YOURSAY | ‘How would F1 help the poor in Batang Sepanggar?’

Mahathir does not discount possibility of F1's return

BuatApa?: Yes, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Like your Proton Saga 2.0 that will make taxpayers again fund unprofitable stupidity for making tin-can cars, let's now bring back the equally unprofitable Sepang Formula 1 (F1) race to Malaysia, so taxpayers can underwrite its losses too.

Anonymous_1529020255: More Mahathir nonsense, Formula 1 has been a failure and its discontinuation was the right decision.

Many gave Mahathir a second chance to correct what he and Umno had done wrong for the country over the past 61 years, such as corruption, government getting involved in business, cronyism, social injustice to the minorities, incorporating religion and race into politics, etc.

Unfortunately, Mahathir seems to think the wrongs are personal lofty ambitions whose lifespan had been rightly cut short. We will soon hear of more recycled rubbish as the norm.

Hopefully, soon, a person with no Umno DNA whatsoever will emerge to lead the country, otherwise Malaysia's current status as a pussycat will soon be a very sick cat.

Rick Teo: Mahathir should not revisit all the failed projects under his watch. Please don't repeat your mistakes.

The goodwill the people have for him is gradually dissipating, and if push comes to shove, we may have to dump him sooner than later.

Roar For Truth: Mahathir, you are a brilliant man, well-read, inquisitive and observant by all accounts of reports about you.

But you do seem to be obsessed to return to your failed projects like the car industry, F1, and recycling old and familiar personalities who have failed in leading our GLCs (government-linked companies).

Please use this second chance to work on new ideas, instead of reinstating proven failed ones.

Wira: The F1 is very big in Europe, especially in Germany. The race will boost tourism to Malaysia.

Even China and Singapore wanted to host the race after we were the first in this region to host the event. There is no point letting the tracks go to waste.

Yes, please bring it back. This is not the same as local car production.

KerbauMalaya: The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) should be fully utilised; it can serve high-performance motorsports development in general, and not necessarily just for F1 races.

I wish that the authorities would go one step further to encourage all motorsports enthusiasts, including the mat rempits, to jointly utilise this superb world-class motorsports facility so that we can reduce illegal and dangerous road racing that’s happening all over the country.

Anonymous 828641434174088: I support having F1 return to Sepang. I had been to one race and loved everything about it.

Fast cars, celebrity drivers, the after-race concert (and I had the chance to watch Guns N' Roses perform), and the merchandise. Please bring back the F1.

Koboi: The Sepang F1 Circuit has drawn flak in the past for being an ageing circuit and having poor maintenance, which was the main reason for plummeting ticket sales.

On top of that, F1 merchandise was sold at a ridiculously higher price – higher than in Europe – and there was no control on intellectual property. The original F1 items could not sell, while fake copies were easily available at Petaling Street for less than RM50 per piece.

Patriot1: All projects are based on cost versus benefit analysis. The F1 is essentially a tourist-driven business. Probably analysis can be done on past records when it was properly managed, to look at the tourist dollars brought in to gauge its viability.

Costs have already been sunk into building the circuit, and if the figures for bringing back F1 make sense, why not? After all, tourist dollars is one source of foreign exchange, and it generates downstream income as well.

What is important is the project, should we choose to revive it, should not be based on past business models where the organisation of activities is seeded out to crony companies. Like what is being practised in Penang, do a tender for the organising rights and publish actual financial records.

Being a progressive government is about learning from the past and not shying away from bad experiences.

Annonnymous 080: How would F1 help the poor in Batang Sepanggar? I attended the first race and the foreigners were driven to the circuit straight from the airport, and as soon as the race was over, they were transported back to Singapore where they had a party starting at 7pm.

That's how we have missed any economic benefit we could have obtained by having tourists come only to watch the race.

Their agent had organised breakfast and lunch for them at Singapore's Changi Airport, only for these people to return to Singapore to spend their night and their money there.

SIC is no wiser 18 years on. Stop such wanton waste – it's not a sport for a developing country like ours!

Anonymous_f87fd98a: Dear Pakatan Harapan, how about lighting up all rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak first instead of spending the money hosting F1 races? How about spending the money to provide clean piped water to rural Sabah and Sarawak? Where are your priorities?

Yes, you may argue that F1 will bring in tourists, but how about providing for our basic needs first, especially electricity and clean water supply? Not too much to ask, right?

Annonnymous 080: On one hand, we are told that we are a bankrupt nation, on the other hand, we are ready to waste away our money on F1.

Rather than wasting these amounts of money, please prioritise the 300-odd students who have been offered places or enrolled into the best 50 universities in the world.

At least there, the benefits are tangible.

Shovelnose: If we're going to put money into a sport so blatantly controlled by the commercial interests of the top notch, I would rather see us pursuing Formula E (electric street racing).

That niche would at least serve to promote research into electric vehicles, which should be Malaysia's aim if we're going to venture into building motor vehicles again.

By EV, it need not necessarily be passenger vehicles but a variety of transportation modes and human-assisted crafts, where AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics would feature prominently.

Let's not go back to same old, same old.

VIM: I agree with commentator Shovelnose. Formula E or EV is a better choice. The opportunities are there for it to become our niche market. Try something new instead of F1.

Guuunner: If any private company wants to bring back F1, just rent out the circuit to get some revenue for the government.

The government should not subsidise or allocate any funds for it; don't waste a single sen on it, please.

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