VOXPOP 'Sponsoring government events to such an extent is blatant corruption. Najib might as well say his friends sponsored his daughter's wedding.'

'Private sponsors footed payment for K-pop stars'

Compass: Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek says spending millions on foreign dancers in concerts benefits the economy?

What Najibnomics is this? In reality, it benefits only the Umnoputras who will take a cut from everything.

Trublumalaysian: Out of the total budget; it is often believed that 30 to 35 percent goes to the most detested group of leeches ever to crawl the earth: the infamous gatekeepers of Putrajaya.

Onyourtoes: See what you have just said, Shabery: as long as there are sponsors/donors, you think it is okay to take the money. Cronyism and corruption have become so ingrained that you don't even realise this was a subtle way to buy influence.

Tell me, who would want to spend RM20 million of their money without getting anything in return.

Second, you say you are still auditing the total cost of the mega-event. Have you been spending without a budget? No wonder, there will be another supplementary budget and another year of deficit.

Thirdly, you said the event had benefited the country's economy. Yes, this is nincompoop economics - we can all spend our way to prosperity.

For sure, those sexy Koreans are all laughing their way to the bank.

Blind Freddo : Surely any sponsor for that amount of money would want his/her name or company name splashed all over the performance venue?

FellowMalaysian: They could spend RM2 million on two concert events when the hardcore poor living in the interiors of Sarawak could not even afford to pay for the kerosene that is need to power their night lamps.

Karma: Sponsoring government events to such an extent is blatant corruption. Najib might as well say private people sponsored his daughter's wedding.

What maths is Shabery talking about? Spending RM15 million resulted in over RM100 million turnover that supposedly goes back to the rakyat? Which rakyat you are talking about?

Headhunter: Another case of stupid and senseless spending by the BN. Their "it's not our money but the taxpayers's" is getting more and more blatant. Let's kick them out before they bankrupt us.

Changeagent: By the minister's same logic, Bersih 3.0 was even more beneficial to the local economy. It brought out 250,000 to 300,000 Malaysians who otherwise would have stayed at home, and that in itself had benefitted the traders, organisers and logistics suppliers.

The best thing of all is that it didn't cost the government anything, unlike the low-value multi-million ringgit teeny-bopper K-pop performances.

Police logic in killing suspects raises questions

Anonymous #95168092: It has become a very funny country where now, the citizen has learnt to become tolerant of atrocities committed by the authorities. It now seems acceptable for police to take people's lives just as they see fit.

Wake up, people. It has never been like that. Whether or not suspects or criminals are deemed to be dead guilty, the police/authorities should never ever use their force to end people's lives. Only the court of law can punish people, not the cops.

The authorities can use force to restrain suspects to detain them, not to kill them. Whether or not the person is guilty, the law enforcers cannot do the job on behalf of the courts. Never!

AGM: How many times do we have to hear, 'suspects resisted arrest, attacked the police, police returned fire, all suspects killed', before people realise this is the standard form-letter response to every police killing?

I've heard it dozens of times. It usually happens at a highway toll where the cops can ambush the suspects. A 14-year-old, shot with a machine gun for borrowing his sister's car. Three teen suspects shot resisting arrest, in the back of the head, while kneeling...

The situation is going from bad to worse, and will continue to do so, until decent Malaysians take back control and moral direction of this once beautiful country.

Christina Knew: The reason is simple, if the crooks don't die, they can tell how much they have robbed, while if they die the police can decide on the amount that they recover.

All robbery cases end up like that if you haven't noticed.

Jesmine: Only the law can and must be the one that decides who is guilty and who is not. Never the police, to simply shoot anyone they believe is a criminal.

Abhsg578: True, only the court should sentence the wrongdoer, but Malaysia is a funny country, we have incompetent, unprofessional cops and prosecutors, and members of the public do feel some court sentences are inadequate.

Meantime crime is going up and up and you won't have to wait long to be a victim at this rate.

I don't like this idea of cops gunning down people as they may become too trigger-happy, but with the current state of crime, Malaysians have no choice.

Jean Pierre: I would rather be robbed by a robber than be robbed by a cop. I want white to be white and black to be black. Lest I fear my own shadow next.

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