vox populi small thumbnail 'Chua Jui Meng, hold your head up high. You may have lost the datukship from one sultan, but you have gained the respect of the whole nation.'

Johor sultan's decision 'nothing to do with politics'

Kgen: If Chua Jui Meng has done something as bad as that politician-turned-porn actor, then no reason need to be given as what happened is public knowledge. This is not the case for CJM (Chua Jui Meng) who has been completely honourable in the public eye.

The sultan is damaging his own reputation by victimising an honourable man for the sake of politics. Maybe one day, the rakyat will wake up and realise it's better to be a republic if we can't have rulers who are wise, fair and above politics.

Mockingbird: Mr Chua Jui Meng, hold your head up high. You did an honourable act by leaving the pack of thieves and now stand for what you believe is morally and politically right. What you did took a lot of courage as we all know bad habits die hard. You may have lost the datukship from one sultan, but you have gained the respect of the whole nation.

Victor Johan: Datuk CJM, when the previous sultan bestowed the awards on you, he gave reasons or the purpose of the awards. Now that the son, who is the current sultan, wants to remove the same awards from you, he is much obliged to provide the rakyat and you the motive or grounds.

WandererAUS: Although it's maybe the prerogative of the sultan whether to give the reason for asking the titles back, since he lives on the generosity of taxpayers' money, he owes the public an explanation for his action.

Watchman: With all due respect, sultan, if I am not mistaken, during a recent interview after you took over the reign from your late father, you mentioned that you want to be a new age ruler - one who dare to speak out and act for the benefit of the Johor people. Obviously what you are doing now totally contradicts your views/stand.

Dood: "He (Johor Royal Council secretary Abdul Rahim Ramli )said those who had awards withdrawn should ask themselves whether they had done 'something honourable' or not."

With this reasoning, all titles issued to Umno/BN/Perkasa politicians would have to be withdrawn on principle. And sure, the palace may be within its rights to keep silent on the reason for the revocation of the titles, but the sultan should realise that public perception matters. And the people do not believe that there was no political pressure involved.

Not Confused: Loyalty and respect are earned, and cannot be demanded. It seems there is very little respect for the royal families in Malaysia - is it any wonder given their arrogance?

Wee whips Malaysiakini - again

Takung: Following Wee Choo Keong's logic, if we vote for an MP during a GE (general election), then this can be considered as paying up-front for the next five years, no? Then if the MP doesn't perform for whatever reason, and cease to represent the wishes of the voters who voted for him/her, what recourse do we as voters have?

KayKay: By being independent, Wee means that he's not going to criticise BN or Pakatan Rakyat. He's going to criticise Malaysiakini and AirAsia and stay silent on Malaysia Airlines, Utusan Malaysia and Perkasa. Wasn't it disclosed in Parliament not so long ago that nasi lemak costs RM150 on Malaysia Airlines? They have since cut it down to RM75 per plate.

Malaysiakini should probe why Wee really defected from Pakatan. Earlier when the news portal reported that he was on the verge of defecting he denied it. As subsequent events proved, it turned out to be true . What does he have to say about that?

Even defecting did not save Wee's pension . He has still been denied it. Perhaps, he regrets defecting by now since he has no pension. So, he has to look elsewhere. Sell his vote in Parliament for RM50 million should BN want to amend the new electoral rolls to neutralise the opposition?

Or send some people a bill every time he says something against their rivals. He can start off by sending Malaysia Airlines a bill for criticising AirAsia.

Eugene: Tell us where in this part of the world, more so in this country, that any business does not have any promotions? Hypermarkets in this country do it every week.

About Malaysiakini telling lies, is Wee referring to the reports by Bernama ? Because ‘coincidentally' Bernama is always bias towards the government. Other than that, there is not a single ounce of truth about Malaysiakini being a mouthpiece of the opposition only.

Malaysiakini reports are mostly neutral and allows the reader to form their own opinions. If it's not, I wouldn't be a happy Malaysiakini subscriber for two years. And yes, I have no regrets renewing my subscription under this promotion for the next three years.

Louis: Wee is trying to score points for BN. He is must be blind to blame Malaysiakini as telling lies. If Malaysiakini spread lies, then Utusan Malaysia and New Straits Times must be reporting the truth. If you want favour from Prime Minister Najib Razak, you need not stoop to such low levels. Be a 'gentleman' and declare yourself pro-BN. Before that, kindly resign as MP.

Yuvan: Most politicians who leave the opposition to become 'independents' or join the ruling coalition have to say some 'irrelevant' things which they think will 'impress' the government and the people.

In Wee Choo Keong's interpretation, if prepaid services offered by private sector companies are considered 'deposit-taking' then he should have the guts to tell the government to stop collecting payments in advance for all its services.

What about road tax collected in advance, including for roads poorly maintained and full of potholes? What about passport fees, paid in advance to the Immigration Department? Can Wee get the Health Ministry to abolish deposit taking from patients scheduled for specialist treatment and surgeries at government hospitals?

Wee has proved himself to be just another politician who can talk a lot, but without any sense or substance.

Local councils raise stink over 10MP waste scheme

Cala: The proposed privatisation of solid waste services nationwide to a few companies is testimony of the continuation of cronyism that encourages rent-seeking. But this mode of procurement of services has been going on for decades, and it might have been perfected by the BN coalition by now.

Remember the IWK (Indah Water Konsortium) case? Under that model, when you make profit you keep the money. When you suffer losses, you may walk away from the contract with an ever benevolent government kind enough to take over the company from you.

Can you also imagine what kind of a deal you will get when negotiations are held with privileged parties and their terms and conditions of contracts not disclosed? So what is the difference between Najib and MM (Dr Mahathir Mohamad)?

Hann Wei Toh: I would support the taking over of solid waste management by the central government. I am in Johor, and the management by the councillors of the state government is close to being a joke.

What we need is a management organisation that has the power to change inappropriate agreements and enforce rules. I suppose the central government can do them better than the local councillors who lack knowledge and ability.

And we need uniform enforcement across the country to fix the problems faced by many towns. Until the standard is raised to an acceptable level by centralisation, I do not think small contractors in various parts of the country should take on the work, as many of them have only lived in their small towns and have little clue what they are expected to achieve.

Anonymous: Can the people sue the government for mismanagement? I am certain that in US we can, how about Malaysia?

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