'It pains me now to see how our national wealth has been squandered away. Next election, let's put in place a new government so that, we the people, will be in control of the government again.'

'Our oil wealth squandered'

Yuvan: There are many inspiring statements in Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's speech. I shall just take two of the statements that touched me most.

First statement, "I would rather have good government than grand government buildings filled with demoralised civil service." This is the reality we are in today. What is the point of a having a grand "outside" when the whole "inside" is rotten?

Second statement, "Our failure has been political and moral. We have allowed greed and resentment to drive our politics and looked the other way or even gone along while public assets have been stolen in broad daylight."

This is a direct reference to all the political and moral wrongs committed by the Umno/BN leaders over the past three decades that has resulted in the country facing serious and deep-rooted socio-political and socio-economic ills.

His statements are a true reflection of how much he is saddened and deeply disturbed to see this resource rich nation mismanaged and abused by his so-called ‘comrades' in Umno/BN.

Habib RAK: Having worked in the oil and gas industry in the 80s and 90s, I do share the views of Tengku Razaleigh. We did have very good intentions and noble causes. We had the capacity then to turn the tap on to produce as much oil and gas as possible for easy money, but Petronas did a fantastic oil and gas management with strict extraction management and concern for future generations.

I am wondering what happen to the ‘research cess' of 5 percent (just like the ‘royalty' of 5 percent paid to states) that was suppose to spur research and development. It pains me now to see how our national wealth has been squandered away. We must stop the looters. Next election, let's put in place a new government so that, we the people, will be in control of the government again.

Wong Chee Kong: Tengku, you are doing the right thing by staying put in Umno and making such speeches. If you had left and joined Pakatan Rakyat, what you say will be taken as said with political motivation. Now no one can fault you for speaking the truth as now you say all these from your heart and for the love of the country.

Harry Koay: I am one of those who migrated overseas seeking greener pasture. If Malaysia can provide me what Australia is providing, and trust me, not necessarily nice salary but things like equality, zero corruption and good governance, I would have stayed in Malaysia. After all, what can be better if I can be with my family and enjoy my Char Keoy Teow anytime!

Get Them Out: It's pointless to cry over spilt milk, in this case spilt oil over the years by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his administration. Thanks to Tengku, Barry Wain and others who are pointing out to the people over the huge wastage.

Clear out the present administration as soon as possible, let others revive our beloved nation based on fairness, equality and merit. I sing the national anthem every month at meetings. I love my country but I despise those running the country.

Kgan: Despite our oil wealth, we have failed to transform ourselves into a high-income economy like Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan which were on the same footing as Malaysia in the 70s.

As Ku Li pointed out, our salaries have been stagnant for the past 15 years while cost of living has gone up by many multiples. Dreams of achieving a high-income economy must also address the low value of the ringgit but Bank Negara's policy is to keep the ringgit low to help exporters at the expense of consumers.

The BN govt does not seem to worry about the devastating brain drain which robs the country of competitiveness while imported labour keeps our wages low. Meanwhile, our national wealth is squandered on economically senseless mega-projects and massive corruption imposes a tax on everybody.

We are not on track to be a high-income nation but we are on track to become a maid and manual labour exporting nation if BN stays in power.

Eugene: A very good speech by Tengku Razeleigh but also a depressing one. Our wealth squandered and looted by few people and left us with nothing.

We could probably be better than Singapore and maybe even South Korea for that matter, both countries are on the same par as us decades ago. The only way to reverse this is to take BN out of the driving seat, before the point of no return.

Clearwater: Great speech by Tengku Razaleigh. Honest and transparent. He sees the problems clearly and explains it so well. The issue is, what can we do about stopping this plunder of our resources that has gone on for nearly 30 years?

He tells the young to first reclaim the nation. He is right. Without taking back our rights, the plunder will not cease no matter who is in political power. You can't trust a politician to be honest all by himself. We need to have check and balance through a two-party system.

Remadevi GK Menon: As usual, Ku Li, has hit the nail on the head. If only he were in the driver's seat now!

Multi Racial: I am particularly interested in this statement, "Instead of helping eradicate poverty in the poorest states, our oil wealth came to be channeled into the overseas bank accounts of our political and politically-linked class."

Now, how to get the money back and charge these people responsible for stealing the country wealth?

Maximus: An excellent speech from an 'insider' who has now revealed the dire economic straits we now are in. Thanks to the years of mismanagement and corruption under the Great Tun, who wasted billions in mega-projects to feed his inflated ego and to impress African despots.

Our natural resources are rapidly depleting. It is not only oil, but also timber and land for palm oil. Unfortunately, so is our human capital resource. Tens of thousands of our brightest and best are migrating overseas due to our blighted policies. Many of these policies were formulated during the reign of the Great Tun.

The flow of FDIs has slowed to a trickle. Our future is indeed bleak. Without natural resources, human capital and FDIs, we are finished. We will not have the resources to maintain our current standard of living. Soon we will be behind Thailand and Vietnam, and before long, Indonesia and Cambodia would have overtaken us.

Kadir: Well, the curse is not going to last forever, experts predict that by 2015, we would ease being a net oil exporter and by 2020 the oil wells would dry up unless new sources are found. What then? Are we prepared for life after oil?

Can we compete on the manufacturing front in the globalised market. Can we offer the high technical skills that Singapore offers to attract foreign investments? Is our service industry up to the mark? Can our fragile unity continue to hold in the face of increasing prices and economic hardship?