PM calls for a new plan – The Key is Moderation

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak called for a plan to a new and moving vision “to realize its founding objectives” for the Asia-Europe Summit meeting (ASEM).  He said as a group, it is vital for the members to accept that the balance of the world’s economy has shifted to advancing emerging markets.

“Concurrent with this trend, we need to accelerate the reform of multilateral institutions to reflect the new reality”.

PM Najib and many other leaders have attended the Eighth ASEM at Brussels on the 4^th of October to discuss fundamental issues relating to the theme, ‘Quality of Life’.

He added that a “global movement of the moderates” of all faiths and efforts together as one was required to make it as a success.  He claimed there was also a need to balance the rate of radical activities.

He also called for the global emphasis on inclination to moderate thinking. Najib also reiterated his statement at ASEM on Tuesday believing that the vocal and openness are the essentials for moderates in expressing their views.

Najib attended ASEM for the first time as Prime Minister, recognized the European Union’s (EU) “courageous and unprecedented steps” to guard any harm from occurring on eurozone with the severe economic downturn and risks surfacing from the monarch debt problems during the financial crisis which happened recently.

He also spoke on the New Economic Model (NEM) which is a testimony of Malaysia’s new way of thinking and philosophy in driving this country to a developed and high-income nation by 2020 that is ‘inclusive’ and ‘sustainable’.

Najib said continuous macro-economic observation, composed domestic macro-economic policies as well as regular regional and intra-regional consultation would help to detect undermine events and coordinate policy responses to resolve them.

“Improved cooperation and consultation between the governments of Europe and Asia is one way to ensure we are better prepared for the future.”

Back in Malaysia, Najib said it was a good forum for informal consultation and has given Malaysia a huge opportunity to send a very strong message that Asean and Asian were important to Europe and vice versa.

He arrived at the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang, from Brussels accompanied by his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Subang Jaya – Efficiency of the Public Transportation.

As we are all familiar about, winding down after long working hours, getting stuck in traffic jams are the norms especially during rush hours and it happens regularly – almost more like a daily routine – at Subang Jaya residential areas.

Many residents have filed complaints and not many actions are taken to solve the congestion issue. The main reason is due to the fact that public transportation is not rooted in Subang Jaya area for residences’ convenience.

Muhammad Zulkarnain Hamzah, the co-founder of ‘The Association For the Improvement of Mass Transit (TRANSIT) verbalized that many people holds a wrong perception to what public transportation is about, when the real perception of it is a tool to relieve congestion and traffic jams during peak hours and especially, “in urban setting where population density is an issue because congestion cause economic grid lock to the country”.

It is unavoidable for traffic jams to happen especially during rush hours from 5pm to 7pm because that time is the peak time when everyone returns from offices and universities, however, it is possible to reduce the amount of cars on the road and to relieve congestion. By fixing public transportation in residential areas to collect passengers would ultimately solve the issue.

Rajiv a/l Rishyakaran, the councilor of Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) expressed in his opinion is the lack of planning from the authorities which causes the congestion and massive traffic jams during peak hours and there is no ‘transport master plan’ in all Malaysian cities.

When a meeting was assembled and Rapid bus was asked to improve their bus services for the benefits of the residents, unfortunately they said it all depends on the profits and if there will be enough passengers to fit the requirements in order for them to go to certain routes which are suggested.

According to Hannah Yeoh, the state assembly-person for Subang Jaya said, “it is like a chicken and egg situation. The bus services will never be regular enough to convince people to come out and take the bus, and the bus company would say ‘look, because we don’t have enough customers, I cannot run my bus service at this particular route’”.

Yeoh also stated that it is essential for the federal government to take an initiative to solve the issue.

“As a government, you must push through and if you owe the particular bus company you must make sure that even if it does not collect any profit, you would still have to run the profit because that is the duty of the government to make sure the public transportation is there.”

The jams are also caused by students’ parents who picked them up before and after school which is about the same time as peak hours. This is due to the lack of public transportation which disable them to commute from one place to another without the convenience of private vehicles.

According to Yeoh, there have been ideas about building a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system throughout Subang Jaya area, linking from Subang Parade, SS 15, SS 17, SS 14, SS 18, Kesas, The Summit, Persiaran Kewajipan and lastly to Putra Heights.

It is a great start by implementing the ideas to develop a better future for the Subang Jaya residences. Public transportation will help to reduce the traffic jams considering there will be lesser cars on the road in the near future.