rocky's bru

In Malaysia, some politicians' attitude towards toll has changed dramatically ...

Posted: 18 Dec 2013 10:56 PM PST

From violent street protests ... This clipping is from a Jan 2007 protest in Puchong organized by the Opposition, the year before Pakatan Rakyat seized Selangor from the BN.

... to token, boardroom resistance.

"We hope this matter can be discussed at the board meetings of the companies." - Khalid Ibrahim, Selangor Menteri Besar, nearly 7 years on

I'm guessing a lot of people didn't know that the Selangor government had shares in three toll concessionaires, namely LDP, Kesas and Sprint. I just found out about it, too. No wonder lah the toll issue wasn't turned into too big a deal by Pakatan's politicians, especially those governing Selangor, during the last General Election. Before 2008 when they were the Opposition, the same politicians would stare the cops in the eye and go to jail to oppose not only the increase in toll rates but the idea of toll itself.

Now, Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim says he will instruct the state's business arms PKNS and Kumpulan Perangsang, who are substantial minority shareholders in the 3 concessionaires, to resist further toll increases from next year when the companies bring the matter up. He is quick to cleverly add, though, that the directors concession companies will have a final say, meaning to say the state's business arms should not be blamed .. [Pakatan and Toll: From violent protests to token resistence].

"We feel that the returns to PKNS are good enough and do not have to be increased through toll hikes. We do not have to take advantage to reap more profits just because" ... wait for it ... drum roll ... here it comes ... "the federal governmnent failed to ensure a good cash flow".

In other words, the MB is saying that the state government did, indeed, "take advantage to reap more profits" since 2008.

The blogger SatD hisses at the sheer hypocrisy of the Pakatan's state government in Selangor. Read his The

R-Way: Koleksi Cerita Merepak Terkait Jalan Toll Gua Baca Hari Ini.

I think since the Pakatan politcians won't be going to the streets to protest against their own involvement in the toll concessions, perhaps the BN chaps can assume that role. Maybe Khairul Azwan Harun would like to take the lead and show that he meant what he said (h e r e) about toll when bashing up AWO based on an erroneous pro-Opposition portal's news article the other day ...

After all, even pro-government dailies like the Star and Utusan Malaysia are taking up the mantle!