Finally, here is a minister and a parliamentarian who cares about saving tax money, that is trying to save a measly RM100,000 an hour.

Imagine that attitude if applied to the RM1 billion the government had paid for the above market price MAS shares . That waste could have been splashed on 10,000 hours of parliamentary broadcasts.

Imagine the RM4-5 billion paid to rescue Renong and the light rails, the extra-budgetary RM7 billion to borrow future GDP growth over the past years as well as the estimated RM10 million skimmed off every newly-constructed school by the primary contractor who won the bid without any open tender.

We could have had live parliamentary broadcasts for the rest of our lives.

It's a shame that Thailand, which is so much poorer than Malaysia and regarded by many as backward and unruly, would lavish precious millions of baht to broadcast hour after hour of parliamentary debates on TV and radio.

Everyone, from spoiled financial brats in their posh offices to the working class public, all eagerly listening to sense whither the political and economic winds are blowing in their struggles to survive.

However, to help our conscientious minister uphold his fiduciary duty as trustees of the people of Malaysia, I propose a simple, money-saving package which could even help replenish our depleted government coffers after seven consecutive years of budget deficits.

In an open bid, issue three AM radio permits to privately-owned enterprises to broadcast parliamentary and state assembly sessions, live and recorded. For the rest of the air time, let them broadcast financial tips, English lessons, computer courses, and - ISA-OSA-PPPA-libel-suits aside - also some political discussions. I am sure they will be big hits.

Include in the permits the rights to broadcast through Web radio (audio only) and Webcast (audio-video). Web radio could be as simple as connecting the parliamentary loudspeaker to streamyx.com and letting a private enterprise take over from there.

Malaysia has done webcasts for parliamentary budget speeches before. So why now Malaysia tak boleh ? If in doubt, invite open bids. Let the fools in the private sector bear the risks.

Privately-owned AM radio stations would kill many birds with one stone. First, it saves tax money. Second, it encourages private investments - one of four key strategic goals in the federal budget. Third, it promotes multi-media web services and will help rescue the Multimedia Super Corridor from its death bed.

The bidders could be made to agree to broadcast all parliamentary sessions and their selection of state assembly sessions. They could be given a grace period, after which they would have to pay royalties to the Finance Ministry for hours of broadcast.

You could even constrain their return on capital invested, allowing say, only 15 percent of annual return on their investment, with the rest paid to the government. This arrangement would motivate them to invest a lot as soon as the programme gets going.

You could even restrict their borrowing ratio (leverage) so they would not implode like the boom-year cronies.

I would sign any petition letter to call for the issuance of such permits. I am sure advertising money would pour into these AM radio stations. So sure I hereby pledge RM100 to become a shareholder in any of the successful bids!