2007, so what?

Every year, all publications jump on the bandwagon to recap the year's events. This year is not exception.

The recent Bhutto assasination will certainly bethe hottest news. A liberal Western-educated Muslim murdered a month away from democratic elections in a country plagued by militancy and dictatorship? How could anyone miss that for a Top Story?

Then there is the story of the Democrats' regaining control in the Senate which will surely be big in the USA, for it reflects Americans objection to the war in Iraq.

In Asean, it's probably the PPP's win at the Thai elections which grab headlines and likely to affect the region, economically, in 2008. Thaksin's purchase of Manchester City football club may even get slight mention. The suppression of Monks in Burma will definitely be a big story although economically, for Asean and the rest of the world, Burma is but a situation for scoring political points.

Most of the often authoritative and sometimes violent or brutal Asean states don't really care about what the Burmese military does to the monks. They condemn the military's acts just so they can be included in the world's list as being respectful of human rights and freedom of expression. Malaysia suppresses their Indians and others protesting for different causes, violently. Singapore will not even allow protests at a major world conference they hosted this year. Thailand's military muscled in on their own politicians and people during last year's coup. You name the countries in Asean, and perhaps Asia for that matter, they are all equally guilty of human rights abuse and suppression of freedom of expression in their history.

Indonesia's media will probably be filled with glossy stories about celebrities' divorces and scandals, including Roy Marten's drug case which will obviously not be left out. The recent world conference on climate change in Bali will be something the Indonesians are proud of as well. Then there's this verdict by the monopolies commission on Singapore's Temasek Holdings and its related companies. Major corruption cases won or prosecuted by the government (if there were any) or their fight against terrorism will probabl not be sensational enough to make top stories of 2007.

What has become of this world we live in? The Americans have their domestic problems. The Europeans are distracted by domestic pride and a fragile and young integrated European economy, the Middle East has problems dating back centuries ago, and Asia is coping with survival in the face of the rise of two economies like China and India whose populations can sink the world should they all jump at the same time.

Al Gore did a brillant job to win his Nobel prize in reminding the world about climate change and greenhouse gases. But by the time the people of this world react, it will probably be too late. What does carbon footprint mean to a poverty stricken family in Indonesia or Africa? Is America or Europe going to foot the bill for their alternative fuel needed for subsistence?

Our world is known to be quite resilient. Every time a problem is highlighted, there seems to be a group of people who will come up with a solution. A vaccine was found for the plague. Two world wars ended and countries rebuilt to become economic powerhouses. The cold war ended diplomatically. We seem to be going around in circles. Is this what God intended? Make Men, then let Men make mistakes and learn from those mistakes in order to continue living in a world He created?

Perhaps so... Unless you can come up with another explanation.

Disappointing visit to Malaysia

Had the chance to visit Kuala Lumpur last week. Thought that would have been a reprieve as this was a much needed break, and Malaysia seems to be the country of choice judging from the way they've bent over backwards to attract visitors in their TV ads around the world. But it was not to be.

After clearing immigration, the wait for baggage to arrive at the carousel was 30 or more minutes. Customs was lax, but I was greeted by at least half a dozen taxi or private hire car touts when I got out of the restricted area. I missed the guy who was supposed to fetch me as he was holding up an A4-sized card with my name, only to be obscured by the same people picking guests up for the hotels, and, the touts.

Finally I found my guy and I pushed our trolley out to the pick-up zone while he retrieves his car from the car park. Where I was waiting is a stretch of area around 10 metres deep. A sultry airport worker (my guess as he was not in uniform) showed up to collect empty trolleys from the edge of that area where cars pull up to fetch the visitors. While I was standing at the edge, and looking out for my commute to the city, I noticed this airport worker gesturing for me to move off his path. I realised I was in his "immediate" path, not that the rest of the 10 metre deep waiting area was congested and he doesn't have an alternative way out with this sole trolley he'd collected.

There was room away from the edge of the road, but he chose to gesture. No "please can you move" nor a smile accompanying his gesture. Although he was not Malay or Chinese, surely they must speak some form of common language, or have had some basic training about how to make visitors welcomed before being allowed to work in the international airport of a country which has spent millions of dollars to attract visitors. Or is that too much to expect of the Malaysian bureaucracy?

The ride into the city was alright, except for the occassional road hoggers crawling in the extreme right lane of the expressway. Either their eyes were off the rear view and wing mirrors, or they simply didn't feel the need to move off that "fast" lane.

Then the check-in at the hotel. From the time I walked through the doors, it was at least 20 minutes later before I arrived in my room. I'd booked an executive suite room but have never stayed in this hotel before. The reception at the lobby level told me I had to wait as one of the guest relations was going to check me in and show me to my room. She finally showed up. She was "Chinese-looking", spoke very poor English, but did not respond when I spoke Mandarin or Cantonese to her (common languages in KL for the Chinese). You know what all the wait was for?

Well, I finally found out that being a guest of the executive floor, I was supposed to be checked in by staff from their executive lounge on some high floor. The receptionist who handled my check in didn't tell me I could go straight up tot he 20-something floor and be shown my room without the hassles of waiting at the reception like all the other guests. I've stayed at executive floors in hotels all around the world and have always had a pleasant experience. Either they check me in prompto on the ground floor, or someone would immediately lead me up to my room to be checked in. I never had to wait for someone to wait for the lift and descend from the 20-something floor just to lead me back up to my room on that floor.

More "amazing" things happened during my short stay in Kuala Lumpur. Throughout my stay, there were billboards about "loving Malaysia" and at touristy spots, signs of welcome and hospitality. But they all seem to be messages conjured by expensive advertising agencies which the Tourism board hired, but without the support and conviction from all (to be fair, most) levels of Malaysian society at all.

The only smiles I found were the sales people in the exclusive boutiques I walked into, perhaps eager to have me flash my plastic card so their cash registers go ka-ching! Even the staff at the clubs which charge US$12 for a glass of house wine were sultry and unfriendly. What's with this country, I wondered.

Why has so much money being spent on publicity to attract visitors while the rest of the nation isn't contributing to make visitors feel welcomed? Is it so difficult to smile or be courteous or otherwise interact in ways which make others feel like they're their money is well spent on their establishments, including airports charge fees for their use which are eventually passed on to us travellers? Perhaps they mistook my Chinese face as a local Malaysian. If that is so, how could Malaysians in the service industry treat their Malaysian clients and customrers in that way anyway? Is the money they spend different from that of a visitor of another skin colour? Didn't seem to be the case as I noticed the same sultry and unfriendly faces when they were serving Caucasians and Middle-Eastern looking people.

Quite a pathetic state, I thought. Malaysians don't seem to be happy at their jobs at all. Leaving the airport, the lady at the immigration counter took almost 15 minutes to process a family of three in front of me. She moved at a snail's pace, at times, she didn't even appear like she was paying attention to the passports and immigration cards filled up in front of her. In other words, she was day dreaming most of that 15 minutes while I waited in line. Even the immigration authorities in customarily slower Bali (Indonesia) work quicker. Of course Bangkok, Singapore and Hongkong are miles apart.

Malaysia, Malaysia.... Are you "Truly Asia" or still in the backwaters of civilised Asia?

What's with the Indonesians and Malaysians

There has been quite a bit of squabbling between the people of these two neighbours, not their governments, thankfully.

FIrst it's about a song. Did Indonesians originated that song or did a descendant of the Malay race write that song while living in a land which was neither Indonesia or Malaysia then?

Then there's this dance which was used by Malaysia in a an ad about the country. That was purportedly an Indonesian dance.

A blog surfaced recently with the hate for Indonesians as its theme, purportedly set up in Malaysia but written in perfect Bahasa Indonesian rather than Bahasa Melayu, the language used in Malaysia.

Why do Malaysia's government departments need to feature songs or dances which are not truly Malaysian, beyond all reasonable doubt? That country supposedly has a higher literacy rate than Indonesia's 220 million people; yet it seems to falter on basic research. Hasn't Malaysia or haven't Malaysians "originated" something truly Malaysian. Why use songs or dances which are or could become potentially contentious?

Since Malaysia won two tiny disputed islands off Borneo's coast at an international tribunal from Indonesia, the Malaysians seem emboldened. They're presently fighting with Singapore for another island between Johore and Singapore, based mainly on historical claims that one of their many sultanates owned that small piece of rock off their coast since time immemorial.

Both Malaysia and Indonesia are proud countries with proud people. Their people are supposed to have lived on their lands, not recent migrants like the majority of Singpoare's population is made up of. But the real indigenous people of their lands have been neglected too, not to the point of being marginalised like the aborigines in Australia appear to be.

But in fact there's still some doubt as to whether the Malays in Indonesia and Malaysia who now controls their economies and governments are actually natives of those countries. In Wikipedia, there is mention that some believe that they are actually "Austronesian people" who migrated there from southern Philippines. Whatever the theory, the people of Indonesia and Malaysia belong to the same race, separated by two national flags.

ASEAN member countries just signed a charter recently in Singapore for all of ASEAN to become integrated like the European union. Economically this made sense, and could be the only chance for survival in the face of competition from "billion people" economies like India and China. So why are ASEAN countries quarreling like they are now? Doesn't seem like they realized the virtues of unity for the common good. Do we really believe ASEAN can be one?

With young (relatively) nations like Malaysia and Indonesia whose politicians have no qualms about invoking nationalistic sentiments to drum up support or distract their populace from the real problems in their respective countries, do we think that a united and integrated ASEAN is really possible. Just look at what's happened to Singapore's Temasek's investments in Thailand and Indonesia and you'll understand.

Well whatever it is, we won't have to wait long. When we get closer to 2015, we should all be singing "I could see clearly now the rain has gone".

TAXIS IN SINGAPORE

Got to spend a few days in this Lion city. Moving around in cabs could be really enlightening or scary. Not that cabs in this city is any different from those in neighbouring Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand or Hongkong.

Cab drivers are just doing their jobs. Some are motivated in this career or plain courteous, some are bored and tired of getting stuck behind the wheel for 10 or 12 hours, some may be indifferent, while others may just be in the wrong placea at the wrong time without a choice.

Friend of mine just arrived from another country. Not knowing how to get around in the Lion city, they left their journey at the hands of their cab driver from the airport. But, before they realized, they were speeding down this expressway - unwarranted of course - and arrived with a fare which was at about 50 percent more than what it would normally cost. I checked with other taxi drivers and they all gave high and low ranges of fares from the airport to that destination which were about 50 percent lower, hence collaborating my impression/conclusion.

Not so long ago, I read in The Straits Times of Singapore that there numerous cases (sufficient enough to warrant coverage in the Straits Times) of tourists who were forced to negotiate rather than pay by according to fares shown on taxi meter, and taxis waiting but refusing to take passengers unless they negotiate a "favorable" flat rate for them to "go thru the trouble of picking them up and dropping them off at their destination".

Taxi drivers capitalising on peak or late hours are commonplace. I can remember many years ago when I just finished watching an opera in London's West End and couldn't flag a cab. As I walked down the road, there were plenty of taxis parked by the kerb. Upon approaching the first cab and mentioning my destination, he came up with a figure which he thought I wouldn't pay. Being so late at night and weary from a day in hectic London, I agreed and got in. I knew I was paying too much, having lived in London for almost three years during my college days. But, who's to choose.

Same thing in Hongkong. Coming out of a bar in Tsimshatsui toward midnight, there were rows of cabs waiting by the road with a towel over their flags. They all negotiate the ride, their meters redundant.

And when you ring for a cab in Hongkong at peak hours, you have to offer incentives. Several times I've called for a cab and the responses were that there weren't any cabs in the area. BUT, when I offered to add 10,20 or more dollars to the metered fare, depending on how desperate I was, a cab will normally appear within 5 or 10 minutes.

That was before satellite communications and GPSes. I admired Singapore for introducing GPSes in all cabs. They can track them, and can also assist the drivers in getting to the right addresses. Tracking them ensure that cab drivers cannot - to a certain extent - refuse to answer calls if the GPS information show that they're in the neighbourhood cruising for passengers, and nearest to the caller. But most cabs in Singapore wouldn't normally refuse a call as they are entitled to a surcharge for fares booked via the phone; and this surcharge varies between peak and off-peak hoours. For us passengers, we wouldn't need to add that little extra like we had to in Hongkong for drivers already get to add that extra if they answer a call.

Therein lies the next problem.

At peak hours or on a rainy day, cab drivers rarely pick up passengers on the road for these fares would not entitle them to that little surcharge. Most would rather cruise at the far side of the road making them difficult to spot for passengers wishing to flag them, while they wait for the next cab caller who willingly fork out the surcharge. From a couple fo years ago, I have given up the idea of trying to flag down a cab and have always kept several cab companies' numbers handy. That is the surest way of getting from one place to another; even faster than driving and having to look for parking, then retrieving your parked car, assuming you can remember which level and which bay you'd parked in the relatively large multi-storey car parks in most of Singapore's commercial district.

The world's not perfect, isn't it?

Even an organized city/country like Singapore has to live with the opportunistic taxi drivers who were supposedly selected, trained and licensed to drive cabs. What about the rest of the countries in Asia? Try the laws of the jungle, perhaps.

Jakarta's busway

Congestion in the city of Jakarta has caused traffic to virtually come to a standstill, thanks to the busway introduced about a year ago. For those of you unfamiliar with these streets, three lane thoroughfares were narrowed to two lanes to make way for a dedicated busway corridor.

Prior to that, traffic congestion was already terrible, yet there are politicians and bureaucrats who think that narrowing already congested roads to build a busway will solve traffic problems in the city. At last count, there are less than 100 buses plying the busway corridors throughout the city.

Which commuters did the city planners have in mind when they build the busway?

It didn't seem like they were aiming to serve commuters who relied on the normal dilapidated, carbon monoxide emitting public buses and mini buses which stop anywhere and at anytime they chose to pick up passerngers, irrepective of the inconvenience they cause to other road users. The same number of these buses and mini buses are still plying the same streets as those of the busway.

Or was the busway meant to reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads by providing a convenient and efficient means of public transportation for these people to go in and out of the city? If it was, then the results are certainly not apparent for the same number of private cars seem to be driven to work each day.

One would have thought that if a busway is constructed to link the main outer city suburbs to the city so as to encourage people not to drive their private cars into the city, there would have been plans to provide adequate and proper feeder services from these suburbs to the busway. One would also not be wrong to see a significant reduction in regular buses and mini buses on those roads which the busway operates. But its none of the above. Doesn't make sense right?

Efforts were indeed made to discourage people from driving private cars into the city through the introduction of a 3-in-1 system during peak hours. Private cars with less than 3 persons are not allowed to enter the main road linking north to south Jakarta during peak hours in the morning and evening. However, that only gave rise to a jockey service for the poor inhabitants of the city to provide their services at a small fee to drivers who don't have the requisite 3 persons. Men, women and children of all ages wait by side roads leading to the main road each day hoping to be picked up by drivers requiring jockeys to earn a meagre one US dollar (the equivalent of a pack of Marlboro there).

Conspiracy theories abound on the reasons for the busway, the majority of which pointed to the amounts of money the politicians and bureaucrats can siphon off from a project this size.

Any administration can make public policy blunders, and the problem of solving congestion is probably one of trial and error anywhere. In the more affluent and less corrupt countries, the risks of error is probably reduced through several thorough scientific evaluations prior to implementation, and possibly followed by pilot trial in certain districts before being introduced wholesale into the heart of commerce in the city. Public education programs over a period of time are normally a part of the overall effort to introduce a new transportation means. BUT, not in Jakarta.

The busway was introduced with no apparent clear objectives, private car owners are not given much of an alternative, and most Jakartans, except those sitting in government offices seem to have little clue as to the benefits the busway is expected to bring them.

After introduction of the first busway corridor, the city administration proceeded to build other corridors before any apparent attempts to garner feedback and evaluate these feedback from city dwellers. And now, they're even making plans to build an additional corridor cutting through a prime, low density residential estate complete with golf course, high end shopping mall and prestigious schools at the southern end of the city, or what some call the equivalent of "Beverly Hills" in Jakarta.

Prior to the busway, the city considered and started building an alternative monorail system. But disputes with their foreign partners and financiers put a halt to all work. Remnants of unsightly, half-finished pillars of the monorail dot some main streets in Jakarta now.

So how long more do Jakartans have to live with congestion and pollution before there can be any respite? Short of an efficient mass transit subway system, or a combination of proper city planning and relocating the central and city's government to an alternative administrative capital like Malaysia's Putrajaya (not the best example of success) or Australia's Canberra or Canada's Ottawa, Jakarta's traffic will most likely continue to haunt its residents for decades to come.

Toll road charges in Jakarta

Toll fees were raised recently along most toll roads in Jakarta. For those of you who are not familiar with this city, one has to get onto "toll" roads or expressways or freeways as you would call them in your part of the world in order to get to distant places within the city and its suburbs. If you are not used to paying to get into these toll roads, Jakarta will be an eye opener - unless you live in Singapore where an electronic road pricing scheme exists with much success.

The problem with toll roads in Jakarta is that they are not charging enough to ensure smooth traffic flow. Huge trucks and buses only pay a slight premium over other vehicles using the toll roads, but they hog up much more space (very often in the supposedly fast lanes) and go at a much slower pace.

Indonesians are fond of complaining. If the price of toll fees go up by X percent, they complain and they form masses to demonstrate in front of the authorities causing massive traffic jams which Al Gore would consider an adversary to his crusade on global warming. If only Indonesians can tell the difference between an extra thousand Rupiah spent (US 10 cents or so) on toll charges and the thousands of Rupiahs saved on fuel costs and productivity by spending less driving time.

Basically, there aren't enough roads in Jakarta to cater to the car and motorcycle population here. Policies such as the "busway" are of no help either. Plans are often ill-conceived and fail to look at the WHOLE traffic situation as a bundle of problems requiring solving.

The hours I, as well as the rest of people in Jakarta, spent in traffic jams could have increased productivity in this nation and hence create more wealth which will in turn be distributed to the poor and impoverished (corruption and siphoning of development funds aside).

I can see the dilemma facing the authorities. If they make toll fees so high to the extent people start avoiding them, all the arterial roads will be so clogged up that there will surely be a backlash from their electorates.

But instead of constructing busways which suck up already congested existing road space, they could perhaps look at other options. The latest news is that they're even thinking of creating a bicycle lane for those who choose to ride into work on their unmotorised two wheelers. Honestly, how many people will actually ride a bicycle to work in a polluted city like Jakarta? Are they trying to encourage Indonesians to emulate the Chinese where droves ride bicycles into their cities each day?

So what are the options?

To start with, they can start passing legislation to control irate bus drivers and commuters who choose to wave down buses from any spot they find convenient on the roads. Have proper bus stops so that buses are forced to stop in those areas to pick up their commuters. To do that, they will have to contend with two important issues: (1) properly educate the public into believing that a more disciplined system of getting onto buses will actually save ALL commuting times; (2) getting rid of corruption in the people assigned to police these rules.

On the educational aspect, officials from government departments embark on public service campaigns, be they in the form or print material, outdoor billboards or TV purely to enrich themselves. Look at bird flu and how much the authorities have done for such a deadly disease. Education cannot be achieved with one or two TV ads. It has to be a wholesome approach which must be sustained over several months or even years. Some may even last a whole generation in order for it to work.

The endemic and systemic corruption in this town leaves much in doubt. The police would rather stop a luxury Jaguar or Mercedes or BMW for apparently frivolous traffic violations than to stop a bus driver for a blatant traffic violation who has no more than ten thousand Rupiahs in his pocket. The Jag, Merc or Bimmer drivers will gladly part with tens of thousands of Rupiahs just so they can get on with their business and avoid the hassles and wasting valuable time arguing with the police for they can't win anyway. But for a bus driver, they won't part with 5,000 Rupiahs without a fight, literally.

The Muslim new year (Lebaran) is getting close. All my friends are warning me to be extra careful on the roads for this is the month when everyone, police included, will be out to make more money to buy new clothes for their kids and celebrate the new year with their families.

Most of my Indonesian friends have taken the situation with a "pasrah" mentality. So be it. This is the system we grew up with, this is the system we're used to. So why "rock the boat".

My answer to that is that if the boat is heading nowhere, it should be about time that we rock it and steer it into the right direction. No matter how long it takes to get where we should be, its better to start rocking now.

Weekend before Puasa (fasting)

Each year the same thing happens - the weekend before the Muslim fasting month is see record crowds at clubs and discos countrywide. I can't remember when the authorities started imposing the ban on sales of alcoholic beverages and restricting opening hours of nightspots, but in the past several years, most nightlife will have to stop for a month or so during this fasting month preceding the Muslim new year, or Idul Fitri.

For the devout, this is a month of cleansing, spiritually. Except for hotels catering to foreign guests, all other entertainment outlets will have to either close, or restrict opening hours or forbid the sale of alcoholic beverages. Even restaurants who are licensed to serve alcohol serve them in coffee mugs or opaque glasses. Imagine drinking wine out of a polystyrene cup. Sounds like the experience I had in the UK and Canada where licensing rules are equally strict. But worry not! For there is always a place in town (normally Chinese restaurants) which would serve up your beer or cognac in a tea cup.

I hear its even stricter in Malaysia where the religious police actually checks out restaurants and pull out Malaysians whom they suspect as Muslims if they find them eating during fasting hours.

My friends are out there on a "binge drinking" stint. And it will go on till the wee hours of the morning. But imagine the dip in takings these clubs, discos and restaurants.

The biggest earners in entertainment outlets are food and beverages. A bottle of wine or spirits are normally marked up twice or thrice their retail prices. If every club, disco or restaurant have to factor in this one month's lost in revenue during the fasting period, we consumers will just end up having to pay for this loss in the form of higher prices. So instead of a plan which factors in 12 months of business, they all have to make do with 11 months, yet have to bear the operational costs of 12 months. Sounds silly to me.

Even if the government doesn't restrict opening hours and sales of alcohol, there are outlets who voluntarily impose their own restrictions for fear of reprisals from the religious vigilantes who arrive in groups and smash up everything in an outlet which does not respect the fasting month. They actually bother to spend on hiring trucks or buses and dressing themselves up in white when they conduct their raids. Even if the restaurant or club is located in a mainly expat area and the bulk of their customers are expats, they are not spared.

BUT, there is always a reason for them to be there, other than religious virtues. A business competitor or enemy who is not happy with the way the business is run can easily, with a few stacks of Rupiahs, summon the help of this religious brigade of vigilantes to destroy, create havoc, or otherwise disrupt their competitor's or enemy's business. It can be as trivial as a partnership dispute for the vigilantes to come with their baseball bats and sticks to cause severe damage and monetary loss to a business.

Sometimes I, as well as a lot of other Indonesians, wish that Suharto could still be in charge. At least there was law and order.

Besides the virtues of cleansing during this holy month, an argument goes where employers are supposed to take plight with and respect their employees who have to wake up at 3 in the morning to take their meal for that day before fasting from dawn till dusk. My Muslim friends tell me that fasting is Allah's and God's way to testing one's strength and faith. If that is the case and the virtue behind the idea of fasting, isn't it a greater test of one's strength and faith if one is subjected to adversity in having to go about one's daily lives during the rest of the 11 months? Why should activities here have to switch to fasting mode? Where lies the standards on the tests of strength and faith? Is one strong when one fasts by slowing down one's daily activities? Or is strength more manifest when one fasts in the face of continuing normal day to day activities? Is this pampering? Perhaps. But only the authorities who make the rules can answer to their own conscience.

Indonesia which is predominantly Muslim do not have the advantages which Malaysia, due to Malaysia's more varied ethnic mix. If the Muslims don't want to or can't work because of a religious holiday, the Indians and Chinese will be there to take over. Similarly, if its a Indian or Chinese holiday or festival, the others who don't celebrate the same will take over.

But if one were to venture downtown to Kota or Chinatown, the situation is somewhat different. There, life continues into the wee hours of the morning, be it a vice den, karaoke joint with Indonesian Muslim hostesses or strip tease bars. Kota in Jakarta is unique, especially during the fasting month. Perhaps the authorities consider Kota to be a den for vices of the Chineses who are not part of their mainstream electorate and are therefore allowed to morally descend into the deepest layers of hell!

But what about those employees who work in the Kota joints? They're just as happy cos when fasting month comes, everywhere else is closed except for their joints; which mean more tips, fatter bonuses and more opportunities. There you are! At least there are folks here who are entrepreneurial and adhere to the values of "fair rewards for fair effort". And, for that matter, the stockbrokers who have to monitor international markets with time differences? They're working till the wee hours of the Indonesian mornings too! Are their jobs considered decent to warrant a lack of sleep over the fasting month? Or are their jobs so important to the Indonesian economy that the authorities won't dare to venture into any form of restrictive regulations on their working hours?

Is this equality? Is this a true test of strength and faith? God probably knows.