Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Bolehland drivers being leeched by AES by Jamaliah Yusof
Sunday, November 11, 2012
In countries where the government is transparent and corruption is low, the Automated Enforcement System (AES) - the unmanned cameras that catch speed demons and red light offenders - would not be much of an issue like here in Malaysia. It would rather be seen as a tool to save lives and make roads safe. But in Bolehland, where the opportunists rule, noble ideas can always be turned into money-making ventures. The public would be further skinned of their low income to pay capitalists who would laugh all their way to the bank. While I agree that AES is meant to save lives, to discipline drivers and to reduce casualties, there are many flaws that need to be addressed. Firstly, I wonder why does this revenue-generating venture have to be privatised? Why must it involved capitalists especially when the revenues collected should be given back to the public rather than enriching certain the cronies? The revenue collected should be used to improve the state of our roads, road safety education, campaigns and others that would benefit everyone rather than certain individuals. I am talking hundreds of million ringgits in fine collection here, or even billions. At least, make sure that the revenues are used to resurface roads, to replace streetlights, or to repaint faded lines.
If the government did not have money to kick off the project, why not start it small? Probably the government can start with a dozen cameras and then multiply the number once revenues begin to flow in. Why must it start with 830-odd cameras if the government knew for sure it could not afford it? Why didnāt someone from the government think about the business model before going deep into this and handing it out to the private companies? After all, I bet these two companies also have to apply for bank loans, too. Why canāt the government itself apply for the loan instead? Havenāt profits been projected?
These days, āprivatisationā is a dirty word that spells disaster, especially when the public interest in concerned. This privatisation project certainly isnāt helping Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at all, especially when elections are just around the corner. If the Barisan Nasional lost in the next election, the government officers who involved in this project should be held responsible. Or, is it what they actually want - to oust Najib in a subtle manner? Many government agencies are involved in this bound-to-fail project. The Transport Ministry, the Road Transport Department (RTD), the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), the Road Safety Department (RSD), the Road Safety Research Institute (Miros), the Public Works Department (PWD), the Highway Authority Department (LLM) and many others.
Yet, the discrepancies are too obvious. Why didnāt anyone the government foresee the issues? Isnāt Miros a think tank for the Transport Ministry? Or, are PDRM and RTD too naive in enforcing rules? The government appears to be reluctant in educating the public on the system. The public are not educated on the modus operandi of the system; for example, every camera will be preceded with warning signs to ensure that road users do not fall into the āspeed trapā because the cameras are meant to slow the drivers at accident prone areas. Perhaps that explains why in some places AES warning signs are missing. Even when there is a warning sign, it does not come with the speed limit sign. Why couldnāt the contractors put the speed limit together with the warning sign?
The public are also not educated on their rights in case of receiving summonses as a result of the vehicles being driven by another party, or their plate numbers were used by someone else. What is the process, how long is the process and how to get it settled? These elements are missing. Worst, I have not seen any advertisement shown on television, radio or newspapers. Maybe I missed them, but I donāt think that everyone else missed them, too. Perhaps, the government (and its crony contractors) wanted to play dirty with us roads users; purposely keep the public in the dark about the locations and the actual speed to collect bigger revenue. 10pct of budget for campaigns and education
If road safety is the ultimate agenda of this RM700 million project, I believe that contractors or the government has to spend about 10 percent of its budget for campaigns and education. That translates to RM70 million and with such a big amount of money, lots of positive messages could be delivered to change driversā behaviour. Now that the government skips the campaign and education part, donāt blame the opposition leaders who capitalise on the issue for their political mileage. Donāt tell me Mahfuz Omar and other opposition leaders do not understanding some basic physics on the danger of speeding? Pakatan voters could probably die of speeding, too.
On the quantum of fine, I disagree that those who exceed the speed limit by less than 10kph to pay the same amount with those 20kph or faster. Perhaps the government should look into this as to ensure the fairness in āpunishingā offenders. What makes the government think that people who can afford million dollar cars like Bugatti or Ferrari would mind paying a RM300 fine for breaking the law? On the other hand, school teachers or retired clerks who accidentally drive their Proton Saga at one or two kilometres per hour exceeding the allowable speed limit would probably cry when forced to pay a penalty. Mahfuz may be right when he says that this project is only meant to enrich certain quarters. Only if the projectās agreement is made public, its implementation is not to ātrapā drivers, enough education and campaign for public, set up tiers in the amount of fine imposed, I believe this project can be accepted by all. Perhaps Miros and RTD failed to advise the government on this, and I also wonder whether public were asked on their opinion prior to AES implementation.
Take note that AES is not the sole measure for safer roads. Some cheap and easy measures such as ensuring street lights are working, improving road surfaces and installing clear road signs could simply reduce accidents. Improving public transport, making safe cars affordable to the rakyat, making our roads pedestrian friendly, and producing effective campaigns would help too. But those donāt happen. Maybe PWD, LLM, local governments, Miros or even Tenaga Nasional should be punished for not doing their jobs. If all these agencies do their work, the public wouldnāt be angry because our roads will be safer. Then, there wonāt be any room for any crony to leech on the public in the name of road safety. The rakyat are smarter now in this digital age. Soon, donāt blame the rakyat if election results are not in Barisan Nasionalās favour.
By the way, where do RTD spent the taxes collected from 20 million vehicles in this country? The collection probably amounts to several billion ringgit a year. The Malaysian drivers are already burdened with high prices for fuel, high taxes to purchase cars and expensive tolls on congested highways, and now theyāll be robbed by private companies which hide behind the governmentās project. If the government and the two companies are sincere, why not impose AES on lower speed limits, too? Slow driving is equally dangerous, but certainly no profit can be made out of it. I would agree to AES if all other measures to make road safe have been implemented. But other safety aspects of our roads are clearly neglected.
Obviously, too many parties in the government service are sleeping on their jobs. Worse, they may be sleeping and counting easy money at the same time; perhaps in their comfortable first class flights overseas āto learnā about AES. These officers who leech on taxpayersā money are the ones who should be punished for their blatant failure to make our roads safe - not the AES victims. Malaysiakini
