Indefinitely...

The proposed toll hike has been postponed indefinitely (meaning, after the 3 by elections and a certain political party's general assembly)... while the highway users do not have to fork out extra money for traveling on expressways, our taxpayer monies go to compensating the highway concessionaires for "lost profit"... sheesh... with this type of terms in the contract, profits are guaranteed for the concessionaire anyway. It makes me want to start a RM2 company and "bid" for future highway concessions!

Change Your Lifestyle / Ubah Gaya Hidup Anda

Toll rates in Malaysia are scheduled for increase, and will take effect on 1st March. PLUS Highway tolls have been increased by 5%, which means that my KUL-PEN-KUL trips just got more expensive.

Subang-->Jelapang
Old Rate: RM26.50
New Rate: RM27.80

Jelapang-->Juru
Old Rate: RM16.80
New Rate: RM17.60

Penang Bridge
Current Rate: RM7.00

Total Cost
Old Rate: (RM26.50 * 2) + (RM16.80 * 2) + RM7.00 = RM93.60
New Rate: (RM27.80 * 2) + (RM17.60 * 2) + RM7.00 = RM97.80
Total increase: RM4.20

RM4.20 can buy 2 packets of Char Koay Kark from Penang. Crap...

Taxi...

I like this blog posting here because it really touches on an issue that interests me: taxi drivers and their "no meter" charges...

The author seems to think that it is we who shortcharge honest meter-using drivers, instead of those unscrupulous no-meter-drivers who overcharge us.

But I believe the crux of the matter lies in the system, which encourages ali-baba rent seeking middlemen with connections to earn sweatless money while the poor taxi drivers have to resort to penny pinching and deceitful practices just to make a living.

The system has to be revamped. For that to happen, the government agencies and the executive has to change too. There is no short cut.

One method I propose is to continue insisting to pay by the meter. Let the taxi drivers suffer for a while. Soon they will have no choice but to discontinue driving taxis because it actually costs them more money to rent the taxi compared to the amount of money they rake in daily. The taxi transportation system then collapses because there are no longer taxis on the road. The middleman companies go bust because nobody wants to rent taxis from them. Soon the government will realize that this system is no good for anyone at all. They might then get rid of the middleman companies, and legislate reasonable increases in taxi charges.

LCCT shortcomings not Air Asia's fault...

The writer of this letter has very valid grouses against Air Asia, particularly in terms of staff attitude and flight delay handling. In fact, I believe Air Asia should properly retrain their ground staff in basic customer service, courtesy and interpersonal communication. As for their cabin crew, I have no complains.

However, the writer then links the shortcomings of the LCCT to Air Asia, where I believe that this is not valid. In the first place, Air Asia never asked to operate out of LCCT. They would have been happy to operate out of KLIA (if not for the ridiculously high operating charges and constant pressure from the airport authorities). In fact, they actually asked to operate out of the old Subang Airport, but was given all sorts of excuses that prevented them from doing so. (Ironically, Fireflyz now operates out of Subang Airport with no restraints!)

Anyway, LCCT management is not synonymous with Air Asia management. LCCT is operated by Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) and so any complaints about "crowded, uncomfortably hot and stuffy terminal" and "used toilet paper all over the floor" should be directed against MAB, and not Air Asia.

Perdana expensive to maintain?

That's according to the Perak State Government.

My opinion? I think the normal Perdanas are not expensive to maintain. Rather, it's the Perdana Executive version (essentially a "kereta potong" version of the original Perdana), the elongated version that is chopped up to modify the length of the car.

If properly serviced (and driven), the cars should not be so expensive to maintain, otherwise Proton will not be selling the car at all!

LRT in Subang Jaya? No Thanks!

Do we really need LRT in Subang Jaya? What's wrong with a good and reliable buses and taxis? This is starting to look more and more like a money milking machine, rather than a proper public transportation system...

Saya bantah kaw kaw!!

Stuck for 3 hours...

Today I was stuck in heavy traffic for 3 hours, because of the dress rehearsals for our Merdeka Day parade...

Crap...

I need to start thinking about taking public transportation to work...

Yes, the massive fuel hike has taken place. Now the per liter price of petrol is RM2.70. My full tank is 45 liters, and can typically last 2 weeks. That means that every 2 weeks, my petrol expenditure will be RM121.50. Compare that to the previous price of RM1.92 per liter, my expenditure was RM86.40. This is an increase of RM35.1 every 2 weeks. This is just for normal usage, not considering the extra trips I make to/fro BGF, Penang, etc. Now, my office parking charges will also be increasing from RM147 per month to RM168 per month. Yes, inflation is very real.

So I've been researching the various possible ways I can get to work with minimal driving involved. Rapid KL seems to have the solution for me in these following routes.

1) Drive from home to Carrefour Subang Jaya. Park there for free.

2) Take Rapid KL route T623 from Subang Parade to Kelana Jaya LRT station.


3) Take the LRT from Kelana Jaya to Asia Jaya.

4) Take Rapid KL route T629 from Asia Jaya LRT station to Eastin Hotel.


This arrangement will cost me RM135 per month for an unlimited Rapid KL monthly pass. Compare this to the weekly petrol usage of RM60.75 and monthly parking fee of RM168. I think this is a good option.

But I think I'll have to leave home by 7am if I want to do this!

The petrol price increase

So, our "beloved" BN government has decided to increase the price of petrol by 78sen/liter effective 12.00am Thursday. While I do agree that this will eventually happen as it is really necessary to go to market rates for this commodity, I am irked by the way it is actually implemented. And I do agree with the views of this reader.

Why did the government have to announce such a heavy increase in a matter of hours? This action will encourage kiasu drivers and petrol hoarders to fill up their vehicles/containers with petrol. It will also cause petrol stations to run out of the resource and cause multiple traffic congestions everywhere because of the long lines to fill up the tanks.

Why not implement it like this? Announce that at the end of 39 days, the price of petrol would have been increased by 78sen/liter. Then implement a 2sen/liter increase per day so that there is not such a big shock of increase and also this will discourage too many kiasu people to fill up at the same time (after all, you can only save 2sen/liter compared to the next day). It will also discourage hoarders, because the petrol kept for too long becomes stale.

How to transport more than 5 people in a car?

I don't know about you, but I think the writer of this letter is not very well versed in our local transportation rules. Apparently, the recent announcement by the government that it will be compulsory to use rear seat belts has caused much hoohah and misguided rantings from the public.
In the first place, for a normal 5-passenger car, the maximum number of people who should be in the car at any time is 5. Not more. Even if there was no rear seat belt rule, the maximum number still is 5. Not 6 (squeezing 4 people behind!).

Try squeezing 4 people into the back in more developed countries. I'm sure that this will not be allowed, mainly due to safety issues (the car was designed to transport maximum of 3 rear passengers, maybe there's a weight or stability problem if more than that is carried!).

So, indeed, what should we do? It's time to think more developed. Let's not be so selfish in squeezing so many passenger, potentially harming them and yourself. Upgrade to a minivan if you have big families or require a people mover vehicle. There are many affordable models to choose from.

Hopefully this will bring about a positive change to our road safety.

Kadar Pembayaran Tol Terowong Bijak

Mr. Arrogant has been in the news lately, proclaiming that the toll rates for the terowong bijak will be very high. Guesstimates from the public has placed the rates at as high as RM4 for the 4km stretch, making it the most expensive tolled road in Malaysia.

Here's what we should expect instead.

Tempoh	Tol (RM)
2007 - 2009	2.00
2010 - 2014	3.00
2015 - 2019	4.00
2020 - 2024	5.00
2025 - 2029	6.00
2030 - tamat	7.00

When the toll rate is announced, we will anticipate Mr. Arrogant spewing his nonsense about how the government managed to negotiate a lower toll rate and how caring and understanding the government is to reduce the burden on the public, bla bla bla.