Flooding has become part of life in this town. Each year without fail, Jakartans have to live through the same old routine. Evacuating from homes, if the government makes that possible, or living in without electricity and fresh water. And every year, something new and some place new will be affected by the floods. This year hasn't been different.
The toll road going to the international airport is flooded. TV footage of foreigners and local passengers along with their luggage being ferried on rubber rafts across a section of the flooded thoroughfare is such an embarrassment for a city like Jakarta. They have to wade through water to get onto those rubber rafts and then wade out to catch the buses to the terminal.
And then they introduced trucks, the ones they normally use for garbage collection. They're quite high; and passengers, male and female alike, will have to be helped up those trucks without ladders or other improvised steps. But at least they can keep dry, compared to wading to the rubber raft.
The airport was closed for a few hours. Flights were delayed. Outbound passengers who got to the airport before the flooding had to eat lunch and dinner at the terminal before their flights resumed. Inbound passengers who got in after the airport re-opened were stranded as taxis and other forms of public transportation could not reach the airport. For those who managed to hop onto some form of 4-wheeler, their journey is another 5 or more hours.
Sections of the toll roads, or expressways in other parts of the city are flooded too. Once you are jammed on the toll road, there is no way out. This time around, the main city toll road was jammed up for up to 7 or 8 hours. Drivers and their passengers had to resort to making their toilet breaks just outside their cars, sheltered from public eyes by opened car doors.
And gangsters and others out to make a quick buck have their field day. Kids will be collecting healthy fees for helping to push stalled vehicles. Others help to stop traffic and let vehicles do their U-turns to seek alternative routes to their destinations. Gangsters openly knock on windows and windscreens to collect their dues from log jammed vehicles. Street peddlers sell anything from bottled water to bread at inflated prices to desperate commuters.
So why pay the toll for usage of these roads? Or are they paying a fee for parking there for all those hours?
Even the President is not spared this year. His car got stuck on a main city road and he had to get onto his bodyguards' SUV!
Poor lowly paid workers in the city who managed to get to work prior to flooding end their day walking for miles to get to the next available bus on dry land which is still operating to get home. It's not uncommon for them, after a hard and long day's work, to walk and commute for 5 or more hours just to get home.
Although Jakarta has just elected a new governor, he was nowhere to be seen during the floods. Nor has he made any plans about what he will do to alleviate this regular affair.
In any other part of the world, this would have been declared an emergency, which would have allowed the government to utilise all resources, including those of the military to assist its citizens. With those resources, the military's trained engineers could have built temporary bridging using steel ramps and plates which they surely must have in their warehouse, the kind the Indonesian or any military in the world will have for bridging rivers in a war. Indonesia doesn't need to live with the embarrassment of an inaccessible international airport, nor suffer the economic losses of lost manhours and productivity.
I know Indonesians to be proud and determined people. But when it comes to the annual flooding, Jakartans somehow seemed either to willingly leave their fates in the hands of God or resigned to the fact that this is a part of the cost of living in this capital city of theirs.
Monday, 4 February 2008
CONFESSIONS OF A MINI-BUS DRIVER IN JAKARTA
I start my work day early, leaving my house not long after morning prayers. This will also ensure that I catch the early morning commuters, some going to the markets and others heading for work.
Over the years, I've learnt how to rush to get the commuters. The more passengers I take, the more money I take home after paying for the bus' rental. I don't care what happens to the other buses, nor other road users. When I see a commuter, I will definitely cut into the lane closest and pick the passenger up, for the sooner I pack my bus full, the sooner I can speed to the end destination and the more money I make. I can then have a longer break before I have to drive out again. Driving is just like what we do in the kampung or "village". We cross the road whenever we want to. We can walk any which way we want to.
Since I was a little boy, I've learnt to fend for myself. Even if it means bullying others, I want to be able to eat and feed my family. One can only live if one can think that way. Who cares about the others in this world.
Besides rental for the bus, I also have to pay my manager so he will help me get a good bus and a route which makes more money. The police don't stop us much as they know we're poor people trying to make a living, just like them. They much prefer to stop the private cars, especially the luxurious one, as they can get more money out of them. I've ran past red lights many times even with police standing at the junction. But they will pretend not to see me.
In our line of work, getting enough passengers is the most important. Even if we have to stop and pack ourselves three lanes wide, we have to do that at busy junctions where a lot of passengers will need to get onto buses on our route. We don't care about the other road users even if they blast their horns. We all feel that its our right to make a living and to use the roads whichever way we have to. Anyhow, its our government who built the roads for us all to use, so why should we let others use more of the road.
Our biggest fear is robbery, especially at night when we have to drive through quiet neighbourhoods with no law and order. The premans or "gangster" will board our buses and rob not just our commuters but also all our day's takings. We can't report to our managers for they won't believe us. Reporting to the police is pointless too, for they won't be able to catch those gangsters to get our money back, and it will cost me more money plus hours of waiting time just to make that report.
Taxes? We don't care about taxes. I see billboards everywhere asking us to get our tax numbers and pay taxes. But little poor people like us don't care. Why should we pay taxes? Taxes are only for the bosses and the companies which make money from us. Besides, taxes will only make the government officials richer as they have more money to pilfer from. What will the government do for us, little people, even if we pay taxes? Are the roads going to be better? Are our homes safer from flooding? Will we have more electricity and clean water? Will my children be able to get free education?
I, and all my fellow bus drivers, don't think so.
Over the years, I've learnt how to rush to get the commuters. The more passengers I take, the more money I take home after paying for the bus' rental. I don't care what happens to the other buses, nor other road users. When I see a commuter, I will definitely cut into the lane closest and pick the passenger up, for the sooner I pack my bus full, the sooner I can speed to the end destination and the more money I make. I can then have a longer break before I have to drive out again. Driving is just like what we do in the kampung or "village". We cross the road whenever we want to. We can walk any which way we want to.
Since I was a little boy, I've learnt to fend for myself. Even if it means bullying others, I want to be able to eat and feed my family. One can only live if one can think that way. Who cares about the others in this world.
Besides rental for the bus, I also have to pay my manager so he will help me get a good bus and a route which makes more money. The police don't stop us much as they know we're poor people trying to make a living, just like them. They much prefer to stop the private cars, especially the luxurious one, as they can get more money out of them. I've ran past red lights many times even with police standing at the junction. But they will pretend not to see me.
In our line of work, getting enough passengers is the most important. Even if we have to stop and pack ourselves three lanes wide, we have to do that at busy junctions where a lot of passengers will need to get onto buses on our route. We don't care about the other road users even if they blast their horns. We all feel that its our right to make a living and to use the roads whichever way we have to. Anyhow, its our government who built the roads for us all to use, so why should we let others use more of the road.
Our biggest fear is robbery, especially at night when we have to drive through quiet neighbourhoods with no law and order. The premans or "gangster" will board our buses and rob not just our commuters but also all our day's takings. We can't report to our managers for they won't believe us. Reporting to the police is pointless too, for they won't be able to catch those gangsters to get our money back, and it will cost me more money plus hours of waiting time just to make that report.
Taxes? We don't care about taxes. I see billboards everywhere asking us to get our tax numbers and pay taxes. But little poor people like us don't care. Why should we pay taxes? Taxes are only for the bosses and the companies which make money from us. Besides, taxes will only make the government officials richer as they have more money to pilfer from. What will the government do for us, little people, even if we pay taxes? Are the roads going to be better? Are our homes safer from flooding? Will we have more electricity and clean water? Will my children be able to get free education?
I, and all my fellow bus drivers, don't think so.
Sunday, 30 December 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, 29 December 2007
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?
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?
Sunday, 23 December 2007
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".
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".
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, 29 September 2007
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.
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.
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