Malaysia

A bullet train project.

500 Series Shinkansen at Kyoto Station

Cuts down travelling time from KL to Singapore to 90 minutes (make that 120 minutes -Malaysians have a tendency to stretch their estimate of time).

Equivalent to taking a flight.

Concerns

Estimated cost: RM10B.

Well, if the developer is confident the masses want it, and if he can foot the full bill, why not.

Fear Factor

Johor government fears it will impact the planned corridor development.

The “me, my wife and my dog” syndrome from down south. Why not scrap the corridor -only useful to the cronies and sycophants.

The Flip Side

1. There are already trains, buses, flights (including cheap flights) between Singapore and Malaysia. Money will be better spent making the crappy train services more efficient.

2. To quote the developer “…everybody wants it…” (http://themalaysianinsider.com/mni/kl-singapore-bullet-train-halted-at-drawing-board.html) Yeah. Until he announces the price of the tickets. Then he’ll wonder why “everybody” decides to fly.

3. Time for toady cronies to buy up adjacent land.

4. Sympathies to those who are subject to land acquisition.

5. Oil, gas, rice, utilities – prices are escalating. Err…has anybody carry out a research on what the average Malaysian needs for the next 10 years?

6. Perlis, Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak…sorry, the plan is not intended to benefit you.

Crap – there are more flips and pros.