I went to the Joprec Forum in Johor Baru last Saturday, Aug 16. This was to explain to the public why they must fight the increase in tolls at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex leading to Singapore.

I have questions remaining in my head after listening to people like Tony Pua and PKR’s Rafizi Ramli.

There was this question raised by an audience member that makes sense, that the CIQ toll is for the Singaporeans mostly, since it is near the entry point to Johor. But the changes involve the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) Expressway which many Johoreans can use within Johor Baru and not worry about paying for toll.

This is good for Johor people, how can this not be good for Johor people?

I want to say that Pua started his talk by saying he is from Selangor. I am very upset about this. He is from Johor, he is a Johor boy through and through since he is from Batu Pahat. How can he not mention being a Johor person himself when he came all the way to Johor Baru to talk about a very Johor related topic?

Why, not proud of being a Johor guy any more? And if not proud about being a Johor-born person, why come to Johor and talk about our issue?

I don’t want to sound petty, but this is a very important issue for us Johor people. If you want to champion Johor issues, just be honest about things.

Second, he did not want to reply on why it is not okay for Johor people to be selfish a bit with regards to the CIQ. The toll can be anywhere and it is up to the people running it. They want to let the Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) there to pay for it when they come to Malaysia. They do not have to pay if they do not want to come to Malaysia.

I am not being harsh here, but I prefer my Malaysian politicians defending Malaysians first, and not find ways to make more Malaysians pay toll so that less Singaporeans pay.

Finally, Pua said that Singapore will put more new taxes for Malaysia if we go down this path.

Come on, it is not so expensive for the Singapore people. Second, I don’t like Pua giving me economic lectures on retaliatory measures by Singapore if we put high taxes on them. Malaysians have been paying the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) for many many years, we have not put taxes on them. If they want to put more taxes on us because of the CIQ, this shows the Singaporeans as being petty, not us.

Is Pua more caring for the Singaporeans because he studied in Singapore? You can see this using Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Pua . Plus, he also listed his technology company in Singapore, not in Malaysia.

I think that he is picking sides here. I am worried he is not talking like a Johor person but more like a person who has more interest in Selangor and Singapore. I am not excited by his ideas of fairness without looking at the interests of much poorer Johor people in Johor Baru.