PKFZ scandal - M'sians will forget within weeks
'As usual, in most scandals that Malaysians are used to, all the finger-pointing and tit-for-tat statements will go on for a few weeks after which the whole ‘drama' will come to an abrupt end.'
On PKFZ equals to 5 BMF scandals
Yuvan: PKFZ can equal to five BMF scandals or even 15 BMF scandals. What's the fuss all about?
As usual, in most scandals that Malaysians are used to, all the finger-pointing and tit-for-tat statements will go on for a few weeks after which the whole ‘drama' will come to an abrupt end.
Most of our government and corporate leaders know very well that Malaysians (in general) are busy with their own lives and are getting ‘immune' to all kinds of ‘events' and ‘incidents' happening around them.
It is like watching ‘soap opera' or a TV mega serial. The ‘story' in most cases will end with ‘they all lived happily ever after'. No more than that!
It will be naïve for us to think or expect the authorities and government leaders to take any serious action or initiate any meaningful investigation.
By the way, let us all be assured of one thing. Our children and the future generation of Malaysians will be the ultimate sufferers from these scandals and misdeeds resulting in losses of millions and billions of ringgit.
And they will never forgive those responsible for it.
Peter Ooi: Malaysia had been plagued with scandal after scandal. In most of the scandals, some senior ministers were implicated.
So far, none of them were ever charged or convicted, thanks to our ‘super efficient' MACC.
Of all these scandals, I, too, would rank PKFZ as the mother of them all. The amount of public funds involved is way too large and yet it did not raise any suspicion with the ACA then.
As Lim rightly said, some ministers must be investigated. Any person with just basic intelligence will tell you that a scandal of such magnitude will definitely involve very senior officials and ministers in the government.
The public, whose money was drained, are waiting impatiently to see what the MACC can do,
Let us hope that it would not make scapegoats out of only a few small officers hoping that we would be satisfied.
MACC, please do a good job this time.
Ong: I cannot agree with Kit Siang that PKFZ equals to five BMF scandals.
I am no economist or financial expert, but surely RM2.5 billion 25 years ago must be equivalent to at least RM10 billion now.
Looks like all politicians like to exaggerate and dramatise. In any case, RM12.5 billion is still a lot of money.
Equivalent to 125 million pieces of RM100 notes. Can't even figure out how many double-storey link houses are needed to stuff 125 million pieces of RM100 notes.
Fed-up: So much public money, so much conflicts of interest, so much leniency, so much carelessness, so much ‘hand-washing' and so much inaction from the authorities for donkey's years.
If this isn't the mother of all jokes, I'll be disappointed. While so many of us are deep in debts, no job offers and struggling to feed our families, here we have a group of untouchables merrymaking.
The present government better get it right this time - those guilty guys - however titled - must be charged and please, don't get a few office boys and drivers sacked to take responsibility.
We have used that strategy too many times already. Hear this too - we want all the ill-gotten monies back to feed the poor among us especially during the present hard times.
Of course, let's get ready for some rhetoric politicking initiated by some guilty parties to hide or divert attention which they hope could save the day for them.
Any countryman who chooses to keep quiet over this unbelievable scandal should not call themself a Malaysian. The country's reputation and future is at stake.
Maniam Sankar:
Quite clearly, Umno wants this to be an MCA problem and rightly so.Transport Minister Ong has therefore been tasked by the PM to attend to the fiasco and, Ong, in turn, has said he will look into elements of overcharging to see if recoveries can be made.
Minister Ong, it is not the overcharge that caused the loss; it is the successive MCA transport ministers and their cohorts who exceeded their authority and allowed the misuse of public money.
The law clearly provides for those who misused their power to be responsible for the consequences thereof.
The recovery should, therefore, start with action against these tin pot ‘emperors' who dipped their hands into the public coffers.
Recover the money they spent without authorisation and give back their white elephant that is PKFZ to them.
And let them recover any overcharging at their expense, not the taxpayers.
On Chin Peng finds support in PSM
Baiyuensheng: The recent fiasco revolving around allowing Chin Peng returning to Malaysia have raised many comments from those who oppose his return.
The communist insurgency was initially born out the move to oppose the cruel Japanese occupation and later against the returning British colonialists.
Their purpose was to fight for the independence of Malaya. Nonetheless, these were carried out under the ideology of communism as it suited the time and circumstances.
And, in my opinion, the so-called security forces served under the command of the British occupiers and they seemed to be contented to be ruled by the colonial master.
So the question is, which group had contributed more to free this land? I am of the opinion that Chin Peng and his comrades contributed much to the independence of Malaya.
Their efforts cannot be denied - they and their contributions will have a place in history no matter what.
Ismail Samat: As for Chin Peng, send him back to China. He has no place in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei or the Nusantara.
On 'Shoot those who back Chin Peng's return'
Ayfy: Why were there no objections from these same organisations who now vehemently oppose Chin Peng's request when Rashid Mydin and Shamsiah Fakeh - who were prominent leaders of CPM - were allowed to return to Malaysia?
Is it because Chin Peng is from a different race from these two? Is it because they did not cause any injuries or deaths to our citizens and security forces?
On JPA scholarships - revamp and rediscover
Interested Parent: I think that the move by the government to limit the number of subjects that a student can take for the SPM is good although my reasons may be different.
I find it most ridiculous that a student can or would want to sit for all the Science and Arts papers just to score as many A's as possible.
Yes, maybe he/she needs all the A's to secure a scholarship. But what about those equally bright students who do not wish to take that many papers?
I suggest that a way round this would be to raise the bar so that only a limited, small percentage of students can score A's or B's in any paper.
This will separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak. Afraid that too many students will fail? No problem.
Lower the bar at the other end. The details can be worked out, I'm sure.
King Solomon: I grieve to read of the government's decision to limit the number of subjects SPM students to 10.
Apparently this decision has come about because of the perennial hullabaloo highlighting students with 14 A1s are unable to get scholarships while those with just 5A1s can obtain a scholarship.
You get the impression that the powers-that-be imagine it is easy to get 14 A1s! Another reason given is that extracurricular activities like sports and being appointed a class supervisor matter too.
I would point out that extracurricular activities and academic studies are really two different things. Everyone can be good at table tennis, but not everyone can be good at maths.
Those who love to study, to seek knowledge with such dedication, are a rare breed. And such rare and talented people should be encouraged to study for they are a real national asset, later if not now.
It is most unfortunate that their talent should be suppressed in any way either because of poverty or worse, by bureaucratic enforcement of stupidity.
I hope students will not be discouraged by this very, very shortsighted decision made by a government which has never been known to make many good and rational decisions.
Very frankly, if I needed to be treated by a doctor, I would prefer to be treated by one who scored 14 A1s in the SPM but who wasn't very good at netball than by one who scored 3 A1s but who is damned good goal keeper!
On Sri Lanka: Amnesty wants probe on civilian deaths
Yuvan:
The call by Amnesty International must be fully supported by civil and human rights groups all over the world.The Sri Lankan government's claim of victory over the Tamil Tigers was at the sheer expense of a massive loss of civilian lives and hundreds of thousands more displaced.
This is clearly evident from all the media reports and pictures that came from the war-torn zone in the the final weeks of the civil war. Loss of civilian lives is quite normal in any war.
But it appears that the government of Sri Lanka was completely bent upon eliminating the Tamil Tigers at whatever cost to the innocent civilian lives.
Otherwise, why should they stop the UN Human Rights Council from conducting the fact-finding mission? What is there to hide if their military operations were carried out above board and were done in accordance to international laws and accepted norms?
Of course, there are allegations that Tamil Tigers might have used innocent civilians to shield themselves from the Sri Lankan military's assault.
Still, the Sri Lankan government should provide all the relevant evidence to defend itself and allow UN and other international human rights groups to conduct a thorough and hindrance-free investigation.
This must be done to ascertain whose actions were deliberate and who caused more civilian deaths and displacement - the Sri Lankan military or the Tamil Tigers.
Unless this is done, history's records of this civil war will never be in favour of the current Sri Lankan government.
On Close down Sri Lanka Embassy in Malaysia
VS: It is inconceivable that Dr Ramasamy suggest that acts of genocide be left unattended. Malaysia does not need to interfere with Sri Lankan internal politics.
In fact, I do not think we have the means to do so. But as a peace-loving country that has not seen violence since independence apart from May 13, it is prudent that we abhor any form of injustice that takes place anywhere for that matter.
And if as has been suggested an investigation take place, then so be it.
The tabling of a non-interference policy by Sri Lanka and the BN-led government supporting it only makes me think that they do this to whitewash all their injustices in the country.
And maybe when Anwar is assassinated (the Sri Lankan way), the BN led government too will table a similar resolution of non-interference. How convenient...
This government disregards justice, righteousness and democracy. All they want are allies of convenience.
The BN-led government does not need to appease the Tamils, for they know that the Tamils are already fed-up with their lies.
All we can pray now is for a new government that respects humanity in all its forms. By the way, patriotism is towards your country - not towards the hopeless government that runs it.
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