Sorting out the AES Crossword Puzzle for Ahmad Talib

I have not read the NST or Sunday Times for a long time. It’s the paper than has no more credibility says Lee Kuan Yew. As fate has it, I chanced upon a copy of The Sunday Times when one was shoved underneath my room door in Mersing. Jeepers! Maybe the quantity that is supplied to all hotels in Malaysia accounts for the NST’s circulation! Take that way, and it is just another paper fit for wrapping nasi biryani.

 It was the usual stuff. It screamed the story about Najib handing more than RM500 million being the final payment of a RM 15,000 bribe to 112,635 Felda settlers. By the way, the broker who secured the deal for the Scorpene submarines which the deputy minister of the said ministry said were not suited to the salinity of Malaysian waters, got RM 500 million too. A group of perhaps not more than 5 people got to share the RM500 million loot, 112,635 work-hardened Felda settlers share the RM500 million. Najib is indeed generous to a fault.

And the second generation cannot wait to get their hands on a bungalow of 1000 square feet. Why are you so anxious fellas?  They are not getting if for free. It will cost them RM 70,000 per house and with that size it is costing them RM70 per square foot. That’s expensive. Are they qualified to take up a RM 70,000 loan? If they are not, their shouts of joy and the excitement are premature. Furthermore, their parents are also living in bungalows- so what they are getting is not an extraordinary achievement.

Pakatan Rakyat can give you better and give you a meaning in life. The latter, Najib cannot give.

The other piece of news is the piece written by Ahmad Talib, feigning bewilderment  at the reason why people do not want to save lives and limbs. Those who oppose the implementation of the AES must be crazy said he. He cannot understand why there is opposition against the implementation of the AES. True to the propagandist that he is, he quotes the newly minted Haji, Dato Solah of JPJ.

His piece of writing as with so many others are what we expect from people who received training from NST- the paper that no longer has credibility. In an earlier article, I wrote of the petition writers being trapped below the standards of Kadir Jasin or Jocelyn Tan. I am laughing when people assumed that I meant a high standard of journalism at the mention of the 2 names. Ha ha. Since when has Kadir Jasin and Jocelyin Tan set high standards of journalism? Kadir Jasin is no William Safire. I can’t even associate Jocelyn Tan with big names of her gender.  Let me state what I meant more clearly- the petition writers are trapped within the boundaries of mediocrity.

We will answer Ahmad Talib.

A few weeks ago, some rather odd looking Melayus in Penang held a noisy and unruly demonstration against people who are against the enforcement of the AES. Surely this response is the product of years of indoctrination by UMNO which owns the media industrial complex.  After years of living on UMNO’s dole, this is the kind of behavior we have come to expect. We expect such things as unruly crowd behavior, butt exposing dance in front of a Malaysian citizen’s private home, we expect stone throwing and paint splashing. All symptoms of the small mind that UMNO has created after 55 years of ruling the country.

It has come to this. Any objection to the policies of the government is seen as an objection and rejection by non-Malays against a Malay led government. It has been reduced to racial denomination. And that is the product of UMNO upbringing this country. Say something unfavorable to the Kings- that’s a grand plan by non-Malays to overthrow the Malay monarchy. Say something about no compulsion in religion; you are accused of condoning apostasy. The worms are coming out of the woodwork.

I have written a long time ago while still an UMNO member, of the danger of UMNO claiming ownership to all wrongs in society.  When that happens- it’s an application of a corrupted version of Deutschland über alles that is easily and readily translated into- my uncompromising stand right or wrong. Even when a policy or an action is socially and morally reprehensible, since UMNO has taken up ownership of such a stand/policy, it must now be defended at all costs by the storm troopers. The most effective way it seems is to treat objections to their policies as racially motivated. Its non-Malay against a Malay led government.

We agree with Ahmad Talib- those who oppose the protection of limbs and lives must be crazy. We differ only as to the reasons for our objection. To most of us, and to all those who protest, the AES is just an excuse to make some selected people rich. (2) Its a lazy approach to solve traffic problems. (3) it’s a stupid move- when one can have full receipt of revenues, only the stupid will agree to have it divided.

The economics of outsourcing what is basically a law enforcement agency’s primary responsibility, has enormous ramifications. It shows the bald stupidity of the government in not being able to appreciate the interest of the greater good.  If the AES nets 500,000 cars a day; that would earn the AES 500,000 x RM300= RM 150,000,000. Multiply that on an average 30.4 days a month your get 4.560 billion. Multiply that number for 12 months, you get RM54.72 billion a year. Now if this is the level of revenue expected on an average of 500,000 cars netted a day, why is the government so stupid as to outsource this revenue earning resource?

This is the result of 55 years of economic management by the UMNO/BN government. First they socialize the means of production, now they are socializing the results of production. Among themselves that is.

We object to the enforcement of the AES on practical and economic reasons. We all know that speed kills, but enforcing the AES hides the usual UMNO strategy of enriching a selected group. Why share government revenue when it already has a system of collecting it? The revenue from summonses can be done just as effectively by the PDRM which already has more than 3000 cameras installed over the country. In addition let us not forget of the various speed traps set up by the Police and the continuous road safety campaigns held by the Police. If the system is not yet good, it can be made so by upgrading the technological and technical infrastructure.

The 2 companies that got the contract for the Automated Enforcement System (AES), claimed that it will cost between RM600 million and RM800 million to install 831 cameras in traffic hotspots nationwide. The question is, does it cost RM600-800 million to install the 831 cameras which means it would cost RM722, 000-RM962, 000 per camera? The cameras are being NFC-ied!

If Ahmad Talib does not already know- we would be glad to educate him so that his puzzlement can be cured. The project was opposed because it’s a cause for concern- all projects sanctioned by UMNO must hide some corrupt elements. The giving of the contract gives rise to the perception of unfair largesse to the concession holders.

Why do we want to let the companies gain RM16 for each of the first five million summons paid by traffic offenders in the first tier, resulting in a sum of RM80 million? The two companies stand to gain up to RM270 million for the second tier, which awards them half of the revenue collected; and 7.5 per cent of the remaining revenue under tier 3. Data from the government shows that around 170 million summons are issued in one year.

If the summons costs RM300 each, that would bring revenue of RM51billon a year. If this amount can be collected by the government directly, if only the system already with the police is improved, why share the revenue?

The same noble objectives of saving lives and limbs which Ahmad Talib is so passionate about can be equally achieved without compromising government revenue. Unless of course the real reason for accepting the AES, is to allow the money changers in the government share the loot.