The recent bomb hoax that led to a more than two hour closure of the Penang Bridge shows how important alternative road transport links are vital to the economy. Having the island linked to the mainland peninsula via the only bridge and the alternative ferry service proves to be insufficient in the event of any incidents occurring on either link. The existing Penang Bridge is already choked with vehicles during peak hours. How can the ferry service handle the load of traffic during peak hours should the bridge is closed?

While the construction of the Penang Second Bridge is expected to begin soon and completed by 2011, the government should now plan ahead for a third link. The existing bridge links the middle of Penang, i.e. Gelugor to Prai. The second bridge will link the southern part of Penang, between Batu Maung and Batu Kawan. The third bridge shall link the north between Georgetown and Butterworth. The idea of a half-bridge, half-tunnel link in the north was one of the options when the idea of the second bridge was mooted. The government should revive the plan and proceed for the construction of the third bridge upon the opening of the second bridge.

To complement the ferry service, the government should also look into the possibility of a subway train service linking the island and the mainland which can be further integrated with a commuter rail service connecting various parts of Georgetown and Butterworth. With more links and options for commuters and car drivers, it is hoped that in the event of any unfortunate incidents, these additional links could serve as important alternatives without causing severe inconvenience to people who commute between the island and the mainland.

With such a serious situation concerning Penang, the government should also look into the Johor-Singapore links. Currently, we have the Johor Causeway which includes a rail link and the Second Link on the west. The government should seriously reconsider the cancellation of the new bridge project to replace the Causeway to help in reducing traffic congestion in the city of Johor Bahru. In addition to that, a third link on the east coast of Johor to Singapore should also be planned and carried out. [more…]

In the wake of the recent “war” between political blogs and the government, including the defamation suit against two bloggers Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan (Rocky) by the New Straits Times Press (NSTP), Shaziman Abu Mansor, the Deputy Minister of Energy, Water and Communications suggested a compulsary registration of all blogs hosted locally.

The suggestion has received numerous objections from fellow bloggers. It is a waste of time and resources to register the blogs. There has been concerns that the move will result in the censorship of free-flow information on the Internet. However, the government denied that they are in a move to apply censorship, rather, they just want to collect data on who are these bloggers.

However, how many of the bloggers in Malaysia actually uses locally hosted websites? My website and blog are hosted in the United States. Many bloggers, including political ones are using foreign-hosted free blog services such as Blogger. How would the authorities able to monitor all these foreign-hosted blogs used by Malaysian bloggers?

I personally feel that the registration exercise for blogs is just a waste of effort. We Malaysians are smart to know what information are truths and what are not. It’s better for the government to spend their resources on more important tasks, such as development and reducing the cost of living, particularly urbanites.

Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (PGRM) President, Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik calls it a day after helming the party for 26 years. He is succeeded by his deputy, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, the Chief Minister of Penang who will be Acting President of the party until the next party elections.

Dr. Lim is expected to stay on as Energy, Water and Communications Minister until the General Election which is widely speculated to be held later this year or early next year.

My blog will now spot a new layout, which is the same layout used in my personal website, James Ooi Online.