Halimah M. Sadique: The Superwoman of CVLB

What she said makes me sit up and feel good. We now have a person who would put the CVLB right and upright. She is Datuk Halimah Mohamad Sidique. She is the newly appointed chaorman of Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB)

Could the public transportation woes be resolved?

"Yes, I think we can," she said.

I believed her! I think she can. I'm sure it is not a mere puff nor is she a braggart. She has a lot of determination and the will.

"I am here not because I am a woman but because it is expected of me to get the job done. When the minister called me, I knew this was one challenge I could not say no to, neither could I fail."

After taking over from Datuk Markiman Kobiran on June 15, Halimah's first move was to draft an action plan to ensure the board meets the Key Performance Indicator set.

"First, I have to study the CVLB Act 1987, its functions and role. Then we will seek expert advice and solutions to public transportation issues.

"KPI is all about delivering the best to the people.

"To be successful means to satisfy the needs of the people and that will be CVLB's very own KPI."

"CVLB has to serve the people from both sides of the fence -- the operators as well as the passengers.

Unfortunately, the reality is far removed from the ideal. The operators have a long list of complaints and the users suffer poor and unreliable service.

"We have to come up with solutions to end, once and for all, these woes. With a proper system and workable action plan, we can," says Halimah.

Halimah said some of the complaints were about city taxis charging exorbitant fares, refusing to use the meter or sub-letting the taxi to foreigners.

"We will proceed with refresher courses for both taxi and bus drivers while increasing the enforcement operations to nab errant drivers."

There is an urgent need to re-educate the drivers on delivering good service.

CVLB hopes to get 50 express bus companies to have online-ticketing systems and their own web portal for easy access and 20 companies to use the global positioning system on their buses, by the end of the year.

"The GPS system will allow us to monitor the movement of the buses and whether the drivers stick to their routes and if they are speeding."

Halimah said she also hoped to make the headquarters and the regional offices more conducive for staff and clients.

"Do not imagine I'm ordering bouquets for the side tables. Conducive here would mean serving our clients better by providing them more useful information and assistance."

Her goal before the end of the two-year contract is to see a change of mindset of public transport operators.

"I want to see a day when we get into the taxi and be greeted by the cab driver with 'Yes Encik, where would you like to go?'

Yes, Halimah, I have high hope on you that it will happen and we are resting our hope on you. It's being a long time since I heard of such intellectually sound management processes and action plans. I hope she will get it right soonest.

Source: NST

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Dogs Tsunami Over

Dear Dogs,

I have good news for you. You can all now come back home to Selayang. The tsunami is over. The council was Toyoed. See Hang decides. Don't get me wrong; it's not toilet help...it's Mr Tang See Hang the State Exco member who announced that the competition to arrest your brothers would be canceled.

I surely hope those gangsters who had caught your brothers and sisters would now released them as there is no more reward or price money. We human are greedy. We do not care whether right or wrong as long as we get paid for doing things, even if it is inhumane.

However, I want you to tell all your doggy brothers and sisters that the See Hang also announced that they are going to install microchips on your body in order to track you down and identify your master should you dogs be caught roaming. So, please inform your doggies not to simply roam around town or villages. You must now behave and stay in door.

Should you decide to go out for a short walk or to visit your girlfriends or boyfriends, please make sure that your master accompanies you for the short trip. Oh, lest I forget, please remember to bring along your birth certificate in case Jakim or JAWI Snoop Squat may interrogate you or charge you for khalwat.

Dear Dogs, I do understand that you all have not got your MyKad yet. I believe the Prime Minister and his Dog-Ministers would be proposing to issue you the MyKad soon so that you all can participate in the coming general election. However, I must warn you that politics are not meant for dogs. For your own safety and the security of your species, please advice your brethren not to vote for DAP or PAS or KeAdiLan. You need to vote BN as they are the only people who can protect you or to grant you any reprieve or amnesty. You have to be practical and realism is the only philosophy you can practice.

As for your concern about job opportunities and unemployment issues amongst your species, please bear with us as our graduates are also finding it difficult to get employed. In fact the government is considering to include some form of social security benefits for your species and would also consider offering study loans and scholarships for your species to attend university courses specially design to provide you with skill training. By the way and for your information, CIDB is proposing to the government to certify the dogs and classify your species as professionals and non-professionals. You will then be issued with Greed Cards so that you could apply for jobs easily. That note that this classification is not the same as bloggers as you do not blog. Your classification is to ensure that CIDB are able to collect some form of fees so that they could organize courses for you. The courses are numerous and it is likely to be integrated into a single course which they called Inter-Course Module.

Should you need more information, please contact Mr See Hang or the Selayang Council President Mr Zainal. If you have communication problem or the lack of connection, you can call on Mr Rasheed Sultan Afshur or Surendran (rep of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals & Malaysian Animals Rights and Welfare Society) or Anthony Thanasayan (of Pet-Positive) or Dr John Satyamoorthy (from Malaysian Association for Responsible Pet Ownership).

P/S: Dear Doggies, please do not disturb Mr Khairy as he is now a new father and had to spent time to take care of his son. To improve your public relationship and connection, you could sent him a congratulatory message and please be reminded not to ask him whether his son looks like him.

Sharks will have Fins

I truly love this piece of news.

Dear brother and sister Sharks,

I have good news to tell you. My dear Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Azmi Khalid had decided to save your fins and all those of your family members, relatives and friends.

As from today, my Minister had decided that all functions and events organized by our govt ministries and Agencies would no more be serving shark fin soup in order to show our human commitment and pledges to safe your fins. My Minister also pledge that he and his ministry's lunch and dinner menu will be without their usual shark fin soup.

Dear Sharks, from what they told me, the usual and normal lunch and dinner menu had not only included your fins but your balls too. They said your shark balls were exquisite and delicious. I had not tasted it myself as I felt you need to keep your balls intact.

Dear Sharks, pertaining to your request to my Minister, I'm not sure whether my Minister will be willing to exclude shark meat and shark balls from their normal lunch and dinner menu. When I meet him soon, I would persuade him to spare your balls and meat. I promise I will do my best to get him to make this additional conservation efforts.

Dear Shark, for your information, our Malaysian Nature Society’s Selangor Branch Marine Group had embarked on a series of activities and programmes to promote awareness about the plight of sharks and their importance to the marine ecosystem, plus the misconception of the delicacy. In fact, they had considered the "Sharks as the apex predators and a cornerstone species in the marine ecosystem. They believed that your demise would start off a domino effect, which at each stage could result in the depletion or overpopulation of other fish and marine species leading to an imbalance in the marine ecosystem.

Lastly, I believed you would want me to convey your sincere thanks and gratitude to the Marine Group and my Minister of which I will personally make an official presentation to them.

However, for this presentation to the Marine Group and my Minister, would you consider some sort of "Hantaran" for me to bring along so that I would not go there empty handed?

I heard that you have recently formulated a new kueh kopek blended with your perfumeries excretions. I believe my Minister and his koteries would be delighted with it. Please don't use those unwanted balls of your predecessors in your preparation of those kueh. I am scared they may like those decomposed balls and may not wish to exclude your balls from their lunch and dinner menu.

So long, and hope to hear from you soon. Please remember to consider the "hantaran" issue.