Waste of Taxpayer's money and a Disgusting Comment

Recently , the federal government has been all out against the Terengganu government for purchasing 14 Mercedes-Benz E200 Kompressors to be used as state official cars . Cost of purchase was RM 3.43 million...which is the money of the state government...I feel sorry for the people in Terengganu...the taxes they pay is used for ministers to buy Mercedes cars instead of developing the state or reducing the people's financial burden with rising food and oil prices . They say that the maintenance cost of the Perdana's was RM 1.15 million from 2004 until now...and even Proton is denying those figures . The excuse for purchasing the cars was to replace their old Proton Perdana's...even though the federal government has announced long ago that all ministers must use a Proton Perdana . Terengganu Menteri Besar (Chief Executive) Datuk Ahmad Said (pictured) says that the cost of maintenance of the Perdana's were too high and the cars were old...and today he says that they wanted a safer car .

He also said that the Mercedes E200 was more fuel economical...Mercedes E Class more fuel economical than a Perdana ?!...since when ?...does he know that the maintenance of a Mercedes is way higher than a Proton ?...Mercedes spare parts are one of the most expensive in Malaysia!!...and for a safe and economical car ?...couldn't they get a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord...or a new Perdana ?...the Camry and Accord are definitely more fuel economical and cheaper to maintain than a Mercedes E Class .

The sickening part is the Dato in the picture said that he still keeps his 18 year old Mercedes car...When the press asked why...his reply was "Kalau bini masih cantik, buat apa tukar?" (If the wife is still beautiful, why change?)...isn't that sickening to you ?..just shows the low class mentality of this man who is a Menteri Besar..comparing a wife to his car..also shows how much respect he has for women .

His statement can be seen here .

Is Proton Worth Having ?

With the rising costs of fuel , electricity , food and water , ..the cost of living has also increased rapidly . Yet , many of us still dream of having that car that we have always wanted..like a Mercedes , BMW , Audi , Honda , Toyota and so on . Did you know that before Proton was formed , we had Mercedes cars as taxi's ?..cool right.. However , our National Automotive Policy (NAP) and automotive industry has been designed in such a way by our government that we are basically left with one option of a car...Proton .

Proton was formed in 1983 . It was the vision of Tun Mahathir as he wanted Malaysia to have its own national car , show that Malaysia can compete with international vehicle brands..bla bla bla ...but the thing is , after 25 years in the business , Proton still can't produce high quality cars yet alone design most of the models themselves . All Proton cars especially from the 80's and 90's are just rebadged Mitsubishi cars . For example , the Saga is a copy of the 1985 Mitsubishi Foire , the Wira has the headlights of a 1992 Mitsubishi Colt , and tail lights from the 1987 Mitsubishi Galant hatchback . Today Proton just copies the design of Mitsubishi cars..but build it on their own..with the help of Lotus..which sucks too .

After 25 years , Proton still can't fit in materials for the dashboard that won't fall off after a few months , still can't make sure that the power windows won't get jammed , still can't fit power steering as a standard feature in all their models , still can't fully design its own cars , and still needs the protection of the government to survive . In order for Proton to survive , import tax , sales tax and all the other types of taxes were increased drastically . Some new type of taxes were also added . The import tax of foreign-made vehicles were 140% to 300%(depending on the engine capacity) !! . So the government has wiped out the competition and paved the way for Proton to succeed .

Later on , about 3 years ago , the NAP was revised..the government started giving less protection to Proton..Since then , Proton has only been making losses and sales dropped terribly . Many people started to buy foreign-made cars of better quality..Even our ministers rarely travel in Protons..only in official government meetings they use their Protons . On other occassions they will come in Mercedes , BMW , Jaguar and so on . I've seen it myself ..Tun Mahathir came to my school in a BMW 7 Series..Dato Seri Hishammuddin bin Tun Hussein also came to my school in a Jaguar I think ...and all the other unknown ministers who follow them like a posse will also come in those kind of vehicles..why aren't they proud to come in a Proton ?

The bottom line is , as prices of fuel increases , prices of vehicles should be decreased ...and this can only be fully implemented when Proton is shut down . More hybrid cars can also be sold in the country at a cheaper price compared to the ridiculous prices now . I realise that many people will lose their jobs , but in the long run , i feel this would be the best decision for the entire nation as millions of people can benefit from this . The public's financial burden can be decreased and people can finally get a better chance to own their dream car...Besides , what's wrong if Proton shuts down when we already have the way more successful Perodua as a national automobile manufacturer?..

Billions of Ringgit...Gone to Waste

I don't know if you realise it , but our government has wasted many billions of ringgit over the years on unnecessary projects which have not really gained much profit in any way since their construction . Lets not forget that the billions of ringgit is the money of tax payers ( your money ) .

For example , last year we sent the first Malaysian into outer space . Just into outer space . Not even to the moon which was done by Neil Armstrong in 1966 . Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor was sent into outer space to just 'lepak' (hang around) there for ten days . This "feat" was not even done with our own technology . We had to pay the Russians to send him to space . Moreover , many countries before us has achieved this such as America , Russia , China , France , Germany , India , Afghanistan , Japan , Israel & the list goes on and on . You can see the full list on http://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/nation_names.htm . Malaysia is just another country added to that long list . Our prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that this feat would put Malaysia on the world map..but he forgot that Malaysia was already famous thanks to our former prime minister Tun Mahathir . After the "great feat" , what have we gained ?...just some headlines in the local newspapers & small articles in the foreign newspapers under the world news section . Has Malaysia done any other further space research development of any kind after the "feat" ?...No...There goes RM95 million of our hard earned money . The bad news..we lost big bucks..The good news..Russia earned big bucks & Dr Muszaphar got a free trip to space .

Another precious project of ours is the Petronas Twin Towers . It was the world's tallest building from 1998-2004..a mere 6 years . This record was beaten by the Taipei 101 which is in Taiwan . The Taipei 101 also lost that record and that record was held by a few other buildings over the years...& today our twin towers is the 6th tallest building in the world . Now the Petronas Twins Towers is just another 'lepak' spot & a shopping mall specifically for the filthy rich & has a few offices of not-so-famous companies . Yet hardly anybody shops there as the prices are sky-high & most people do their shopping in supermarkets like Carrefour , Jusco & Tesco . Even for the expensive stuff , most people buy them in places like Megamall , One Utama , Sunway Pyramid & Berjaya Times Square . Hardly any tourists go there either . I don't think many of them would want to see the 6th tallest building in the world...do you ?..Well , it's only RM 1.8 billion down the drain .

Then there is the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) . It might be very high tech & a very nice building to look at from the outside...but inside , it's half empty . This airport was built to replace the Subang Airport . There was nothing wrong with the Subang Airport in the first place . It was only a bit smaller...but it was way more convenient for the public to access as it was way nearer then the KLIA..The KLIA is ironically not even in KL , it's in Sepang which is under the state of Selangor . Today KLIA is the main international airport of Malaysia while a small part of the Subang airport is handling a few local flights , the rest of the building has been left to rot . Was a airport so huge , so high tech & so far away from KL necessary while the Subang airport was doing so well ? I guess we can kiss the RM 8.8 billion spent on constructing it goodbye .

Many billions of Ringgit were also wasted on Putrajaya and Cyberjaya . Putrajaya is just a big piece of land where all the government administrative buildings were transfered to from KL . Whereas Cyberjaya is the "silicon valley" of Malaysia . These two places are actually ghost cities . There are hardly any people there . So much of land has been wasted due to the buildings built so far apart from each other as if one is if one is in a dessert . One of the reasons these two places ended up as failed projects was because they lack schools or colleges to pursue their education . The prices of houses there are also very high..but the main reason is because these places do not have access to public transport..which means its impossible to take public transport like trains or buses to travel to and from KL . Therefore hardly anybody goes to Putajaya or Cyberjaya except the ministers . With all the tolls and high fuel prices..who would want to go there anyway ? There goes RM 60 billion .

Another waste is Proton and the almost built High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury, Britain..but I'll write about that in a separate article . All this money flushed down the toilet could have been used for so many other better purposes..such as improving public transport and healthcare facilities , upgrading and renovating highly populated places like Chow Kit , Petaling Street and Brickfields , helping the poor , provide better facilities for the disabled , reduce crime crates , used the money to give out more scholarships to deserving students and even t0 subsidise the price of fuel..maybe then Malaysians would have been able to enjoy cheaper fuel prices for a little while longer .

I hope the government will not waste the money of the people on useless projects anymore and realise that it's unnecessary to create the biggest , tallest or most expensive projects in the world unless they are really beneficial and needed by the public . No doubt that these projects has made Malaysia famous , but they didn't have to be built on such a extravagant scale . To bad these projects were not planned out properly . Or else Malaysia could have saved quite a bit of money .