S'pore, Malaysia high-speed rail link

S'pore, Malaysia agree on high-speed rail link

Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to build a high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, with a target to complete it by 2020.

This was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Tuesday during their annual Leaders' Retreat.

With the new link, it will take about 90 minutes to get from Singapore to KL and vice versa.

The two leaders described the high-speed rail system as a strategic development in the bilateral relations, saying it will dramatically improve the connectivity between Malaysia and Singapore.

The link will also facilitate seamless travel between KL and Singapore, enhance business links, and bring peoples of Singapore and Malaysia closer together.

Mr Lee said: "It is a strategic project for the two countries. It will change the way we see each other. It is the way people in London and Paris are able to think of it -- as twin cities, where you can commute, go up there, do business, meet friends, have a meal and come back, all within two thirds of the day.

"And I think it is going to be a game changer. It will transform the way people interact, the intensity of our cooperation and the degree to which we become interdependent on each other and therefore have stakes on each other's success."

The leaders added that it will usher in a new era of strong growth, prosperity and opportunities for both countries.

They said ultimately the project will give both countries greater stakes in each other's prosperity and success.

Mr Najib said a joint ministerial committee will look into the details of the project.

He said: "Our two cities will complement each other. Our two countries will look at each other differently and the opportunities are boundless between our two countries.

"So I am excited about the project. We will certainly do our level best to meet the 2020 deadline. It may go slightly beyond that, but those are details in implementation.

"The modalities will be offered to Singapore. Basically, we want Singapore to participate in this based on the different kinds of options that we will offer to the Singapore government."

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

新马高速火车 2020年建成

新马高速火车　2020年建成

新马领导人达成共识，将兴建往返新加坡与吉隆坡的高速铁路系统，高铁预计在2020年建成。

到时，从新加坡出发到吉隆坡，只需90分钟就能抵达。

马来西亚首相纳吉前天到访我国，与李显龙总理举行为期2天的年度非正式会谈。

两国领袖昨天上午举行双边会谈后，发表联合文告宣布同意在新加坡和吉隆坡之间建造高速铁路系统。

马国媒体去年报道，全长约300公里的新马高速铁路，预料将耗资200亿至300亿令吉（约80亿至120亿新元）。

两国领导人都认为，兴建高铁后，两座城市在经商和民间交流的模式上都将改变，就像欧洲一样。

李总理比喻，新加坡与吉隆坡未来将像伦敦与巴黎的“双城”关系，“人们可以轻易往返两个城市，与朋友会面吃饭”。

跨国铁路或可建到昆明印度

《法新社》报道，新马高铁的概念最先在1990年代提出，计划过后因所需资金庞大而搁置，直到纳吉在2009年开始担任马国首相后，再次启动。

报道也提到，这或许也能重新启动亚细安想要用铁路，把所有成员国连接在一起的计划。

跨国铁路甚至有可能建到中国的昆明，或者是印度。

报道指，亚细安官方网站显示，以目前的情况来看，各成员国需要建造或修复大约4069公里的铁路，就能达成跨国铁路系统。

《彭博社》报道，泰国去年11月邀请中国投资高铁系统，中国也在去年12月全面开启了国内长达2298公里的高铁系统。

新马两国领袖昨天上午举行双边会谈后发表联合文告，除了宣布两国同意在新加坡和吉隆坡之间建造高速铁路系统之外，联合文告也指出，新加坡人日后将可以乘搭渡轮，到马国的依斯干达特区。

位于特区公主港（Puteri Harbour）的新关卡、移民与检疫设施，将在明年启用。我国与公主港到时预计将有渡轮服务。

马国媒体报道，马国外长星期一前来新加坡之前告诉当地媒体，新马将在今年确定连接新加坡和柔佛的新马捷运系统（Rapid Transit System，简称RTS）细节。

一般认为，我国地铁汤申线的兀兰北站，日后将与新马捷运系统衔接。

～以上新闻转自我报～

Museum on Serdang’s tin mining glory days

Museum takes visitors back into Serdang’s tin mining glory days

HISTORY shows that Serdang was established in 1952 and later renamed Seri Kembangan.

The new village is located near the largest open-cast tin mine in the world that is now Mines Resort City.

SJK (C) Serdang Baru 1 board of directors deputy chairman Ho Kwong Fock, not satisfied with this official data, wanted detailed and colourful stories from the villagers who were the first generation of residents in the new village.

To satisfy his burning desire to document its bygone era, Ho pushed for a story museum to be established at the school in Jalan Sekolah, Seri Kembangan.

Converted from a room behind the school hall, the museum now houses many treasures loaned by the villagers, such as black-and-white photos, rusty irons, oil lamps and gramophones.

All the exhibits come with an interesting story. “For instance, the elders who gave the tin-mining tools told us how they used to walk to work to the tin mine in Balakong, and spent 10 hours in the mine with their backs bent and feet soaked in water,” he said.

There were also tools used to tap rubber, and a yellowing hawker trading licence issued by the then Kuala Lumpur Municipality on display.

These items offer a rare glimpse into the old days of Seri Kembangan, when people worked hard to earn an honest living in the second largest new village in Malaysia.

While putting together the story museum, Ho and his team noticed a traditional new village wooden house opposite the school being torn down.

They managed to salvage the pieces, moved them into the school and rebuilt the structure inside the museum.

Old furniture such as a round wooden table, wooden stools and wooden cupboards with mesh doors were added to evoke memories of yesteryears.

“See the bowls under the four legs of the cupboard? They were filled with water to prevent ants from climbing into the cupboard,” Ho explained.

The exhibits, which included a device that looked like a rifle but was used as a fire distinguisher, were not only interesting but took the older visitors on a trip down memory lane.

Museum caretaker Lin Kwee Siong said he noticed that the older visitors seemed to get more nostalgic when visiting the museum.

Officially opened on Oct 31 last year, the museum was set up in conjunction with the Wow Serdang Carnival.

Local theatre activist and artist Soon Choon Mee mooted the idea of the art carnival and roped in other local artists for the eight-day event targeting children between the ages of seven and 12.

The school’s three organisations — parent-teacher association, board of directors and old boys association — were supportive of the project.

The 180 participants were divided into groups, including dancing, drama, percussion and visual arts.

They were required to work with materials and subjects synonymous with Serdang, such as producing a large sculpture of shoes to represent the shoemaking industry.

The carnival ended with a grand finale, where the children paraded on the streets of Serdang. Some drummed away on their self-made drums while others proudly showed off the costumes and sculptures they had created.

“In this society where interaction between people has significantly reduced, we have brought children into the community and taught them to care for their surroundings,” Soon said, adding that art helped shape character.

“In Wow Serdang, the children organised their thoughts, expressed themselves well, communicated with teammates, defended their ideas and learned to compromise. These are important life skills,” said Soon.

“The carnival has sowed a seed in the children to help them cultivate an appreciation for the finer things in life.

“It has also taught them to care for their community. With understanding comes love, and the children will always care for their surroundings wherever they go in the future,” she explained.

The story museum is open from 11am to 1pm on weekdays and visits on weekends are by appointment only.

For details, call 012-286 3933 (Lin).

~News courtesy of The Star~

Happy Chinese New Year

Old Istana Negara opens to the public

Old Istana Negara opens to the public for the first time

Old is gold: Dr Mubarak Chan, the youngest son of the late Chan Wing.

FOR many, walking into the old Istana Negara which opens its doors to the public for the first time today, will make for a thrilling experience. But for a few, it will be almost like greeting an old friend.

For Dr Mubarak Chan Chin Cheung, 79, his life — quite literally — started at the picturesque mansion situated at the top of a gently sloping hill.

“I was born there in 1934, the youngest of 22 siblings. The mansion was a family home especially built by my father who wanted all the family living in the same place,” he said.

Old memories: The Chan family residence featured a large pond at the bottom of the garden that has since been filled in and become part of the large field in the old palace grounds.

The mansion was built by architects Swan and McLaren, whose company is the oldest architectural firm in Singapore to-date and also responsible for the construction of the Jalan Ampang Bok House and Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

It had a number of bedrooms, two libraries, two card rooms, two music rooms, an altar room, a barber room, two kitchens and a large dining hall that was able to fit 10 tables.

“We also had a very large pond at the bottom of the garden and just a little way beyond it, the school house.

“There was also an orchard with plenty of fruit trees,” Chan said, adding that he could even see Batu Caves in the distance from his bedroom window.

The property sat amidst 5.26ha land that stretched down to the Klang River and Chan remembered the lively events that used to be held at the mansion.

“My father usually entertained guests in grand affairs during Chinese New Year when we had lion dances. Special furnishings were brought out and the house would be lit up beautifully,” he said, adding that they often had the Selangor Police contingent band playing as well.

Stand tall: A photo of the old Istana Negara in 1945, showing the mansion’s facade with balconies on the second floor and open cupolas on the rooftop.

He also remembers a stuffed tiger, some two metres in length, that had a grand position at the bottom of one of the staircases in a glass box, the animal having been shot in one of the Johor rubber plantations owned by his father Chan Wing.

The elder Chan had come from China’s Guangdong province as a destitute during his mid-teens to seek better opportunities in 1889.

He made his fortune when the Hong Fatt Mining Company he founded with a few others became the largest and deepest open-cast tin mine in the world. It is now the site of The Mines Resort City.

This led to other successful ventures including the co-founding of Kuala Lumpur Kwong Yik Bank.

Though technically the last time, Chan stepped foot into the palace grounds was in 1977 to receive the Johan Mangku Negara award, the last time he ever called that place home was in 1941, just before his family had to abandon it when the war came to Malaya.

His family made their escape through various means, eventually ending up in different parts of the globe — his father and one brother in Perth, Australia and the bulk of the family in India. During their absence, the mansion was looted and many things were lost.

Eventually it became the official residence of the Japanese Governor of Malaya from 1942 to 1945 and, after the war ended, the British Military Administration used it from 1946 to 1951 as the quarters for its officers above the rank of Brigadier.

“Then from 1952 to 1956, the mansion was rented out to the Selangor state government for 5,000 Straits Dollars and after that, in 1957, our home was sold to the federal government for 1.4mil to be converted into the official residence of the King,” Chan said.

One of the main changes to the property since the days of his family’s residence there was the location of the main gate.

“The entrance now was done during the Japanese Occupation. When my father built the house, the entrance was where the back gate is now. It was considered better feng shui,” he said.

As a palace, the building has undergone several renovations, including one in 1980 to construct the Balairong Seri Utama that was used for the first time during the installation of the seventh king.

Chan laments that people seem to have forgotten the builder of the old palace and not even a single street has been named after him.

“He was even on the board of directors of the Confucian Chinese School along with people like Chan Sow Lin and Loke Chow Kit,” he said, adding that education was a very important point for Chan Wing and 15 family members had gone to study in Cambridge University between 1920 and today, including himself.

~News courtesy of The Star~

10-minute immigration clearance at KLIA

Smooth start for 10-minute immigration clearance initiative at KLIA

The first day of the 10-minute immigration clearance initiative at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here got off to a smooth start Friday.

Despite the arrival of nearly 3,000 passengers within three hours, there was hardly any bottleneck at Immigration counters.

The passengers had arrived between 6pm and 9pm, one of the airport's three peak hours. The other two peak hours are 6am-8am and 12pm-2.30pm.

Reporters, who were taken for a tour to access the initiative during the 6pm-9pm peak hours, saw passengers being cleared in less than 10 minutes.

Immigration director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad said all 58 counters, including six auto gates, for arriving passengers would be opened during the peak hours.

"We will ensure that the last person in the queue will be attended to in less than 10 minutes.

"If there is no issue with their documents, it will take only 45 seconds to process it and the passengers will be cleared in 10 minutes," he said.

Alias, however, said the 10-minute clearance initiative could face some delays if there was any power failure or interruption to the system.

"Otherwise, it is our pledge to arriving Malaysians and foreigners that they will be cleared in 10 minutes," he said.

He said the 10-minute clearance initiative had been applied at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal since 2011.

~News courtesy of The Star~

打造地標带动旅游业

瓜拉冷岳‧打造地標带动旅游业‧丹村新牌楼开幕

行政议员欧阳捍华（中）为丹村牌楼主持开幕典礼，右4起为许文安、黄锦伦及李嘉印，左4起为哈斯林及戴河松。（图：星洲日报）

瓜冷县丹绒士拔村新建牌楼及有盖篮球场日前同一天举行隆重开幕典礼，邀请掌管雪州新村发展事务行政议员欧阳捍华蒞临主持，丹村村委会成员、县议员及村民等在场见证歷史性的一刻。

牌楼是建立在丹村西边路入口处，开幕剪綵过后，行政议员欧阳捍华在村委会成员、嘉宾及醒狮队陪同下步行到马路，为新建有盖篮球场举行剪綵开幕仪式，一时轰动及引人注目，成为该村歷史性一大盛事。

欧阳捍华在仪式上表示，在前朝政府的统领下超过50多年，308前新村发展的拨款仅仅每年只有20万，平均每个村只分得2千500令吉。对於发展来说，这只不过是杯水车薪，使很多新村的基本建设不但没有改善，甚至破烂不堪，而且新村的发展也有受到边缘化对待的趋势。

“自民联政府掌管雪州以来，新村发展拨款从每年500万令吉提昇到650万令吉，新村的基本建设也逐步的提昇了许多。”

欧阳捍华：丹村逐渐成旅游区

欧阳捍华表示，政府在硬体方面能提供拨款给村民，在其他方面还是需要村民的配合。他说，丹村已逐渐成为旅游区，在发展旅游业方面应加以不断自我增值和提昇，这样旅游业才能继续蓬勃发展。

雪邦及瓜冷县新村事务协调官李嘉印指出，1950年的时候，英殖民地政府曾有竖立过牌楼。因环境的变迁，为了扩展道路而被拆毁，时至308之前，国阵政府仍未能重新建立。

“至於有盖篮球场，早在80年代，村民以及篮运爱好者都有一个理想，渴望著政府建造一座有盖篮球场，可是时过境迁，这个理想也变为梦想。直至308之后，这个理想才真正看到了一丝曙光，今时今日在民联政府的支持下，才正式的落实。”

牌楼对联：“华桥南渡人杰地灵拔名士，紫气东来物阜民丰垦丹绒。”

戴河松：牌楼成地標刺激旅业

村长戴河松指出，早期村民是以农业为主，如今因其环境的优势崛起，已成为雪州知名的旅游区，牌楼的兴建也成为本村的地標，更激励旅游业的进一步蓬勃发展。

戴河松非常感谢雪州行政议员欧阳捍华的拨款援助，使新村牌楼如今能够宏伟的矗立在新村主要入口处，壮观的有盖篮球场也使到本村的面貌焕然一新。

出席上述两项开幕礼的嘉宾尚有民联丹绒士拔选区协调官哈斯林、县议员黄锦伦、双溪比力村长赖玉兰，丹村前任村长许文安，民联政党领袖以及各社团代表等。

（星洲日报／大都会）