Sunday, June 8, 2008

It's not getting any better!

Today,after so long, i paid, www.thestaronline.com a visit.....and boy, has it not changed one bit...i use to think that The Star gave a pretty good overview on what was happening in both, nationwide and world wide...but now, i am starting to have second thoughts...

The headlines for today's news was, "Time to walk the talk and get public transport moving"..the journalist for this article was, i'm assuming, a lady called shen li, leong. I have to say, i agree with the points that she has brought forward regarding the malaysian public transport system. As much as i hate to say it, i reckon,it would be an insult to the ACT(Australian Capital Territory) if i were to compare the public system here to the one back home. I am pretty sure, that the Malaysian government knows how the public system works here, or at least, if they are REALLY oblivious, i reckon, they should at least have the slightest idea on how it works here. Buses actually have time table,(which mind you, are being followed, and not just for the sake of a 'show/gaya') and it's being run by the government. There are concession cards for students, pensioners and even those who fall under the 'adults' category. Also, like what Ms. Leong had suggested, there is a lane, specially for buses, hence, buses are not caught in traffic like the others and so, they can make it on time, and meet the time that has been scheduled,in the timetables. In other words, the public transport here is indeed reliable. The only fault i see in this system is that, there's only one fare per ride, no matter if you're only getting off at the next stop, or at the other end of the town. Other than that, everything is seems to be almost perfect, i would say. They have even got sits allocated for the disable and racks for the bicycles.(in case if a cyclist decides to take a bus)

That being said, another 'interesting' headline which caught my eyes was this, "to wear or not to wear the songkok'..OMG...i never knew this was such a life treating issue that the whole nation had to became aware off!!!!!!!!!!!! when i read that, all i could thing of was the word, 'RIDICULOUS'...that's it...why is that even an issue???????? it was in the matter regarding some prestiges event in which the Sultan of Johor would be attending...and the issue here was if the assemblymen were to wear songkok as a sign of respect for the sultan or not...people, really...just because the country is dominated by muslims, doesn't mean that, everything official that is being carried on, need to follow their code and conducts.(why do we even bother calling ourselves a democratic country then????) ..if it was a muslim event, fair enough..but this, it is just the opening ceremony of Johors' legislative assembly...if one(especially if he's a non-muslim) decides not to wear the songkok, i really cannot see where he is going wrong....

and of course, there's the issue of the oil hike.this one too...it just goes to prove the stupidity of the government, and how wrong they are in making whatever decisions that they claim to be, 'for the good of the people'. yea, so there is a world wide hike on price, but does a country which produces and exports oil, have to increase the price of oil by more than 50cents(at the most) a liter????

owh well, there's really nothing much to say here that the government doesnt already know...i am pretty sure the government knows what's going on in the minds of the people, but the thing that i am not sure of, is why the government is not planning to do anything about it...well, one might say that they have some 'great plans' in mind...but mind you, plans involving building some mighty mosque, or a second bridge or even, 'beautifying the streets with some fancy lamp post' is not going to do the people any good.