'It is scandalous to pay foreign consultants so much to advise locals on what we need to do with our own economy. Are there no local brains to tap?'

McKinsey paid RM36 mil to set up Pemandu

Cala: In the absence of any relevant data and comparable fees on the appointment of foreign consultants, let me for the time being, put the figure aside (as to whether RM36 million in fees payable to McKinsey is worth the money).

In the interim, what troubles me is the manner Pemandu wishes to implement the consultant's ideas. Have you found in any textbook that says transformation is possible without changes made to the actors and the culture? If it can, the result is nothing to do with transformation at all.

When Nokia was in trouble due to products mismatched with the market, its CEO got the boot, and someone from another cutting-edge company was appointed to take the helm. No doubt, one should see a lot of changes in the top echelon of Nokia soon. What about Malaysia?

How can we expect any improvement when nothing is changed? Unless of course, McKinsey's advice (assume it works) is meant to gather dust.

Keturunan Malaysia: The government's coffer is drying up fast if it haven't dried up yet. At the front, both the opposition and the rakyat are banging the door louder and louder. At the back are pot-holes and the Treasury has no more juice to extract.

On the right are civil servants running the country ‘their way' with almost next to any management control. On the left are rent seekers forever demanding their dues. Below is something our present and past leaders are trying to stay away from 'at any cost', and above is the patiently waiting Judgment Day.

Buckle up for a rough, rough ride.

FairMind: This is sickening! A wastage of millions of ringgit and yet the BN government tells the rakyat that the country is on the verge of bankruptcy and it needs to increase the price of petrol, flour, rice, water, electricity, tolls, bus fares, etc.

Kgen: It is scandalous to pay foreign consultants so much to advise locals on what we need to do with our own economy. Are there no local brains to tap? How about economists like Tony Pua and Dr Lim Teck Ghee? The wrong skin colour or the wrong political allegiance?

And who is this mysterious Tarmidzi? There is no such consultant on the web after googling for it. Is this a codename to siphon off RM3 million?

Ferdtan: Consultants, especially the foreign ones, are not likely to provide any added-value results to the employer - in this case, the BN government under Najib Razak.

Each country has its own uniqueness that only locals through years of living among the people would understand. These foreign consultants just cannot understand the nuances of the make-up and mentality of the people to sell their ideas. All are doomed for failure and the money will be gone - when the scare fund could be better deployed elsewhere.

My previous company once engaged a reputable foreign consultant to study the sustenance of profitability in the company, and all they did was to interview all the executives in the company to find out the problems and whatever the solutions they suggested. The final report, which was eloquently written, using most of the executives' inputs and padded with flowery technical jargons, impressed the board of directors.

Najib, please think twice before you use the taxpayers' money for your ego trip.

AB Sulaiman: In management satire, a 'consultant' is described as one 'con' man who 'insults' his client. Here's hoping our leaders are aware of this wisdom.

Anonymous: I want my money back! If the government does not unnecessary spent this money, we taxpayers will lead a comfortable life instead of struggling to meet the rising prices and inflation.

BN, if you spend the money on good education and also not advocating ‘Ketuanan Melayu', then we may have good students and good brains and need not employ foreigners to think tank policies which do not even work.

Malaysiasakit: It costs RM66 million to set up and another RM50-plus million a year to run, but yet nobody picks up the phone at Pemandu.

Pemerhati: This is what happens when you do not practice meritocracy and recruit mediocre people to head the various agencies. They cannot carry out simple tasks and have to employ expensive foreign consultants to do their work and waste the taxpayers' money.

These mediocre people will feel threatened by anyone more capable and diligent than them and hence ensure that their subordinates are even more mediocre. So essentially we end up with a lot of lazy and stupid people manning the whole government machinery and making a lot of stupid decisions.

Malaysians are finding that everything that is controlled by the government such as education, health facilities, law enforcement, transport, etc, has been deteriorating and getting from bad to worse. In the end, it is the general public who suffer.

Hamisu: This is nothing new! The BN government has always mismanaged the rakyat's money. How else can a blessed country of a variety of natural resources end up being slow/stagnant in economic growth? How can the rakyat-oriented programmes be implemented when there's so much wastage in the form of corruption and mismanagement?

Wira: McKinsey is paid to set up Pemandu and Idris Jala, together with Najib Razak, got all the credit. I wonder who is behind the fuel price increases? McKinsey, Najib or Idris?

Malaysiakini ejected from Pemandu media briefing

Ghkok: So the government paid RM66 million to foreign consultants to set up an organisation that will end up proposing the increase in prices for petrol, diesel, sugar and gas.

Where is the courage to do the things that ought to be done - i.e. cut government expenditure to reduce the deficit, cut wastage, conduct open tender, eliminate indiscriminate spending by all departments (as highlighted by auditor-general), stop the stupid 100-storey building, prosecute the corrupted and recover the money from them?

Clearwater: It's clear that Pemandu does not like transparency as to how and where it spends the RM66 million. Does anyone still believe in market-friendly and transparent actions by government agencies in the rolling out of the NEM and its spinoffs?

Gen2: Political bodies can bar certain media which they think are biased against them. Pemandu is a body set up using taxpayers' money and has no right to bar any Malaysian news organisation from its public activities. To give a lame excuse of miscommunication amongst the PR staff is to insult the Malaysian citizens' intelligence after they have spent RM66 million of our money for PR work.

Concerned Citizen: Gen2, I totally agree with you that it is the taxpayers' money. But I hope the Kedah and Penang state governments take cognisance of this and stop barring news media regardless of how they report. It is just bad to start banning the media. And the media, regardless of what your political stand is, must be more responsible in their reporting.

Lesungbatu: What had Malaysiakini done to Pemandu? Revealing details about their exorbitant fees paid to the foreign consultants was seen as offending them? Whose money was it? Pemandu's or rakyat's?

HNL: The truth hurts but it will prevail. Good job, Malaysiakini . Keep it up. Remember, for evil to triumph, it requires good men to do nothing.

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