VOXPOP 'These Umno and Perkasa samseng are only good at intimidating young girls but have no balls to confront their corrupt bosses.'

Umno members in Pekan menaced us, claim students

Bender: These students from Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) do have balls (of steel, I might add). Unlike PM Najib Razak, whom I bet will remain quiet over this incident.

Or, if he managed to find some courage to respond, Najib would probably ridicule the whole thing rather than addressing it like a true leader. Just wait and see.

Meanwhile, it doesn't surprise me one bit about Umno resorting to thuggery to win the political battle. It does bother me, however, that they had gone to the extent of grabbing and dragging female students, not to mention threatening them and using harsh words.

I suggest the students take legal action against those thugs. Sue them for sexual assault or harassment or something...

Fair&Just: At least, there is some hope for the nation with the awakening of these student movements.

Basically, humans are decent, honest and kind. But years of former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad's venomous indoctrination and BTN's (Biro Tata Negara) inculcation of racism, bigotry and perverted values have turned these poor souls into misfits of society.

Anonymous_4056: Hello Malaysians, is it our culture to go round threatening others, even with axe?

No wonder after 50 years of Umno's rule we are like this. What has happened to Umno and its members? Seriously, something is very wrong with this nation.

Ferdtan: Where is our 1Malaysia PM? Not even a word of concern from the PM. Where is his leadership?

With the police and the top BN government leaders not condemning such acts of violence, it only means that they are supporting their unlawful actions. This BN government must go before the country breaks down to complete chaos. There is no more law in the country.

If the police are not careful, one day it may get out of hand - lynching may happen. Then the BN government and the police are the ones to be blamed.

Anonymous_3e93: These Umno and Perkasa samseng are only good at intimidating young girls but they have no balls to confront their corrupt bosses.

They are a pathetic lot who live not merely to ‘cari makan' on a daily basis but to continue to worship their bosses who live lavishly in Kuala Lumpur, looting their own right-to-earn wealth.

Armageddon: Najib told Pakatan Rakyat supporters not to create havoc should Pakatan lose the GE13. What has Najib got to say about violence committed by his own Umno supporters even before losing the election?

Hplooi: The brown shirts are out. This is not about partisan politics but the fundamental structure of our 'so-called' democracy.

If the MCA-Gerakan-MIC-PPP-Kimma 'rumps' do not condemn this, then they stand accused of abetment and an accessory to murder ... murder of democracy that is.

Fear of losing GE spurs billion ringgit contracts?

Rubystar_4037: The awarding of midnight contracts and midnight appointments are symptomatic of a dying regime.

Just before the curtain falls, they award themselves mega contracts for self-enrichment or appoint their cronies to high positions in the judiciary, police or other government agencies to protect their interests when they lose power.

This has happened in many countries before. One of the most recent one is the appointment of a high court judge by the previous Philippines president Gloria Arroyo just before she lost power.

Current President Benigno Aquino is now trying to annul the appointment. Good one, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

Taikohtai: What Pua is saying is very true but I wouldn't be too worried about the deals. I believe they can be easily undone when put under the microscope in a thorough audit.

Too many of the deals are shoddy or being awarded to inexperienced operators who are only too keen to sub-contract them out.

By passing new laws to outlaw sub-contracting, for example, it should easily derail the gravy trains.

I have enough faith in Pakatan and their candidates to do the right thing and will happily allow them at least one term before auditing them to the fullest.

Clearwater: I believe lucrative lopsided contracts given to crony companies can be subject to legal challenge as they are obviously against public interest.

A new government may also find other means to apply pressure to re-negotiate onerous terms. The best solution is to not allow closed or negotiated contracts.

Starr: This is sheer irresponsibility - to award contracts worth billions of ringgit to crony companies just before the general election. This the rakyat should and must know. It's not a question of authority but responsibility.

The public finances of the government are at the lowest ebb, with debt-to-GDP ratio touching the statutory threshold and yet Mahathir said that our debt level was still manageable and there was nothing to worry about.

The point is not only the debt level but why did we need to borrow in the first place, given our vast resources, if not for the over-expenditures?

More worrisome is the culture of extravagance, corruption and crony capitalism that precipitated the need to borrow.

Mahathir argued that our exports were growing, and hence revenues, but he sidetracked the fact that government expenditures were also growing exponentially. Not just that, corruption too.

It was he who started deficit-budgeting and excessive borrowing in 1998 and we have never stopped since.

TehTarik: PKR shouldn't be too confident about GE13. Look at the number of new voters. According to the Election Commission, the number of new voters has increased by a whopping 22 percent since the last election in 2008.

This compares to an average increase in new voters of only 6.2 percent in the previous elections in 1999, 2004 and 2008. This means that there are 250 percent more new voters in GE13 compared to each of the previous three elections.

This 250 percent extra new voters may significantly improve the chances of a BN victory, particularly if these comprise (as rumoured) the hundreds of thousands of foreign workers who have been given blue identity cards.

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