I refer to malaysiakini report Seven failed privatised projects, RM11b bailout .

I can't help but feel repugnant by our government's cavalier attitude in using public funds to bail out private projects due to the failure on the part of those who were entrusted with running these big projects.

We, the taxpayers, have to eventually bear the cost of these follies. The public must be wondering whether the top guns who ran these big privatised projects had siphoned off the money. How then can it be explained that these privatised entities encountered financial distress in so short a time thus forcing the government to bail them out?

The imbroglio was like tossing a coin - heads, the privatised companies win by being rescued by the government, tails they too win by escaping their responsibility. The only loser is the poor taxpayer who diligently pays his dues every year only to see it being used to bail out failed companies.

Only in this country, I assume, the government is so benevolent is using public funds to bail out private companies. In other countries, the government of the day will allow these mediocre companies to fail and let other more competent ones take over their operations.

This colossal loss of RM11 billion is just the tip of the iceberg. The yearly reports of the auditor- general often show a wanton wastage and leakage of public funds due to bad business decisions by the top officials running government agencies.

Surprisingly, no one is held accountable for these misdeeds and life goes on as usual. The calls for transparency and accountability as preached by our leaders is just lip service only.

Imagine if you will if the lost billions were channel into building more schools, hospitals, clinics low-cost houses and infrastructures in the rural areas. How much benefit these economic activities would have helped the poor in getting them out of their cycle of poverty.

Sometimes I wonder how we are going to achieve First World standards come 2020 if our top mandarins and captain of industries still have a feudalistic type of thinking and are not open to new ideas on how to improve our economic well-being when compared to civilised nations.