vox populi small thumbnail The best and cheapest way to spruce up the image of the country is through good governance. No point spending money to improve our image when there is so much going on that bring shame to the country.

 

'FBC paid RM84mil 'to spruce up nation's image'

Docs: The BN/Umno government can pay millions to spruce up Malaysia's image, but our ministers can screw up Malaysia's image in a second.

Remember Bersih 1.0 & 2.0, the cow head incident, church burning incident, Sodomy II, the Datuk Trio, the Scorpene submarine deal, Altantuya, Kugan, Teoh Beng Hock, Ibrahim Ali on Al Jeezera, etc.

Ben-ghazi: Imagine how many schools can be built with RM94 million. The BN government is not interested in Malaysia's image at all, what it is doing is to prop up its own image overseas.

But all institutions of the BN government, such as the police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) , Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Election Commission (EC), etc, are doing the opposite.

They are doing things that bring shame to the country, like PDRM spraying peaceful demonstrators at Bersih 2.0 with acid-laced water, the EC registering illegal immigrants as voters, the MACC pushing suspects off their buildings, the MCMC doing the BN's bidding to suppress freedom of the Internet, etc.

So what the BN is doing by employing the FBC to prop up its image and at the same time, allowing its institutions to 'spoil' everything - like what the Malay proverb says: Tuang air di daun keladi - nothing sticks in the end.

Swipenter: The best and cheapest way to spruce up the image of the country is through good governance. We now get plenty of international coverage of the wrong kind through corruption, our courts, scandals, flip-flop policies, religious bigotry, racism and political persecution of opposition politicians.

No amount of money can cleanse our image on the existing poor governance of the Umno-led government.

Deepavali-eve sitting of Parliament criticised

Artchan: They will hold a session on Deepavali Day and would not be bothered, because the Indians will vote BN. That is what BN thinks.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: Deepavali Eve is not a public holiday just like Christmas Eve, but it is customary even in the UK for the House of Commons not to sit on Christmas Eve.

The government should show some respect and not schedule a sitting on the eve of Deepavali.

NONE Would the Chinese be happy if there was a sitting of the House on the eve of Chinese New Year, which is not a public holiday but culturally very important to the Chinese since it involves the traditional family reunion dinner?

R Venugopal: This is the concept of 1Malaysia, where they are not sensitive to the needs of the Indian community. Our mandores from MIC have remained silent as usual on this matter. Do you consider the MIC leaders as winnable candidates?

Swipenter: All the Hindu MPs should absent themselves then. This is not the first time that government servants who are involved in planning meetings don't give two hoots about the festivities of others except their own.

Docs: Since when did the eve of a holiday also become a holiday?

Tpn: Why should the BN worry about this? The Indians will continue to vote for BN. So, why bother?

JBGUY: The BN is not bothered about the trials and tribulations of the Indians. So what if Parliament is sitting on the eve of Deepavali? After all, universities and matriculation colleges are scheduling their exams during Deepavali week.

Can't the morons think that if you had to sit for exams during the Raya week, how much of a frustration it would be? Just because the majority are Malay Muslims, the minority Hindus are oppressed and this has been going on for years.

Najib with all his promises to improve the lives of the Indians can't even do this for them. Indians should open their eyes and show their displeasure through the ballot box.

sPICE: Penang govt's 'scandal' of the decade

Lim Chong Leong: The contracts are not protected under Official Secrets Act unlike the toll concession agreement and Scorpene submarine agreements.

It is for all to see and judge and there is no need for state BN working group chief Dr Teng Hock Nan to scream and shout. Rather, he should refer to numbers to substantiate his barking.

Samuel Ng: Penangites don't have to worry about Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng being corrupt. I am sure Lim is well aware MACC is waiting to pounce on him if he takes even RM5,000. Remember the Teoh Beng Hock case? I rest my case.

Kev: What has Lim done for Penangites, except increase the number of illegal hawkers and break his promise to sweep away all the illegal jaga kereta ?

The truth is, he is trying to win hearts and minds of the Malays, while neglecting the non-Malays in Penang. He has forgotten where his support base is, and he will suffer come the next GE.

Loyal Malaysian: I am a Penang-registered voter and I've read the BN flyer - Lim and his administration cannot play the blind, deaf and dumb mice routine of the Umnoputras.

The issues Teng has raised are troubling, to say the least.

Yes, in the spirit of competency, accountability, and transparency, all issues raised by the BN must be addressed by Lim's administration.

Hope: Money does not necessarily corrupt, but power does. He is not interested in Putrajaya, nor the other states (hence his insult of Johor).

If Pakatan wins Putrajaya he will not participate in the federal government, as there is no power there, but in Penang, where he is CM.

Whoever runs Putrajaya matters not to Lim because they cannot tell him what to do. So now we all understand how power corrupts.

Anonymous: Though I am not a fan of the Pakatan, I must give them credit for turning Penang from a bankrupt state into a very healthy state, with surplus cash in hand.

We must give the Pakatan a chance to manage the country and I am confident they will do very well. Keep up the good work.

Isa ineligible to head Felda co-op?

Josephine: If Felda is listed, it is said that the settlers will get a windfall. I think this is the rosy part of the story. But how will the settlers' future livelihood be affected?

isa samad interview 150509 Where is their source of income? Will they have to pay hefty rents in order to work the land? And for those settlers who think they have struck a lottery and spend the 'windfall' on cars and useless things, sorry for them. They will no more be ‘towkay' of their own land, but will become ordinary mandores working on the fields.

Jimmy Ng: The sad part is that the small settlers will be fed all kinds of propaganda to make them think that they will be getting a much better deal though this ‘arrangement'.

I suspect this is also to pacify the settlers who have yet to launch lawsuits (as some already have) against Felda for allegedly "cheating" them of their income through the offer of unfair lower prices for their oil palm fresh fruit bunches for years.

Thinker: I thought it was reported that Felda had RM6 billion before it disappeared. Now, with the listing exercise, Felda hopes to raise RM5 to RM6 billion by putting up property as collateral. If this new RM5 billion disappears again, will Felda settlers have anything left?

Rick Teo: There is an old strategy of siphoning money from a cash-rich cow. Take the cow to an overseas destination, away from prying eyes and then later claim the investment suffered a loss.

That's how Felda's overseas operations ended up losing. They went to China, Canada and the moon. Then, they later claimed they all lost their pants. Now, they are coming back for more.

Lim Chong Leong: Even Umno found Isa Samad guilty of corruption but he is appointed to head what is one of our biggest kitties. This is going to be another Bank Bumi, MAS, Perwaja and PKFZ.

Armageddon: Today we read Felda is bankrupt, and tomorrow somebody will declare Felda is doing extremely well.

Which is which? We the public have the right to know the truth. An independent audit is necessary to get to the bottom of this. We can't just trust anyone any more in this country.

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