LKY's dreams becoming a reality?
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SE Asia to seek US$2b for transnational railway
MANILA - Southeast Asian nations will seek to raise US$2 billion later this year to complete a railway system that will eventually stretch from China to Singapore and link eight countries in the region.
The Singapore-Kunming Rail Link working group will hold an investors' seminar later this year, possibly in Kuala Lumpur, to raise the funds, said Ong Keng Yong, the secretary-general of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).
'Financing has not been easy because there has been so much resistance to using rail as a means of communication,' Mr Ong told reporters in Manila after a meeting of the Asean Mekong Basin Development Cooperation group.
'Everybody now uses low budget airlines. But at the end of the day it (rail) is still the cheapest way of transporting many of our goods across borders.'
'More importantly our leadership feels that the railway will facilitate greater travel and people-to-people contact. It will contribute to a freer flow of people across borders.'
The rail system is slated for completion by 2015, when Asean will convert itself into an EU-style economic community.
The region also hopes to have a free trade agreement with China fully in place by 2010.
The entire system, which builds on existing rail links within nations, is likely to cost US$10 billion. China has said it will invest about US$6.4 billion in the project by 2010.
The railway will link Kunming, the capital of the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and then Singapore.
Separate lines will link Laos to Vietnam, and Myanmar to China.
The 5,000-km Singapore-Kunming link was originally proposed in 1995 but has been slow to get off the ground.
Mr Ong said the 'missing links' were from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital; and from the Thai border to the Cambodian town of Sisophon.
A rail link would also be built from Laos to central Vietnam, to link with the Singapore-Kunming line.
Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. -- REUTERS -
if this line becomes a reality, assuming it does, it could compete with the russian line in terms of length.....
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hahaha. once this railway is up, they can suck more money from us and we can't complete we can't travel because there's the cheapest form of transport out of the country!
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It is very easy for him to make claim that the transnational railway was started by him just because he has a vocal part in it by seizing the first sign of progress of the project due to acceptance by some other higher leaders in the region as his own credit.
In actual fact he may be just a salesman trying to make undeserved quick claims of success like claiming that he has succeeded in economic restructuring when he sees the world economy finally recovers and nations began to grow.
What people want is not this type of claims which might be hollow inside and good outside. People have been asking whether ministers have succeeded in restructuring the economy to a new height based on value-adding master plans which sell new products around the world like the Korean Samsung, Japanese Toyota or the many Indian or Chinese companies. Without such true leadership and making salesmanship selling or by selling own local jobs and local trading or industrial opportunities to foreigners at the expense of own citizens or locals, he is not succeeding in the interest of Singaporeans. -
Is it wierd co-incidence that LKY should dream for a rail link across Southeast Asia connected to China ?
Like Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, is LKY similarly afraid to fly now that he is in his last lap of his life, and will prefer to travel by rail - making grand appearance at every major train stop ?
It seems autocrats share similar hobbies in trains.... -
What's the point when it's not even capable of high-speed transport, not forgetting the poor state of KTMB's rail? A through-train service is possible but no one will ever want to take it!
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Chay I though that it was going to be something interesting like his dream of taking even more millions of public money for himself and his family...
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hey, my dream is to travel round the world with my MRT card without top-up!
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This rail line will be very important for Singapore future as it will further enhance of our position as a logistic and distribution hub for SE Asia and Southern China.Originally posted by venny:if this line becomes a reality, assuming it does, it could compete with the russian line in terms of length..... -
prepare for derailment
mark my words -
Yap agree, the mass transit system of singapore is the signature of progress, the progress of enhance exploitation of its peopleOriginally posted by Gazelle:This rail line will be very important for Singapore future as it will further enhance of our position as a logistic and distribution hub for SE Asia and Southern China. -
I wonder why foreigners always praise singapore MRT system, while Singaporeans never complain when about time they wasted in traffic jam while they are overseas.Originally posted by justcooler:Yap agree, the mass transit system of singapore is the signature of progress, the progress of enhance exploitation of its people -
this project has been derailed many times already.Originally posted by de_middle:prepare for derailment mark my words 
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i meant actual derailment when it becomes a realityOriginally posted by Gazelle:this project has been derailed many times already. -
Thats the reason why this project requires ASEAN involvement and not some private companies or Singapore Inc.Originally posted by de_middle:i meant actual derailment when it becomes a reality -
EU already has this in place long time ago.
Their railway stretches across the european unon nations -
i dun think so...Originally posted by Atobe:Is it wierd co-incidence that LKY should dream for a rail link across Southeast Asia connected to China ?
Like Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, is LKY similarly afraid to fly now that he is in his last lap of his life, and will prefer to travel by rail - making grand appearance at every major train stop ?
It seems autocrats share similar hobbies in trains.... -
wai guo de yue liang zhong shi bi jiao yuan...(the moon is always fuller in overseasOriginally posted by Gazelle:I wonder why foreigners always praise singapore MRT system, while Singaporeans never complain when about time they wasted in traffic jam while they are overseas.
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You mean EU wants to link China to Singapore by rail? Or you are talking about the histroy of railway system?Originally posted by boka:EU already has this in place long time ago.
Their railway stretches across the european unon nations