I refer to the Malaysiakini report Billion-ringgit chopper deal 'put off'.

For once the government has acted wisely in deferring this purchase of high-priced helicopters from Europe in a deal full of controversy.

Voices had been raised earlier about the high price of this arm procurement but they fell on deaf ears because some wanted to proceed with the deal due to the high commission involved.

It took the global financial crisis to finally put the deal under the water. Transparency and open tenders for billion ringgit purchases for our armed forces are never practiced in this country.

Only brokers who have close links to the political elite seem to get their way in making our government procure outdated aircraft (remember the Skyhawks?) or unsuitable tanks (remember the Scorpions tanks?) or secondhand submarines at inflated prices. Now it is helicopters where the price is double compared to the market price.

The defence of our country cannot be compromised. Our taxpayers would not mind if our armed forces procure expensive arms in order to shield our country from external forces. But under the former defence minister’s watch, there were a lot of shoddy arms deals where jets, tanks and submarines were overpriced due to middlemen earning big commissions by becoming arms dealers for the government.

It is an open secret that Razak Baginda, a close friend of the former defence minister, was implicated in the controversy surrounding the purchase of the secondhand submarines where his private company received a big commission, close to nearly half a billion for this submarine purchase.

The incident was not the first time where arms purchases which cost billions of taxpayers’ money saw middlemen acting in cohorts with their political masters. It has happened in the past and it will happen again in the future as long as those in power are willing to compromise on our country defence for monetary gain.

If we provide inferiors arms to our armed forces, how can our army defend our nation from external enemies who will easily defeat our poorly-equipped defence forces? Let us learn from the lessons of the Iraq war where the awesome power of the US defence forces crushed the poorly-equipped Iraqi army in a matter of days.

It can happen to us also if our armed forces are supplied with inferior military hardware bought at a high price just because some high-ranking people want to make a quick buck on a lucrative military deal.

Corruption in any form can destroy a nation and bring suffering to the people. But this addiction for easy money has been ingrained in our political elite and their cronies and it would take a few generations before this scourge can be wiped out.

Coming back to the cancellation of the copter purchases, one wonders if it was a move by the present premier against his deputy who is supposed to replace him in the coming months.

After all, it was the deputy premier who had acted quickly to procure such expensive copters before he handed over his defence portfolio to the present premier in a switch of jobs between them.

One wonders that by canceling the order, is the present premier sending a message to his heir that although he (the PM) will be out of a job come March 2009, he would still like to call the sots until then.

Something seems to be brewing between the present embattled premier and his deputy and the battle lines are drawn between their close supporters who are eying other top posts in the coming party polls.

It is an open secret that the contest between the son-in-law of the present premier against the son of the former premier for the party’s youth chief post is a proxy war between that former premier and the present one.

If Ali Rustam, the chief minister of Malacca, gets the numbers to fight for the number two post of Umno, it will be another proxy fight between Mahathir’s favorite candidate Muhiyiddin Yassin and Pak Lah’s favorite, Ali Rustam.

While party bigwigs are fighting for top political posts in Umno, the opposite seems to be happening in the opposition front. Previously, the opposition front made a big hue and cry about forming the next federal government come Sept 16 but it’s all quiet among them lately.

The world is heading for a recession due to a global economic meltdown. But our government seems to be unaware of the growing danger that will hit our shores if our economy does not improve.

Everybody seems to be preoccupied with the coming Umno polls and the ‘money talk’ means those who dish out more money than their rivals will get to lead our nation with their tainted hands.

An empty stomach makes an angry person. If companies in this country close shop and unemployment rises, there will be trouble on the streets. The government’s main revenue to prop up the economy, petroleum, has seen a drastic fall in price from a high of US$147 per barrel to less than US$70 at present.

How the government is going to balance the budget and the spending of public funds for the betterment of the people is something to ponder. Pity the poor and downtrodden folks who will be the hardest hit by the deteriorating global economy.

Brace yourself for hard times as we cannot depend on our corrupt and weak government to strengthen our economy as most of the political elite are only interested in winning the party polls rather than looking after national interests.