Another Potential Assault on Maxwell Hill

Another piece of horrifying news today. The company that built the G. Machinchang Cable Car in Langkawi has proposed once again to build a cable car link from the Taiping Lake Gardens to Maxwell Hill (ie. Bukit Larut). The project was viable as they were trying to cash in on the success of the Taiping Zoo, which reportedly has 700,000 visitors per year compared to the Langkawi project which attracted only 100,000 people annually. At present, there is only 1 mode of transport up the hills apart from hiking up yourself: by the land rover. The thrill is all in the ride up and down as the land rover negotiates hairpin bends while trying to not hit on the unsuspecting joggers or going down the ravines.

Proposals to develop Maxwell Hill has met with great opposition in the 1990s by Taiping residents and conservationists. We don't need another Cameron Highlands or Genting Highlands or Penang Hill. In fact, Maxwell Hill is the only hill resort that has remained untouched and undeveloped since the early years. It is the only hill resort that you can look up afar and never spot a building, road or a landslide scar. All you can see from Taiping town at its foothill are thick dense tropical forest. Time and again, the Menteri Besar would give assurances that the hill will remain as it was. But this time round, it is on the verge on another assault by the greed of a profit-making company and possibly corrupted approving authorities. We all know that any kind on development, whether it is just a cable car or a small hotel, is damaging to the environment, particularly on the extraordinarily steep slopes in the area.

And I can recall that the company who proposed this idea doesn't really have a good record of maintenance either. During my last trip up G. Machinchang by cable car last year, I noticed that facilities have deteriorated quite significantly although it was only opened to the public less than 5 years. The wooden walkways has rotted somewhat, and the metal parts had rusted quited badly. This is Malaysian style maintenance and quality.

Why is it that in Malaysia, we always have to be building and building in the name of development? I am very sure, if Mount Everest were to be in Malaysia, some smart asshole will certainly propose to build a cable car and five-star hotels at the summit. And I'm also certain that they'd probably think of building a four-lane expressway up the summit as an alternative to cater to the needs of tourists.

I hope there is a strong opposition to this proposal. We, Taiping folks, do not want to see ugly towers and cable lines when we look up the hills. We just want to see green trees and unspoilt natural beauty. Leave us alone!

Burgers and Omens

I'm not big fan of burgers but I do have my favourite choices. For some strange reasons, in the past few days, I was gravitated to eat at A&W, but maybe because their outlets just happened to be conveniently located to where I was at the time: at the Jakarta airport on Thursday and the 1-U new wing this morning. I liked their Mozza burgers anyway, the one with a beef patty and bacon, so it didn't matter.

But the strange thing is that on both occasions, I ordered the Mozza burger, but I got the Cheeseburger instead. Hmmm.....?! Some kind of omens? I wonder....

The Constipation of Mimi!

Speaking of Mariah Carey, we all know she's quite on the larger size although her album cover pics are usually touched up to show otherwise. I really have to post this for a good laugh. I ain't a Mariah fan.... I just can't stand her antics, although I loved her first 3 albums, before she became overly mengada-ngada with her unnatural hiau-ness. Click on the image to read more about her yummicious songs.

Very Sensitive Malaysians

I was horrified! I hope Gwen is not going to appear in a simple grandma top and hipster jeans on stage! I paid good money for the show and I expect colourful costumes and grand artistic stage performance.

“She will abide by the Malaysian authorities’ guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities,” the statement said. Under the official guide to performing in Malaysia, a female artist must be covered from the top of her chest to her knees.
No jumping, shouting or throwing of objects onstage or at the audience is allowed. Performers cannot hug or kiss and their clothes cannot have obscene or drug-related images or messages.

This is stupid. I remembered a friend once said that previously, Mariah Carey, during her tour in KL a couple of years ago, purposely wore a simple top and jeans throughout her show and made sarcastic remarks about her the regulations that she had to abide. I reckon people who are overly sensitive about this kind of stuff should just not come and watch at all and spoil the atmosphere for other people. Just stay at home and read the bible or koran or whatever else that you read.

An Eye Opener

I arrived back to KL safely, after having spent almost 11 days on site. This was my third trip to the site, and I was dreading it. I hate being away for long periods, especially for sitework.

The facility where I worked is located in northwestern tip of Java Island, facing the Java Sea. The nearest town is Cilegon, approximately 2 hours drive via freeway from Jakarta to the west. My colleague and I stayed in Cilegon. A car and a driver had been arranged for us to take us to the site, which is a 45-minute drive on a very narrow bumpy and dusty rural road. I really do not understand why these foreign investors would want to build their petrochemical facilities in such a rural isolated place with such poor public infrastructure.

Java island is not a typical tropical island paradise. It is overpopulated, and is home to 120 million people, with a population density of over 2,000 people per square mile! In comparison, Peninsula Malaysia has a population density of only 330 people per square mile. Land in Java island is scarce, and is mainly used for the cultivation of rice and minor subsistence crops. Paddy fields dominate the landscape.... and people live in very small houses made of wood, clay and straw. It is very depressing to see that these people are so poor, with so little to live on every day. The inside of their houses are probably fairly empty. Most adults are unemployed and they can be seen hanging around by the road side, gazing blankly at the passing traffic, waiting for time to pass them by, or engaging in minor odd jobs.

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Why? Why is it that there are so many poor people who live in such a deplorable condition? Why, on the other end of the spectrum, are there filthy rich people? Why?

Is it because the rich have done something good in the past and thus are deserving of a good life? Is it because the poor was made to suffer because they have done something terrible in the past? But what about innocent children born into poor families? It seems to suggest that certain people are more deserving of a good life than others. But on what basis? Is this fair? Is this God's making? But God is supposed to be all-loving and good. From what I saw and realized, it appears as though there is no evidence of such. Dear God, why???