Last Saturday I drove up to Penang with some friends to attend a Foreign Investment seminar. It was an investment seminar for Malaysian businesses wishing to invest in Sumatera, Indonesia. The seminar was well attended with over 40 participants - all being businesses of varying sizes, mostly from Penang.
Penang has very long business links with Medan in Sumatera and also southern Thailand and up to Myanmar. People who do not like the modern history of Malaya will also not understand how Malaya became so rich. And since they neither understand nor like the history of the country, they "cannot adjust the hat on their heads". Many a fumble is along their way. Actually there is no issue at all.
Anyway the Indonesians are aggressively promoting their country. There is a new vigor in Indonesia. There was a government rep present at the seminar who gave a good account of what is going on in Indonesia. They have woken up from a deep sleep.
Next day on Sunday (24 March 2019) we drove back from Penang, planning to stop for lunch at Ipoh before continuing to KL. Unfortunately a trailer truck had caught fire just before the Jelapang tunnel. The traffic was jammed up all the way to Cangkat Jering in Taiping. The entire traffic jam lasted 10 hours or more.
It took us less than one hour to drive from Penang to Cangkat Jering where we were stopped by the traffic jam. Then we spent almost SIX hours crawling the 31 kilometres between Kuala Kangsar and the Ipoh exit.
It was extremely poor traffic management by PLUS. The jam was very bad because the Plus workers had placed rubber cones and fully closed off one lane of the highway.
We did not see any traffic management at all. There were no human beings directing the traffic. I could detect the 'tidak apa' attitude.
Other than one maintenance vehicle flashing its yellow lights there were no other PLUS personnel when we passed the burnt out trailer (after 6PM). There was not even a traffic policeman in sight.
We saw about a dozen cars stalled because of engine overheating. The tow trucks had a field day. Due to the very long traffic jam there were men, women and children forced to piss beside the road. It was really very poor crisis management by PLUS.
On a happier note Penang and Ipoh were most enjoyable. Here are some 'berita bergambar' from the trip.
Penang has very long business links with Medan in Sumatera and also southern Thailand and up to Myanmar. People who do not like the modern history of Malaya will also not understand how Malaya became so rich. And since they neither understand nor like the history of the country, they "cannot adjust the hat on their heads". Many a fumble is along their way. Actually there is no issue at all.
Anyway the Indonesians are aggressively promoting their country. There is a new vigor in Indonesia. There was a government rep present at the seminar who gave a good account of what is going on in Indonesia. They have woken up from a deep sleep.
Next day on Sunday (24 March 2019) we drove back from Penang, planning to stop for lunch at Ipoh before continuing to KL. Unfortunately a trailer truck had caught fire just before the Jelapang tunnel. The traffic was jammed up all the way to Cangkat Jering in Taiping. The entire traffic jam lasted 10 hours or more.
It took us less than one hour to drive from Penang to Cangkat Jering where we were stopped by the traffic jam. Then we spent almost SIX hours crawling the 31 kilometres between Kuala Kangsar and the Ipoh exit.
It was extremely poor traffic management by PLUS. The jam was very bad because the Plus workers had placed rubber cones and fully closed off one lane of the highway.
We did not see any traffic management at all. There were no human beings directing the traffic. I could detect the 'tidak apa' attitude.
Other than one maintenance vehicle flashing its yellow lights there were no other PLUS personnel when we passed the burnt out trailer (after 6PM). There was not even a traffic policeman in sight.
We saw about a dozen cars stalled because of engine overheating. The tow trucks had a field day. Due to the very long traffic jam there were men, women and children forced to piss beside the road. It was really very poor crisis management by PLUS.
On a happier note Penang and Ipoh were most enjoyable. Here are some 'berita bergambar' from the trip.
Above : Prosperous and beautiful Penang.
Below : View of Masjid Terapong at Tanjong Bungah
Below : View of Masjid Terapong at Tanjong Bungah
and the fishing boats at the Tsunami Village.
Above : Chilling at the lobby of Khoo Salmah Nasution's Areca Hotel
in Jln Khoo Sian Ewe. A wonderful work of restoration.
Below : Could not miss the famous Teochew cendol, rojak and laksa.
Above : After SIX hours stuck in the traffic jam, we reached the new Durbar Restaurant
(the old FMS Restaurant) in Ipoh (around 8pm).
Below: The Durbar is another piece of great restoration.
Above : Checking out the decor at the Durbar.
Below : An early potrait of Regina Elizabeth II -
Below : This is a newspaper ad for Gold Dollar Tea.
Only those born up to the late 1960s will know this tea.
More trips are being planned.
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