Is this a wise investment?

Is this one of the long term investment?

It depends on how you view the scenario.

Why certain people can obtain gambling licence compared to licence for coffee shop, coffee house, sundry shop and the likes?

Why is it so difficult to put our hard earned currency into the likes of ASB, ASN….?

When was the last time you received your bonus from this investment?

I purposely don’t write long articles on this, so that we could together think by ourselves.

Unoccupied flat units

The flats at Sg Plan resettlement scheme has been sold out since they first opened over 5 years ago. However, until now, there are still a lot of unoccupied units around. Nobody knows, what has happened to all these units. What a waste of resources!

When Suruhanjaya Pembangunan Perumahan Sarawak (SPPS) first allocate the units to the public, they did not properly screen the applicants. Some applicants applied these flat units just for the sake of applying when other people are doing so. The SPPS did not properly identify who really need these houses and who don’t. As a result, most are left vacant even though they have been sold. The SPPS should take prompt actions to repossess these overdue units and resell them to the needy as soon as possible.

Had the applicants been properly screened and the proper allocation system was followed, it wouldn’t have happened as it is now. They should not use the lucky draw system but should be based upon the applicants’ income’s capability and capacity. There are thousands of people who qualified and really needs these houses. What has happened to the gov’t policy of providing low cost housing for the people. What really happened was that, this scheme only benefited a few, not a majority of the people. In this case, only the lucky ones got them. In fact, this project was to benefit certain politicians and contractors, as what was happening everywhere. It is better still they don’t build any at all, so that it was fair to all the people.

If you have the chance to visit the squatters at Sebatang, Openg, Muzako and BDA Pasir Putih in Tanjung Kidurong Bintulu, you’ll be amazed to come across the plight of the people in this under-developed state. Why are people still living in squatters? Sad to note that, the majority of these squatters are bumiputeras. Why hasn’t the gov’t of BN really put up an effort to get rid of this situations. Each time Rancangan Malaysia and annual budget was announced, they have never failed to include poverty eradication measures in their agendas. But, how well were they being implemented? How well has the Politics of Development masterminded by Taib Mahmud help the people of Sarawak. What has the people, the voters, got in return for their generous votes? I think the gov’t have not done enough and have not provide enough low cost housing for the people, when in fact the people needs more.

Coffee shop cleanliness issue and licence issuance delay

When you stop by at a coffee shop in town for a sip of coffee and a plate of noodle, I presume little did you realize the unhealthy environments in which your food and drinks are prepared. What you care is that whether the food is nice or not. Other than that, who cares about the cleanliness. As I observed at most of the kitchen of the coffee shops around Bintulu, the level of cleanliness is very low and disappointing. It is even most shocking to see that, the kitchen of many fast food restaurants are very dirty. It seems that cleanliness is a secondary matter for these restaurants.

What has the BDA enforcement unit done pertaining to this matter? What enforcement measures have been taken in order to ensure that the cleanliness guidelines are adhered to by these coffee shop owners. It seems that the enforcement officers from BDA are shaking their legs sitting in their air-conditioned offices chit chatting about their favourite TV shows or their favourite TV celebrities, when they should be going out to the fields doing their enforcement duties. Even if they do go out for an enforcement assignment, they would do it just to please their bosses, especially when the envelopes containing Agung’s head exchanges hands. What has happened to the coffee shop grading system? I think the system is not carefully and properly implemented.

When it comes to the application of licence for the operations of coffee house, it has never been a pleasant experience for some operators. One sincere coffee house operator told me that, despite the fact that his coffee house are very clean and well maintained and also fully air-conditioned, he still face difficulties in getting his licence approved. He is not satisfied over the delay in which his coffee house licence is being processed. I think many other operators did face the same problems, who knows. But then, why are those coffee shops whose kitchens are very dirty and in disarray still enjoys prompt renewal process? That doesn’t make sense at all. It looks like there are some bias in which the licence are being processed or issued.

These are the areas in which the local authority is lacking in efficiencies. Or there may be a possibility of Agung’s head deficiency syndrome. To the relevant party, please look into this matter and if possible investigate it.

The kitchen of one of the coffee shop which is not well maintained.

Grammatical errors & typos

Going through my posts, I found numerous grammatical errors and typos in them.   Dear readers, please bear with me.   It’s because I wrote them spontaneously as the ideas came out from my head without first writing a draft copy.    Some people doesn’t really emphasize on grammatical structures, so long as the messages are clear and concise, myself included.

Anyway, I will try to eliminate unnecessary errors as much as possible.

Thanks for your time reading this blog and I hope my messages would reach as many intended audiences as possible.

5-foot way vegetable vendors

The scene at the 5-foot way at Sg. Plan, Jalan Tanjung Kidurong, Bintulu new shophouses is an eye sore.   Vegetable vendors line-up at the 5-foot way doing their daily business starting as early as 2pm in the afternoon.   This place also has been self-converted into “pasar malam” too.   As a result the road in between the two shophouse buildings is congested.

The efforts of these vendors, mostly bumiputeras, are commendable.   They work hard in order to earn better income for their family.   The involvement of bumiputeras in business is in line with the government’s aspirations.   Unfortunately, they do not have a proper place to do business, as you may see in the following pictures.

In conclusion, I would say that:

-  This reflects the inefficiency of the local authority, BDA or Bintulu Development Authority in maintaining a well organized town.   I doubt whether the enforcement officers are doing their jobs.   This is common diseases within the government departments, regardless of what departments.

-  I order to cope up with this situations, the authority concerned should come up with a practical solution such as building “pasar tamu” in this area which serves as business premises for these vendors besides maintaining clean and beautiful town.