Thursday, November 12, 2009

A Bridge Too Far?

Not at all, according to Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam.

They are going to build that RM44 billion 37km (37 km!) bridge linking Malacca’s Telok Gong in Alor Gajah to Sumatra’s Pulau Rupat, Dumai and Pekan Baru.

At the risk of sounding vision-less, I will have to say that this is one super mega project that we can do without. Ok. So I am vision-less.

Ali believes that we need the bridge. Read THIS.

He said the project would be a private initiative between China’s Axim Bank and local consortium Malacca Straits Development.

The bank has agreed to finance up to 85% of the construction of the US$13bil (RM44.2bil) bridge with the local company having to bear the remaining 15% of the cost.

Ali said the bridge would not only spur economic growth between the two countries but also strengthen relations.

He added that the use of modern technology has made construction of large bridges common around the world despite challenges posed by natural threats.

Adoi!

My esteemed estimation is that by the time construction begins (God forbid!), the cost will balloon and inflate to five times the original cost! That usually happens, doesn't it?

Right now, I'm just dizzy trying to visualise 37 kilometres of the bridge across the sea....

Really getting sea sick!

38 comments:

big cat said...

ali oh ali, why la so clever??? if i m an umno cybertrooper, i will demand extra pay to defend this fella.

Old Fart said...

Lets be fair.

When was the last time this MB got quoted in the News Papers. Even with the Chinese Premier going to his state you only read someone else's name. He has not met his quota for media exposure in the last several month. He is scared he might soon be forgotten by his bosses. Or maybe his new girlfriend cheekily asked him how come she don't read about him in the papers. Maybe he is only trying to impress her...So say anything stupid also nevermind..as long as got newspaper exposure o.k. already. Otherwise, pray tell me of what use is that statement of his on this bridge which Mahathir spoke about when he was PM.

Anonymous said...

There is no limit to being dumb! Ali has confirmd it.

Anonymous said...

They shouldn't build a bridge but a UTS, Underwater Train System, combining Submarine Technology and Rail Transit Systems. It would be a 'First' not to mention much more scenic. You could also have underwater stopovers, underwater hotels and underwater themeparks. As Malaysia is getting overcrowded, perhaps we could also build an underwater city that is inbetween Malacca and Sumatera! Come on guys, bridges are so 20th century! We're into the 21st century! Let's think like it!

Anonymous said...

Pak Ali ni layak jadi Raja Lawak. Pertama bagi Shah Rukh Khan Datuk. Sekarang buat pasal pulak nak buat jambatan yang harganya boleh menjadikan beribu-ribu rakyat Melaka orang kaya. Ntahlah. Kesian Najib ada orang kuat sebegini

Anonymous said...

Yes all along the 37km bridge,Ali will sell "Burnt Fish".
This is another dumbo trying to outdo Woof Woof Nazri.

Rastaman.JB.

amoker said...

He seemed greedy for attention. Malacca just informed that they are going to have Shahrukh concert soon. I hope Shahrukh does show up.

Unknown said...

..salam nas..
..yes, and Bachok needs a bridge to Perhentian Islands..to spur up economic growth..

Anonymous said...

To spur economic growth we need to build mental bridges to higher knowledge.

Saddiq Sagaraga said...

Brilliant idea. Treat the bridge also as a toll plaza for ships passing through the world's busiest sea-lane. Add R&R facilities for good measure. Have a conduit to join national power grids of Indonesia and Malaysia. And why not have rail service, too. Apa lagi, Pak Ali?

Anonymous said...

great, now the indons can just walk over to malaysia instead of taking the boats.
baguslah. jimat duit feri.
i'd like to operate a massage parlour and a budget hotel at the bridge rest area somewhere in international waters. lol

Saddiq Sagaraga said...

Brilliant idea. Treat the bridge also as a toll plaza for ships passing through the world's busiest sea-lane. Add R&R facilities for good measure. Have a conduit to join national power grids of Indonesia and Malaysia. And why not have rail service, too. Apa lagi, Pak Ali?

Fadhil said...

Probably trying to emulate the legend of building the jambatan emas ke puncak Gunung Ledang. Selamat mencuba.

Anonymous said...

For rm44b he can:

stick 1 KLIA Airport +
1 Twin KLCC Tower +
1 Disneyland +
10 New Ultra Modern Universities + 10 New Ultra Modern Specialist Hospitals
+ 10,000 Kedai Makan Ikan Bakar
+ beli undi semua rakyat melaka for pru13
+ 1 Juta Hadiah Kain Pelikat
+ 1000 Plastic Surgery to clone Michael Jackson;

in Melaka, and still has extra RM24B to spend on other things.

-hahahaha pelik tapi benar-

Donplaypuks® said...

This is clearly a ploy to spend a lot of the public's money (millions of $) on crony consultants' and architect's costs for 'feasibility studies', and then, like a certain crooked bridge, abort it!

This seems to be the thinking trend in M'sia. We can see it in Khazanah's forays into not just one, but several, theme parks and EPU's championing of double tracking railway. No one has a clue if cost:benefit ratios are positive.

They will talk about the upward surging 'multiplier effect' as though it is guaranteed by God, without acknowledging that if the project bombs, there will be a severe downward spiralling effect, as in the failure CSD's and Sub Prime Mortgages which almost bankrupted the world!!

The question that Ali, convicted of money politics by his own party,UMNO, should answer first is:

Based on the current estimated cost of $44 billion, what is the break even period (years) for the project and how do they expect to service interest costs (say $4.4 billion at 10% per years) and eventually repay the capital borrowed sum of $44 billion? What environmental and stress tests have they done on their project models?

And what exactly is the business that they hope to do in Sumatra that is going to generate an influx of business and capital there?

dpp
We are all of 1 race, the Human race

Basree Rakijan said...

dulupun sultan melaka berangan nak bina jambatan ke gunung ledang sbb nak berkahwin dengan putri gunung ledang. siap jambatan dari melaka ke sumatra nanti boleh la orang melaka kahwin dengan orang pekan baru. itulah maksud ketua menteri 'to strengthen relationship' agaknya!

Anonymous said...

puan patut tanya KM bahalol ni, bagaimana kalau dicadangkan pula satu jambatan diantara Johor dan Sarawak pulak ? KM ni punya tahap "IQ" nya memang hebat melepasi paras "moron"...buat malu Melayu satu dunia ada pemimpin macam ni...

Anonymous said...

Everything is over glorified in Melaka. There was a so- called "Empayar Melaka" that fell to a few portugese sailors from Goa who landed in perhaps 2 ships. Empire? Common!

There is no trace of those legandary warriors, except for tombs marked with notice boards that say "dipercayai kubur this guy and that guy".

Now, there is a very big so called "replika kincir air kesultanan melaka"; on the bank of the river opposite Heeren House. Where got such technology here in 15th century? Otherwise, I am sure it would have been mada a big deal in our school history syllabus.

Now, a bridge to nowhere. The Melaka Dream continues!

Nacaleb

Anonymous said...

The idea of a bridge linking Malaysia to Indonesia I believe was proposed in the 1960s. It was to strengthen the ties between the two nations as the Malays and the Indonesians share a common ancestry root.

Anonymous said...

It's nice to have vision, talk and dream when you dont have to chip out any cent.

Just like a kid venture into big biz using rich dad's money.

He got nothing to lose.

MullahTTD I said...

Dear Puan Nuraina

A VERY BIG IDEA from a small State Leader

Anonymous said...

Last week the great coastal city of Shanghai reported to have the sea waves lapping up its esplanade and famed water front.This is an indicator that the effects of global warming is here and now, with waters from poles increasing and in 30 years time many Coastal cities including Singapore and Malacca Penang will be seeing the rising waters.Datuk Ngeh want sell Perak Sand from Perak rivers to Singapore but he dunt want to sell to Melaka or Penang.
So maybe the bridge is for the Singporeans to run from Pantai Kundor to Riau province.
Regarding the common roots, its got nothing with bridge since not all malays are indonesian origin,but many indonesian are from the Malay roots of this side the world.
By the way RTM reported yesterday there are 1,200,000 legal and 1,000,000 illegal indonesians in Msia.Total 2,200,000.
Mah Ngah Tong

Anonymous said...

so far i have never quite agree with dpp postings, but i must say, this time, he is spot on.

crooked bridge indeed by crooked people.

the bridge is never there, but i hope somebody actually activate investigation on detail payment made by government, in total, for its design, cancellation, mobilisation and demobilisation, compensations paid etc.


i think its a bunch of crooked people there.

Anonymous said...

Common ancestry root my friend. Not who came from where. Confusing isn't it? Especially when we conveniently use different words that have different meanings. As for simply saying 'No', I would like to think that structures have more symbolism than just practical functionality. As for history, the debate as to just who came what first is not my forte. Rather, I would like to think that influence is reciprocal, intermingling and never strictly one-way.

Al Tantooy said...

Eh how come no comment on PI Bala's video about 5 juta ringgit offer?

Anonymous said...

anon 552pm, there are strong reasons to fear the 2000,000 indons here, especially given the recent fever of ganyang malaysia.

there are stronger ways of sharing information than internet; its word of mouth.

the maids and workers here are telling their bad experiences in malaysia to their friends and relatives back home, especially those working for chinese and indians here. from handling pigs and dogs, to being given pigs to eat, to being treated like slaves.

with pek hwa and the recent indian who killed the maid cases, big media coverage, the ganyang malaysia probably leading to ganyang cina dan india.

'guugel'

Anonymous said...

thats not the real bala.

bala is dead, in pondicherry. deepak, the cousin of asha, confirmed that when anupan gets his first baby with banita.

the first music video will be promoted this january 2010 by ashok & ucchal.

its not rm5million. much less. when udaya was asking for the first money from phoolan, during breakfast, she gave in rupee.

zeenat will confirm later, and give the costume and all before friday.

Anonymous said...

When discourse is lost on the individual, they will resort to ramblings and unintelligent spourts covering incapable mental capacities for reasoning.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you can advice him not to build the bridge. He may listen to you because you are cute.

Anonymous said...

Nur, so many of us bloggers are so naive to think that the Chinese are so stupid to just loan you RM40 billion for no catch.C'mon lah dont think they are as stupid as the local chinese,some big collateral must be in their hands(federal government guarantee payback ?,sale of gas to them at fixed rate for next 20 years?,we must open wide our market for influx og chinese goods?)Only 1 person benefit from this wild mammoth-rustam.

Anonymous said...

There should be a massive bridge system that links all continents, peninsulars and islands of the world. This global bridge will be called the 1WB or 1 World Bridge. It will have lanes for cars, bicycles, pedestrians, horses, camels and donkeys. No mat rempit allowed.

Anonymous said...

hahahahah.... daylight robbery indeed if it happens!!

Why not just build 1 bullet train to Singapore and bring in loads of visitor$$ from the island for day/overnite trips? You can even arrange 4 hours trip of historic Malacca Sultanate from Singapore airport with 1 bullet train! hahaha!!

But seriously, Melaka can really use the money to get rid of poverty which still exist in Melaka today. Help the kampungs. MOre can also be done to shore up the medical tourism in Melaka as well as the tertiary education centres.

Anonymous said...

The father got a website too: aboutelis.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

its only 27 kms? That will mke it about three times longer than the Penang bridge. Its a project worthy serious consideration. The benefits would be tremendous.

sri hartamas

Anonymous said...

1.remember MMLKY came to "visit" Peninsular Msia ?
de deal was made then, followed up by wife of PM cosy up to MMlKY and PAP womensection ?
2.The sand is now absolutely vital since Singapire coasrt is receding due to melting poles ice cap causing waters to rise,
3.Professor Blauchard of University of mexico forecast that 30 years from now, the coastal cities(Include Singapore ?) will be innundated with water.
4.Cm of Melaka proposing bridge to Sumatra,and dat connection is fr the Sinagaporeans who already buy up Melaka to,escape to Riau.
5.question is who is involved, dont say every one dunno
500 lorries can escape EMBEe Ghani's attention wan ?.
6.Add salt to injury those a---les in singapore allow their shipping industry participants to dump sludges in Pontian waters.
7.there shud a whole minstry to be set up :
to manage and control anything that has sumting to do Singapore, from food,petrol,Iskandar region ,military incursions ,sand ,water ,espionage,arms race, etcetc ,readers can add,since these issues affect all the govertment dept but no boyy has the authority(testicles) to focus,there those a----les skrew Msia everyday,inluding the sick joke about slapping pple twice in the dark trains.
Aiyah,no end to this greedy business of 500,or 1000 loly of sand.
Sure got kira wan,n summore those a----les say and snigger, how uncorrupt they ar.
Mah Ngah Tong

Anonymous said...

To Mah,

Interesting komen on Blauchard. If coastal cities under water than how Malaysia? Also, a scientist predicted Bangkok will be under water in 2015. We all better prepare!

Anonymous said...

nasib baik lah kita ada smart tunnel

Anonymous said...

I just saw 2012 the movie. Better start building a bridge to Africa! Also, start buying property there! Get in touch with our brethren in Cape Town! Start opening shopping complexes there, bring Malaysian dishes like nasi lemak, roti canai, keow teow and open a proton factory. Don't forget to bring batik also. We can call the new place 1Mafrica!