Looks like the second Penang bridge may be delayed AGAIN

But then I am not in the least surprised even if it is true that the second Penang bridge project were to be delayed.

In fact, I had been waiting for this announcement for quite a while already.

Lim said China Harbour had agreed to start building the foundation in November while UEM disagreed with the quoted price.

The government had offered the project to UEM for RM1.3bil but the latter asked for RM1.5bil, he added.

“With UEM enjoying close ties with political parties, it should be accepting the offer price,” he said, adding that if UEM can’t accept the offer, an open tender should be called quickly. [source]

Isn't that usual for any local mega projects especially the second Penang bridge project?

First there's this big huge hoo ha about it and loads of publicity.

They talk about the project as if it will be completed within days.

They paint pretty pictures of what the project may bring to the state and the people.

The second Penang bridge has suddenly develop this special super power where it will transform Penang's economy into a busy, bustling, growing state.

Suddenly, this structure of concrete and steel will be able to bring in investments.

It will be able to solve all traffic problems on the current bridge.

It will make all Penangites' lives better.

Short of being called the Super bridge of Penang, there is nothing this bridge won't do!

Yeah, right.

If you fell for all that crap, I guess you also believed in Superman and Spiderman and that there is really a Clark Kent working in the Daily Planet, and that grown men would dare to be seen prancing around in skintight red and blue costumes.

A bridge is a bridge is a bridge. All it will do is to let people go to the mainland. And we already have one such bridge. I don't deny that the current Penang bridge is not able to sustain the amount of traffic anymore but really, does building a second bridge actually solve the problem?

I don't know. I'm not an expert on that but say the traffic conditions increased over the years and ten years down the line, both bridges are always jammed. Then what? We build a third bridge? A fourth bridge? A fifth?

Or better still, since we are already reclaiming so many blardy foreshore land, we might as well reclaim all the way to the mainland and connect the island to the mainland for good. Then Penang will no longer be an island but a peninsular. Then we won't need anymore billion ringgit bridges.

Then the whole island will just be choked up with traffic because of easy access and an urgent lack of sustainable public transportation system.

What about the ecological impact, you ask? Heck, them politicians don't care about ecological impact. If they cared, why'd you think so much seabed land have been reclaimed? Why do you think there are so many hillslope developments causing landslides everywhere? Why do you think there are so many flash flood incidences the moment there's heavy rain?

It is all in the name of development, my friend.

As for the second Penang bridge, I don't blardy care anymore if it is delayed AGAIN. Please, tell me something new.

Missing the school holidays

The recently ended school holidays are just too short. It should have lasted longer....sigh...

No. I am not a student or a teacher.

The thing is that during school holidays, there are lesser traffic congestion along roads near schools that I travel along daily. It was pure bliss driving to my babysitter's place to pick up my kid and drive back home. No horrendous jams due to inconsiderate parents who double and triple park along narrow lanes. No stupid school buses DOUBLE parking along four-lane roads. In short, no stress of having to manoeuvre through all these obstacles.

Immediately after school reopens....Roads like Jalan Mesjid Negeri (the McDonalds greenlane stretch where there's PFS), Jalan Air Itam (Chung Ling), Jalan Batu Lanchang (SMK Georgetown and SRK Batu Lanchang), Jalan Burma ( Union primary school), Jalan Gottlieb (PCGH), Lebuh Light (CLS) and Farquhar Street (SXI) are once again choked with traffic during the rush hour of between 1pm and 3pm and then again between 6pm and 7pm.

Sigh...a journey which normally took me about 30 minutes now takes me one hour to 45 minutes.

Life is just not meant for wasting behind the wheels of a car stuck in a traffic jam.

Just give me a car like one of those buses that Harry Potter travels in (you know, the types that could squeeze through traffic) and I'll be the happiest person on earth.

Don't go to Penang Road!

If you want to avoid the bottleneck shown in the pictures here, stay away and use other alternative road. The traffic jam was so horrendous, it took me about 30 minutes to go from Hutton Lane junction to the overhead bridge.



The jam, as we can see, is due to the roadworks along about 300m stretch. It is the upgrading works initiated by the former tourism exco, Teng Chang Yeow. Luckily, the funding was already released so it won't be another 'abandoned' project but I do hope it completes really fast.

It's making life difficult for me especially when I always use the road to go to Komtar for official business! So, to those of you who had to use the road (for whatever reason) good luck and enjoy the horrible jam!

Another demonstration this coming Thursday?

Picture of last Friday's demonstration borrowed from anilnetto.com

Penangites beware! (No, I am not trying to scare you about imminent bloodshed but more to warn you to stay away to avoid the possible congestion it would cause)

Thursday may be a public holiday (Maulidur Rasul) but this does not mean clear roads with no traffic because it seems the Umno fellas (shall we from now onwards call them Umnobodoh?!?) are intent on organising another demonstration on that day. Or so it was said through widespread circulation of SMSes which the police have claimed to be 'just rumours'.

And there I go thinking Maulidur Rasul or the Nabi Muhammad's birthday is a holy day. I don't know about them but I think they are insulting their very own Prophet by planning political protests on such a holy day.

I mean political protests for personal interest is definitely unholy in every sense of the word. All for what? Just because they are sore losers and could not face the fact that they have lost. They are no longer the blardy state government so swallow the fact and deal with it already!

Okay, so I may be a bit harsh here. Those poor fellas are, after all, fighting for their rice bowl....since NEP only do benefit Umno amongst all the bumiputras in the state. They are losing a substantial amount of income due to this new open tender policy and thus, the demonstrations.

So, it is quite understandable for them to be so riled up upon seeing their whole cake being taken away from right under their noses and being distributed to all and sundry.

Anyway, from all the rumours flying around and SMSes on the upcoming demonstration this Thursday, it seemed the Umnoputras/ bodohs (whichever you want to call them) plan to march from the state mosque to the governor's house to hand over a memorandum to the governor.

It seemed kind of strange that they carried out the demo last week without handing over any memorandum (probably due to inexperience as an Opposition party now...) and now they plan another demo to hand over a demo to the governor and not the state government. Why give it to the governor when their grievances are against the state government's policy?

The Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has even said that if they do go ahead with the demonstration by misusing the police permit for the Maulidur Rasul parade, then 'the authorities will know what to do'. I don't know about LGE, but methinks the authorities will just do what they did last Friday...stand there, stare, act all important and spring into action when the crowd has dispersed.

Hmm...we shall see if the rumour turned out to be true or not this Thursday.

After all, the has-been, former deputy chief minister, Datuk Abdul Rashid Abdullah did promise to 'hold another bigger demonstration if the state government still refuse to budge from its policy of not using the NEP' and his (or is it Umno?) threat to 'bring down the state government no matter what'. He loudly and clearly announced this last Friday during the demonstration. So based on his 'promise' and 'threats', I wouldn't put it past them idiots to make use of the readily available police permit for the holy parade to turn it into something ugly and unholy.

But if they do chicken out and leave the parade alone, then kudos to them. It could only mean that some of their almost inexistent brain cells are starting to work.

In case you think I am spreading those rumours by posting this entry, my reply is that it is better to be prepared than to be sorry. When it comes to all things politics (especially when it involved sore losers), nothing is predictable nor is it impossible.

Driving tips for those new to Penang

It is not every driver who could survive on the perilous roads of this tiny island. Driving on the roads of Penang means you will find the following situations:

1. A traffic jam caused by an accident on the other side of the road - meaning, there's been a minor accident on the opposite side but all the busybodies on this side of the road just had to slow down or even stop to stare at the wreckage.

2. There are no such things as signal lights - please bear in mind, drivers will turn wherever they want to, whenever they feel like, however they want to do it without any signals.

3. Motorcyclists owned the roads - they weave in and out of traffic and regardless of whether you use your signal or not, they will always cut in front of you or if you are turning right, they will squeeze past your right and if you are turning left, they will squeeze past your left to go straight. If you are going straight, they will cut in front of you to turn left or right. Otherwise, they ride in the middle of the road at 30kph and refused to let you pass.

4. Most of the drivers keep right - perhaps they are confused and thought they should be keeping right but you will find most Penang drivers taking the lane on the right at the speed of 40kph while the lane on the left is mostly empty. They also overtake cars using the left lane, not the right ones.

5. The emergency lanes and left lanes are for shortcuts and to cut queues - there is no such thing as waiting in line in any event of a traffic jam. That's what the emergency lanes are for, to use to cut into the long queue to get ahead faster.

6. Yellow means speed up while green means slow down - drivers will be driving at a crawl of 40kph when the light is green but the moment it turns yellow, they will step on the pedal and speed through the lights. This is the same with those numbered traffic lights, the higher the numbers (99, 80, 70...) means slow while the lower the number (5, 4, 3, 2...) means speed till you cross the lights.

7. Zebra crossing and pedestrian crossings are just there for decoration purposes - don't even think of using these to cross the road because drivers will speed past these without slowing down and if anyone dared to step foot on these, they will get blaring horns, some inappropriate hand signals and angry glares.

8. When an ambulance comes, it means you make way and then follow - drivers will make way by slowing down and some even stopping but the moment the ambulance passed them, they will speed up and follow its wake especially in times when traffic is heavy so that they could cut queue even more efficiently.

9. The whole of Penang island is a big huge parking lot - there is not a single space that drivers won't park their car as long as the curb is not too high and they could drive up it. It could be a single lane road, a busy junction or anywhere at all, as long as they think it is convenient to them, it is a good parking place.

10. They drive at 40kph during peak hours and 100kph during off peak hours - regardless of whether there is a traffic jam or not, if it is 8.45am on a weekday and you are in a hurry to reach the office, you will find some auntie or uncle going on a leisurely drive cruising down the road and hogging it at 35kph while at the same time refusing to let you overtake their cars. However, if it is 11pm at night where most roads are pitch black, you will find some youngsters taking to the roads thinking they are the next Schumachers.

So, there, 10 top tips to arm yourselves with if you ever drive up to Penang for a short trip.