'Don't be surprised if Vincent finally does not get to operate the gaming, the government will be compelled to pay him damages due to his investments based on its earlier approval.'

'Sports betting decision frozen for now'

Multi Racial: Just admit that the government made a mistake and now agrees with the people that gambling is bad. If it still intend to issue Vincent Tan the licence, then it has to be through open tender. Who is Tan to get such special treatment?

Edwin Tan: Good news! The BN government is admitting defeat, for now. Nevertheless, the handover of the memorandum to the Agong this coming July 3 should proceed as planned. Hidup rakyat! People power!

Cala: I like the confidence exudes from the statement. So the boss is the government, and Tan is a mere applicant for a sports gambling licence. Three questions require answers:

i) Can the government conduct a socio- economical survey on the merits and demerits of allowing such a licence?

ii) If the merits outweigh the demerits, will it not be better to conduct an open tender before deciding on the operator?

iii) Is it true that Chinese love gambling? (To me, it is not correct to assume Chinese in general love gambling).

Gen2: The government will wait for the heat to cool down and then it will give the licence quietly. Two months later, somebody will indirectly inform the public that the licence was issued some time ago. By then, the public would have lost interest and the opposition to sports gambling lost its fire. Fait accompli for you.

Anonymous1: It is very obvious that the licence will be issued. The question is when? BN is committed towards awarding the licence to Vincent Tan. At the moment, it is just buying time to cool the situation and hoping that perhaps we will forget about it. The profits from the gambling will be BN's treasure chest for the next GE.

Beetle: So now the government has denied issuing the betting licence to Ascot Sports. Will Vincent Tan now return the RM525 million to the shareholders of Berjaya? Will he be charged for giving false information to the public especially the shareholders of Berjaya?

Our non-elected deputy minister, Donald Lim, claims that they will only consider the licence after more public responses are obtain on this matter. Does he meant that when the people have forgotten about this case then they will quietly issue the licence?

Sarajun Hoda: Don't surprised if Vincent finally does not get to operate the gaming, the government will be compelled to pay him damages due to his investments based on its earlier approval. So public will have to again bear the consequence and pay for errors, bad decisions and mistakes of present leaders.

Anonymous: Someone pointed out that BN now backs off to cool things down, and will reissue the licence later because Berjaya could threaten to sue. In such a case, pay the fine and force all those who make the decision for this blunder resign. Heads must roll for approving such a controversial project.

Ngeh: Keshvinder was cash strapped

Tired: Once again, a Pakatan Rakyat representative jumped ship and Umno/BN conveniently has become the scapegoat. It's so easy to blame others but yourself. Why would Umno spend money bribing Keshvinder to cross over?

The last time I checked, Perak is still ruled by BN. Anwar Ibrahim has apologised for picking the wrong people to contest the general elections. I guess it is Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng's turn to do so.

Anonymous: I agree 100 percent with Karpal Singh that an anti-hopping law be put in place. Any MP/assemblyperson who switches party should be made to quit all his/her posts because the people did not vote for the individual.

Avvai: You can't expect everyone to be saint. It's survival of the fittest. Even though what Keshvinder Singh did was improper to his constituency, it will save his butt from loans and pressure. Life is a cycle - what goes up has to come down. Remember, all great civilisations crumble down. Mighty BN will also come down. This is natural.

Change Agent: I feel sorry for BN that they deemed it necessary to pay millions of ringgit just to poach political rejects like Keshvinder Singh. Given his financial predicaments, I'm sure even RM50,000 would have been a sufficient enticement.

I feel more sorry for our taxpayers because this is how the government has chosen to waste and misappropriate so much of our hard-earned tax money. It seems that a cashed-up 'Cashvinder' is the only winner in this sorry debacle.

Gov't admits RM2.7 bil plunge in Felda reserves

Long Jaafar: This begs two more follow-up questions: Why was the poverty eradication programme only for Sabah and why was Felda's money used? Did all the Felda money go Felda settlers in Sabah.

Secondly, were the interest-free housing loans given only to Felda settlers, or to others as well? If this is good management, as they always say when they compare themselves with the opposition parties, then I really don't want to know what is bad management.

KSN: No one, definitely not the government, should take any credit for the appreciation of the value of Felda's assets. That is a country-wide phenomenon considering that Felda's assets are mainly plantations and the land they occupy.

Magnus: Aren't Felda settlers normally, largely or exclusively, those who come from the ethnic Malay community?

That means these Felda assets and cash surpluses, that should in practice have been managed well on a beneficial trust and VFM (value for money) basis to principally benefit Felda settlers - similar to the management of a pension fund and its assets by trustees on behalf of the pension fund members - have not allegedly done so, as it appears, by the very people who generally claim to be national defenders in looking after the interest of the “poor Malays and other such underprivileged bumiputeras”.

And how come these suspect matters have not been dug into deeper by the Auditor General's office and staff, nor questioned or investigated so far by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee or any other select committee?

Ablastine: This is only Felda. Can you imagine what is happening in Petronas. The money lost is of course hundreds of billions. Do you think I am very far wrong to say that Umno and its cronies probably have personal net worth of RM50 million each on the average. Money from Felda, EPF, arms procurement, APs, negotiated contracts and others - all disappear in the thin air.

Kgen: Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Ahmad Maslan’s explanation reeks of irregularities. No well managed company will use up such a huge amount of cash in such a short time. It means that Felda is spending way beyond its revenue. It may have to start borrowing soon.