SCRAPPED KLANG PRIVATE HOSPITAL
Z. IBRAHIM
I read with interest Datuk Seri Mohamad Khir Toyo’s decision to stop the construction by an international conglomerate to build a RM400 million hospital in Teluk Gadung Klang. “Plans for Klang hospital scrapped” (NST March 30, 2007).
Apparently the MB was “advised” to do so by his political comrade in arms and Klang Municipal Council (MPK) councilor Datuk Teh Kim Poo on questionable scientific grounds that “”It would be bad feng shui for his neighborhood, himself included and that they feel the value of their homes will drop.”
Because of this superstition and without a proper debate by the MPK itself, yet again Mr. Teh Kim Poh appears to have single-handedly, this time shooed away a significant portion of this country’s FDI which would have given many Malaysians in the Klang area work in the proposed 14-storey hospital on a 2.5hectare area. The cowboyish antics of Klang Municipal councilors never seem to amaze Malaysians.
His belief in the supernatural forces apart, Mr Teh Kim Poh had no such coyness when he bulldozed his way into building a “Perpaduan” building with open air pit toilets on a children’s playground right in front of residents’ house at Southern Park, Klang three years ago despite all protests by residents affected with these plans.
Indeed even before a proper plan was up, Mr Teh Kim Poh accelerated the construction of the building. There was no menteri besar or Teh Kim Poh or MPK to listen to the residents grouses and eventually the courts came to the rescue of the residents. Till this day this decrepit building with its overgrown shrubs and open aired pit toilets directly facing resident’s homes on a pristine green playground has been hopelessly left abandoned being a constant danger for children playing in the vicinity and a dengue hazard whence it should have been demolished swiftly on the grounds of public safety.
Teh Kim Poh appears to show no remorse save hide behind the phrase “sudah jadi case mahkahmah”. His dreams of conducting cooking and aerobic lessons at his personalized “Perpaduan” building at the children’s playground appear now to have diminished.
What is sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gander and I believe a RM400million investment is something this town definitely would benefit and the Menteri Besar must seriously review his decision as this may negate efforts by our Trade Ministry in getting investments to come into Malaysia.
He should perhaps also review his association with the likes of Teh Kim Poh who appears to demonstrate a self-centered attitude quite predominant in many Malaysian politicians today which could prove perilous in the forthcoming general elections.
The other MPK councilors quite rightly must debate this decision and bring development to the people of Klang. And this they must do soon lest they are yet again caught in publicity nightmare not unlike the infamous Zakaria Deros affair.
(NST report “Plans for Klang hospital scrapped” by Neville Spykerman follows:
KLANG: Datuk Seri Mohamad Khir Toyo has pulled the plug on plans by an international conglomerate to build a RM400 million hospital in Teluk Gadung here.
Klang Municipal Council (MPK) councillor Datuk Dr Teh Kim Poo said residents in the area had appealed to the menteri besar for help.
He said residents in the area did not want to live in the shadow of a huge hospital.
“It’s bad feng shui and they feel the value of their homes will drop,” he said after the MPK full board meeting yesterday.
The project to build the 14-storey hospital, inclusive of a four-storey car park, at a 2.5 hectare site was initially given the green light by the MPK town planning committee earlier this month.
Dr Teh, who lives 500m from the site of the proposed 150-bed hospital, also said that Klang did not need an additional hospital.
“We already have the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital and several private hospitals and so there is no necessity to build a new one.”
However, not all MPK councillors at the meeting were pleased with the turn of events.
Mohd Raof Mokhtar, who is a member of the town planning committee which approved the project, said the case was setting a bad precedent.
“As long as the proposed hospital followed MPK building regulations and specifications, it should be allowed.”
He added that the project had its merits and councillors should have used their position to convince residents instead of the other way around.
Meanwhile, councillor Zainuri Zainal said the issue should have been settled in the council, instead of getting the menteri besar involved.
“It looks like a circus, with some parties instigating the public to
hold a protest and sending a memorandum.”Councillor Roslinda Abdul Jamil said MPK needed to be firm instead of back tracking on earlier decisions.
MPK president Abd Bakir Zin agreed the decision to scrap the project would be a loss of foreign direct investment for Klang, but said all was not lost for the American investors who have purchased the land for the project.
“They still have the option of revising their building plans by scaling down the size of the hospital and resubmitting their proposal or build the hospital elsewhere.”
What kind of ‘Dr’ of this Dr Teh? Medical doctor or Permanently Head Damaged-Phd doctorate holder? Probably Dr Teh should resign as MPK councillor and follow Lilian Too footsteps to become a feng sui master. Heap of $ to be made from feng sui mania.
Please do not drag any feng sui nonsense in the public domain, whatever nonsense/nuisance he wants to practice in his private life is none of other business, solely his choice, his right.
What future are we charting for our future generations? The Muslims are obsessively clung to thiers 1400 years old magic book, whereas the so call heirs of the dragons are mindlessly wasting theirs limited resources just to observe the common sense, supertitious feng sui practices. Sakit kepala sakit.
Follow the money trail. Some people who oppose strongly, they’re getting some kickbacks?
To build or not to build, the country is going down the drain to the dogs. Singapore is wooing our best medical grads / experts. And here, we’re still practising protectionism even in education, especially in area of medical studies???
The case of ambulances which has run out of petrol. Couldn’t the ambulance attendance forkout some RM30 to pump petrol just to send the poor lady? Or is it that the staff also do not have trust in their own procurement system?
Something is really very wrong. Whatever hikes/increase in salary will not solve the problem which is not nipped in the bud.
Wow! This paragraph, and its following paragraph, is SO VERY interesting:-
“….MPK president Abd Bakir Zin agreed the decision to scrap the project would be a loss of foreign direct investment for Klang, but said all was not lost for the American investors who have purchased the land for the project…”
Doesn’t it strike fear into anybody, foreign and domestic investors alike, that even after planting investment monies into acquiring real property in pursuance of that investment objective, post-investment, the project for which the acquisition was made can still be dis-approved by the government, be it state or federal?
Any investor, foreigners especially, must therefore be very concerned, justifiably, and be fully entitled to question deeply – even if Tun Musa’s call for NEP be discarded for IDR receives the concurrence of Government – whether some smart (yet stupid, perhaps?) political leader(s) in high decision or policy making positions will subsequently overturn such a relaxation of NEP requirements for IDR, AFTER investment capital had been remitted into the country. And for the IDR, for the correct perspective, we’re talking HUNDREDS of BILLIONS!!!!
Or will it be a case of this:-
“Well, they’ve (foreign investors) already planted their monies here, what can they (foreign investors) do if we (Malaysian/State government/UMNO crony politicians and warlords) continue our NEP, aka “Perjuangan Melayu”, and change the rules back to the usual Bumiputra quotas for shareholdings, employment, contracts, cronyism? Sell their landed investments, at project abandonment/fire-sale price (which the cronies will try their darndest to pick up for a song, arm-twisting the cheated dejected investors in the process), and take back their monies out?”
When will this country’s leaders at the top EVER learn to be honest, and HONOURABLE…?
One thing to say, American was dumb enough to invest in bodoh-land
Never knew Datuk Teh Kim Poo was so highly educated – a Dr!
What kind of a doctor is he? There are too many bogus doctors and those who pay some pittance to get honorary doctorates from unaccredited institutions. Yet others get theirs by way of submitting their employment records and experience without having to press ink on reams of paper.
Just curious to know if this Teh Kim Poh is another one of those charlatans and quacks….seeing the practice is not uncommon.
If indeed Khir Toyo has bowed to the wishes of just one man, the prima donna instigator – and has allowed this MCA bloke to twirl him around his fingers, this must be a Guinness record too.
Khir Toyo has done nothing outstanding for the people of Selangor which was the most developed state in the country long before he probably got his Malaysian citizenship (i.e. if it is correct this bloke was either an Indonesian immigrant or a first-generation Malaysian if his father was an immigrant!). Toyo is doing damage to a developed state if he can be so capricious and so audacious as to arrogate to himself such powers to ‘reject’ the FDI. I dare say no such powers exist for the MB to do this and to act with capriciousness outside the law.
The foreign company should take the matter up – alas, also to the PM. It is unfortunate Bodohland is so chaotic that everything has to land on the PM’s lap – from University lecturer’s no-pay leave (Terrence Gomez) to local government bottlenecks and Proton car’s foreign tie-up. BN clowns are so messed-up they can’t even handle ordinary and mundane matters properly.
Is there hope for Malaysia under this ‘Banyak Nonsense'(BN) coalition? No hope.
who says we dont respect other cultures? here we hv someone cancelling out a project bcos of bad feng sui. WELL DONE!
Funny thing is, why the bomohs have no say?
Sorry to disappoint u guys but the problesm we faced in msia dont land on the PM’s lap. It goes direct to the 4th floor boys.
smeagroo Says:
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Sorry to disappoint u guys but the problesm we faced in msia dont land on the PM’s lap. It goes direct to the 4th floor boys.
Are u saying the de facto Cabinet members are all lodged on the 4th Floor? And the de facto PM is UMNO deputy youth chief?
This must be the epitome of collective irresponsibility!!!
See the irony of it all – AAB works to bring in FDI (even if it is mere lip service); Toyo chase away FDI!!!
PM: Malaysia Can Become Country Of Choice For FDI
KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 (Bernama) — Malaysia can ensure that it is the choice for foreign direct investment (FDI) by establishing competitive regulations, standards and facilities with cutting edge technology, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Monday.
This, he said, applies to, among others, the industrial sector as well as finance, banking, agriculture and bio-technology.
PM vows to find partner for ailing Proton
Apr 2, 07 2:43pm
The premier says he will do his best in finding a partner for Proton as soon as possible
I thought belief in feng shui by muslims is haram.
It has to be scrapped!
Dr. Teh saw ” hantu ” jumping in the area and MB Toyo saw ” Toyols ” running around in the proposed development site.
This is totally beyond their control – supernatural. They are now getting bomoh and medium to deal with it.
“It’s bad feng shui and they feel the value of their homes will drop,†he said after the MPK full board meeting yesterday.”
Since when has bad feng shui been a guide to policy decisions of a government?
In some other countries, building or renting of buildings to set up ‘funeral homes’ is a matter for the individual and the local council – and the local council would consider any application to set up funeral homes (dead bodies are never taken to the homes of the deceased but are prepared for ‘wake’ at funeral homes) based on its guidelines which have nothing to do with the loss in value of neighboring home owners.
So if you don’t like a funeral home being next to yours, what do you do? You sell it.
Don’t know how feasible but perhaps the government should acquire the adjoining land to make room for future expansion of the hospital since it is the nature of things to expand over time. That would alleviate some of the problems. And like any other acquisition exercise
property owners would have to be compensated for the ‘loss’ of their properties.
Let’s face it.
It’s a project based on sound economic principles but decided on political considerations.
Project canceled based on bad feng shui? Is April Fool’s joke right?
Them Americans believe the feng shui is good for them but local residents’ feel the feng shui is no good for them. So clash of feng shui.
Is the feng shui for the NasI Kandar Development Region good or not? For whom? Did the proponents call in a Feng Shui master like perhaps Shahrir, or Toyo, or Dr Teh for advise?
Feng Shui master Shahrir once said Singapore don’t want a bridge to replace the causeway because it is bad feng shui for them. So maybe overall the feng shui must not be good.
First our leaders always wait for ‘inspiration’, now they decide based on ‘feng shui’. Next they might consult ‘bomohs’ and jinns.
We never fail to entertain international investors.
to ahkok1982,
americans no longer dumb – they already moved their intel investments to vietnam & china
bodoh-land is already starting to rot – just look at the IDR – no investors will even come near it!
“First our leaders always wait for ‘inspiration’, now they decide based on ‘feng shui’. Next they might consult ‘bomohs’ and jinns.” Sheriff singh
hey singh diaper head you tryin’ to be funny again arr??
Hey, apa lu cakap!! Singh diaper head?? This Singh drinks cow milk with ginger don’t play play!
“It would be bad feng shui for his neighborhood, himself included and that they feel the value of their homes will drop.â€Â
The politics of feng shui?
You all should check how many BN’s politicians and their cronies are getting jobs and contracts from this Klang Hospital to be initially built until scrapped by Kir Toyo. You think “international conglomerate” would be allowed to turnkey build a RM400 million hospital in Teluk Gadung Klang without farming jobs to BN cronies?
Khir Toyo’s decision to stop the construction of this RM400 million hospital in Teluk Gadung Klang on “advice†of his “his political comrade in arms and Klang Municipal Council (MPK) councilor Datuk Teh Kim Poo” may be motivated by Teh’s and resident’s genuine desire to protect their property values. Residents, in general, do not like hospitals to be built in front of their properties in fear of bad “chi” and feng shui. Ask the property agents and brokers, they can confirm it.
This
Sure, how do you run a country based on bad ‘chi’ or feng shui??
Hahahahaha …. Sorry sorry … can’t help laughing …
Hahahahaha …. still can’t stop laughing … *shake head* *shake head* …
Sometimes … I really wonder .. has all intelligent Msians left Malaysia ?? (except for Uncle Kit obviously)
Really all these don’t make any sense … common or uncommon …
Feel like Msia is under the control of local ‘warlords’ n ‘bandits’ n local ‘clans’ … a bit like lawless Afghanistan or China during Kuo Min Tang’s rule ..
yeah, yeah, i’ve just recalled some moron have spoken :
“Ini Negara Islam, kalau lu tak suka, boleh keluar dari negara ini”
and i said,
which rich Malay people does not believe in Feng Shui?
is Feng Shui part of Islamic thought?
Can someone enlighten me?