It's better to put our money in the bank and rent out the government-owned buildings, says a reader.

On A RM490 mil question for Azalina

PT Tan: Spent RM450 million - at 5% bond yield, that works out to RM22.5 million.

Add that to the rental of the land in England which we would have got if we rented it out to someone else.

Plus the cost of running the place.

We would probably have in excess of RM50 million annually.

Our sports minister should sit with an accountant and see if RM50 million will buy us more exposure and training overseas compared toi one facility.

Time to wake up and do your math first.

WC2006: Dear good Malaysian, please do not "ostrich-head-bullied" yourself for not willing to accept the fact that those mega-projects are just avenues created by your "elected" politicians to pocket more ill-gotten funds and plain new excuses for benefitting them immorally with their family and relatives.

Just hope another tsunami will strike and wash them off into the open sea on where they are holidaying and spending away those ill-gotten taxpayer's hard-earned contribution!

Supporter of Islam Hadhari: Malaysian are talking about molding Malaysian culture into its own identity. Having a sport academy in our former colonial master's home country doesn't only look absurd, but ridiculous to any wise Malayisan.

Malaysia need schools, roads, clinic in the rural areas, electricity supplies for Orang Asli and other indigenous group in Sabah and Sarawak. I tend to agree with some comments would rather be cheaper to send our athlete overseas instead.

I fail to understand why our so-called leaders are inclined to favour foreigners including of late extending hours for entertainment outlets and offering cheaper liquor drinks as part of attracting tourist to Malaysia. Must be something wrong with some of our elected parliamentarian.

Raymond Woo: This is another wasteful exercise in my opinion. I think it would be better spent locally. Not only we need to fly there to train, it would also cost seven times more to maintain.

On Why were ministers' licences not revoked?

Sadirah K: It is all very good for Najib to tell all ministers to pay up and also that he would settle the amounts. They will be given hefty discounts and they can afford to pay. My question is on the appropriateness of the summonses. If I have never received a summons but there is a record on it that goes back several years then this is manifestly unfair, unjust and not a proper procedure. I must be made known about summonses that are outstanding. Why is no one questioning the inefficiency of the police?

Just as the principle that there is no taxation without representation, there is also no summons issued without the knowledge of the defaulter. As I have stated earlier, this is a process that is open to abuse and the people who suffer most are the ordinary citizens for they are treated with no respect and no discounts like that offered to the ministers. Can this be clarified by our elected representatives?

HalfCentsWorth: When this situation occurs, one question comes to mind are we setting a precedence to condone the act that any summons can be issued and the rakyat need only to pay? If I remember correctly, the rule seem to be guilty until proven otherwise. Does it sound like a way of the government raising money from rakyat?

I'm sure any educationist or psychologist would agree that in order to deter an act or habit in rakyat, the person being summoned has to know that he has committed the wrongful act and caught red-handed rather than the police 'record' their act so that they can collect money to support the government's spending.

On second thoughts, deep thoughts have not been our government policy makers' and police forces' strengths as observed.

Pttan: Still wondering why Malaysian roads are dangerous those who make laws simply don't follow it. Blame it on their drivers, blame it on everything else, our leaders do not lead by example...

On Not urgent! Motion on financial scandals thrown out

David Lim: I do not understand why the speaker in Parliament do not allow debates on the MAS scandal. We Malaysians demand the rights to know all. The House speaker is not there to stop the MPs from debating such a scandal which all the world knew already. We do not want to hear 'rumours' anymore.

Mr Speaker, what's wrong in debating the above MAS scandal so that we all will know the truth? Hope that more MPs from both sides should press for the debates, instead of 'pushing it' aside. Let the truth be known to all Malaysians. Enough is enough, we demand the truth..

On Chin Peng homecoming case date set

Tom Peters: The way I see it, the Japanese cycled into Malaya in the 40s, set aside the British and literally raped and chopped anything that stood in their way. They raped our women and hung chopped heads up for public viewing and there were many women and many heads, I hear.

The descendants of the empire who perpetrated this are still running the show in Tokyo and we, mainly second generation Malaysians, have apparently forgiven them. We bow and bow our herniated backs and receive loans from them while our hoovers run overtime, in fact our country is now hocked to them to its eye-balls.

At the same time, Chin Peng, through the Communist Party of Malaya, trained the Malayans and the British to jungle fight and drive off the Japanese, a common enemy at the time and once the Japanese were out of the way, the British wanted Chin Peng, their old enemy out, because the CPM was fighting for what it claimed to be the independence of Malaya.

Now that the dust has settled, the Japanese appear to have been forgiven for their transgressions, but the CPM who mainly shot and killed occupying British forces and their collaborators in its quest for independence of Malaya and did not rape our women while at it, has not been forgiven. Its leader Chin Peng is still banned from the country, despite having signed the Peace Accord in 1989 which enabled him to return.

This is a simplistic view and I may not be totally on track, but I know one thing. Chin Peng's recent court application to return to Malaysia is exposing our double-standards for the world to view.

For the present generation, it's a complex story that will only become clear with a civilised discourse, and as such Chin Peng: My Side Of History and Faces Of Courage should not be restricted, even so from other published accounts, Chin Peng comes across as a civilised man responding reasonably to persistent critics whose ideas may already been ossified.

On Japan-M'sia free trade agreement takes effect

Satria Asia: Hurray! Cheap Sonys, Hitachis, Panasonics, Hondas, Toyotas! (Surely the nail in the coffin for Proton, Perodua and Naza Kia). But hold on! Is GST (goods and services tax) on the cards for us at this coming budget?

And could this be Japan's economic colonialisation of Malaysia? In whose favour is the current balance of trade between the two countries, and do the Japanese eat durian?

On RM5m to track leatherback turtles by satellite

HJ Angus: It's going to be tough being a turtle. According to your report, "Last year only one leatherback turtle - the most endangered of Malaysia's turtles - was sighted."

Having a RM5 million project to track them when they are almost extinct is not going to help. The money would be better used to give them more protected areas and also provide other income opportunities from those who harvest the turtle eggs.