Fear Factors & Costly Blunders

Abdullah to Malays: "Stop being Afraid".

I'm not sure whether the Malays are afraid of what. But as a Chinese, I'm surely afraid; afraid of UMNO, afraid of ISA, afraid of ACA, afraid of police, afraid of organized crime syndicates, afraid of Keris, and afraid of the weak government we have.

In a year, out of the 365 days, we had to constantly live in fear.

The fear that taxes had to be increased to fill-up the leaking treasury and bulimic ministers.

PKFZ is $4.6b leakages; Sukhoi is another $3b; and now with the 4-zonal corridors which is expected to cost more than $400b, I am afraid the country would be robbed or castrated.

Selangor had spent $3 million on a failed Millennium park which is under demolition.

Crooked bridge project termination had caused us $292 million compensation claim. Broga incinerator project which is also terminated is facing a claim of some $500 million.


Rakan Muda complexes costing more than $1 billion have turned out to be a white elephant.

There are so many failed projects, and we also have so many extremely lucrative projects being privatized.

On top of these, we have avalanche of leakages at the government departments, ministries and local councils as can be observed in the Auditor-general's report for each successive year, over the last decades. Corruption in all the uniform forces, civil services and local councils are so eminent and now Rela is also partaking in the spoils. Even school administrators are having a good time.

So, where do the government gets the money from?

Tax payers and Petronas!

Income tax collections exceeds $60 billion annually, and Petronas contributions are between $30-$40 billion annually. Other taxes and duties, and foreign borrowings adds on to the economic hemorrhages.

This problems alone wouldn't make me fear. After all, my contribution on taxes is negligible overall. But the fear stems from the fact that, in order to answer to any queries or to sidetrack the people, the government and UMNO had to create issues from moth hill.

So, there is a need to for racial divide. Religion is also used widely to cause fear to a particular community. NEP and other rhetorics are used to justify excesses of the coterie.

In the next few days, the keris is a necessary tool to indoctrinate and orientate. It's not about fear, it's about duress and coercion. It's about the hungry ghosts convention...

This is what Michael Backman had to say:

[excerpts]

"Ramadan has just ended and once again Malaysia has been treated to the spectacle of government ministers and other officials fasting and playing the pious Muslim on the one hand and stealing from their fellow Malaysians on the other."

"One might ask what on earth the Finance Minister has been doing in the face of all this waste and theft. Or,indeed, even who is the Finance Minister? Extraordinarily, it is Abdullah. In a break with tradition, he occupies that post as well as being Prime Minister. The firings should start with him."

"After all, it's not as if Malaysia has a shortfall of ministers. On the contrary, Malaysia has no fewer than 72 ministers and deputy ministers at the federal level (excluding parliamentary secretaries; it will be more than 92 if included). By way of comparison, Australia has 32 ministers and assistant ministers. Is the quality of public administration in Malaysia more than twice as good as in Australia? Let the facts speak for themselves."

"Malaysia is truly at a cross-roads. It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity, weighed down by officials intent on an orgy of plunder while the ship's captain stands idly by."

Note: Does it take an Australian to remind us of our state of despair?

RM224 Screwdriver is OK!

The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) has cleared all parties involved in the procurement of the screwdrivers that were allegedly made at inflated prices by the National Youth Skills Institute (IKBN).

The Auditor-General said the ministry paid RM8.39mil more than the market price for the items, including RM224 for a set of four screwdrivers (costing RM32 in the market).

ACA director-general Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan said the supplier of the Draper screwdrivers took into account that they were imported and came with a guarantee of authenticity and quality. “Our survey from other suppliers showed that Draper screwdrivers, of different sizes, were imported with a guarantee of between RM20 and RM40 for each screwdriver, depending on the currency exchange at the time of purchase.

“The price is thus reasonable, taking into the account the costs of bringing in the screwdrivers and the assurance of quality,” Ahmad Said Hamdan said. He said the agency found the price of the screwdrivers reasonable, “considering that these screwdrivers were not those manufactured in China”.

So, ACA said it's reasonable to pay RM224 for a set of screwdriver because it is authentic and were imported.

If the Ministry wants to buy Maggie Mee, and bought them from UK or Europe at RM200, it should also be okay if that Maggie Mee comes with a piece of paper saying it is authentic and imported.

But why do you need to import a draper screwdriver when you can get them at the local hardware shops which also has a piece of paper that says it's authentic and it's imported?

So, if we need Fabercastell pen or pencil or highlighters, do we need to buy from the factory in Italy or France or Swiss?

It's just hard to swallow the justification of reasonableness... pragmatism and realism do not exist in a society that are bounded by exclusive mental blockades and bulimic system.

Hamzah Zainuddin - All Smiles! Know why?

Hamzah Zainuddin, the former Chairman of Felcra Bhd was full of smile as he leaves the Syariah Court of Appeal.

His lawyer Zainul Rijal had a great grin because he will receive his reward from Hamzah.

The Court of Appeal overruled the Syariah High Court's decision which had on April 8, 2004 ordered Hamzah to pay his ex-wife Nooraini Abdul Rashid a sum of RM1.2mil cash and a further RM10mil of property including the matrimonial gifts of 2 cars and a house in Subang Jaya.

Hamzah thus saved RM11.2mil of assets and cash from this decision.

BTW, he was the ex-chairman of Felcra. When the high court awarded RM11.2mil to his ex-wife, the court must have considered that Hamzah is worth more than twice the amount. Wah, Felcra chairman is damn rich...worth more than RM30mil?

Felcra has a history of problems in 2004 ...