'Customs confirmed the existence of the ring but stopped short of revealing the identity of the person who brought it into the country. What would this imply?'

Chegubard to issue 16-page brochure on RM24mil ring

vox populi small thumbnail Anonymous_40f4: I think Rosmah Mansor's name had to be mentioned in the Customs declaration form to get tax exemption, otherwise they would have hidden her name.

Bringing the ring into the country was not planned properly. The explanation in Parliament is not satisfactory because there is no proof that the ring has gone out of the country.

Bob Teoh: Rosmah's denial of the ring is worthless because it does not prove anything. The Customs has not denied that the document showing her as the recipient is false or inaccurate.

The finance minister, her husband, Prime Minister Najib Razak, has also not said anything although he should know the facts since Customs is under his portfolio. So where is the ring now?

My Thor: Does Rosmah have the financial capability to purchase a RM24 million ring or is the ring 'donated' by someone who had closed a deal with her husband through her influence?

Onyourtoes: Do you guys see the game being played here? The Customs confirmed the existence of the ring but it stopped short of revealing the identity of the person who brought it into the country. What would this imply?

From now on, do you think the government of the day, including the finance minister, would dare issue any specific order or reprimand the Customs for any wrongdoing? I think the Customs is also sending the message to the finance minister they are now untouchable.

This is the implication, my friends. The government has lost all moral authority and decency to direct any director-general or head of department to do the right and proper thing anymore.

It is not just the Customs; it is also the police, the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission), the Security Commission, Bank Negara and the Immigration. Everything is linked.

Now you tell me, how can we ever have genuine reforms and transformation? Even the retired politicians are not excluded from this nexus of abuse and corruption. They must stay afloat together, or else they all go to jail.

'Sarbaini inquest verdict flawed, form RCI instead'

Chandran Sukumaran: Forget about an RCI (royal commission of inquiry). Look what happened to the VK Lingam RCI. Umno judges will throw out the findings. The only salvation is to change the government.

We are in a sorry state of affairs as far as the judiciary is concerned. If two police officers can be sentenced to death for killing Altantuya Shaariibuu without a motive and the presiding judge is not interested to find out the truth, does this not this speak volumes of the calibre of our Umno-controlled judiciary? Shame, shame.

Tkc: Just like Teoh Beng Hock's case, the only way that Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed's family can get justice is when Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government.

Pakatan, please promise us that if you have the power, you will re-open all cases, including the death in custody cases such as A Kugan's.

Hmmmmm: A lot of people who are protecting culprits do not realise that one day they, or their loved ones, could be the victims and have the tables turned against them. The system that they set up today to protect the culprits could be used against them tomorrow.

M'sia will be bankrupt if Pakatan wins, warns DPM

Mohd: Twenty-one years ago, BN said that Kelantan would be bankrupt under PAS. It turns out that it is still there and instead of being bankrupt, the state is flourishing even with all the unfair treatment it gets from the federal government.

Three years ago, again BN said that Selangor would be bankrupt under Pakatan Rakyat within six months. Again instead of being bankrupt, the state now has more than RM1 billion excess of revenue.

Now DPM Muhyiddin Yassin is saying that Malaysia will go bankrupt if Putrajaya falls to Pakatan. If based on this inverted crystal ball that BN has, surely the citizens of the country will know who to vote in the coming election.

Ksn: Pakatan will have and face tough times when it comes to power, not only managing the finances but turning the country towards the right direction.

The first few years has to be spent correcting the abuses of all kinds - freeing the institutions from the present executive control, going after those who are corrupt and recovering what was stolen (that must be a staggering amount) from the state and bringing them to book, make the civil service and the GLCs competent with capable men and women of integrity, discontinue unnecessary projects which bring in no return and benefits, manage public funds economically, uplifting the really poor, stop waste and leakages, that sort of work.

When things are in place, the real governing will and can start. So DPM, it is not going to be easy for Pakatan as the mess created by Umno-BN is beyond imagination, affecting every aspect of the country's and people's lives. I have no doubt that Pakatan knows the gigantic burden when they take over.

Fillio: Malaysia has almost RM500 billion of federal debt. This ballooning of debt is exclusively the BN government's fiscal play for more than 50 years of rule.

With a total revenue of about RM187 billion against a total expenditure of RM233 billion, technically speaking, the country is already insolvent or bankrupt. There is no additional revenue for the government to pay off the debt - the gas is almost all gone and the oil is depleting fast.

The BN government has no other choice but to keep on borrowing to pay off its currently maturing debt, and in most likelihood increasing further the federal debt. Whether one likes it or not, that is the real scenario the country is facing.

We have yet to see the amount of debt in the GLCs (government-linked companies). Just peep into one of them, TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad).

With a total debt of about RM20 billion against an annual net income of about RM2 billion and an annual capex (capital expenditure) of RM4 to RM5 billion, how is TNB going to pay off its debt?

 


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