Monday, April 14, 2008

Port Dickson

Duty-free, crony-free. Multi-million beachfront development for Port Dickson, with duty-free shopping complexes, hotels, this and that. Wow.
Meanwhile, pantai Port Dickson as we know it will continue to be dirty and the sand is turning into mud. Miles and miles of beachfront need proper sewerage and drainage, better shower facilities, clean toilets, and Mat Rempit-free beachfront lanes.
And get those killer jet skis out of my swimming trunks!

The Negri Sembilan MB needs to get his priority rights. Those multi-million ringgit should be spent to promote tourism, NOT to make the cronies happy.

44 comments:

  1. They don't learn nothing. Arrogant people are like that.

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  2. Anonymous12:04 pm

    Bro,

    It's spend first and overcome problem later policy. Biasa lah tu kat Malaysia

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  3. Anonymous12:13 pm

    we need such development rocky in PD. please.. don't go for narrow minded thots on KJ and his frenz.. they are history..

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  4. Anonymous12:13 pm

    Efforts must first be made to restore PD as a holiday destination particularly for the locals...don't talk about foreign tourists just yet. It has lost its attraction... dirty beaches etc. plus and has turned into a dull place and becoming just another coastal town.

    Get the place right first, liven it up, before wasting taxpayers' monies on another "development project" that has no significant impact on our tourism industry.

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  5. Anonymous12:22 pm

    I grew up in Port Dickson. Over the last 30 years, the town has become decrepit, stale and grey, despite the mushrooming of an assortment of condominiums and resorts. From my point of view, hence, it has been a case of enriching groups that include condominium developers (i.e., the non-resident rent-seekers) and the local council (taxes) while any serious drive for actual improvement of the town and its environs, for the welfare of its residents, has been lacking.

    What the town needs is not more concrete and flash. What it needed -- if making the town more habitable or livable for local residents is the goal -- is sprucing up. The priorities should be the retention and flourishing of greenery (natural vegetation, not potted plants), the better maintenance and management of roads and buildings (e.g., revitalising rundown urban/suburban areas), the cleaning up of the beaches and revamping sewerage infrastructure so as to maintain the beach's integrity, and the introduction of an environmentally-conscious land zoning system (which should include a requirement for establishing adequate buffer zones between the beachfront and resort/condominium developments).

    In summary, what PD badly needs at this juncture (as simple observation would reveal) is firstly increasing investments in the fundamentals of living. Then additional development motivated by income generation could be considered around this fundamental.

    A pure economic-growth approach that has not given enough weight to socio-infrastructural and environmental development has resulted in the Port Dickson that we see today.

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  6. Rocky

    I am working in Port Dickson and was aghast when I read about this piece today.

    The last reclaimation destroyed the beach of Port Dickson town to create a "Disneyland" like area.It was abandoned. Till now, the land is not used except for a MPPD building and a half build apartment (also abandoned). There is enough land there for whatever this MB is talking about. Why need to spend millions more to relcaim more land? We have 2 shopping centres here that are empty during weekdays. And, i found out that there are active corals thriving in PD for the last few years of less development.

    Just because PD is getting back bigger number of tourists does not necessitate state involvement.Seemed that When kerajaan kacau less, more people come. DO this development and it will drive people away again.

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  7. Sdr Rocky:

    We need to press the MB over the issue of contracts. Who gets what and when are the tenders likely to come out. If I am not mistaken, these have already been negotiated on an exclusive basis with some close "friends" of NS UMNO.

    Wrong priorities is the hallmark of BN. PD has such dirty beaches that are putting people off, and there are more uncompleted developments in PD than in any other beach resort.

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  8. these bebals just can't leave the beaches alone...why must we have multi-million this and that, when the beach is so filthy already, with diapers washing up on the beach even? I know, I go there often...

    use the money to clean up the beaches..we simply need a place to enjoy the serenity, the beach, the air and clean facilities to bring our families for picnics and weekends...not some dense tourist hub...

    all brainless nincompoops..mata duitan...blind to the state of the environment...the sludge and oil from the ships are washing up with the surf and they want to build million dollar complexes? To enjoy what? Being poisoned?

    BTW, Rocky, only Muhiyuddin seems to have the guts to come out and state his stand...why the hell should Najib the cowardly Bill Clinton of Malaysia be PM? he is just a coward, waiting for others to clear the path for him...bola tak dak...and his wife's spending and gaya will only serve to enrage the people more...more spending on seri perdana, more money into pockets everywhere...he has too many uncleared issues and it appears that many machais are on hand to clean up after this Bill...

    Muhiyuddin pun better bet dari pengecut ni...apa yang semua orang ghairah sangat dengan si najib nih.

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  9. Anonymous12:50 pm

    Bru,

    another ploy for land (sea) grab. PD is not ideally located to have beautiful beaches.

    The sea is too narrow and too polluted to generate coral that breaks down to form beautiful sandy beachers.

    PD is also not hilly enough to be eroded by the sea to form sandy beaches.

    Only artificial beaches can make PD palatable. You are right. PD is dirty. This is because it's a public beach. The visitors are people with very poor civic and environmental consciousness. They throw garbage everywhere.

    Local council should employ beach wardens to stop holidaymakers from dirtying the beaches or have an army of rubbish collectors.

    To train school children to be discipline and civic conscious, work brigades can be formed to clean the beaches on weekends. I am sure the private sector is ever willing to sponsors the brigades with foods, tools and t-shirts.

    Free-duty won't work, but mega factory outlets may.

    Permanent Resident,
    Telok Kemang.

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  10. It's also about the switches. If you have an apartment in PD which occasionally you return to for the weekend with your girlfriend, you will find that you can't turn on the lights etc. There's no power. You call up the office and are told the central power switch for your lot is missing and to replace it, you will need to pay some $.

    Without aircond or fans, it's too hot for two people to do anything in an apartment on a weekend.

    Since the central switchboard is a locked place, the people who remove the switches are the people who tell you how much it costs to replace them.

    This problem has to be solved first.

    Then you can think about duty free for Penang, before PD even earns any right to duty free for itself; that is, if its beaches are worthy of Malaysia in the first place.

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  11. Anonymous12:54 pm

    For so many years, the BN government has been milking us dry using mega projects.

    This is why everytime, we see all these grandeur projects which benefit only businessmen and cronies.

    This project is no different.

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  12. I thought the Priority WAS to make the Cronies Happy !

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  13. PD could have easily been made into one of the world's top destinations!!

    How Singapore would die for the relatively unknown AMAZING vacation spots we have in Malaysia that is practically unknown outside of South East Asia.

    Tourism ministry needs to do a better job.

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  14. Anonymous1:11 pm

    aiyah, the internal bickering hasn't subside, this guy starts to plunder the state coffer.

    old habits die hard... finding ways to spend & waste the resources.

    this is one big pundek datuk.

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  15. Anonymous1:44 pm

    Dear Rocky,

    I expected U and your bloggers friends to come hard on this. ANything at all that the BN leaders are trying to do for the state or country.

    ONLY you people are the smart ones. Thats why the country is like this now.

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  16. Assalamualaikum Bro...

    Ese orghang Nogori. Eloklah tu. Apo salah eh... Bia la dio nak melabo kek situ. Dah banyak melabo nanti, adolah peruntokan untuk bondo-bondo yang lain pulak.

    http://c-bok.blogspot.com

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  17. As anak n9, i think PD need a boost in tourism. But, looking at our current akar umbi's thinking..always next question to be asked, sapa dpt kontrak?, anyone's crony?

    Interesting note, Tok Mat's effort to bring Univ Al Azhar in Rembau as the first Al-Azhar's campus in the world outside egypt is praiseworthy.

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  18. Anonymous2:28 pm

    Bro,

    The NS MB is very very familiar to me as we had served the same financial institution somewhere in PJ long long time ago. He was a jovial type of person and easy to get along with.

    but that was then. now, since he has converted to umno-bn, a lot of things have changed. even PD beach is not safe to swim. corruption is a regular credit and debit item in NS financial statements.

    mampuiiiihhhhh...!

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  19. Anonymous2:39 pm

    Rocky,

    I happen to know the MB and personally he is a very nice person. I am sad that he is getting suck into the UMNO mentality of needing to do grandiose project. Remember he announced the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel Project sometime back? What happen to that?

    What has been interesting is we have lots of "Study Tour" by local authorities to major beach spots around the region and yet to date they cannot even implement 20% of the initiatives that all these beach destinations have.

    I totally agree with the comments that has been left regarding this subject. The infrastructure and the cleanliness needs to be emplaced before another shopping mall which is so totally unnecessary. Why would anyone go to PD for shopping? For God sakes. Especially coming from an CEO of PLC.

    Have anyone tried to find WIFI spot in PD? Totally almost non existent. I know..I was caught in a bind to do some emergency work while in PD for a weekend and I cannot find access to internet unless through the cybercafe which is so totally yucks!

    Keturunan Jebat

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  20. Let them. People from the state are not stupid either. Next election, we are gonna get a new menteri besar of negeri sembilan!

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  21. Anonymous3:46 pm

    lahabau!
    cilako kau jang oi!!

    cincalok.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous3:47 pm

    hahahah i told u !!!! n9 will be flooded with singapork money!!! tanah adat has no meaning.... n9 will be annexed as singapore no. 3 after singapore itself, iskandar malaysia n now n9 !!!

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  23. This PD project hilites once again the core competences of UMNO's / Federal Government

    1. Corruption & Cronyism

    2. Cockamammy ideas with 1/2baked thots

    3. Inability to address Basic Issues

    4. Arrogance ie No dialogues with their constituency and lastly

    5. Lack of reality check

    oh wow!

    Did that just come out sounding like UMNO's entire Raison d'ete!
    :)

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  24. anon 1.44pm
    Bro..which planet did you just warped down from?

    Meanwhile on THIS planet and in THIS country, the track record of our beloved government has been that of

    - Abusing the country's resources
    - Using the Rakyats' money carte blanche style
    - Abusing us with poor mgmt & poor leadership
    - No transparency and accountability

    What more do you want as "proof"?

    Thanks to bloggers this country has a Voice?

    Thanks to bloggers this country is NOT going to be run down like Zimababwe?

    Hey Bro! You have a right to yr views; as does everyone else!

    The beauty of the internet is
    You get the Info, you do what you like with it

    ReplyDelete
  25. Simply put, these people are only interested in Big projects, where money can be made. They are simply not interested in rakyat-oriented services like unclogging the drains, patching up pot holes, solving rakyat woes, etc.

    Where do you think Zakaria got all the money to build up his palace? The same principle applies here.

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  26. Anonymous4:28 pm

    Duty free is good. 45 minutes from KL and you get Langkawi priced brew? hahaha... Crony free even better.
    But I can tell you that even fish can't stand the Port Dickson coast anymore, so they've all moved to Sao Tome and Principe.
    Many fishing trips reported by anglers online have been in other parts of Malaysia. Those who go to PD, come back with stories of puffers and heavy duty boots landed from the sea bed.
    But anyway, PD has a chance to develop into a dirty weekend getaway for city folks in every sense of the word.

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  27. bro,
    And the state national song be "Apo nak di kato "....same lah bro...more BN bullshit to suck the rakyat's coffers any which way!
    Cheers !

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  28. Anonymous4:47 pm

    One of the top priority for PD (and Penang's beaches as well) is the establishment of proper sewerage facilities.This must come before any other infrastructure construction.

    One needs to only obtain E. coli bacterial sample of the seawater at these places to put anyone of from swimming in the sea.

    To put it simply, the waters are full of bacteria which can only originate from human and animal faeces!

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  29. the Mentri Besar and his Black Monkey-Black Money need easy cash to sustain high cost of lifestyle in Seremban...

    develop Port Dickson so they wish, hoping those investors from IDR will invest in PD, not realizing that PD is best turn into next Nilai Memorial Park where HongKies and Singaporeast are short of burial land.

    besides, Seremban can be made hub for Casket Centre in Asia in turn make Negri Sembilan go Global, more locals go Glokal.

    where else can one investor finds laregest Memorial Park (PD), Casket City (Seremban) and Pork Industrial Park (Hulu Langat) next to each other.... in the world????

    food for thought!

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  30. Anonymous4:51 pm

    One of the most important priority for PD beaches (as well as Penang's) is to put in place adequate sewerage facilities.This must take priority over all other infrastructure projects.

    One needs just to take E. coli counts of the waters in the sea to see that it is contaminated.

    To put it simply, the water in the sea contains germs which originate from human and animal faeces!

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  31. Rocky bro..
    you are right..i am regular user of the coastal road from KL to Malacca..the trunk road really bad..and some area lorry will take more than half the road,pose dangerous to users.That money shld be use to upgrade the roads not building another 'white elephant'

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  32. Anonymous5:17 pm

    Back in the 70s my family and I used to holiday at the Si Rusa Inn at PD. My brother used to love snorkeling at PD cos the waters then were still crystal clear and you could still enjoy the corals.

    But then development came. Soon condos and resorts were mushrooming all along the beach with no thoughts towards sustainable development and of course the enforcement of rules and standards were non existant. Pretty soon the sea water became muddy and the coral beds died out completely and PD has never recovered and my family and I have never been back since.

    So when I read of the mega projects being planned for PD I could only shake my head and smile. To me its another exercise in spending money in such an irresponsible way that it borders on the criminal. What's the point in building and building when the most important selling point of PD i.e the water, beach and coral life is totally destroyed? Why should anybody go to PD?

    I say spend the money in rehabilitating the area. Bring back the clear waters, clean beaches and live corals before they even think about building another resort. But that's not gonna happen. Why? Because nobody makes money cleaning up the mess as rehabilitating PD is not going to happen overnight. The cronies and leaches make more money faster by putting up beach resorts and condos then bringing back the shine that PD used to have.

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  33. Anonymous7:34 pm

    YES- PD SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED INTO A BEACH HAVEN AGES AGO AND IT WOULD HAVE ATTRACTED THE KL WEEKENDERS AS WELL AS FOREIGN TOURISTS WANTING A QUICK BREAK BY THE SEA.

    NOW THE WONDERFUL PD OF MY YOUTH IS A HOTCH POTCH OF POOR DEVELOPMENTS LITTERED ALONG WHAT WAS ONCE A BEAUTIFUL STRETCH OF SEA AND SAND.

    HERITAGE BUILDINGS LIKE THE RHU LODGE HAVE BEEN YANKED APART TO MAKE WAY FOR YET ANOTHER SHODDY DEVELOPMENT.

    PD TOWN WHICH WAS QUAINT 40 YEARS AGO HAS TURNED INTO A SHANTY TOWN THAT DOES NOT STOCK BASIC NECESSITIES AND POPULAR FOODS. SO I DO AGREE THAT AN ANCHOR SUPERMARKET AND NICE EATING PLACES ARE NEEDED TO MAKE YOUR WEEKENDS MORE SUSTAINABLE.

    APPARENTLY A BILLION DOLLAR SEWERAGE SYSTEM IS BEING BUILT AND A CLEANING UP SEA AND BEACH SYSTEM IS ALSO BEING PUT IN PLACE.

    I LONG TO SEE THE PD OF MY YOUTH TURNED INTO A WELL PLANNED COASTAL HAVEN FOR HOLIDAYMAKERS! KEEP PD'S OLD WORLD CHARM BUT BRING IN THE MODERN FACILITIES!

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  34. damn right! I lived in PD for over 25 yrs. and after all the harm they've done they're doing more....

    The height of it all was when the 'legend water chalets' just took over my sea view. and there I was, thinking that the sea did not belong to anyone!

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  35. Anonymous9:05 pm

    Like Slade and my others I grew up in Port Dickson still live in the district. There is no turning back for the beaches or the beauty of PD. Damage has bee done. This coastline has not one but 3 power stations. The town has 2 oil refinaries and a carbon plant. The rubbish disposal dump in Bukit Palong directly discharges whatever liquid into the Lukut River which flows into the sea. Numerest hotels and holiday apartments (some even built on the sea) discharges the sewage directly into the sea. It is terminal. No chance of recovery.
    Then again, nearly all mega projects in PD never got completed. So whatever being planned (I am confident) may not be finished.
    May be they (Town Council) could start resurfacing the roads before thinking about foreign tourists.

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  36. These people want to make quick money
    Identify an easy piece of land
    Say for tourist related projects
    Count the number of tourists’ arrival
    And the dollar sign they intend to spend

    About residents fear
    About Mat Rempit roaming free
    About the beach boys style of living
    The government leaders should survey first
    Before committing millions on the project

    When the environment is clean
    When the atmosphere is warm and friendly
    When the beach is sandy white touching the sea
    Not only foreign tourists will come
    Locals too will make a holiday too

    PD too many hotels and chalets
    Too many concrete buildings unsightly flow
    Like the Thai cowboy towns………….
    The red light and beers

    The BN government knows
    It is time to make a quick show
    The gravy train is going to dry up
    The leaders and cronies are trying ways
    Digging up the gravy before it dries out to the sea

    The authority should create a cozy ambience
    On PD and the beach facing the sea
    It is no use building hotels and concrete buildings
    Malaysian beaches the eye sore for people to see

    Natural trees and shades
    We don’t find them any more
    Greed and wealth destroy nature
    We will pay for our greed

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  37. Anonymous10:39 pm

    Tok Mat is a nice man who is trying to put in place a project that will benefit the people.

    The development in Port Dickson is disorganised and it is a legacy he has inherited from his predecessors.

    For years it was under someone else and the State Government opted for the easy way out by allowing resorts and hotels to be built along the seaside without giving much thought to the sewerage system.

    It will take years to undo the damage.

    Tok Mat is only weeks into his second term as the MB of Negeri Sembilan. Give him the chance to transform NS for the better.

    Having a hypermarket in PD will be good for PD people if not for tourists.

    He's doing it by adhering to the proper procedure, by commissioning an EIA study and etc.

    Give Tok Mat a chance la.

    Thanks

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  38. Anonymous11:02 pm

    Ini plojek Patrick Lim ka,
    PGCC sudah kaput, Trengganu masih tidak dpt dibengongkan lagi..
    Sekalang mau buat itu PD ka...
    Bagus-bagus itu PD punya ilea.
    Dimana ada plojek mega.. bila disiapkan sure tempat itu akan jadi tempat pembangkang.
    Lu olanng punya idea manyak baik lo.
    Itu PD bukan tempat Sothinathan MIC lagi. Luolang kena pilih latuk bandar PD yg balu oo..
    Wa mau cakap aaa.. itu lombau 4 taun lagi akan jatuh pada tangan pembangkang PAS.Itu mad hasan apa tau..

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  39. Anonymous11:02 pm

    Mohamad Hasan has done fairly well.

    If you want to point out his weaknesses, it is only fair if we are to raise the good points as well.

    Seremban is fairly clean.

    Unfortunately he has become a victim of the recent political tsunami.

    The rising cost of living, the Chinese discontentment on numerous issues and the Hindraf issue are just some of the contributing factors leading to the BN's poor showing.

    Mohamad Hasan is a decent man with a good background but thrown into the political lion's den.

    Grant him the benefit of the doubt.

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  40. Anonymous11:09 pm

    one crony suffocates in the east coast with no more monsoon cup to organise, just in time to relive and relocate the entire scam to PD.

    somebody is really putting the twisted mind to work. ooops could it be the same Patrick monsoon turning into Patrick Dickson now?

    or, could it be that DICK and his SON (outlaw)?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous1:15 am

    Bro,

    I am as anxious as anybody else about the fate of PD. Maybe 'fate' is the wrong word to use here but a deep sense of fatalism regarding the future of PD is very hard for me to dispel after years of witnessing the beach fronts being wolfed down by so-called crony developers during the former MB's time.

    Recently two visits made me want to believe that a brighter future for PD is in fact possible sans the fact that yet another multi-million ringgit project is poised to further the invasion of PD.

    First, I took my young boys to Melaka and how overjoyed were they to visit Bandar Hilir (I'll always know it by that name no matter what the officialdom has re-christened the patch of reclaimed ocean).

    By the time we took the last Sungai Melaka boat ride at midnight, I was positively infected by my boys' enthusiasm with every little detail and seated at the front of the pontoon boat, we were positively drenched by the once infamous murky waters that used to lend a toxic image to tourism in Melaka but for that instant in time was a source of delight to my boys and other joy riders who thought nothing of e-coli counts and of what other hazards the boat operators were cautioning us against in pure jest.

    A drop inevitably slipped through my lips and it tasted a little salty. Is the positive influence of sea water making its presence felt again, I thought, and perhaps re-establish unique river estuary habitats along the rehabilitated banks? Only god or an accomplished marine biologist can tell for sure but there you have it, my mind was starting to believe in the good things again.

    The second visit was, in retrospect, a happening that could only be called "something else" because my boys and I actually discovered a whole new public beach in PD! I have to qualify this excited tone of mine as being purely a result of my own ignorance.

    Mind you, PD is one of the backdrops to my growing up memories. Several overnight camping trips along the beach in Tg Tuan, countless picnics with my family usually at our favourite beach near the Yacht Club or Blue Lagoon, BBQs and drives and stays at chalets and bungalows with uncles and aunties and the families of dad's or mum's friends added up to a lot of hours spent in PD since right after leaving the cradle and not impossibly while I was still in it too. Even joined a school excursion once when I was in Form Six at KGV secondary school and drove a school sweetheart in dad's car through a massive coastal jam during a Pesta PD in 1986, right up to Blue Lagoon to join a BBQ that turned out to be cancelled. A number of other adventures and misadventures that I choose not to share here, hold even more significance to my growing up years that has cemented PD as a kind of alma mater to my growing up experience.

    Cut to the chase - imagine my surprise at discovering Pantai Seri Purnama after all these years! I couldn't believe that a long stretch of a very public beach had literally escaped me. The years of bulldozing PD into submission at the hands of the former Negeri Sembilan administration had saddened me and I had not been there for any meaningful trips except for some meetings and company events since 1990.

    The discovery happened a few days after the revealing visit to Melaka and it jolted me into wanting to believe again that all is not lost from the past. Memories that had become mere ghostly snapshots of childhood and adolescent were revitalized and I gladly embraced PD as part of my life's history with the discovery of Pantai Seri Purnama, like some freshly unearthed archaeological evidence that confirmed my own roots in the scheme of life.

    For the time being Pantai Seri Purnama still is a very public beach even with the imposing row of pre-independence and recent corporate bungalows on its beach front staking exclusive views of the Straits of Melaka. The experience of its discovery was enough to rejuvenate in me a positive prayer that all is not lost and the prophets of doom and gloom may be too early in condemning the latest efforts to bring the right blend of economic activity and tourist interest to this much beloved locale.

    I salute the current State administration for its audacity in carrying on with the effort to put PD on a better footing and at last cash in the awesome goodwill and rock solid reputation of PD as a tourist destination. In the face of continued condemnation from hurt and suspicious people who have themselves belittled the strength my alma mater to withstand the onslaught of man and machine, I implore the YAB Dato' Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Haji Hasan to soldier on and bring his magic and corporate intelligence to prove PD will prosper and bloom into a new locale of wellness and positive vibrations for the masses.

    In case any are wondering, yes I am a fan of Dato' Seri Mohamad and I am a Minangkabau steeped in Adat and quiet intellect. Give the bloke a chance I say; he's a million light years opposite of what Md Isa was (and still is?).

    Cyphilo

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  42. Port Dickson,more popularly referred to as "PD", or Podiksen as the Negeri Malays call it, is probably one of the oldest beach resort areas in Malaysia. It was already well known, at least domestically, long before Phuket was developed as a tourist destination. What a comparison these two places make now.
    The main difference, to my mind, is how the authorities approached the resort's development.
    In the case of PD, it has been essentially ad hoc, no matter what the previous MB's opinion is. The natural beauty and advantages that PD had as a beach resort was never sacrosanct to the later infrastructural work brought in the name of development to the area.As the result, PD today has lost the natural attractions of a lovely, pristine beachfront, and has become instead a haphazardly developed, polluted and ugly so-called holiday resort destination,strewn with poorly located hotels and ugly unfinished buildings indicative of the bad planning on the part of both the local authorities and equally blind investors.
    The present MB could learn a thing or two from the Thai approach in Phuket. First and formost, the moment you land at the Phuket airport, you know that you are in a bustling tourist town.

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  43. Anonymous12:30 pm

    Bru two opposition MPs supported Mohamad Hasan's move.

    It was reported in the Star today

    SEREMBAN: Port Dickson needs more than beaches if it wishes to be a top tourist destination in the country and the proposed duty-free zone will help it achieve the goal, a residents group for the town said.

    PD Residents’ Association president Major (Rtd) A.S. Raj said the state government’s decision to set up a duty-free zone in the resort town would not only revitalise the tourism sector but would also boost the property as well as other economic activities there.

    “We would like to commend the Mentri Besar (Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan) for taking this bold move. In fact, he had discussed this with us previously and we told him we were all for it,” he said.

    Yesterday, The Star front-paged a report quoting Mohamad stating that the sea fronting Port Dickson town would be reclaimed to allow for the construction of a duty-free zone.

    Raj said only a bold move such as the setting-up of a duty-free zone and the construction of a multi-purpose jetty could boost economic activities in Port Dickson as well as the surrounding areas.

    “We want tourists to come and spend their money here. Port Dickson has plenty of potential,” he said.

    Malaysian Association of Hotels (Negri Sembilan) chapter head Andre Sibert said the move would rejuvenate the town.

    “In previous discussions with the state authorities, we always told them that more needs to be done to turn PD into a top tourist destination.

    “This announcement could not have come at a better time,” said Sibert, who is also Avillion Hotels International managing director.

    Port Dickson assemblyman M. Ravi and Chuah assemblyman Chai Tong Chai, who are both with the Opposition, also commended Mohamad for his proposal.

    “As far as I am concerned, our beaches are the best south of Kuala Lumpur. However, people never stay long in PD as there is hardly anything to do after 9pm,” said Ravi, adding that even the hotels suffered low occupancy rates during weekdays.

    Concurring with him, Chai said that apart from the beaches, people came to the town for the seafood and other activities.

    “We have carnivals here all the time. But this is not enough because we need to have the foreign tourist dollar coming in to generate business here,” he said.

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  44. Hi Rocky,

    Much bad light have been shed on PD lately and we at Project REVIVE ( www.projectrevive.ca ) will be presenting our idea of re-branding PD into a Green District and PD beach as a Green Beach to face the demand and needs of the 21st century travellers. We hope you could help us to generate the support to warrant the re-branding.
    All supporters have to do is just visit Project REVIVE's Facebook and click "like" to show their support towards the re-branding.
    Thank you.

    Towards a Greener Malaysia,


    Eric Yeap
    Project REVIVE

    ReplyDelete