The Penang Second Bridge

Car toll for Penang Bridge 2 set at RM7

By ANDREA FILMER andrea@thestar.com.my Sunday March 11, 2012 

GEORGE TOWN: Car toll for the Second Penang Bridge has been set at RM7, said Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Dr Ismail Mohamed Taib.

“Tolls will match those of the first Penang Bridge. We want it to be lower, but if we are lower, the first bridge management will complain and sue for compensation.

“The first Penang Bridge was supposed to increase (the car toll) to over RM9, so we were ready to follow them.

Ahead of time: The 292nd and final pier of the Second Penang Bridge was cast yesterday, marking the end of foundation works. The Bridge, which is scheduled for completion in September 2013, may be finished two months ahead of schedule. Car toll has been set at RM7. — LIM BENG TATT / The Star

 

“However, now they have confirmed that they are staying at RM7, so we will also charge the same,” he said after witnessing Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah cast the second bridge's 292nd and final pier marking the end of foundation works.

Asked how long the RM7 toll would remain, he said at least until 2038.

It was first announced in June 2010 that car toll for the first Penang bridge would be hiked from RM7 to RM9.40 in 2013.

A record: Upon completion, the Second Penang Bridge will be 24km long — 10.5km longer than the first bridge — which will make it the longest bridge in South-East Asia. 

In November last year, it was reported that the concession period for the Penang bridge had been extended to Dec 31, 2038 in exchange for a freeze on toll hikes.

On the progress of the Second Penang Bridge, Dr Ismail said works were 73% completed with some 3.5% ahead of schedule.

If all proceeded well, he added, the bridge could be completed two months ahead of the September 2013 target.

Upon completion, the Second Penang Bridge will be 24km long 10.5km longer than the first bridge which will make it the longest bridge in South-East Asia.

Work on the second Penang bridge is ahead of schedule

By Andrea Filmer, The Star October 18, 2011

GEORGE TOWN: Construction of the second Penang bridge is running ahead of schedule.

As such, the bridge is expected to be completed two months before November 2013.

“Some of the packages are ahead of schedule while some are behind, but on average the bridge is 65% complete,” said Works Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor.

He described this as a good “buffer” for the contractor ahead of the monsoon season.

The second Penang bridge taking shape, as seen from the island side of the project. The bridge is expected to be ready two months ahead of the November 2013 completion date. - CHIN CHENG YEANG / The Star

The construction of the RM4.5bil second Penang Bridge is expected to be completed by September 2013.

“There are many factors when it comes to projects of this size and this one is being conducted in the middle of the sea.

“If conditions are favourable, construction may finish two months early,” Shaziman said during a visit to the bridge's Pier 90 where work on the superstructure is currently in progress.

He added that construction was targeted to reach 70% by the end of the year with the overall cost of the bridge unchanged at RM4.5bil.

Shaziman expressed disappointment that there was no industrial trainee working on the second Penang bridge this year.

“I have asked the implementing agency to get in touch with universities that have engineering schools to send their students to this project.

“Last year, we had more than 50 university students doing their practical training here,” said Shaziman, adding that he would get in touch with the Higher Education Ministry on the matter.

He said the experience of working on sizable projects like the second Penang bridge was invaluable for students.

“We want the local workforce to benefit as much as possible from this project,” he said, urging companies involved in the construction to hire more local skilled workers.

Location Map of the Second Penang Bridge

The map below provides an idea of the location of the Second Penang Bridge and the interchanges that have been planned for it. The information may be modified as the construction progresses.

View Second Penang Bridge in a larger map

 

Progress Report: 2012 January 17

Over 65% of the Second Penang Bridge has been completed. View Second Penang Bridge Work in Progress 2012
 

Progress Report: 2011 April 9

Construction of 2nd Penang Bridge in progress (9 April 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

 9 April 2011 Update
It is now exactly one year since I began this page on the progress of the Second Penang Bridge. Piers for the roadway are now visible in the South Channel although only one small section of the roadway has been placed. The following photo essay provides a glimpse of the progress so far.


Piers of Second Penang Bridge (9 April 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo


Construction work on Second Penang Bridge (9 April 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo


The Second Bridge is in the horizon, literally (9 April 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo


Second Penang Bridge marker (9 April 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

Concessionaire: Second bridge will be completed by November 2013

By JOSEPHINE JALLEH josephine@thestar.com.my Photos by WAN MOHIZAN WAN HUSSEIN


THE second Penang Bridge is 47.55% completed as of March, 2011

Looming in the horizon: A view of the work in progress on the second bridge linking Batu Kawan and Batu Maung in Penang

 

The project is however 2.85% behind the 50.4% scheduled progress.

State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said concession holder Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB) had assured the state government that it would catch up with the scheduled completion of the 24km bridge slated for November 2013.

Workers building a scaffolding for the bridge

 

Construction works on the bridge started in late November 2008.

Lim also said over 700 workers were working round the clock at the United Engineers Malaysia (UEM) segmental box girder plant in Batu Kawan to produce 8,092 units of segmental box girders for the bridge.

“They have already moulded 987 units. A total of 28 units are already fixed on-site out in the sea with 14 of them on each side of the bridge.

Completed segmental box girders stored at the plant in Batu Kawan

 

“Besides that, piling works are 84% completed while the building of pile caps and columns are 55% and 45% completed respectively,” he said during a visit to the plant yesterday.

Lim added that the two toll plaza buildings, to be located in Batu Kawan, were still on the design board.

Latest update: (from right) Anuar briefing the visitors including assemblyman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim and Lim at the segmental box girder plant in Batu Kawan

 

“We will also implement a green concept for the package to be environmental friendly,” he added.
Buildcast Sdn Bhd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of UEM Builders Bhd) production manager Anuar Abdul said there were 22 moulds and three factories at the segment casting plant.

“Between 12 and 14 pieces of segmental box girders are produced in a day and the process is a tedious one,” he said.

The RM4.5bil second bridge project comprises three main packages — construction of the sub-structure by CHEC Construction Sdn Bhd (the local arm of China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd), casting of the segmental box girder by UEM Builders Bhd, and construction of the Batu Kawan and Batu Maung exit and entry points and trumpet interchange by Cergas Murni, IJM Construction and HRA Teguh.

The bridge, which will link Batu Kawan in Seberang Prai to Batu Maung on Penang island, is poised to be the longest bridge in the country and Southeast Asia.

Main Contractor: China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC):

Design, Construction and Completion of The Second Penang Bridge

The Second Penang Bridge is a project under the cooperative framework between China and Malaysia, and it is the largest civil work in Malaysia for the past 20 years. The project includes main navigation span, deck, navigation lights, decorative lights on main spans, foundation and sub-structure works for approach spans. The part over the sea for the Second Penang Bridge is 16.370km. The dual-pylon cable-stayed structure of 3 spans is adopted for the main navigation spans.

Duration:Nov. 8th, 2008-May 7th, 2012

Employer: JAMBATAN KEDUA SDN.BHD.

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 Second Penang bridge on course

Sunday August 29, 2010 By CHRISTINA CHIN starmag@thestar.com.my

The sound of piling work on the new Penang bridge can be music to the ears, given its promise of smoother traffic. 

WITH the Raya exodus poised to begin over the next few days, those headed for Penang are wont to sigh at the thought of traffic snarls in and around the island.

There was a time when crossing from Butterworth to George Town (and vice versa) entailed hours of sweating in the car, waiting for slow-mo ferries to transport vehicles across the narrow straits.

The 13.5km Penang Bridge, which opened to traffic in September 1985, brought welcome relief as it enabled traffic to zoom straight into Gelugor from Seberang Perai.

But over the years, traffic has built up again, especially with the latter area seeing a spate of growth recently. And come festive season, it’s back to the gridlock as hordes rush to balik kampung.

An artist’s impression of the new 24km link, which mirrors the existing Penang bridge in design. 

 

Well, Penangites and visitors to the Pearl of the Orient will have to be patient for a few more years, as the Second Penang Bridge is scheduled to roll out only in 2013. With the new link, island-bound traffic will be able to flow from Batu Kawan in Seberang Perai, to Batu Maung on the other end.

The update from Penang Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng is that more than 50% of piling work on the 24km second bridge has been completed. Casting of the segmental box girdle is in full swing and contracts for the land road developments have been awarded.

Overall, more than 25% of the mega project is done. It’s now time to go into full swing to make sure that the bridge is ready by September 2013, Lim says.

“Yes, the first Penang Bridge was expanded, but by 2012, traffic will again exceed its capacity. Now, we have 64,000 vehicles using the bridge daily – and that’s just one way. We’re expecting 80,000 vehicles in two years.

“We need the second bridge to divert at least 25% of the traffic from the first bridge. By the time the signages are ready and the tests and trial runs conducted, it will probably only be open to traffic early 2014.”

Lim admits that the state government does not have any power to ensure that the project is delivered on time, but he thinks the companies responsible will not risk having to pay liquidated damages which could amount to “tens of thousands (of ringgit) per day” to the federal government for any delay.

“The state gvernment can only monitor the cost and progress closely. Any delay will cause the cost to balloon from its estimated RM4.5bil.” Ultimately, it will be Penangites and other motorists who will have to bear the increase in the cost, through higher tolls, he says.

A UEM staff briefing Lim Guan Eng (right) at the Batu Kawan casting yard, during an inspection by the Penang Chief Minister last year.

 

In June, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said in Parliament that come 2013, the toll rate for the second bridge would be RM1.90 for motorcycles; RM9.40 for cars, taxis and two-axle vans (except MPVs); RM16.20 for two-axle lorries, which include pick-ups and MPVs, and RM33.60 for vans, buses and six-wheeled lorries.

Currently, the toll for cars plying the Penang Bridge is RM7.

The second bridge project comprises three main packages: construction of the sub-structure by CHEC
Construction Sdn Bhd (the local arm of China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd); casting of the segmental box girdle by UEM Builders Bhd; and construction of the Batu Kawan and Batu Maung exit and entry points and trumpet interchange by Cergas Murni, IJM Construction and HRA Teguh.

Package one includes piling and the building of pile caps, columns and the navigation span.

Lim says as of April this year, over 13% of this package has been completed “but CHEC will have to play catch up now because of delays caused when the company had to amend its pile caps and columns design to ensure that they can withstand an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale.

“Although big vessels will not be allowed to pass under the bridge, they must take into account the possibility of shipping accidents,” he says, adding that dredging work is almost done. Dredging is necessary to enable barges and machinery to access the site as the waters are too shallow.

Heavy machinery in operation at the bridge site at Seberang Perai.

 

The most difficult part of CHEC’s work is putting on the piling caps, he observes.

UEM has started casting more than 8,000 segmental box girdles and almost 20% of package two has been completed, as of April too.

As for package three, the contractors have their hands full with preliminary work, including setting up offices in Penang, mobilising their machinery and conducting land surveys.

Contracts for the construction of the toll plazas have yet to be awarded and the state has called on all the main contractors involved to engage Penang-based sub-contractors and to source for materials locally.

The second bridge, which will have a lifespan of 120 years, mirrors the first in design. Initially, there were plans for two viewing platforms, complete with restaurants, but that was scrapped due to a lack of funds. The platforms would have added another RM600mil to the costs.

A common scene as motorists head towards Penang island during festive periods. The new link is expected to reduce traffic on the existing bridge by about 25%.

 

The cost factor has also put the brakes on additional lanes to meet increasing traffic volume, down the road.
“Just like the first bridge, additional piling must be done if we want to expand the second bridge,” Lim says.

The first bridge has been widened from two to three lanes each way (except for the centrespan). The third lane opened in August last year.

To accommodate future expansion, additional piling should be done from the start. However, the cost of putting in place piling that allows for such expansion is equivalent to building one-and-a-half bridges, he estimates.

In an even more ideal scenario, the foundation piling of the Second Penang Bridge should accommodate a Light Rail Transit (LRT).

“In 10 to 30 years, an LRT could prove very important, especially if we can successfully promote the park and ride system of using public transportation. No doubt the investment will be great but it is very necessary,” says Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan, former State Local Government and Traffic Committee chairman.

Dr Teng notes that Penang’s economy has been booming since the 90s, thanks to its electronics industry.
“We were transforming from a low-capital, high-labour economy to one that was low in human resource but high in capital investment. There was a need for better infrastructure and amenities such as power and water supply. Flooding problems and traffic jams had to be solved.

“Connectivity between the island and mainland was a big concern because in case anything were to happen on the existing bridge, it would be disastrous for the MNCs, especially with new industrial parks in Juru and Bukit Minyak coming up,” he explains.

It was decided that a second bridge would be that vital link, besides being “a lifeline for the state’s economy”. When completed, the bridge will “instil confidence in multi-national companies to expand their existing operations in the state, and attract new private investments,” Dr Teng says.

Initially, a Japanese company proposed a link between Tanjung Tokong on the island and Bagan on the mainland. It was rejected, for several reasons.

“The Japanese proposal was for an underwater tunnel and a bridge link, but they wanted to handle everything themselves, from the design and contractors to the material supplies. Furthermore, the sites of the link were already developed; we didn’t think the tunnel-bridge could add any value to these locations,” he adds.

So the planners looked south to Batu Maung, a relatively underdeveloped enclave compared to the rest of the island. Across the straits, Batu Kawan looked ideal to draw development to the south of Seberang Prai.

The proposal for the new bridge was approved by the federal government in 2004 and construction finally commenced on in November 2008, after months of delay caused by land acquisition issues.

Other grouses have surfaced since. In June this year, some 80 inshore fishermen in Kampung Changkat voiced unhappiness that mid-sea dredging by contractors at the second bridge construction site had affected marine life in the area.

They claimed that their catch had dropped drastically in the last 10 years, after the Pulau Burung sanitary landfill opened nearby. The situation has worsened since the bridge project started, they added.

The fishermen said they could hardly make RM10 per catch daily compared to nearly RM200 per catch daily previously.

A Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) report states that piling, dredging and landfill works, environment pollution and the movement of ships and boats in the area have all contributed to the dwindling catch.

State Agriculture, Rural Development and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Law Choo Kiang says the state government meets periodically with the fishermen’s association, LKIM and Fisheries Department to gather the information on this issue.

“Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB) has also been instructed to complete a Fishery Impact Assessment and to follow every guideline set by the various technical departments including the Department of Environment, Land Office and LKIM and others.”

However, Law adds that dwindling catch is also a problem worldwide and cites climate change, water and sea pollution and lack of awareness of environmental protection as some of the factors behind that.

He “welcomes” federal government assistance to help with the ex-gratia payment proposed by LKIM and the Fisheries Department for fishermen and aquaculture owners affected by the second bridge. “We would like the federal government and JKSB to deal with this urgently.

“LKIM and the Fisheries Department have taken steps to alleviate the situation by placing artificial corals at Kendi Island and Gedung Island at a cost of RM400,000. Muka Head will be next,” he says.

Second Penang bridge 24% completed

Saturday April 24, 2010 By DAVID TAN davidtan@thestar.com.my

GEORGE TOWN: The construction of the RM4.3bil second Penang bridge is now 24% completed compared with about 7% in October last year.

A Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB) spokesman said the 24% completion covered the works done for both package one and two of the bridge.

Package one involves a RM2.2bil contract work on the main span, substructures and foundation, which is expected to be completed in May 2012.

Meanwhile, package two is a RM1.55bil contract for the construction of the superstructure, scheduled for completion in 2013.

The final package involves RM350mil of land portion works, both on the island and mainland.

The JKSB spokesman said a contract agreement signing ceremony would be held in Kuala Lumpur on Monday between JKSB and CHEC Construction (M) Sdn Bhd, and UEM Builders Bhd.

It is learnt that JKSB managing director Datuk Prof Ismail Mohd Taib would sign the deal on behalf of JKSB.

JKSB is a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by the Government to supervise and fast track the second Penang bridge project.

It is also a concessionaire appointed to oversee the construction, management and operations of the second bridge.

Last October, in a visit to the bridge site, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said the bridge completion had to be delayed by a year to 2013 due to re-designing works.

The 17km bridge will link Batu Kawan to Batu Maung on Penang island and will be the longest in the region when completed.

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Facebook's Surprise

How its self-serve advertising system is bringing in unexpectedly big bucks by targeting consumers like never before. 

By Debra Aho Williamson

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Next time you sign in to Facebook, take a look at those three or four little ads on the right side of most of the pages. Do they mean something to you?

SOCIAL NETWORK AD SPENDING WORLDWIDE: eMarketer estimates of revenue from 2009 to 2011 expressed in billions of dollars (including year-over-year percentage gain). Facebook's U.S. and international ad sales is the biggest driver of growth. Credit: eMarketer

One might be for a wedding photographer, another from a political candidate, another for a company offering to publish your book, or trying to sell you sleeping supplements.

Chances are that at least one or two will be targeted to the activities and interests you post on Facebook, or the city you live in, your gender, or even your relationship status. These little ads are typically purchased through Facebook's "self service" system, which enables small- and big-time advertisers to create an ad in minutes to lure specific demographic groups with a few lines of text and a graphic or photo.

Rather suddenly, these little come-ons have turned into the leading source of Facebook's revenue. My estimates, as an analyst at eMarketer, the New York-based market research firm, show that self-service ads account for at least half of Facebook's total ad revenue, projected to be $1.3 billion this year. That's way more business than anyone could have expected, given that there are no upfront charges to placing these ads and that Facebook only earns revenue when viewers click on them or when a certain threshold of impressions is reached.

Of course, Facebook isn't the first Internet company to make a bundle with these kind of ads. By design, it's similar to buying paid search advertising through Google's AdWords or AdSense programs, which combined to bring in north of $20 billion in revenue last year. But marketers are using the Facebook ads in a completely different way---not to target what your search terms are or what you are currently doing on the Web but to target exactly who you are based on the information you've disclosed to your Facebook friends.

Facebook's self-serve ad platform certainly raises privacy concerns, given the ongoing scrutiny of how its customer data is used. Facebook already finds itself in hot water due to recent reports about personal profile data being disclosed by some of the most popular third-party games and applications.

For advertisers, the sense of intimacy is precisely the allure. "Everyone [on Facebook] is volunteering their information," says Hussein Fazal, CEO of AdParlor, a startup that manages Facebook advertising campaigns for social-application developers. "They're saying, 'Here's my actual age; here's my actual gender; here are my actual interests.' To have the ability to advertise and target to these users who have voluntarily given accurate information is very powerful."

Tim Kendall, director of monetization at the Palo Alto, California social network company, puts it this way: "It's a people-targeting ad system, and that just doesn't really exist anywhere else."

It's hard to believe that the social-media advertising revolution, at least thus far, is the work of ads that shout "Have new shoes delivered to you every month!" or "Having trouble sleeping?" But what Facebook has built points directly toward the way much advertising will be bought in the coming years--without any human intervention.

Story continues below

 

The system launched in 2007 and started building slowly. But this year, tens of thousands of advertisers are on board, from local bakeries and state tourism offices to online game developers and major consumer brand marketers.

"The advertisers who have found success and continue to have sustainable success [on Facebook] think about us fundamentally differently than paid search," says Facebook's Kendall. "When people try us, they need to think about [the fact] that we generate demand, as opposed to fulfilling it."

Advertisers begin by opening an account, identifying their goals, and determining which target audiences they want to see their ad. Then they create the ad and use an auction-based system to set a maximum bid--the highest amount they are willing to pay either each time someone clicks on the ad or each time the ad is displayed 1,000 times. Facebook's reporting tool lets advertisers track clicks, impressions, and the demographics of people clicking on the ads, among other metrics.

The key difference between these ads and the dozens of other ways to place advertising online is the precision of the targeting. While other systems might guess on the basis of past behavior or inferred connections, Facebook knows.

The second key difference: social context. Facebook has found, through research done with Nielsen, that ads that mention friends (such as "John Doe likes Toyota") perform better. People are more likely to notice them, remember them, and plan to buy the advertised product.

For example, appliance marketer Subzero/Wolf Appliance delivered ads to the Facebook friends of consumers who had already connected to the brand's Facebook page. The ads, which led new visitors to that page, resulted in a 500 percent increase in the number of people who volunteered to connect to it by "liking" the brand. As of September, more than 113,000 people had done so.

Among the biggest buyers of Facebook's self-serve ads are social-game companies such as Zynga Inc., which typically floods the social network with promotions when they launch a new game. A midsize to large game developer will spend an average of $500,000 on Facebook advertising during launch month alone, says AdParlor's Fazal.

Facebook still has a way to go before truly perfecting its self-service ad system. Sometimes, for instance, married people will see ads for dating services. Even Kendall admits that the targeting could be more accurate. "I think that has improved drastically over time, but it's not an easy problem and it's something that we're still trying to get right," he says.

Still, these are relatively early days for social-media advertising, and Facebook's rapid ad-revenue growth attests that its model is certainly working well enough for some companies. The $1.3 billion estimate for ad sales this year is up from an estimated $665 million in 2009. (Facebook also has an additional, but much smaller, revenue stream from commissions on credits spent on social games.)

So far, advertisers can use the self-serve system only to buy ads that appear on Facebook. But as the social-media giant expands its footprint across the Web and into the mobile realm, third-party publishers and businesses will have more ways to link with Facebook, and I believe the ad platform will expand beyond Facebook's walls as well--just as Google's AdSense program has.

Meanwhile, the process of planning and buying the advertising is becoming almost completely automated. Algorithms allow buyers to create, test, and launch thousands of iterations of Facebook campaigns on the fly, changing their targeting choices to see what works best. As more marketers get comfortable with using technology to optimize their advertising, the model will spread to other forms of media, says Joe Mele, managing director for media and marketing at the digital agency Razorfish. "Soon," he says, "we're going to start seeing remnant [ad] inventory on television and other media being automated, instead of people taking orders."

Debra Aho Williamson is a senior analyst covering social-media marketing at eMarketer (www.emarketer.com). 

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Yuanmingyuan, Beijing's Old Summer Palace marks 150 anniversary of looting

10-18-2010 Special Report:150th anniv of looting and burning of Yuanmingyuan

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Monday 10-18-2010 marks the 150th anniversary of looting of Yuanmingyuan, Beijing's Old Summer Palace. More than 85 pieces of once-lost stone carvings will be exhibited in the imperial garden.

Most of the items, including stone screens and fountains, were voluntarily returned by individuals and institutions. Another 57 pieces of repaired cultural relics can also be seen.  

Yuanmingyuan was pillaged and burned by British Anglo-French forces in 1860. This exhibition is one of the events organized by the Haidian District Government of Beijing to mark the anniversary. Others, including Sino-foreign culture exchanges and an evening party, will last through the end of the month.

Monday marks the 150th anniversary of looting of Yuanmingyuan, Beijing's Old Summer Palace. More than 85 pieces of once-lost stone carvings will be exhibited in the imperial garden.

Related Reading: 

• Video: New Zealander returns looted yuanmingyuan treasures 2010-10-19

• Exhibition marks 150th anniv. of looting of Yuanmingyuan

China's old Summer Palace exhibits stone carvings to mark looting anniversary
BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Visitors can see more than 85 pieces of beautiful stone carvings exhibited at Yuanmingyuan, or the old Summer Palace, Sunday to mark Monday's 150 anniversary of the looting of the imperial garden in the northwest of Beijing.  For More >>

Visitors can see more than 85 pieces of beautiful stone carvings exhibited at Yuanmingyuan, or the old Summer Palace, Sunday to mark Monday's 150 anniversary of the looting of the imperial garden in the northwest of Beijing.

Watch Video:

Movie: Yuanmingyuan - Garden of Gardens
Under Five Emperors of 150 years' constructing, Yuanming Yuan (The Old Summer Palace) became the largest and most luxurious royal garden in Qing Dynasty, which was regarded as the "real garden of all gardens".  Detail >>

Malaysian is top law student at Cambridge University

By WONG PEK MEI
pekmei@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: A 23-year-old Malaysian has emerged as the top student in his final-year law examinations at Cambridge University.

Tan Zhongshan (pic) obtained a first-class honours in the Bachelor of Arts (Law) in June this year at Queens’ College, which is part of the university, one of England’s oldest and most prestigious.

He even scored the “Slaughter and May” prize given by the university’s Law Faculty – an award given to those who achieve the best overall performance in the final-year law examinations.

Other coveted prizes he bagged include The Norton Rose Prize for Commercial Law, the Clifford Chance Prize for European Union Law and the Herbert Smith Prize for Conflict of Laws.

Queens’ College dean Dr Martin Dixon said Tan definitely stood out among the students there. “He is probably the best Malaysian student I have seen in the last 10 years,” said Dr Dixon, who taught Tan on Land and Equity for two years.

“He is the most able, dedicated and one of the most likeable students I have taught in more than 20 years at Cambridge.”

Tan, he said, was also a great help to fellow students. “He works really hard, has great insight and intuition. He is a problem-solver, listens well and learns,” he said.

Tan was modest about his achievements. “It was a pleasant surprise as it is hard to predict the end results,” said the Ipoh-born, who has been in Singapore since August.

On his secret to success, he attributed it to “consistent work and a detailed understanding of the subjects”.
The classical guitar player is not done yet. He will pursue his Bar exams, expected to be completed by end of 2011, in Singapore.

“I will also join the Singapore Legal Service in January,” said Tan, who was awarded an Asean scholarship by Singapore’s Ministry of Education after completing his A-Levels at the Temasek Junior College there.

On his reasons in pursuing a law degree, he said, “Being in the legal line gives you a chance to make changes that have a far-reaching effect.”

A heavy price to pay for Currency Wars ! China as a Scapegoat in US Campain Ads !

 A heavy price to pay for this war !

 Global Trends By MARTIN KHOR

In recent weeks, the media and some political leaders have warned that a new ‘currency war’ has broken out. Unless quickly resolved, it can have a severe effect on the global system.

"There are clear signs that the US is preparing to lower the value of its dollar"

THE past few weeks have seen the emergence of global currency chaos, which is a new threat to prospects for economic recovery.

In fact the situation is being depicted by the media and even by some political leaders as a “currency war” between countries.

The general idea being conveyed by this term is that some major countries are taking measures to lower the value of their currency to gain trade advantage.

If the value of a country’s currency is lower, the prices of its exports are cheaper when purchased by other countries, and thus, the demand for the exports will go up.

And on the other hand, prices of imports will become higher in the country, thus discouraging local people from buying the imports.

The end result is that the country will get higher exports and lower imports, thus boosting local production and improving the balance of trade.

The problem is that other countries which suffer from this action may “retaliate” by also lowering the value of their currencies, or by blocking the cheaper imports through higher tariffs or outright bans.

Thus, a situation of “competitive devaluation” may arise, as it did in the 1930s, which can contribute to a contraction of world trade and a recession.

The present situation is quite complex and involves at least three inter-related issues. First, the United States is accusing China of keeping the yuan at an artificially low level, which it claims is causing its huge trade deficit with China.

A US Congress bill is asking for extra tariffs to be placed on Chinese products. China claims such a measure would be against WTO’s rules, and that a sudden sharp appreciation of the yuan would be disastrous for its export industries, nor would it solve the problem of the US trade deficit.

Japan, whose yen has appreciated sharply against the dollar, intervened on the currency market on Sept 15 by selling two trillion yen in order to drive its value down.

Last week, Japan criticised South Korea for taking the same intervention measure to curb the appreciation of the won.

Second, there are clear signs that the US is preparing to lower the value of its dollar, through a new round of “quantitative easing”, in which the Federal Reserve will spend probably hundreds of billions of dollars to buy up government bonds and other debts.

This will increase liquidity in the market, which would reduce long-term interest rates and thus contribute to a recovery.

But this would also have two other effects. It would weaken the US dollar further (thus opening the US to the accusation that it is also engaging in competitive depreciation).

And the new liquidity would also add to a surge in capital flowing out from the US (where returns to investment are very low) to developing countries.

In the past, such surges of “hot money” would have been welcomed by the recipient countries. But many developing countries have now learnt, through the hard way, that sudden and large capital inflows can lead to serious problems which include:

> The capital inflow will lead to excess money in the country receiving it, thus raising the pressure on consumer prices, while fuelling “asset bubbles” or sharp rises in the prices of houses, other property and the stock market. These bubbles will sooner or later burst, causing a lot of damage.

> The large inflow of foreign funds will build up pressures for the recipient country’s currency to rise against other currencies significantly.

Either the financial authorities would have to intervene by buying up the excess foreign funds (which is known as “sterilisation”) and thus build up foreign reserves, or allow the currency to appreciate and this would have an adverse effect on the country’s exports.

Experience, including of the Asian crisis of 1997-99, shows that the sudden capital inflows can also turn into equally sudden capital outflows when global conditions change.

This causes economic disorder, including sharp currency depreciation, loan servicing problems and balance of payments difficulties.

At the International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Washington last week, there was a conflict of views between the US which accused China of deliberately suppressing the value of its yuan and not allowing it to appreciate more, and China which accused the US of planning quantitative easing and increasing liquidity to deliberately devalue its currency.

Meanwhile, even serious Western analysts and newspapers have recognised the threat posed to developing countries by large inflows of capital coming from the developed countries in search of higher yield.

In an editorial entitled “The Next Bubble”, the International Herald Tribune warns that Wall Street is snapping up assets of emerging economies.

Noting the problems caused by huge inflows of capital, the editorial asks developing counties to pay close attention and to consider capital controls to slow inflows.

The third recent development is some developing countries have introduced capital controls to slow down the huge inflows of foreign capital.

The Institute of International Finance estimates that a massive US$825bil (RM2549bil) will flow to developing countries this year, an increase of 42% over last year.

Brazil has doubled the tax on foreigners buying local bonds while Thailand recently imposed a 15% withholding tax on interest and capital gains earned by foreign investors on Thai bonds and South Korea has warned of new limits on forwards, while banks are asked not to lend in foreign currency.

There are fears that if the currency chaos or currency war is not solved soon, the world will face a threat of trade protectionism, either it takes the old form of an extra tariff, or a new form of competitive currency depreciation.

Moreover, the quantitative easing that the US is now planning may exacerbate the speculative flows of funds in search of profits, and this can be destabilising to the recipient countries and the global economy.

IMF meets central bank chiefs in Shanghai

By D'Arcy Doran (AFP)

 

The People's Bank of China is hosting a conference in Shanghai, bringing together other major central bank chiefs

SHANGHAI — The International Monetary Fund was meeting central bank officials in China Monday to discuss ways to strengthen the global economic recovery, amid mounting fears of a damaging all-out currency war.

The People's Bank of China hosted the conference in the country's financial hub Shanghai, bringing together central bank chiefs and other officials from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and South America, the IMF said.

The Shanghai conference follows IMF and World Bank annual meetings earlier this month, where finance officials discussed how to strengthen the recovery from the worst recession since World War II and the global financial system.

It also comes ahead of this week's key Group of 20 meeting in South Korea, where currency reform is expected to dominate talks, amid fears that nations could adopt trade barriers to counter the rising prices of Asian exports.

"The conference is part of the ongoing international examination of the policy challenges posed by the global financial crisis," the Washington-based IMF said in a statement.

PBOC chief Zhou Xiaochuan and IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will co-chair the meeting, the institution said.

The US Federal Reserve was expected to be represented by Kevin Warsh, a member of the central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

Monday's meetings had been planned for several months and Il-Houng Lee, the IMF's resident representative in China, said all discussions would be carried out behind closed doors.

The talks were focused on macro-prudential policies -- the big systemic picture of reducing the risk of too-big-to-fail institutions, Chinese central bank policy adviser Xia Bin told reporters outside the meeting room.A news conference has been scheduled for 6:00 pm (1000 GMT).

In the run-up to the G20 finance ministers' meeting, which begins Friday in preparation for a Seoul summit next month, South Korea has warned that frictions over the currency upheaval are growing and could lead to trade protectionism.

The United States, facing mid-term elections next month, has ratcheted up the pressure on China to allow the yuan to rise more rapidly, but Beijing insists its currency must not be used as a "scapegoat" for US economic woes.

With Beijing keeping a tight grip on the yuan, many other Asian economies are suffering as their currencies soar against the dollar. Despite Europe's debt woes, the euro has also surged.

In its statement, the 187-nation IMF added the meeting followed an IMF-sponsored gathering in South Korea of Asian policymakers and leaders in July, at which it "committed to forging a new relationship with the region."

A year ago, the Group of 20 developed and developing nations tasked the IMF with stepping up its focus on global systemic stability.

Authorities agreed a broader approach was needed to spot weakness in the increasingly interconnected financial system, to complement the traditional micro-prudential regulations of bank-by-bank audit and supervision.

Asia-Pacific leaders will meet for a summit in Japan following the G20 gathering in Seoul next month.

China Emerges as a Scapegoat in Campaign Ads

By DAVID W. CHEN  Published: October 9, 2010

With many Americans seized by anxiety about the country’s economic decline, candidates from both political parties have suddenly found a new villain to run against: China.

Enlarge This Image

An ad by Representative Zack Space of Ohio.

A Barrage of Ads

In the last few weeks, at least 29 candidates, either directly or through their supporters, have unveiled advertisements tapping into Americans’ anxiety over China’s economic might. The list includes 19 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

House
Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.)
Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.)
Jon Barela (R-N.M.)
Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)
Ryan Frazier (R-Colo.)
Raj Goyle (D-Kan.)
Denny Heck (D-Wash.)
Robert Hurt (R-Va.)
Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.)
Spike Maynard (R-W.Va.)
Rep. Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.)
Austin Scott (R-Ga.)
Rep. Zack Space (Ohio)
Tim Walberg (R-Mich.)
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.)
Tom Ganley (R-Ohio)
Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.)
Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio)
Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)
Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.)

Senate
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D-Ohio)
Gov. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.)
Governor
Gov. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio)
Susana Martinez (R-N.M.)

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Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

An ad by Representative Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania.

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An ad by Representative Zack Space accuses his Republican rival, Bob Gibbs, of supporting policies that sent jobs to China. 

From the marquee battle between Senator Barbara Boxer and Carly Fiorina in California to the House contests in rural New York, Democrats and Republicans are blaming one another for allowing the export of jobs to its economic rival.

In the past week or so, at least 29 candidates have unveiled advertisements suggesting that their opponents have been too sympathetic to China and, as a result, Americans have suffered.

The ads are striking not only in their volume but also in their pointed language.

One ad for an Ohio congressman, Zack Space, accuses his Republican opponent, Bob Gibbs, of supporting free-trade policies that sent Ohioans’ jobs to China. As a giant dragon appears on the screen, the narrator sarcastically thanks the Republican: “As they say in China, xie xie Mr. Gibbs!”

In an ad featuring Chinese music and a photo of Chairman Mao, Spike Maynard, a Republican challenger in West Virginia, charges that Representative Nick Rahall supported a bill creating wind-turbine jobs in China.
And on Wednesday, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, began showing an ad that wove pictures of Chinese factory workers with criticism that Republican Sharron Angle was “a foreign worker’s best friend” for supporting corporate tax breaks that led to outsourcing to China and India.

The barrage of ads, expected to total in the tens of millions of dollars, is occurring as politicians are struggling to address voters’ most pressing and stubborn concern: the lack of jobs.

“China is a really easy scapegoat,” said Erika Franklin Fowler, a political science professor at Wesleyan University who is director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising.

Polls show that not only are Americans increasingly worried that the United States will have a lesser role in the years ahead; they are more and more convinced that China will dominate. In a Pew poll conducted in April, 41 percent of Americans said China was the world’s leading economic power, slightly more than those who named the United States.

The attacks are occurring as trade tensions continue and the United States is pressuring the Chinese government to allow its currency to rise in value, a central topic under discussion at the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington this weekend.

The ads are so vivid and pervasive that some worry they will increase hostility toward the Chinese and complicate the already fraught relationship between the two countries.

Robert A. Kapp, a former president of the US-China Business Council, said that even though tensions had flared in the past, he had never seen China used as such an obvious punching bag for American politicians.

“To bring one country into the crosshairs in so many districts, at such a late stage of the campaign, represents something new and a calculated gamble,” he said. “I find it deplorable. I find it demeaning.”

Not all of the ads are solely about China; a few mention India or Mexico. A recent ad from Mrs. Boxer accuses Ms. Fiorina, a former chief executive at Hewlett-Packard, of outsourcing thousands of jobs to “Shanghai instead of San Jose, Bangalore instead of Burbank,” and of “proudly stamping her products ‘Made in China.’ ”

It is no accident that Democrats, in particular, have been eying China as a line of attack. This spring, national Democrats, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, began to encourage candidates to highlight the issue after reviewing internal polling that suggested voters strongly favored eliminating tax breaks for companies that do business in China. The party first began emphasizing the issue in a special election for a Pennsylvania House seat in May, said Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Never mind that there is hardly any consensus as to what exactly constitutes outsourcing and how many of the new overseas jobs would have stayed in American hands. The Democrats cite studies this year from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research organization, that assert three million jobs have been outsourced to China since 2001 because of the growing trade imbalance.

But Republicans, backed by some academics, say the number is much smaller. Indeed, Scott Kennedy, director of the Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business at Indiana University, said that most of the jobs China had added in manufacturing through foreign investment had come from Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea, not from the United States.

Still, some Republicans clearly see the issue as potent, and they are counterattacking with ads stating that the Obama administration’s stimulus package helped to create $2 billion in wind-turbine technology jobs in China, a claim the Treasury Department and the American Wind Energy Association say is dubious.

Representative John A. Boehner, the House minority leader, in a speech Friday in Ohio, blamed President Obama and Ms. Pelosi for a “stimulus that shipped jobs overseas to China instead of creating jobs here at home.”

Evan B. Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political advertising, said that “China has sort of become a straw-man villain in this election” in a way that elicits comparisons to the sentiments toward Japan in the 1980s over car manufacturing and Mexico in the 1990s over the North American Free Trade Agreement.

While China’s growth has slowed a bit recently, its economy is still projected to surge by about 10 percent this year, continuing a remarkable three-decade streak of double-digit expansion.

 “In a lot of ways it’s a code word: ‘Let’s be mad at China, because then the voters will connect the dots and say our manufacturing plants have been shut down because of China, and all the unfair labor practices, and throw on the fact that we’re basically selling all our debt to China,’//” Mr. Tracey said.

Even as the ads play up Americans’ unease with the threat posed by modern China, they often employ outdated and almost cliché depictions.

In a new spot for Representative Joe Sestak, who is running for the Senate in Pennsylvania, a gong clangs as a narrator says of his Republican rival, Pat Toomey: “He’s fighting for jobs — in China.”

An ad for Ryan Frazier, a Republican running for Congress in western Colorado, shows Forbidden City-style doors opening to reveal China on a world map, as the voiceover criticizes the Democratic incumbent, Ed Perlmutter, for supporting cap-and-trade legislation, which some Coloradans believe will drive more manufacturing jobs overseas.

Consultants from both parties are monitoring polling and voter reaction to gauge the effectiveness of the ads and to determine how long to continue showing them. Based on the back-and-forth between candidates on the campaign trail, the issue does not appear to be going away anytime soon.

At a Senate debate in Connecticut on Monday night between the Democrat Richard Blumenthal and the Republican Linda E. McMahon, Mr. Blumenthal repeatedly tried to raise concerns about the business practices of World Wrestling Entertainment, the company in which Ms. McMahon served as chief executive.

A tense moment occurred when Mr. Blumenthal asked: Why does Ms. McMahon’s company manufacture its popular action figure toys in China, rather than here at home? She said it was not her decision, but that of the toy company, and moved on.

A young challenge for the lawmen

Comment by LOURDES CHARLES

More and more youngsters are turning to crime, a problem that has the men in blue worried.

THE young, as we all know, are often reckless. There always have been rebels without a cause, but the recent sharp rise in the number of crimes by teenagers is sounding alarm bells.

In the past weeks, youths have been making headlines, with several caught on video assaulting a fellow student, and others involved in rape, drug abuse, theft, illegal racing, extortion, robbery and even murder.

In the most recent case in Terengganu, several teenagers on motorcycles defied police orders to stop and even ran down two policemen manning a roadblock.

What has startled, even shocked, the police are the brazen acts of contempt and defiance.

The statistics are worrying. Last year alone, more than 7,000 youths, nearly half of them students, were arrested for various crimes. They come from all kinds of backgrounds – the well-to-do, middle class and broken families.

It can happen to any of us working parents who are too busy to know how our children spend their time. Guilt-ridden at not spending enough quality time with teenage kids, many working parents overcompensate with pocket money, PlayStations and the latest mobile phones.

In major Malaysian cities, the parenting role seems to have been passed on to the maids. Not many families have grandparents staying with them, unfortunately.

Most teenagers return home to an empty house with little parental supervision, let alone guidance and love. So they turn to their peers instead.

The Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) has also found other contributing factors for the increasing teenage crime rate, and these are often beyond the control of parents.

They include cyber cafes and entertainment outlets that expose teenagers to unhealthy practices. In cities like Kuala Lumpur, George Town and Johor Baru, where many families live in cramped flats, the shopping malls and streets have become the playgrounds of the teenagers.

The MCPF has set up over 3,700 crime prevention clubs nationwide to keep the young from straying. But that’s just a drop in the ocean.

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar recently described the increase in crimes committed by youths as “worrying” and said it could be detrimental to the country if nothing was done to check it.

The fear is that our teenagers will start off with simple juvenile mischief and graduate to more serious crimes.
Then, there is another concern – many teenagers are staying up until the early hours, especially during the weekends.

While it is easy to blame these teenagers, parents cannot absolve themselves from blame.

As parents become more educated, they also tend to adopt a more liberal approach, preferring to talk to their children instead of being disciplinarians.

Unfortunately, sparing the rod has only served to spoil the child.

Teachers have increasingly refused to exercise discipline because parents often turn to the press over the slightest punishment meted out.

National Union of Teaching Profession secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng was reported as saying she had been raising the alarm on the issue of students staying up late and being involved in crime for quite a while now.

She had even recommended that the Penal Code be taught in schools. For example, she said, a student should be told that, if he hits someone or steals or commits any crime, he could be charged and, if convicted, jailed.

But now there seems to be another new challenge for the men in blue.

What they had not been prepared for is bloggers – some with political motives, others out for fun – egging on the young in their blogs and on Facebook to challenge the authorities.

It’s a challenge for the police force, too, and certainly one the new IGP has to tackle.

The image of the police has been challenged and in some ways taken a beating. It needs to win back its respect and its critics have obviously taken advantage of that.

Nevertheless, respect has to be earned. Malaysia has changed and obviously there is now a need for a newer and more comprehensive method of dealing with teenage crime before it becomes a real threat to society.

The US dollar is already worth less than a euro. Now will it fall behind the 'Aussie'?

The Australian dollar is flirting with parity with its US counterpart for the first time, buoyed by Australia's mineral wealth and its connections to the Asian boom

• 
• • Andrew Clark
  • The Observer, Sunday 17 October 2010
  • Article history

 

A US one-dollar bill below an Australian 10-dollar and 20-dollar bill. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters 

 

Bad news for Antipodean-bound cricket fans heading to the Ashes next month. There's a big, bad currency beast on the loose: the Australian dollar. Buoyed by high interest rates and rampant commodity prices, the "Aussie" has rocketed to an all-time high and is on the brink of parity with the US greenback.

The Australian dollar, once disparaged as the "Pacific peso", touched 99.82 •••CHECK US cents this week – its highest level since it was unleashed to float freely in 1983. In the foreign exchange markets, the pound buys just A$1.60, compared to more than A$2 in the summer of last year.

The Aussie's renaissance over the last three months has eclipsed the performance of other fancied currencies including the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and the Canadian dollar. Its surge was hailed by Australia's finance minister, Penny Wong, as a vote of confidence in the Australian economy – although a steady stream of Australian exporters have warned that their overseas profits are dwindling.

Daniel McCormack, a London-based economist for the Australian bank Macquarie, said the country's rich reserves of coal and iron ore, together with economic growth in its Chinese and east Asian trading partners, had turned the land of plenty into a financial safe haven.

"The Australian economy is strong and it's been fairly well managed," says McCormack. "But the main reasons the Australian dollar is doing so well are commodity prices, plus the strength of China and the rest of Asia."

Australia was one of the few developed countries to avoid a recession during the global financial crisis. Firm fundamentals have allowed the Reserve Bank of Australia to set interest rates at 4.5% – far higher than Britain's 0.5% or America's 0.25% – in a further lure for global flows of capital.

Four years ago, some 30,000 British sports fans travelled to Australia to watch England endure a five-nil drubbing in the Ashes. As England's cricketers prepare for a fresh tour, the cost of travel is soaring. David Swann, a currency strategist at Travelex, says that, at a typical bureau de change, a holidaymaker exchanging £500 would have got A$1,250 at the start of the last Ashes season down under, compared with just A$805 today.

"That's a really significant shift," says Swann, who points to talk of further quantitative easing both in Britain and the US as a reason for capital to slip to other corners of the world. "The US has come out and said it's going to extend its quantitative easing programme. That sends a message to people in the US that the US economy is in trouble and that they should go elsewhere."

The Aussie is not the only currency flirting with parity against the greenback. Canada's dollar – known as the "loonie" after the bird depicted on the C$1 coin – is worth US$1.0036••CHECK and has been within cents of its US counterpart all year. These second-tier currencies are often overlooked in the battle surrounding the yen, the euro and the yuan.

For exporters, such sharp shifts are a significant headache. CSL, an Australian biotechnology company specialising in vaccines and treatments for blood disorders, warned at its annual meeting this week that the strength of the national currency could slice as much as A$100m out of its profits this year. The Australian airline Qantas has reported higher outbound traffic, but empty seats on flights coming into Australia.

According to the Australian tourist office, some 649,400 people travelled from the UK to Australia in the year to July – a drop of 1%, blamed largely on disruption caused by Iceland's volcanic ash cloud rather than by currency exchange. But fears are growing of a fall-off in foreign visitors – the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that crowds were "thin" at Sydney's Darling Harbour on a weekday lunchtime this week.

One Perth-based adventure tour operator, Easyrider, ceased operations this month, blaming the soaring currency for a critical shortage of British and Irish backpackers. Owner Chris Cronin told the ABC that the number of people booking tours had fallen from 16 per bus to six or eight: "There are a lot more people out there that are really going to suffer because of the strength of the Australian dollar at the moment," he said.

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