a brand name. 

Describing himself as a “facilitator” for the government and the private sector, Effendi was a banker, civil servant, businessman, Sarawak state assemblyman and Member of Parliament. 

“I have been on both sides. There has to be a mutual trust on both sides. The private sector needs efficiency and prompt decisions, while the public sector has its procedures, rules and circulars to follow,” he says. 

“What we need is a mechanism through which both sides can understand each other, merge and make Malaysia more vibrant.” 

Effendi regards himself as lucky. As an appointed senator, he is free from the punishing constituency work, and is able to devote his time totally to national development. “You can say I am now in the middle ground, and my role is to bring the two sides together.” 

Building trust 

Throughout the interview, Effendi focused his attention on the importance of the private sector, saying “We can only develop a real mature economy if there is a strong and healthy collaboration between the Government and the private sector.” 

How can we build this trust? His reply: “I believe that action speaks louder than words. The Prime Minister himself “walks the talk” in many instances. 

“The National Implementation Task Force (NITF) has set up a Private Sector Investment Advisory Panel to examine various issues affecting the private sector. This panel holds regular dialogue sessions and meetings with the private sector to seek input on how to improve Malaysia’s investment climate. The Government also pro-actively looks into ways to reduce bureaucracy and red tape.” 

Chaired by Abdullah, NITF has established standing and working committees on the education, health, tourism and services sectors, among others. 

Effendi points out that the decision to waive the real property gains tax was made within a month after the Government had engaged the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association in a discussion. 

“We worked with Iskandar Regional Development Authority to come up with incentive package for IDR which was finalised and approved within a month,” he says. Another example, he adds, was the setting up of Pemudah, a high-powered task force that looks into cutting red tape in the public service delivery system. 

“The task force has been given six months to come out with actions. Since it had been set up in February, Pemudah has implemented a series of initiatives to make government processes and procedures more efficient,” he says. 

One of these is the shortening of the time to register new companies from more than a month to only 24 hours. 

“Another example in the property and construction sector, is the setting up of a One-Stop-Centre (OSC) to shorten processing time of development project approvals at the local government level. With this OSC, process time was cut from 3-5 years to a mere 4-6 months,” says Effendi. 

When the interview came to an end, it was nearly 7.30pm. Effendi walked to this writer to the entrance of his condominium. “This is not the end of the day for me. Yes, all of us in Pak Lah’s team have been very busy, but there is more to come. Things are being set in motion for this national mission,” he assures.  

The superimposed picture was so badly done that even a primary school pupil could tell it was a fake but that did not stop the PKR information chief from posting the doctored photograph on his blog. 

Worried about the impact of the picture, bloggers have come out to condemn Tian Chua for his reckless act, saying this was not the first time the politician had reacted in such a thoughtless manner. 

The superimposed photograph purportedly refers to the testimony of prosecution witness Burmaa Oyunchimeg, 26, who told the murder trial that she had seen a photograph of Altantuya dining with Abdul Razak and a Malaysian government official known as “Najib Razak”. 

The photograph in question was not shown in court and Najib had, in the past, repeatedly denied knowing Altantuya. 

Last week, angry government backbenchers criticised PKR for posting the picture, saying it was despicable and shameful, and described the antics of Tian Chua as cheap theatrics. 

Opposition leaders called up newspaper editors to share their displeasure and embarrassment at what Tian Chua had done. They said it was another example of his self-destructive nature. 

In March, Tian Chua attempted to drive through a barrier during a demonstration and nearly hit a man. And during the reformasi protest in 1998, he sat in front of a Federal Reserve Unit truck a la “Tiananmen Square”. 

In his blog, Tian Chua admitted to posting the doctored photo but tried to justify his action by arguing his case from an art-history perspective. He said that “in my digital representation, it seems people are able to see what their eyes cannot”. 

He has insisted that the picture was done in a “Monty Python” style artwork, in reference to the British TV comedy show which began in 1969. 

In his posting, he wrote: “Some of you may have concluded that I am a lousy politician” and “I must confess my first passion is not politics but art, particularly drawing.” 

For someone who always demands integrity and credibility from government leaders, Tian Chua has failed to explain his action convincingly. 

His arty-farty reasoning – including drawing parallels from the works of Realist artists like Leonardo Da Vinci – may sound impressive to his diehard liberal fans, but it does not strike a chord with the grassroots. 

Party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and party president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail have so far not commented on Tian Chua’s action. 

Their silence is understandable because Tian Chua’s popularity in the party has been deteriorating. A one-time party vice-president, the Malacca politician chose the safety of the appointed information chief’s post during the recent party polls. 

He had wanted to contest the Machap by-election but the DAP was given the task of facing Barisan. 

Although Tian Chua has consistently shown himself to be a liability to PKR, there are few activists as committed as him in the party. Whatever his faults, he has remained an idealist who is prepared to stick his head out and champion the cause of all races. 

He also has to manoeuvre in a party dominated by seasoned ex-Umno leaders who have tasted power and wealth. 

There is grumbling in the PKR ranks that the titled, rich and influential seem to get preference for party positions, leaving non-government organisation activists out in the cold. 

That perception is not entirely wrong because a few human rights activists who contested the recent party polls lost badly. Obviously, old-style politics has again beaten youthful idealism.  

Worse, racialism seems to have surfaced at the party polls. 

Just last week, a string of resignations involving top Selangor figures rocked PKR even as it was recovering from former Youth chief Ezam Mohd Nor’s decision to quit. 

A total of 22 top office-bearers from the Shah Alam and Sepang divisions resigned on Thursday, including Shah Alam chief Nasir Akhbar Khan and Sepang deputy chief Khairudin Karno. 

They said they were showing solidarity with Ezam and cited dissatisfaction with the “inner-circle politics” of Anwar Ibrahim. 

The resignations are a blow to PKR because Shah Alam is a key division. When Ezam contested the parliamentary seat in 1999, he slashed Barisan’s majority from 40,000 votes to 1,040 – the biggest vote shift in the country. 

But these days, the PKR is shooting itself in the foot. With the general election likely to be held early next year, time is running out for the party. 

It opened all its cards during the Ijok by-election and, despite the fierce fight between the two contenders, Barisan won convincingly. 

New issues are unlikely to crop up in the next general election campaign. By continuing to hurt itself, the PKR will face a tough time against the well-oiled Barisan machinery. 

Politics is an art and Tian Chua, by his own admission, has not learnt well. For a start, he has to look at the bigger picture to better appreciate the beauty of politics.  

He also insisted the breakfast should include Penang char koay teow, displaying a slight frown when the waiters brought him some pastries.  

The group, based in Hong Kong and Singapore, had been invited to join Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at his table after the opening of a conference on the media last week.  

Despite arriving home in the wee hours of Thursday, Pak Lah looked fresh, upbeat and chatty although he had developed a slight cough from his trip in Europe where he met several key leaders.  

One key meeting was with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Malaysia is Russia’s biggest trade partner in Asean, with trade amounting to over RM4bil last year. Petronas also has a stake in the Russian oil giant Rosneft.  

Fresh from his European summer visits, the PM is expected to continue his economic momentum over the coming months, this time on the local front.  

There are plenty of reasons for Abdullah’s optimism as he is set to unveil the massive Northern Corridor Master Plan at the end of the month.  

Even his breakfast guests insisted on a sneak preview from Pak Lah on the exciting details in the plan.  

He is scheduled to visit Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak soon to announce a series of high profile projects, which many said would transform the lives of the millions of ordinary people in these states.  

In the Malay heartland of Kedah and Perlis, the padi farmers will hear of agricultural programmes that will radically improve their ways of working.  

The face of Penang is also set to change in an exciting programme that will make the state a regional transportation hub.  

In northern Perak, the focus will be on human capital development, where our young can improve their skills.  

The trickle-down effects from these projects will surely be felt once the projects get started, particularly the construction industry.  

For Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, the Eastern Corridor will cover projects from eco-tourism to the construction of key infrastructures.  

Sabah and Sarawak will not be left out as the two states have also been identified as areas of growth.  

Several pleasant surprises can be expected when the media is updated on the Iskandar Development Region in Johor.  

There are plenty of good signs – the country’s economy is likely to grow faster than earlier this year, helped by the rise in public spending and expanding services sector.  

Last week, a Reuters’ quarterly poll showed that economists had raised their growth forecasts to 5.6% from 5.5% predicted in a similar poll in March.  

Growth, however, is expected to accelerate to 6% next year, according to the report, with expected strong investment recovery, including expansion in the tourism and energy sectors.  

The same report said the firmer ringgit would help rein in inflation, which some had expected to rise as a result of the wage increase for civil servants. Stringent price controls, however, have stabilised the situation.  

Economics aside, numerous changes to government policies are being finalised that are expected to bring cheer to Malaysians – aptly for the country’s 50th anniversary in August.  

With a general election looming, possibly in the first few months of next year, the economic pace can be expected to move faster in the coming months.  

The community is outraged because they have long suffered from a state of seeming lawlessness in the country’s southern gateway. 

To the Johoreans, it appears that the police have finally made their presence felt because of pressure from the public and media following the spate of violent crimes in the city. 

It is good that the politicians, perhaps realising that their positions could be affected with the general election looming, have come out to highlight the crime problems in the state. 

In the past, certain politicians blamed the press for highlighting crime reports, giving lame excuses that it would scare away investors and tourists.  

It is silly to assume that the crime problem would go away if we simply sweep it under the carpet because if criminals are not put behind bars, they would just become bolder.  

Whether this denial comes from politicians or the police, the point is the police should spend their time going after criminals instead of treating the media as scapegoats. They shouldn’t use this as an excuse to hide their inadequacies. 

The sentiment on the ground is that the police in Johor have ignored complaints, even pleas, to check crime for too long and the series of horrendous crimes recently was the last straw. 

The huge turnout at the Johor Baru Tionghua Federation headquarters to sign a petition calling for a safer Johor and the demonstration outside the Mentri Besar’s residence were unprecedented. 

Last week, the police announced that the police would make themselves visible to keep crime down with more than 300 policemen to take over the policing of crime-prone areas in the district. 

A total of 160 General Operations Force (GOF) personnel will join the 150 men from the Federal Reserve Unit who have already started their tour of duty in the city.  

It was reported that the GOF men would go on crime-prevention rounds in teams of three armed with submachine guns and help man roadblocks. 

Without doubt, the show of force would go a long way to instil public confidence and, even if it is a short-term measure, it would be greatly appreciated by the people. 

Long-term measures have already been taken with the state recruiting at least 2,000 more policemen from the RM330mil committed to fight crime in the state. 

What has happened in Johor should be a lesson to the police because other cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Georgetown and Ipoh have similar, although less rampant, problems.  

At a recent meeting between my colleagues and a senior ambassador, the latter expressed his concern at the crime rate, saying his sentiment was shared by his fellow diplomats. 

Earlier this year, I met a businessman in Hong Kong over dinner and one topic that cropped out during our conversation was crime and corruption in Malaysia. 

These are issues that we feel ashamed of when we hear them from foreigners but in our heart of hearts, we know that they are right because we, too, share the same concerns. 

There is little need to be defensive by arguing that some cities in the United States or Europe have greater notoriety because little would be achieved from such mindless point-scoring. Let’s just worry about our own backyard first. 

Malaysians, especially in major towns, now prefer to stay in gated properties and condominiums because they feel safer while those in housing estates have pooled their money to hire guards. Some have even put up illegal barricades, especially those in Petaling Jaya, in their desperation to keep criminals away. 

In Klang, some traditional grocers have installed grilles in their kedai runcit, preferring not to have open contact with their customers. Sadly, we have come to that.  

So, if anyone – whether politicians or the police – want to tell us we are exaggerating, not many of us would be in the mood to be politically correct. 

You know something is wrong when even senior or retired policemen are robbed in their homes. The late Datuk Albert Mah, who spent his life fighting crime in Penang, died at the hands of criminals. 

We know the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, is a dedicated policeman. More importantly, he is a clean cop.  

But he alone cannot fight crime. Musa needs the support of all his men and those who refuse to back him, or even attempt to stall his efforts, should not be in the force. 

As much as we criticise the force, especially those serving in Johor Baru, we have to work closely with them to fight the common enemies – the thieves, robbers, drug pushers, rapists, gangsters and other criminal elements. 

We must also realise that while we want foreigners as cheap labour, we are also paying the price for the large number of foreigners in Malaysia, who do contribute to crime.  

While we beef up police presence in the streets, let’s not forget the coastal areas and the exit points – if committing a crime is easy in JB, getting out of the city and escaping the law are equally easy.  

The security problem was one of the issues potential investors posed to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when he visited Singapore recently to talk about the multi-billion-ringgit IDR. 

Like it or not, investors will not put money into the project if they do not feel safe. That is a fact. 

Over the past week, there have been two violent rapes that have triggered a public outcry against the perpetrators. In the first incident on June 12, three men raped a 19-year-old girl and her 22-year-old boyfriend could only watch helplessly because he had been slashed twice. 

The following day, a group of armed men took a couple on a one-hour terror ride before raping the 35-year-old woman in the presence of her friend, who was also slashed. 

Last month, a woman who was waiting in the car while her husband went into the toilet was held up at knife-point and taken on a terror ride, gang-raped and robbed. 

What horrified Malaysians was that the victim was a pregnant woman who begged the men to let her go but they took turns to rape her instead, in the presence of her three-year-old son, in a secluded area. 

In May, a gang reportedly terrorised city folk by kicking them off their motorbikes before robbing them. Malaysians returning from Singapore were the targets. 

All these high-profile cases of violent crimes have further dented the city’s image, giving the impression that JB is a lawless city and the police seem unable, even incapable, to combat crime effectively. 

The public has a right to question the effectiveness of the state police force and they certainly have every right to demand responsibility on the part of the police officials. 

The state’s top brass are paid to fight, or at least manage crime, and if they are unable to fulfil their roles, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan has to review their positions. 

Johor must be given top priority because of the importance of the IDR as the country’s Southern Gateway and every support must be given by all agencies and the private sector to make it a reality. 

In March, it was reported that Johor police would get RM330mil for new personnel and hardware to fight crime, including 500 more mobile patrol units, which will ensure a response time of 15 minutes or less.  

Johor, which has a 3,000-strong police force, is recruiting at least 2,000 more. 

Johor certainly needs plenty of crime-busters and firepower. Last year, a total of 29,079 cases ranging from theft of undergarments to kidnapping were reported in 76 police stations around the state. 

About 68% of these reports were lodged in JB district alone while the rest was spread across the remaining seven districts. 

While Johor is in the news for violent crimes, it is not the number one state for crime. Selangor is ranked top, but it is no consolation as Johor is in second place. 

The state police can boast that it has a solving rate of more than double Interpol’s 20% target for last year, but its report card will not inspire confidence among Johoreans and the rest of Malaysia. 

We have to acknowledge that JB has a crime problem, and getting upset over remarks by others that it has these problems will not end our troubles. Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say. 

Crime is today one of the biggest concerns of Malaysians, with most of us sharing stories of experiences involving family members, friends or colleagues. 

Unlike other states, Johor is located next to Indonesia and Singapore with 17 entry and exit points, especially at the ferry terminals. 

Police presence surely needs to be beefed up, particularly at coastal areas, because it is easy for Indonesian criminals to slip in and out undetected.  

More police beats, particularly in the city and neighbourhoods, will help to prevent crime. 

But fighting crime is not just the job of the police. The community must work with the police to make JB a safer place. 

If New York can do it, there is no reason why JB, with the support of the police and public, cannot regain its turf from the criminals.  

Just before I left the hotel where I was attending a birthday party, my friends had showed me pictures on their mobile telephones of the scenes at various locations at Jalan Sultan Ismail where the floods had worsened. 

One showed the basement of a hotel where several cars were trapped and water rising at an alarming rate as we discussed how we could reach our homes through the best possible routes.  

In various parts of the city, many motorists just parked their cars by the kerb, refusing to be part of the traffic snarl, with some taking pictures of cars being submerged in water.  

I was fortunate, my driver, a former taxi man, drove me through lanes that I never knew existed and cut through government offices before heading towards Bukit Tunku to reach Petaling Jaya. Some of my friends, who attempted to leave the city at 10.30pm, only managed to reach home at around 1am. 

The question on the minds of city folks was why was Kuala Lumpur still hit with a flood following the completion of the RM1.9bil Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel Project (SMART) and a total of RM6.2bil reportedly spent on flood mitigation in the past years? 

The Prime Minister is rightly upset with what has happened by rebuking the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) for failing to deal with the rising waters that hit the heart of the city. 

After all the hype, the SMART management has claimed that tunnel was designed only for storm floods and not for flash floods. Its operations general manager Mohd Fuad Kamal Ariffin said it was not able to handle flash floods and areas outside of the Sungai Klang and Sungai Ampang confluence. 

That was not all – the DID, he said, would handle the operations of the SMART flood tunnel as flood management and control fall under its jurisdiction. In short, it’s not our job, please see them. 

But DID deputy director Ahmad Fuad was saying a different thing on Monday. He said had the SMART flood tunnel been ready, it would have prevented the floods, saying a storm caused the Sungai Kelang, near Dataran Merdeka and Masjid Jamek, to overflow. He said that was what the SMART flood tunnel is being built to overcome. 

He said had the tunnel being operational, “it would have used to divert 95% of the water in Sungai Klang to a lake in Sungai Besi and prevent the flood.” He added that the road portion of SMART was opened to traffic but the floodwater diversion component will only be operational next month. 

But his boss Datuk Paduka Keizul Abdullah was quoted as saying last week that the SMART tunnel will not put an end to flash floods, unless some 200 dams and flood retention ponds to complement it are built. 

He said currently only 100 of the 200 ponds had been constructed and completed, and that the ponds being built include the Sri Johor pond, expected to be ready only in January next year. In short, the SMART flood tunnel can handle the floods but only if it is fully completed with these components.  

For the folks in the Klang Valley, the question is can the flood tunnel, when fully completed, be able to resolve Kuala Lumpur’s flood woes, after having spent over RM1.9bil without taking into account the other millions used up for flood mitigation projects. Flash floods or storm floods are the same to us because it is just air banjir. 

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Ab Hakim Borhan has promised some short and long term plans to resolve the flash flood problem by increasing the height of retaining walls along rivers and building more pump houses at low areas. 

The people in Klang Valley have heard all these assurances before; after each flood. Why do we get this nagging feeling that we would have to go through the same problems again when it rains the next time? 

It is embarassing, even a blow to the nation’s image, that right under the majestic Twin Towers, cars were floating or submerged in rivers after just a few hours of rain in the federal capital. Malaysians do not have to be engineering experts to know that the city’s drainage is bad.  

Millions of ringgit must have been wiped out on Sunday when properties were destroyed by floodwaters, resulting in a trail of debris on Monday which made Kuala Lumpur look like a city from a Third World country. 

Until yesterday, the pumps were still working overtime, including at the Dataran Merdeka basement car park, to get the water out. The extent of the cars trapped inside the basement remained unclear. 

What hurt most is the continuing presence of tourists at Dataran Merdeka since Sunday who had been clicking away with their cameras at the entrance of the flooded basement car park.  

Well, as we, Malaysians, would say, jatuh air muka sahaja (the loss of face) especially when some of us, including the politicians, seemed preoccupied with boasting of our biggest, tallest and longest achievements.  

It wasn’t a few drops of water leaking from the ceiling this time but a flood that hit at least 40 areas in the city. 

To put it bluntly, some of us are just not too smart. 

While it was not a well-kept secret with talk of the wedding already circulating for months, the announcement was well managed.  

One must remember we are talking about the wedding of a Prime Minister who is 67 years old and certainly he must be accorded the respect and dignity without the matter being turned into a media circus.  

It is not something unusual; in Japan and many European countries, there are certain ground rules for the media from the royal houses or office of the heads of state.  

Naturally, the press would have liked to publish everything they manage to get their hands on but one must remember that there would be no end to people making claims of being close friends of the family members from a mere photograph or a quote printed in the papers.  

Rightly, Abdullah’s main concern was the accuracy of information pertaining to the wedding.  

On Wednesday, word leaked out at around 8am that an official announcement would be made in the afternoon. However, many politicians and close friends of the Prime Minister were still caught by surprise.  

While they had to wait for the news, one thing was certain – the Prime Minister had kept the plans to just family members.  

Last Friday, Pak Lah said he preferred a private ceremony attended only by close relatives at his official residence.  

He has been in good spirits over the past week, replying to questions on personal matters from the media with witty repartee. 

He has also become a target of friendly banter wherever he goes and he has taken all this in his stride.  

The Prime Minister is undoubtedly aware of the jokes being circulated at his expense but he is a man of good humour.  

“For the Malays, when you are getting married, people like to pull your leg, make fun and tease you, especially when you are marrying for the second time, what more if it is the third and fourth time. I won’t go beyond two,” he told reporters last week, adding that he had known Jeanne for the past 20 years.  

Last week, he answered all questions from when he fell in love to his honeymoon plans openly. There was even a question of whether he went down on his knees when he proposed.  

The media was relentless with their questions, even asking private details like whether he addressed Jeanne as “darling” or “sayang” but the Prime Minister sportingly answered, even revealing that he had ordered a wedding ring.  

Jeanne, 53, may not be a familiar name to Malaysians but she is set to capture the attention of the people.  

There are already over 233,000 entries in the Google search engine while Yahoo has over 196,000 entries; someone has already sent a short piece to the Internet encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, on Jeanne.  

Any news item about Jeanne, who studied at the Assunta Secondary School, is almost certain to top the charts.  

Jeanne has been a relative in the family, being the late Datin Seri Endon Mahmood’s former sister-in-law.  

She has a reputation of being an organiser, a role she handled well in managing Putrajaya, and at a media open house a few months ago, she mingled well with journalists who knew her personally while keeping a low profile at the same time.  

More importantly, she is known in the family as an ordinary and simple person who loves children and the younger family members.  

It was a point that Pak Lah singled out when he spoke to reporters last week about his wedding.  

Malaysians wish Abdullah and Jeanne the very best and pray that the couple will have happy days ahead. May their marriage be blessed. 

It has the lowest non-revenue water rate and despite having the lowest water tariff, PBA Holdings Bhd as a government-linked company is still able to generate good returns to its shareholders. 

But living in Selangor after 20 years in the Klang Valley has been a different experience altogether. Every household seems to have water filters of all sizes, shapes and specifications, some bigger than the size of a gas cylinder, often set up in their gardens. 

It's obvious that the water quality in the country's most developed state is bad. Any consumer can tell you this; you don't have to be an expert.  

Sure, there is no disruption to water supply but the quality is something else. It has gone from bad to worse, really. All the filters will not help unless we clean up our act – which means ensuring the source of our water is not polluted, particularly at mid-stream. 

Even as the Government continues to replace asbestos cement pipes, it is essential that there must be better quality control at the treatment plants. 

Last week, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik announced that the privatisation of water supply has been put on hold and no more water concessions would be given out. He said the Government was open to the idea of state governments entering into joint ventures. 

State governments, he said, could go into joint ventures with people who had the expertise and money to run and enhance water services. The privatisation of water supply is within the powers of the state. What Lim said is in fact what many non-governmental organisations have long advocated – you don't privatise water supply. 

Water is an essential commodity and with predictions of water becoming scarce, the argument that privatisation is better no longer holds water.  

All private companies need to pay higher dividends to satisfy their shareholders and the only way to do so is to increase tariffs – at the public's expense. 

A GLC or a government agency, on the other hand, is able to balance the social responsibilities better against a profit-oriented private concern. For ordinary Malaysians, they would prefer water, as a critical resource, to be in the hands of the Government rather than a corporation or an individual. 

The situation becomes murky, as in Selangor, where the government has separated the low-risk water treatment function and the high-risk distribution, pipeline maintenance and billing functions. 

Put the business of water aside, the fact is that it has become globally recognised that the world is running short of fresh water resources, even though water is considered renewable. 

Malaysia is no exception and it does not help that we have treated our rivers as rubbish dumps with over half of our rivers reportedly dead because they have been polluted by raw or partially treated sewerage. 

Interbasin and interstate water transfers are expected to become an increasingly common feature of water resources development planning. 

Two of the world's water experts, Tony Clarke and Maude Barrow, have reportedly described the situation in a more dramatic way – the world is running out of water. 

In their 2003 report, they predicted that by 2025, the world population would increase to 2.6 billion more than the present day and water demands would exceed availability by 56%. 

There will be disputes in water-scarcity areas and frictions would be inevitable. The fact is that there is already a war over water. 

In Darfur, Sudan, the fight over water is more evident than ever and Israel and Palestine have locked horns not just over land but over the control of the Jordan River. 

Nearer to home, the dispute between Malaysia and Singapore over water remains unsettled. It is hard for Malaysians with a blessed eco-system to imagine that the water that they drink from our taps may just dry up one day. 

It seems so far fetched and so unimaginable that we give so little thought to keeping our rivers clean.  

But the fact is that we can no longer just dismiss such warnings as wild thoughts from alarmist environmentalists. 

The world did not take the global warming warning seriously and the consequences are being felt and seen now. Let's renew our commitment to protect our water supplies as we celebrate World Environment Day on Tuesday – do it for the sake of our young Malaysians.