The same old trick ....

I read somewhere that 27.5 acres of land which are part of land (totalling 750 acres) gazetted to the University Of Malaya are to be sold to a company belonging to the Hong Leong Group at a price of RM 312 million. This works out to be RM 260.46 per square foot. I don't know whether the transaction is complete or in the negotiation stage. 

Remember sometime ago, there were a lot of adverse comments against the proposal to move the University to Sepang and the university land converted to a township. I presume that its the same group of companies that made the proposal. The protests were so vocal that the authorities had to deny that such a proposal was in the making. I  remember reading  Ungku Aziz ( former vice-chancellor) saying "kurang ajar", and that the PM and DPM were denying that such a proposal existed and that the University was there to stay. Of course, now the proposal is to acquire merely the under-utilised part of the land, not wholesale acquisition.

The public should be wary of the Hong Leong Group. I remember Sime Darby was arm twisted into selling 2,992 acres of its estate land (a whole estate under one title) in Shah Alam to the Govt for the princely sum of about RM 45,000 per acre ( just slightly above RM 1 per square foot) when Tan Siew Sin (former Finance Minister) was the Chairman of Sime Darby. Tan Siew Sin was later grilled by the shareholders in an AGM for agreeing to sell at dirt cheap price. Sime Darby thought that the transaction was in the interest of the nation because the land was for HICOM (Heavy Industries Corporation of Malaysia) where, among other things, the Malaysian car industry would be located.

Little did Sime Darby knew that HICOM actually occupied a small portion of the 2,992 acres of land while the rest was taken up by the sneaky Hong Leong who converted the land to industry, housing and selling them at huge profits. Sime Darby was to rue that decision to this day.

Lu sapa ...? Lu apa mau ,,,, ?

Today, we will all know who are going to contest in Malaysia's 12th general election. All the candidate's pictures will be on the pages of the local media. This is the time when a candidate will go out smiling and shaking hands with you as if you and him are old friends.  He makes sure that he is seen as the people's man by coming to his constituency in a Proton Saga, by wearing ordinary clothes of the common man, and by being friendly towards you. He is generous with his smiles and promises that he will do something to the community once elected. Everyone he shakes hands with are all his friends.

If after the election he gets elected, he behaves in an entirely different manner. Gone are the smiles and the humility that he exuded before the election. If you wish to see him at his office or during his once-and-only-visit to his constituency, he will ask you " Lu sapa, lu apa mau, lu tak tau kah saya mayak sebok". 

If you want his help for assistance in improving the drainage system in your kampung, the first thing he will ask is "what's in it for me". My uncle used to say about this on the "wakil rakyat" who never actually represented the people. Most of the time, he represents himself, his family and his cronies. For all he cares, the kampung folks can fly kites....