YOURSAY ‘Where is the other submarine, KD T Abd Rahman? Can it dive? Can it resurface? Is it still in operation?'

Zahid gives Guan Eng's Scorpene dive a miss

Anonymous: Please be reminded that there are actually two Scorpene submarines in Bolehland; KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak.

The question is can both of them dive? So be aware and not to be taken for a ride just because Penang CM LGE (Lim Guan Eng) and deputy CMs Mansor and P Ramasamy have been invited to go on board.

Pemerhati: This is just a PR (public relation) exercise by Umno to distract from the main issue of corruption involving military purchases.

The questions that need to be answered are why is it necessary for a small developing country like Malaysia to waste its limited resources to buy a submarine and spend a whopping RM7 billion in the process and why do we pay so much more for various military items when compared to other countries.

The obvious answer to all these questions is that the top ministers and their cronies like Abdul Razak Baginda and the top generals and public servants get huge bribes.

The public only come to hear of some of these thefts when something unusual happens, such as the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu or when The Star reported that gold bars and US currency were found in the house of a general after it was damaged by a landslide and a very concerned PM Najib Razak took the trouble to pay him a visit and inspect the damage.

Samuel Ng: LGE, I admire your leadership and personal integrity as CM of Penang but to dive together with your two DCM is a wrong decision.

How can the top three decision makers of Penang be allowed to be in the same submarine, which performance is being questioned.

Oscar Kilo: It's not a good idea to send all three top government officers down at the same time. Shouldn't there be a standard operating procedure require the CM and his deputies to ride in different vehicles?

Kamalappans: LGE and team, you should have backed off once the defence minister declined to accompany you.

Frinkie: Whether or not LGE returns safely, I don't see the whole point of this nonsense. It does not answer why the submarines could not sink at the point of delivery and how much had to be spent to rectify the flaws.

LGE getting friendly with these guys is also pointless. LGE, how do you later take them to task for spending of billions which they justify in the name of defence.

Many members of the public are doubtful of the need to spend so many billions and also doubtful of the manner of purchase and whether we could have got it much cheaper.

The print and electronic media are going to town proclaiming victory for Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi and how the opposition was wrong all along in doubting the defence guys.

Docs: Okay, the BN government may have proven a point that the submarine can dive and submerge. I'm more interested if the submarine is seaworthy and fit for war.

After spending RM3.68 billion on the cost of the submarine plus kickbacks, ooops! ‘commission', I hope that the submarine will not be a tomb for our sailors like the Russian submarine the ‘Kursk' or end up getting blown to bits if ever it was needed at war.

Dark Archon: I hope LGE bought heavy life insurance. Even the defence minister does not dare to dive with him. Does the minister know something everyone else doesn't? Now, I'm worried for LGE's and his deputies' lives...

By Election Fan: Probably Zahid Hamidi is worried that this originally ‘Kapal Tak Selam' will become ‘Kapal Selam Tenggelam'. With the amount paid, we should be getting a few more subs or even the latest nuclear powered ones and not the second-hand ones that once was not able to dive.

Bluemountains: Where is the other submarine, KD T Abd Rahman? Can it dive? Can it resurface? Is it still in operation? If so, where? Or have they sent it to the Malacca Museum?

Frankie Tan: This must be the joke of the century indeed - spent billions on a submarine just to prove that it can dive? It's just like buying a high-tech sampan and asking the kampung folks to test it that it can float...

They need to explain why it took him so long to get an outrageously high-cost brand new submarine that is supposed to do its basic function... other than diving what else can this high-tech junk do?

One piece of advice to LGE and company - better put on your diving suit just in case.

Joker: It is really quite pathetic that the Defense Ministry's credibility has sunk so low that it has to organise such a demonstration just to prove that a supposedly high-tech submarine can dive after 21 months in operations.

If a sea-going vessel cannot dive then it is not a submarine, pure and simple. Since it is also supposedly a war machine, it must also be able to fight.

Can we the rakyat once and for all know what's the final figure of the sum spent that enables this submarine to dive and be combat capable?

Anonymous: Maybe Zahid is worrying that the submarine now can dive but can't float instead.

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