YOURSAY 'MACC is only concerned with a few thousand ringgit allegations against opposition lawmakers, for which they will swing into action.'

Minister's family feted to RM800k 'holiday' by NFC

Bender: This is a real tragedy. The minister heads one of the most important ministries in this country, supposed to take care of disadvantaged people, and supposedly using government fund for the noblest of purposes - welfare.

Yet what we see today is a case of chronic misuse of public fund, which, though it has nothing to do with her ministry per se, reflects very badly on the minister. It makes one thinks that the minister is unfit to head the ministry any longer.

If one studies it really carefully, even the ministry is not doing very well in looking after the welfare system in the country. Just visit any of our welfare facilities and you'll see the real condition of those institutions.

But one thing about this minister - the minister is good at making public appearances. If you ask the minister's staff, they will tell you all the not-so-nice things about her.

I know because I have first-hand experience talking to them, and its sickens me. To know how the minister's family behaves makes me feel even sicker.

Fairnessforall: The federal minister's family and all those who went on that trip should be made to pay back to the government coffers the amount spent. Also, the amount of advertising paid to the minister's other company should also be returned.

It's really sickening to see how these ministers misuse public funds. Why was this project given to a minister in the first place? It should be given to the people who are struggling to survive.

Loyal Malaysian: The people involved really have no shame - to take the rakyat's money from a company running in the red and go on an overseas holiday, and charge that as entertainment allowance. It's really immoral and shameless.

Anonymous: If a school bag for a primary school kid is RM20, RM800,000 can buy 40,000 school bags for 40,000 kids. An average rural school has 500 students, so there would be 80 schools that could benefit from the RM800,000.

Tbala: You can get a government project and abandon it halfway through after siphoning the money allocated for the project; you can rely on quotas to get shares in Chinese companies without putting in any money; you get to become a chairman of a company even if you have no brains; you can insist on subsidies to get quality goods at a discounted price; you can take your family overseas for holiday using government money; then you can threaten to burn down the Chinese assembly hall if anyone ever questions you.

AnonymousA: Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim was questioned over the maintenance of his car and some cows that were slaughtered on one occasion and Teoh Beng Hock died for no more than RM2,400.

But Umno ministers who spend hundreds of thousands get away with it because the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) does nothing about this group of people.

Kgen: This is too big for MACC to investigate. They are only concerned with a few thousand ringgit allegations against opposition lawmakers, for which they will swing into action and interrogate them day and night.

Binoculars bought at 27 times the market price is not corruption. It better close down this commission instead of using taxpayers' money to support an Umno tool to harass the opposition and whitewash corrupt deals by Umno.

Real Culprit: Much has been said about the MACC and almost all of them are negative. MACC is not perfect but I can vouch that there are many dedicated staff in MACC who work very diligently to catch the corrupt.

But unfortunately, MACC does not have prosecution power. It might have spent many months investigating cases, but all these will be in vain if the Attorney-General's Chamber treats those bundles and bundles of investigation papers as waste papers.

I think the public should direct more of their criticism at the AG. I pity those dedicated staff of MACC, who have to bear with all these criticism everyday.

SusahKes: Only RM800,000 for their personal amusement? I am disappointed. It's very un-Umno like to spend chicken feed - or should I say, cow-feed instead? - when there's a big bundle of money that you had dished to NFC (National Feedlot Corporation).

Zoomer: This act of stealing from the government coffers is totally unacceptable. PM Najib Abdul Razak has only one choice left - to sack the minister in question or face the consequences of losing thousands of votes from all right-thinking citizens.

Baiyuensheng: Where are the so-called Malays NGOs? They only know to demonstrate for racing tracks, step on cow heads, raid churches, bully minorities, laze around and ‘makan gaji buta', raise racial hatred and the keris, kiss hands, etc - but when it comes to this blatantly treacherous act - none of them gives a damn.

PKR: PM and Agro minister lied on NFC

Bender: The whole thing is a lie right from the beginning. This is not just about the soft loans. The whole project was concocted by BN to serve no one but their own cronies. This is just one project - dig some more and you'll find more, and more.

Why do you think they fight tooth and nail to remain in power? The sad thing is, after this expose, only a handful of Malaysiakini readers are aware of such daylight robberies. What about the rest of the country?

Clearwater: It seems every federal minister/nominee gets awarded a project where they can fleece the public treasury. This one is mine, that one is yours and everyone keeps mum about any wrongdoing.

They are like a gang of thieves observing a code of silence to avoid self-incrimination. The amounts vary, but at ministerial level, it's in the hundreds of millions or even billions of ringgit.

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