Rants

It's got a much more serious effect on many things than they think.

What are the chances we get a public apology explanation from SESCO? Very slim - because usually, they don't.

So two years on, the flyover's been built, fuel prices skyrocketed, crime skyrocketed but where is our faceless clocktower?

Here it is: Unchanged since Day 1 when I first reported on it.

They even said in order to 'preserve' the clocktower landmark, they actually built the flyover AROUND the clocktower.

Preservation of old landmarks is all good except.. what use is to preserve it if you don't even keep it working and let its sorry state to view to the public and tourists? And what good is preservation to one small clocktower when all those really old buildings in Old Town are totally torn down to be built up instead of the more logical approach of just renovating them?

Well, I'm not sure what the papers are saying (if they are saying anything worth mentioning at all) but just this morning my parent's friend's office was broken in and his safe and valuables stolen.

They are the exact same friends who accompanied my parents to the police station when my parents' car were stolen. Now they find themselves making the police report themselves with my parents accompanying them to the police station.

What are the chances of two sets of people who know each other having become victims of theft within the span of just a week or so?

Is that coincidental?

I'm putting my finger on rampant crime activity instead.

This is from a Mirians' perspective. Yes, crime activities in Miri are very high. I already see several cars hatchback have their back windscreen broken, probably as a result of a break-in, cars stolen - including that of my parents' - and heard countless tales of other crime incidents not even published in the papers because the newspapers companies are gutless sissies.

With the increases in fuel prices - with Sarawak being affected the worst - crime might worsen.

I don't care what the authorities say, I don't care what the papers are saying, and I don't care what the leaders are saying. We are living in a crime infested city and the people with the powers to do something about it is keeping completely quiet.

About 6-8 cars were reported missing last night alone (10th June 2008). Not sure of the exact figures but it was around that.

My parents' car was also stolen.

In fact, we had sort of expected this to occur - this says a lot about the crime problems in Miri. It's not that we think it 'only happens to someone else' but we expected it to occur. Th problem is just 'when'?

Few days back, a friend's friend's Perdana was also stolen, but he was lucky as the police managed to spot it and get it back. It's interesting to know how they stole the cars - they simply drilled through the key hole, open the door and - if the car had a gear shift lock - using a hammer or heavy object, hit it hard enough so the lock mechanism breaks, but makes it drivable.

Steering locks are a deterrent but if they really wanted the car they'd be able to get past it anyhow (looking at the above example, a gearshift lock didn't work).

A post by Uchu Keling on how our Prime Minster totally 'forgotten' about rural Sarawakians - most highly affected by the increases in diesel for transport.

You see, diesel is not only vital for river and land transportation for goods in the rural areas (where off-road vehicles are needed sometimes), they are absolutely essential for generators for electrical power. The sudden jump in diesel practically put a halt to everything.

We're all really angry about it - but us here in the city are still lucky enough to have the basic needs covered (at higher costs) but it is the rural areas that have become extremely critical.

See what Uchu Keling has to say.

Rumors that cooking oil prices may be increasing sent shoppers scrambling to buy cooking oil today. Most shopping complexes and shops have cooking oil supplies emptied out.

MIRI: River and land transportation in many parts of rural Sarawak came to a standstill Thursday as petrol and diesel supply ran out following massive panic buying hours before the Government’s new price took effect.

Petrol and diesel shortages have been reported in rural villages and interior towns in central and northern Sarawak as the fuel supply situation gets even more chaotic following the sharp hike in price of this vital commodity.

{....}

These rural folks had to bear the brunt of this shortage because they rely on fuel supply from urban centres. The urban centres had been adversely affected by the mad rush by people in towns and cities to buy the petrol and diesel on Wednesday night in order to fill their tanks to the maximum before the new price took effect at midnight Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in Marudi district in interior Baram, many folks were not even aware of the price hike.

Wow.. Interior Baram were not even aware of the price hikes?

Petrol will be RM2.70 a litre at midnight tonight The new price of petrol is RM2.70 per litre beginning midnight tonight, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced just a moment ago. The 78 sen hike or 40 per cent increase is still below the antiticpated RM4 per litre price projected earlier and among the cheapest in Asia.

Diesel prices increased by RM1 per liter, and petrol by RM0.78. It sucks to be a diesel owner now.

Oh by the way - transportation vehicles usually run on diesel. So that means, we shall await the effects of the huge jump in diesel prices to be reflected in the prices of goods. Will this be the price hike 'tsunami' everyone's been anticipating?

These pictures are from this morning's traffic jam over the flyover bridge as a result of the the incredibly stupid badly planned roadworks at the junction I blogged about the few days before.

It also slowed traffic to a crawl on the flyover that was supposed to ease the traffic flow along this road. (see second pic)

P.S. Also note that 'lovely morning mist'. Ahhh, the fresh scent of open burning.