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From a slow-paced movement, Bakri has changed its character to a bustling constituency
Johoreans uncertain how to receive Pakatan's manifesto
Opposition parties are only in it for themselves, says Razali

From a slow-paced movement, Bakri has changed its character to a bustling constituency

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 08:12 PM PST

MUAR: Bandar Maharani, once known as a sleepy hollow with more bicycles than cars and motorcycles on its roads in the early days, is now a bustling town.

Its landscape of rubber plantations and traditional houses in the 1950s, have now be replaced with modern housing and commercial zones.

The famous Sungai Muar, where ships used to ply carrying iron and tin ore from the hinterland to Singapore in the old days, has gradually became "quiet" over the years with most of the goods now being transported via land.

However, trade, which helped the town to grow from several shophouses in 1800s, continued to flourish and prompted the late Johor Ruler Sultan Abu Bakar to focus on developing the town.

Back in the early days, a ferry service was used to transport vehicles and people across the river.

But the ferry service was stopped after the Government built a bridge over the river in the 1960s and the bridge further boosted growth.

Today, part of the town is in the Muar parliamentary area, while the rest in the Bakri parliamentary area.

Though many things have changed, including the landscape of the town itself where modern shophouses replacing traditional wooden buildings. However, some things continue to remain as they were in the old days.

It is still the only place in the country where the residents enjoy having satay, mee rebus and lodeh in the morning and ikan asam pedas during lunch.

Life would have remained still until today if not for the coming of industries in Tanjung Agas, located across the river, in 1970s when several multinational electronic companies set up factories there.

Muar is also famous for its furniture industry, which has over 300 factories.

Another landmark in the town history was when Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar decided to make Bandar Maharani as Bandar DiRaja or the royal town last year.

The Bakri parliamentary area consists of three state constituencies - Bentayan, Sungai Abong and Bukit Naning - and the town is shared between Bentayan and the Maharani constituency in the Muar parliamentary area.

The locals hoped that with the "Royal Town Status", everything in the town will continue to be upgraded including flood mitigation projects, better roads, infrastructure, more streetlights, drains and business opportunities.

Resident Azhar Ahmad, 26, from Kampung Tengah, Bakri, said Bakri was among the fast developing areas in the district with new and modern housing schemes mushrooming everywhere.

However, he added, that the area seemed to lack sports facilities such as fields, badminton courts and martial arts training centres for the youths.

"We have many badminton halls in and near the town but they are operated by businessmen and we need to pay to use the facilities.

"Since most youths here are students, we hope the government would build such facilities in the schemes and villages," he said.

Although the town looks clean and beautiful after it was declared the royal town of Johor, the town market still gives out stench despite undergoing some upgrading.

According to a former bus conductor Lau Kim Leng, 79, housing areas in and around the town used to be flooded each time it rains heavily because of the small and clogged drains.

"Even my house in Taman Orkid along Jalan Bakri was flooded two years ago, but today, there is no more flooding.

"However, since the town is located along Sungai Muar and close to the sea, we still have floods when there is heavy rain during high tides," he said when met in the town recently.

For trader Koo Sie Gek, 45, although the town was now clean, there were several issues, which the Muar municipal council could resolve regarding drainage in some housing areas.

She said the drains in Lorong Serkam, along Jalan Bakri, were still filled with dried leaves from the roadside trees and hoped the council could trim the trees.

She said the dried leaves clogged the drains and in some areas caused flooding while the stagnated drain water became mosquito breeding ground.

She said this had caused dengue outbreak in certain housing areas and hoped the council or the Southern Waste Management Company to clear the drain regularly.

She also said that the royal status given to the town had made many people happy as the town now looked clean, beautiful and thanked the Johor Ruler.

However, she added that the roads, especially along Jalan Maharani from the Muar bridge to the town market and Jalan Abdullah, were always congested.

Koo urged the authorities to review the traffic system near the bridge and allow motorists to turn right if they wanted to go to the western side of Jalan Maharani and those going towards Bakri could just go straight ahead.

She said the one-way system of the roads in the town, especially along Jalan Maharani, should also be reviewed as the system caused congestion.

Besides, Koo said the town had too many vehicles because the public transport system was very poor, which forced residents to buy cars or motorcycles to go to town.

"We used to pedal goods using a cart at the bus terminal a few years ago as the town roads were not congested.

"Today, I have a stall of my own near the terminal but the roads are always filled with cars and other vehicles," she said, adding, there was no more town-service buses today.

Koo said one could live just a kilometre from the town, but without own transport one could not go to town.

She said as a royal town of Johor it should have an efficient public transport system, especially buses, to cater to the needs of workers and students.

She said because of the poor transport system, parents were forced to buy motorcycles and some even cars, for their children who studied at schools in the town.

Her view on the poor public transportation system here is supported by young voter J. Manimala from Taman Seri Bakri Dua in the Bentayan constituency.

She said there was no bus service for residents living in housing areas in and around the town and this made life very difficult for those in the lower-income group.

She said the residents had to wait for taxis along the roads to go to the town and taxi fares were high but the residents had no choice and had to use taxis.

Manimala, 24, said the Government should also consider building a university or a college in Bakri to encourage higher studies among the youngsters.

At the same time, she added, the Government should provide more job opportunities to those graduates as many were unemployed after obtaining their diplomas or degrees.

"I completed my Upper Six studies at SMK Datuk Amara DiRaja a few years ago but have not found a job until now.

"I used to be a temporary teacher but my contract was terminated after one year," she said.

According to the Muar Market Traders' Association chairman Rosli Laham, the contractor had dumped bricks and dried cement into the drains inside the market before covering the drains.

"The drain water cannot flow out although the market is located along Sungai Muar.

"We have reported the matter to the council, which had issued warning to the contractor to resolve the problem or it will terminate the contract," he said.

Rosli said another problem faced by the residents at the market was the rampant parking of motorcycles near the building, which caused problems to motorists to park their cars.

"The council used to seize those motorcycles parked outside of the motorcycle parking areas and fine the owners but it did not stop residents from parking their bikes near the market," he said.

Taxi driver Samad Abdul Hamid, 70, hopes for regular garbage collection and more streetlights to keep the area lit up.

He said garbage collection, especially along Jalan Bakri where he lives, was irregular and sometimes there was no collection for two days.

He said the villages along the road up to Bukit Bakri were under the jurisdiction of the municipal council and all house owners also pay property tax annually.

"We should receive similar services as those living in housing schemes in Bandar Maharani and it includes regular garbage collection.

"We also want the local authority to provide streetlights along both sides of Jalan Bakri up to Bukit Bakri as some areas are dark at night," he said.

Samad, who worked in Singapore in the 60s and 70s, said since the town was now the royal town of Johor, the authorities should ensure it was clean, brightly lit at night and peaceful.

He said the authority built a lion statue at the Bentayan Hawker Centre in the town to tell the world it was the home of the famous Kun Seng Kheng Lion Dance Association.

He also said the lion dancers from Muar had won many world-class competitions but the statue had no colourful decorations to attract visitors.

"The local council should light up the statue and decorate it with attractive colours just like the lions used by the lion dancers," he said.

The Indian community in Bakri, especially those living at Air Manis Estate near Bukit Naning or used to live there, want the Government to relocate SK Air Manis from the estate to Bukit Bakri.

A resident U. Baskaran, said many of the estate workers had moved out and lived near Bukit Bakri and it was a problem to send their children to the school.

He said besides the school, the Indians also hoped the state government and the local authorities would employ more Indians to work in government departments and agencies.

He said though Muar had many factories, especially furniture factories, most of the workers were foreigners who managed to earn good living here.

"Now that the minimum salary has been reviewed to RM900, we hope the factories as well as government departments can engage more Indian workers.

"We also want the state to allocate more low-cost houses to the Indians and let the district office to pick the recipients instead of the political parties," he said.

Baskaran, who looks after an Indian cemetery in Air Manis Estate, hoped the government would build more low-cost houses in the parliamentary.

"Besides houses, we also want the government and the local authorities to allocate trading stalls to the Indians as very few were given stalls to do business," he added.

Meanwhile, a businessman P. Rajamanikam, praised the Ruler for making Bandar Maharani the royal town of Johor and hoped Sultan Ibrahim would also look into the needs of the Indian community.

He said most of the Indians in Bakri were low-income earners who needed better living standard, especially houses and business opportunities.

"Our number is small compared to the Malay and the Chinese communities, but our opportunities towards jobs and business ventures are also very limited.

"We hope the local authority which builds stalls in Bukit Bakri areas can at least allocate a few to our community," he added.

Bakri is expected to be a keenly contested seat as Barisan Nasional is expected to go all out to win back the only parliament, which fell to the opposition among its 26 parliaments state-wide.

Pakatan Rakyat is also going all out to woo its 66,380 voters, which is a mixed seat.

Johoreans uncertain how to receive Pakatan's manifesto

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 08:15 PM PST

JOHOR BARU: Some Johoreans are not confident with Pakatan Rakyat's manifesto as they are uncertain that the Opposition will be able to keep their promises.

College student Sangita Nair, 22, said that the country's economy could be in a bad shape if free education was made available.

"I doubt whether PR can provide free education in the country, if they do national debt will probably increase," she said.

Another college student, Norshakilah Ramanny, 22, opined that free education could be provided in the future but not anytime soon.

"Maybe in a few decades, when Malaysia records stronger economic growth and can sustain the needs of all students," she added.

Factory worker Wong Ah Fai, 48, said that the elimination of the automated enforcement system (AES) to nab traffic offenders was the only thing that grabbed his attention in the manifesto.

Meanwhile, teacher A. Anne Amarantha, 28, said that the opposition might have been a little ambitious with their manifesto.

"What they have to offer is good, but I believe that it would not be possible to realise all the promises.

"If they are going to reduce the prices of cars, I doubt that they can reduce the cost of petroleum," she said.

Administrative clerk Tan Kim Hong, 54, on the other hand was "quite positive" as anything was possible if handled by the right people.

"I'll be saving money if the opposition was able to reduce prices of petroleum and utility bills," she said hoping that the manifesto could be realised sooner.

Businessman S. Jason Raj, 35, said that he felt it was is inadvisable to increase the minimum wage to RM1,100 due to the current economic situation.

"If they come into power and implemented such rules, it would only hurt small and medium-sized businesses," he said.

Opposition parties are only in it for themselves, says Razali

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 04:38 PM PST

MUAR: The political war between the DAP and PKR in Johor over seats with Chinese-majority shows that leaders from both parties only think of themselves, according to Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Razali Ibrahim .

Razali said both opposition leaders each wanted the Bakri and Gelang Patah parliamentary areas as they thought their candidates could win.

He said this showed the Johor DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau and Johor PKR chief Datuk Chua Jui Meng were selfish.

They are having an open war over the two parliamentary areas as both wanted to field their own candidates or fielding themselves there.

There are many parliamentary areas such as Kota Tinggi, Pengerang, Mersing and others which they can contest but they fight over Gelang Patah and Bakri, he said in Parit Jawa.

Razali said their open war over seats also showed the opposition parties would go at each other's throats over posts and portfolios if they happened to win in the next general election.

He said the people in Johor should realise that the DAP and PKR would not care about them as they only cared for themselves and for power.

Both parties have leaders holding parliamentary seats as well as state seats in some states but they did nothing to help the people in those areas.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Rabu, 6 Mac 2013