‘LOTS TO GAIN FROM SHINKANSEN SYSTEM’
Malaysians can benefit from Japanese values of punctuality, safety, operational efficiency and positive work culture
AMALAYSIAN who was among the first batch of students sent to Japan under the Look East Policy in 1982 is very excited about the country making a strong bid for the Kuala LumpurSingapore high-speed rail (HSR) project.
Datuk Zulkifli Abd Malek is arguably the most successful among the Look East Policy students as he now sits on the board of 10 Japanese multinational firms in Malaysia.
He said the Shinkansen bullet train system was more than just about transportation as it also encompassed the Japanese values of punctuality, safety, operational efficiency, diligence and positive work culture.
He said there would also be tremendous cultural and economic spin-offs from the Shinkansen system, citing Muar in Johor — one of the stop-over stations along the HSR route — as an example.
“Just imagine, suddenly Muar becomes a place that can be expanded and I just love to hear about getting universities like Tun Hussein Onn University in Batu Pahat and the Technology University in Melaka involved in this project.”
Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Mikio Miyagawa said last week the two universities, along with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Skudai, Johor, would serve as training centres to train Malaysians to run the Shinkansen system, should Japan be picked for the HSR project.
“It means that you develop not only ed- ucation but a lot of other spillovers and that will be very interesting to see,” said Zulkifli.
He expects the spillover for Singapore businesses to be equally exciting.
“The moment the Shinkansen system is online, Singaporeans doing business in Malaysia don’t have to have their offices in Kuala Lumpur or Putrajaya; they can start thinking of having them in Batu Pahat or Muar where the rent is cheaper.
“That will create job opportunities for the people of Muar and Batu Pahat who don’t have to leave their hometown and go elsewhere to find work.”
Zulkifli also said if Japan were to win the HSR bid, it would be most appropriate for Malaysians who graduated from Japanese universities under the Look East Policy to be a part of the team that would implement the project.
The joint tender for an assets company for the 350km HSR project, estimated to cost around RM50 billion, ends on June 29.
The winning bid will be announced by end of the year.