Friday, February 02, 2007

Water arising

Malaysian government Ministers can have very fantastic imagination, and sometimes, these imagining tries to be scientific too. Abdul Ghani Othman, the Johor Chief Minister is on record as saying that the floods in Johor in the last few months is caused by the reclamation works that Singapore had carried out on its Tekong Island. Because of the reclamation works, so the reasoning goes, the mouth of the Johor River was narrowed, which impeded the flow of water. This eventually led to the overflowing of that same river, flooding much of the State of Johor.

This is the most incredible piece of 'scientific' reasoning sh*t I have ever heard. I think the Johoreans should use its river for better purposes than as a football that it tries to wack into Singapore's goal. First, Malaysia is already going to restrict the amount of water it sells to Singapore, water that originates from the Johor River, once the current water agreements with Singapore expire. If what Encik Ghani says is true, then Johoreans should brace themselves for more floods in the future. I can imagine them blaming Singapore for not taking more water from the Johor River like it used to for so many years, when floods strike Johor again.

Now it is blaming Singapore for clogging up the mighty Johor River. Sometimes, I think Malaysians give Singapore too much credit than it deserves.

No comments: