VOXPOP 'If the government wants to subsidise the farmers, just pay the farmers direct. Where is the free enterprise and market spirit?'

'Unqualified' seeds suppliers win RM165mil tender

vox populi small thumbnail Onyourtoes: Since when are standards and criteria important for anything under the BN government? It must be a lucrative business to supply padi seeds.

The question is why everything must be done through the government? Why can't the padi farmers buy the seeds from anyone they choose to buy from? I mean who would have the inherent interest to buy the best padi seeds if not the farmers themselves.

If the government wants to subsidise the farmers, just pay the farmers direct. The farmers should ultimately decide from whom they want to buy from. Where is the free enterprise and market spirit?

We are inculcating Malaysians into becoming nincompoops similar to what the communist regimes did to their people.

Louis: There are two classes of bumiputera - Umnoputra and ordinary Malay bumis. Umnoputra have no problem with criteria. But for ordinary putras, even with all criteria met, cannot be sure of success in any tender bids.

If there are any leftover, only then can they be distributed to them. The more votes Umno and BN get, the more corrupted they will be.

Anonymous #40538199: Pagar makan padi.

Blind Freddo: Why is the production of padi seedlings under the control of the government? It's one thing to set down standards and see that they are applied, but beyond that let the market decide who should dominate the industry.

Malaysia as a whole has the perfect set-up for corruption to flourish and there are thousands of public servants waiting for their turn to arrive.

Of course, that will all disappear when Pakatan Rakyat comes into power, won't it? I suggest they don't have a clue of the extent that corruption dominates this country, let alone any idea how to deal with it.

Anonymous #19098644: The ‘Menteri Udang' (Agriculture Minister Noh Omar) will say there is another emergency for the award to unqualified tenderers.

After all, what can his boss Najib Abdul Razak, who approved the Ampang LRT extension contract to George Kent, another unqualified tenderer, say? It just shows a lack of planning, lack of integrity and outright corruption.

As for his nincompoop deputy agriculture minister, the son of MCA chief Chua Soi Lek, as the Chinese say, "We're wasting rice feeding him." Useless incompetent and untrustworthy politicians and they are asking for another term.

TimeForChange: In reality, there are only two groups in Malaysia, the rakyatputras and the Umnoputras. Let us be clear about this. It is not about race, it is about one group stealing from the other.

Queenie: And they want another five years. We are truly finished if they are returned in the next general election, which is very possible given all the rigging going on. It's one thing to be incompetent and another to be incompetent and thoroughly dishonest.

Swipenter: Padi-gate?

Suaram probe: ROS issues notice to deceased founder

Tholu: The Registrar of Societies (ROS) appears to stretch the cliche "leave no stones unturned" in their investigations to include "leave no corpse unexhumed".

ROS should be reminded that "dead men tell no tales". Otherwise Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu would have made her murderers and their co-plotters look like they were "slapped in the face by a ghost".

HYL: Even dead people are summoned. So Suaram may have to hire a bomoh or a medium to relay the dead man's answer to the ROS?

But even then, would the officers be brave enough to face the dead man when they have disturbed his rest?

Timothy: By issuing a notice to the late Fan Yew Teng, ROS made a mockery of themselves. It only shows that they are just puppets blindly following orders from their political master, Umno.

Ngecui: On the morning of Oct 12, the ROS investigating officer (IO) will definitely ask: En Fan Yew Teng tak datang ke?

Answer: Dia tak dapat cuti .

IO: Macam itu kita kena postponelah .

Jaguh: In the traditional Taoist way, one has to burn the summons for the summons to reach former MP Fan Yew Teng. Suaram should have done exactly that upon receipt of the order, say some mumbojumbo and tell Fan it's yours...

Democrat: Come on Suaram, if you have not updated your records, how will the authorities know Fan has passed away? Obviously your records somewhere still have Fan as a founding member. Be fair when you castigate.

Senior: "Government employment" is not "party employment " or "Umno employment" - their salaries are paid by the rakyat. So do government work, not party work. And if a party tries to abuse its power or cross the line, government servants can ignore them.

YF: Borrowing the words from a movie by our beloved P Ramlee - "Mau hidup pun susah, mau mati pun susah."

Anonymous #06659895: If there is nothing to hide about the Scorpene submarine deal, why are all these agencies suddenly become active. Someone must be scared. That means Suaram is telling the truth.

Absalom: This is a case of desperate high-powered criminals using all avenues to keep the law from getting to them and their despicable acts.

How else do you explain governments hunting down people and organisations that blow the whistle on crime and abuses in high places.

We hope that when Fan comes to meet the ROS on Oct 12, he brings murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu with him to clarify certain salient points.

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