To the casinos in 100 minutes ...

Just as I guessed sometime ago (somewhere in my blog here), Malaysia seems to be on track to built a high speed railway (HSR) from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. The concept of the HSR has been mooted several times before by people in the YTL (Yeoh Tiong Lay) group of companies during Mahathir's and Badawi's times. YTL even mentioned that it would cost some RM 8.0 billion. Of course, at that time details were sketchy. Nor was mentioned where the rails were to run through - to terminate at Bukit Timah or at Tanjung Pagar. Nor did the YTL people ever mention through where the HSR was to run except to say that the HSR was from KL to Singapore and the cost estimate was RM 8.0 billion. Tanjung Pagar station was never even mentioned. Nor was there any comment at all on the HSR proposal from Singapore as though it sanctioned the YTL proposal.

Now, like an animated jigsaw puzzle, everything falls into their right places under the Najib administration. With his deal with Singapore on the KTMB land (a deal that should have been ratified by the Malaysian Parliament instead of by the Majlis Tertinggi UMNO] it looks like the HSR is going to be on. The Star report, if it's any accurate, implies that the HSR is now on and that what remains is to finalise where the stations are to be located. A director, one Ahmad Suhaili, in Pemandu, a think-tank unit in the PM's Dept, said that a pre-feasibility study on the HSR would be concluded in a few weeks, and that the findings of this study will allow the government to decide on where to locate key stations. The Star report mentioned that the HSR would cost some RM 8.0 to 14.0 billion, stretching a distance of 400 km and cutting travel time from the current 7 hours to a mere 90 minutes.

All along, I suspected that, once Singapore gained control of the KTMB land, it would not parcel out the land into pieces, but rather preserve it and enhance the train services into a high speed train system on the same alignment to terminate at Tanjung Pagar (by which time this station would be considerably refurbished and from where an MRT (if it's not already built) to the casinos will be built. Singapore is of course in favour of the HSR because, for one very important thing, the HSR will put a stop, once and for all, to any one in Malaysia into having any idea of cutting off the causeway.

I, for one, am not in favour of it though I do not object if there is an HSR from KL to Johore Bahru only. If anyone wants to go to the Singapore's business districts, then go there by other means of land transport. Malaysia should not be left permanently without the option of doing away with the causeway so that there is free flow of water in the Johore Straits and, more importantly, the ports of Tanjung Pelepas and Pasir Gudang are connected.

Come to think of it, Malaysia does not need Singapore, now that we have ports in Johore, Klang, Penang, Kuantan and even in Trengganu. We should no longer be depending on the facilities of the Singapore port for our exports and imports and can survive without the causeway. Its better to demolish our half of the causeway, leaving the water pipeline intact until 2061 by which time Malaysia is not obligated to supply water to Singapore at dirt cheap price of of 3 sen per 1,000 gallons.

More on this later on ...

Ramadhan ...

Today is the first day of Ramadhan and during this month all Muslims are required to undergo a period of fasting - abstinence from food and beverages, pleasures, entertainment, and so on for 29 or 30 long days from sunrise to sunset. I don't know whether I can make it.