Pre. Medan Trip

Yeah ! Finally we r going oversea for a trip. When i 1st join USM doing Urban & Regional Planning, i was expecting tonnes of trips to places that i had never been before to see and observe how other people plans there environment, planning standards and guidelines. But how wrong was I, all i got was location that i have to go and do assignment, and yet it was no fun at all.

For my final year, our studio has finally organized a trip to foreign country which is Medan, Indonesia. We are all going on 23/3/2009-27/3/2009, boarding airasia flight.

We r going to places like Danau Toba (Lake Tobe, largest lake in Indonesia with an island that is the size of Singapore), Siposo poso waterfall, Berastagi, Active Volcano at both MT. sibayak and MT. Sinabung and local markets that sell anything from daily groceries to anything u can imagine.

Ok lah, go already come back only tell u all how lah !

All packed and ready to go.

So wish me a good and happy trip ! I will blog about this trip when i come back, till then i will be offline !

Ciao !!

Chief Minister of Penang defends tiger park idea

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has defended his proposal to start a tiger park in Relau, saying that the state needed a new eco-tourism project.

“Some people have suggested a zoo but it is not economical to have one presently. The people, especially children, are generally interested in big animals. The ‘wow’ factor is there,” he said when asked to elaborate on his idea. Lim had announced that the state government planned to create a tiger park on a 40ha plot owned by the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) known as the Pondok Durian Cap Kaki.

He said Penang, in its pursuit to become an international city, should have such a park as most international cities had zoos. The park could have a few other animals but it would mainly feature tigers which symbolised bravery and dynamism, he added. “It will be a private-driven project and a tender will be called if the state government goes ahead with the plan.

“Currently the state is collecting public feedback. Those who want to contribute ideas or suggestions can write to the state government in Komtar or the MPPP,” he added.

The project, he said, would also help the state government and the MPPP tackle illegal farming activities at the proposed site. It was reported earlier that the proposal had received negative feedback from the public and several non-governmental organisations like the Malaysian Nature Society Penang branch. They are concerned about the safety issues and felt that the state should concentrate on promoting Penang’s heritage, culture and arts.

Meanwhile, Penang National Park and Wildlife Department director Noor Alif Wira Osman said the state government and private parties involved in the project would have to iron out legal problems if the plan goes ahead. He said it was not like setting up a bird park. “The location for the park must be suitable. The safety around the tiger enclosures and surrounding areas is also a main priority,” he said, adding that the care for the tigers would also be subjected to close monitoring by the department. “There are strict guidelines to follow to get the permit,” he said.

By LOOI SUE-CHERN, The Star.


From the above article, we can see that Penang's Chief Minister has included public participation within a very environmental sensitive development. The MPPP has gotten various feedback from the the public regarding what they think about the project.

Based on the feedback that were given by the public and NGOs, it is not a positive reaction from the public, althought this might sound bad to the state government or the chief himself, but bare in mind that the public had voiced there concern and that the government has to take in consideration of what the public in order to fully tackle the urban planning problem, this also shows that penangites are very active in urban planning participation.

But i really wish that MPPP could had set up a Public Participation online portal whereby everyone can post there comments online, this way we can all see the comments and further addon it and the speed and quality of communication between the public and administrative could be better. They could also upload plans and 3D image of the park and it's surrounding so that penangites can have a better picture of what is happening.

For my personal oppinion, i really think that the idea of a tiger park is kind of "out of the box" because it is so not Penang to me. And is it the only way to tackle illegal farming, don't we have government officers to do that? What R they doing? If we r going to have a development to stop this illegal farming why don't we have a casino, this way MPPP can make revenue out of the TAX and still stop illegal farming. Therefore, to the people digging their brains for this tiger park idea, please u all can do better.

What we need to focus on is the G.Town area, to improve and conserve the heritage and cultural elements of G.Town, Relau is no where near as important as G.Town to Penang Island, focus on those that are really broken. but if MPPP want to have a circus display like Malacca i hope that they know that Penangites aren't sitting ducks.

Something bad happened in Studio today

Today something bad happened at studio. We were having having this talk by Mdm Lim which is a registered QS (Quantity Surveyor) on the topic of project/development costing. One of the jobscope of a QS is to come out with an BQ (Bill of Quantity) to see whether the project is financially feasible or not. It was rather interesting letting us know that not all development can have mega rich people funding it.

The Palm Jumeriah.
Perfect example of money no object spending on development.

Therefore we must have financial control for all RATIONAL development.

Then the talk reach the Q&A session like always. I, with my jinx mouth asked a very sensitive yet important question, which is whether maintainence fees of an development, are included into the account of consideration (cause we all knew that Malaysia is famous for development projects that are Utopian and yet our maintainence are full of BS !).

Just hope that PutraJaya's Maintainence is not BS like always !

Mdm Lim told us that maintainence for a particular project are not included into the BQ (QS quote me if i am wrong here k). Then climax of the day came along, straight after she finish answering my question, dirty sewage water started pouring down from the ceiling directly above me.

How good timing can that be ! U tell me lah.

Everyone in the studio rushes out, to avoid getting soaked by sewage water.

More and more sewage water keep gashing in.

Then the water started to sip out from the studio and into the walkway.

there was so much water, even the staircase has become a makeshift waterfall.

I was able to escape the sewage water thanks to my perfectly tone, agile, strong, flexible and fast reacting body. If not i will become the laughing stock for the rest of my USM's life.

just like i told u, perfectly tone, agile, strong, flexible and fast reacting body.

After the incident, this is how my studio look like.

A total mess.

Everything is wet, soaking and my place is full of sewage water.
God knows what the heck is in that water.

U might think that the School of Housing, Building and Planning could had the best quality buildings in USM, and this is what happened. How bloody hell embarrassing is that. But just maybe HBP's teaching method is totally different from other institutions, they teaches their student what not to do by having it at your doorstep or should i say on top of your head.

Can someone call MAINTAINENCE please.

Usage Of ICT in Public Participation

The traditional method of public participation involves the use of public meetings. These are regarded by most as an inefficient, unfair, and are nearly always held in a fixed place or location and at a fixed time, often when people are at work or in the evening when other commitments mean people cannot attend meetings (The meetings are quite often confrontational, they can be dominated by vocal minority groups, it is often difficult for the layperson to understand, and the whole process quite often involves highly technical and legal ‘jargon’. Members of the public who attend these meetings also often experience difficulty understanding the spatial relationships portrayed on 2-D maps and plans, their frustration often leading to miscommunication and mistrust of planners.)

The importance of the public’s participation in the process is tantamount in avoiding further conflict and objection once a development has been undertaken. “The picture is worth a thousand words and direct involvement in most endeavors results in a greater understanding of the experience” (Howard, 1998). Unfortunately the wisdom of this phrase has not fully been understood by the planning world as yet. The message here is clear, greater involvement in the planning process leads to greater understanding and acceptance of plans and proposals. Therefore any process which will improve the relationship between planners and the community they serve will inevitably result in a more fair and efficient planning system.

(Shiffer, 1996) writes, "Information is only powerful when it is effectively comprehended by those who use it. IT (Information Technology) can help people to comprehend information, (thereby delivering knowledge)." Nearly all planning information possesses a spatial orientation that is essential to acquiring the knowledge necessary for effective planning participation. (Shiffer, 1995a) and others (Hundt 1997, Krygier 1998, Pieplow 1998) have demonstrated that geographically related technology, including:

GIS Concept

Digital Aerial Photography

geographic information systems (GIS); digital aerial photography and photographs; digital simulation and animation; and even audio/video recordings of public meetings where land use issues are discussed can be employed during participatory activities to provide that geographic orientation.

(Dandekar, 1982) suggests that involvement of the public to stimulate good ideas and build a consensus amongst a diverse community requires three modes of communication: presentation of information to the public; receipt of information from the public; and exchange of ideas and opinions that build upon shared information as the ideas evolve. The importance of information exchange between the public and the local planning authorities, ICT infrastructure can play a major role in stimulating this process.

(Kaj, 2002) said that electronic tools can overcome many traditional obstacles in the aspect of reaching out to the public with the information. Among the traditional obstacles that can be overcome are,

i. Preparation of information in the form of electronic data can reduce the cost on hardcopy printing materials (reduced usage on paper).

ii. The public will be able to reach out to certain information or documents through the internet, at their own preference time without disturbing their normal day routine.

iii. There will be no need for the public to go the authorities office to gather the information that they need, in fact this can be done anywhere with internet connection

iv. The electronic information usage in different from the traditional information usage, although both convey the same information but the electronic information has the advantage that enable the public to do information search electronically, Cut and Paste of the information, alteration and correction on the information can be done much easier.