Have we been have had?

As a resident staying in Cheras and using the Grand Saga toll, I believe something is not right when Najib said the toll fees would be halved i.e. you pay one toll, one way only.  


The halving of toll charges for Cheras-Kajang Highway comes with a hefty price tag - RM120.55 million in government compensation and a 15-year extension to the concession agreement.

This was revealed by Works Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor (above) in Parliament yesterday, in reply to a question by Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching.

The minister also said that concessionaire Grand Saga Sdn Bhd has agreed not to raise toll charges for another three years. Effectively, Grand Saga will be allowed to collect toll until 2045.

In addition to slashing the toll rate from RM3.80 to RM1.90, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had announced the abolition of toll collection at two booths along the highway on March 1, amidst much fanfare.
Longer toll payments 'not justified'

Met later, Teo said the extension of the concession agreement cannot be justified as Grand Saga has profited handsomely from toll collections since 1999.

She pointed out that, while the highway was constructed at a cost of RM282 million - and maintenance costs up until 2010 were RM147.31 million - it was a paltry sum compared to more than RM870 million made from toll collections and government compensation thus far.

"When Najib made the announcement on March 1, he was fooling the public. He did not mention about the new agreement," she said.

"We had to wait until Parliament convened before we could find out, and put the works minister on a spot.

"This is Najib's election play. He will throw a few bones without explaining what is really happening behind the scenes.

"All this is a result of a lopsided concession agreement. Our future generations will bear the brunt." 

Robin Gibbs dies

Robin Gibb, one of three brothers who made up the disco group the Bee Gees behind "Saturday Night Fever" and other hits from the 1970s, died on Sunday, according to a statement on his website.

He was 62.

Gibb "passed away today following his long battle with caner and intestinal surgery," said the statement, which was attributed to his family.

Diagnosed with colon and liver cancer, Gibbs had been in a coma as he battled pneumonia earlier this spring, representative Doug Wright said.

Doctors believe that Gibb had a secondary tumor.  Wright said April 14, confirming a news account in the UK newspaper, The Sun.  Gibb had emergency surgery in 2010 for a blocked bowel and then had more surgery for a twisted bowel, Wright confirmed.

The only surviving member of the three Bee Gees is brother Barry, 65.

And younger brother, Andy Gibb, died at age 30, from a heart infection.

The Brothers Gibb - calling themselves the Bee Gees - soared to renown after the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta was built around the group's falsetto voices and disco songs.

In the latter part of the 1970s, the British-born Bee Gees "dominated dance floors and airwaves.  With their matching white suits, soaring high harmonies and polished, radio-friendly records, they remain one of the essential touchstones to that ultra-commercial era," The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says on its website.

"Saturday Night Fever" and the group's 1979 album "Spirits Having Flown" yielded six No: 1 hits, "making the Bee Gees the only group in pop history to write, produce and record that many consecutive chart-topping singles," according to the Hall of Fame.

While often more in the background, Robin Gibb was the lead singer on several of Bee Gees' top tunes including "I Started A Joke" and "I've Gotta Get A Message To You."  He also recorded several solo albums during his career.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, the Bee Gees sold more than 200 million albums, and their sountrack alum to "Saturday Night Fever" was the top-selling album until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" claimed that distinction in the 1980s.

Monday Humour

WIFE VS. HUSBAND 

A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. 
An earlier discussion had led to an argument and 
neither of them wanted to concede their position. 
As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, 
the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?"
"Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."   
 
W O R D S 
A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 
30,000 to a man's 15,000.
The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men... 
The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"   
 
CREATION 
A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be 
so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time.
" The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. 
God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me;
God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!   
 
WHO DOES WHAT 
A man and his wife were having an argument about who
should brew the coffee each morning. 
The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, 
and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee." 
The husband said, " You are in charge of cooking around here and 
you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee." 
Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible 
that the man should do the coffee."
Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me." 
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament 
and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.........."HEBREWS"   
 
The Silent Treatment 
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each 
other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, 
he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. 
Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, 
"Please wake me at 5:00 AM ." He left it where he knew she would find it. 
The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM
and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and 
see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by
the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM . Wake up." 
Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.   
  
     God may have created man before woman, 

but there is always a rough draft before the masterpiece. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canadian Speed Control! 
Speed control being used in Canada.
How's this for effective speed control? 

I don't know  about you, but this would certainly slow me down! People slow down and  actually try to "straddle" the hole. 

This is an  actual speed control device that is currently in use. It is MUCH  cheaper than speed cameras, radar guns, police officers,  etc.

Pretty clever  -- especially when they move them around every day.

Three Malaysian glass ceilings broken by Ambi

BERSIH 3.0 clearly demonstrates that Malaysians no longer fear the state. In that regard we are a quantum leap ahead of the Egyptians under Mubarak, the Iraqis under Saddam, or the Chinese under Mao (or even today). When citizens are no longer afraid of the state, many wonderful things would follow. BERSIH is also the first successful multiracial mass movement in Malaysia. In a nation obsessed with and where every facet is defined by race, that is an achievement worthy of note. Another significant milestone, again not widely acknowledged, is that the movement is led by a woman who is neither Malay nor a Muslim. Ambiga Sreenevasan broke not one but three Malaysian glass ceilings!


[M Bakri Musa]

Our Sunday Girl - JULIE

Whoa, whoa Julie,
If you love me truly,
Do you want me, Julie, to be, be your very own?

Julie, love me only,
Julie, don't be lonely,
'cause I want you only to be, to be my very own.

Ooh, Baby, don't leave me, honey, don't grieve me,
Julie, why leave me alone?
Stay with me, baby, lay with me maybe,
honey, don't leave me alone!

Julie, never leave me,
please, don't decieve me!
Julie, oh, believe me and be, be my very own.

[Interlude]

Whoa, whoa, Julie,
if you love me truly
Do you want me, Julie, to be, be your very own?

Ooh, Baby, don't leave me, honey, don't grieve me,
Julie, why leave me alone?
Stay with me, baby, lay with me maybe,
honey, don't leave me alone!

Julie, never leave me,
please, don't decieve me!
Julie, oh, believe me and be, be my very own.

Whoa, whoa, Julie,
if you love me truly
Do you want me, Julie, to be, be your very own?
To be, to be, to be, to be your very own.
To be, to be, to be, to be your very own.

Previous Features:
Deborah
Sandy
Mona Lisa
Tracy
Mary Anne
Michelle
Annie
Donna
Rebecca
Anna
Mandy
Judy
Cecilia
Marie
Susan

MY WAY - a dedication to Najib

First, it was "Tear Gas In Your Eyes" and now, we have another parody, this time about Najib and his recent London outing, to the tune of "My Way".  Both songs were sung and recorded by Chom Lee, a Bersih activist in Perth.

The passing of a disco icon - DONNA SUMMERS

The mere mention of Donna Summers and that would invoke nostalgic feelings of the disco era of the seventies and memories of The Tin Mine, Tomorrow Disco, The Horbit, The Glass Bubble, The Federal Disco and many other similar outlets in KL and PJ.

Grammy-winning disco legend Donna Summer, who topped the charts repeatedly in the 1970s and 80s with raunchy hits like ‘Love to Love You Baby’ and ‘Hot Stuff,’ died yesterday aged 63.

Known as the Queen of Disco, the singer whose hits also included ‘I Feel Love’ and ‘She Works Hard for the Money’, died in Florida from lung cancer, the TMZ celebrity news website said.

“Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts,” said a family statement. “While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.”

Tributes poured in within hours of her death, led by President Barack Obama who said: “Donna truly was the ‘Queen of Disco’. Her voice was unforgettable, and the music industry has lost a legend far too soon.”

“Truly that will be her legacy, she was the Disco Queen,” soul legend Aretha Franklin told CNN.

Barbra Streisand, with whom Summer duetted on 1979's ‘No More Tears (Enough is Enough)’, said she was “shocked” at the news.

“She was so vital the last time I saw her a few months ago. I loved doing the duet with her. She had an amazing voice and was so talented. .. It’s so sad,” she said in a statement.

In Hollywood, flowers were placed on her sidewalk star on the storied Hollywood Walk of Fame, across the street from the world-famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Summer, who also became something of an icon in the gay community, shot to fame during the disco era of the 1970s with hits like ‘MacArthur Park’, ‘Hot Stuff’ and ‘Bad Girls’.

The orgasmic-sounding ‘Love to Love You Baby’, released in 1975, was one of the first disco songs to be released in extended form, giving full vent to Summer’s erotic moans and groans.

In the 1980s her hits included ‘She Works Hard for the Money’ and ‘State of Independence’.

The disco diva was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines into a large devoutly Christian family in Boston and started singing in the local church, before performing in a number of Motown-influenced groups in her teens.

Summer took her stage name after marrying Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer in 1972, anglicising her name after divorcing him. She spoke fluent German and the couple had a daughter, Mimi Sommer.

Winner of five Grammy awards

The singer won five Grammy awards during her spectacular career, including in 1980 for best rock female vocalist for the 1979 ‘Hot Stuff’, but also as recently as 1997 for best dance recording for ‘Carry On’.

She holds the record for most consecutive double albums to top the Billboard charts - three - and first female with four No 1 singles in a 12-month period, three solo and one with Barbra Streisand, according to the IMDb website.

‘Hot Stuff’ also got a boost from being used in the 1997 hit movie ‘The Full Monty’, as the track to which a group of unemployed British steel workers performed a striptease act.

TMZ reported that she had kept her illness quiet, and didn’t appear too sick only a couple of weeks ago, citing sources as saying she was focused on trying to finish a new album she had been working on.

It cited sources as saying Summer believed she developed lung cancer after inhaling toxic particles following the Sept 11, 2001 al-Qaeda attacks in New York.

Harry Casey, lead singer and ‘KC’ of fellow disco greats KC and the Sunshine Band, said he was stunned.

“I saw her several months ago at a performance, she looked great, she sang great, her performance was amazing. We got together backstage and had some good laughs and walked down memory lane.

“I’m just in shock. I had no idea anything was wrong.”

- AFP