The rains in Penang, they are refreshing. Like a gigantic car wash, they give the atmosphere over Penang a big spring cleaning........washing away all the small particulates in the air that make up the haze...that hovers over the island and much of the country.
Clean air and not the smell of smoke, of something burning in the air. Gone are the irritation to the nostrils and the eyes. Yes I can see clearly now, and depending on where I gaze, I can see natural landscapes pockmarked by unnatural scars made by men to fatten their pockets.
I don't know which is worse, to see the hills of Penang marred unnaturally by men in their homage to mammon; or to have it hidden by the haze caused by people across the straits in their worship to the same god....
Maybe clear blue skies not filtered by smoke, where the verdant hills gleam, interupted by the red lateritic earth exposed by builders, is the better alternative. Seeing realities as it is.....not hidden but well exposed......a window to our souls and our hearts....
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Trees, plants and flowers of Penang
Trees, plants and flowers soften up the urban landscapes......like balm to my soul and salve to my eyes....they ease away the toils and smoothen the rough edges of a crowded urban city.....
Their shapes and colours...unplanned yet created with natural symmetry...beguiling...subdueing the angry spirits arising from bruises suffered when people and thoughts collide
The peace they evoke....feelings that lay buried...crushed by the onslaught of daily living...foraging for crumbs that the system throw out to feed the hungry masses.....forgotten for awhile, but awaken.....as I sit and feed my eyes on God's creation.....
Reminded of His grace and tender mercies....I rest,.....assured of His love I find strength to move on and live for another day.......
Friday, October 20, 2006
Looking for a CEO/General/Dictator to run Penang's Public Transport System...
The Penang State Government is looking for a CEO to run the state's public transport system....or someone to spend the RM50 million loan they got from the Feds.....Who will they get??? ...that's the RM50 million question????
Someone with the experience and record to run a successful public transport system? To begin with...there's not much of a system in Penang.....as I said we had a system for much of the fifties and even up to the mid 80's...then wiser folks killed it....all in the name of ??????
We designed our cities for cars....& then kill the public transport by refusing to allow the operators to increase their fares when fuel costs, spare parts and cost of labour skyrocketed...all in the name of protecting joe public....we begin to "educate" joe public to expect pay peanuts for good services, we all love free rides....yet as Milton Friedman says "there's no such thing as free lunch".......in end, joe public have to end up paying more for transport because he has to buy a car that he only uses for about less than 10% of its life span...spending most of its time in car parks either at home or at the office or factory.....unless of course he moonlights as a taxi sapu.....that is the price we pay because the public transport system had broken down....
Why control fares?.....why control taxi licences....let there be no barriers to entry...& let the market dictate the fares people pay... free market...except to control ciminals or pyschopaths or peadophiles from becoming taxi drivers...anyone who wants to get a tax licence gets one...no renting...no special permits for special people.....no rent seeking opportunities....c whether we can get a good service... free market always....gives better services....its only when politicians come in and temper them all in the name of protecting joe public...that we get clobbered....remember wise man of old have this to say about governments..."a good government governs least..."
Well good luck to whoever the state appoints as a CEO....tough assignment ....thankless task...hopes the pay is good.
Someone with the experience and record to run a successful public transport system? To begin with...there's not much of a system in Penang.....as I said we had a system for much of the fifties and even up to the mid 80's...then wiser folks killed it....all in the name of ??????
We designed our cities for cars....& then kill the public transport by refusing to allow the operators to increase their fares when fuel costs, spare parts and cost of labour skyrocketed...all in the name of protecting joe public....we begin to "educate" joe public to expect pay peanuts for good services, we all love free rides....yet as Milton Friedman says "there's no such thing as free lunch".......in end, joe public have to end up paying more for transport because he has to buy a car that he only uses for about less than 10% of its life span...spending most of its time in car parks either at home or at the office or factory.....unless of course he moonlights as a taxi sapu.....that is the price we pay because the public transport system had broken down....
Why control fares?.....why control taxi licences....let there be no barriers to entry...& let the market dictate the fares people pay... free market...except to control ciminals or pyschopaths or peadophiles from becoming taxi drivers...anyone who wants to get a tax licence gets one...no renting...no special permits for special people.....no rent seeking opportunities....c whether we can get a good service... free market always....gives better services....its only when politicians come in and temper them all in the name of protecting joe public...that we get clobbered....remember wise man of old have this to say about governments..."a good government governs least..."
Well good luck to whoever the state appoints as a CEO....tough assignment ....thankless task...hopes the pay is good.
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