“Defiant act – Exco men use Merc despite Cabinet order” – this is the screaming front-page headline in today’s Sunday Star on the latest twist in the Proton Perdana/Mercedes Kompressor fiasco, viz:
JOHOR BARU: At least four of Terengganu’s eight state executive council members are using newly purchased Mercedes-Benz E200 Kompressor cars despite a Cabinet directive against doing so.
Several of them were seen travelling in the cars to official functions and meetings.
Those who were seen taking rides in the car said they were waiting for Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said to make an announcement at Wednesday’s state executive council meeting on when to give up the cars.
Terengganu Tourism, Culture, Arts and Heritage Committee chairman Datuk Za’abar Mohd Adib attended the Malaysian Flora Fest here yesterday in his gleaming new black Mercedes-Benz.
What is the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who prides in having “Big Ears”, going to do in the face of the “One ear in, one ear out” defiance of the Terengganu State Government?
Is he going to crack the whip to impose discipline or is he going to close his eyes and ears and pretend such defiance does not exist?
The Prime Minister’s short statement on the Proton-Mercedes fiasco on Friday has raised many questions.
This was what Abdullah had said:
“I wish to state here that this is an important decision by the cabinet, that the state government must not use the cars for its state executive councillors or any officers entitled to use official cars. This is what we have decided upon,” he said.
“Since the cars have been bought and to sell them would only result in a loss, all of them must be used for state guests or dignitaries.
“This is the decision, nothing more, nothing less.”
Questions:
1. Why must the Cabinet meet to decide on a very simple and straightforward matter involving breach of the federal directive that the Proton Perdana is the official car for state executive councillors and ex-officio members? Hasn’t the Cabinet got more important things to do?
2. Why must the Cabinet meet over a RM3.43 million impropriety by the Terengganu state exco when the Cabinet had been blind and deaf to mega-scandals, whether the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone bailout scandal or the RM500 million Monsoon Cup scandal or the RM250 million Islamic Civilisation Park scandal?
3. “Since the cars have been bought and to sell them would only result in a loss…”
As several commentators had pointed out in the thread on this item yesterday, there is a simple solution to this fiasco. Since the market price of the Mercedes E-200 Kompressors is RM350,000 while the State government bought them for RM245,000 without the various taxes, selling them to the public could even bring a tidy profit to the State Government of RM70,000 to RM100,000 each. Why didn’t the Abdullah Cabinet think of this?
However, the biggest question remains what Big Ears is going to do with the Terengganu “One ear in, one ear out” defiance!
#1 by grace on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 5:27 pm
Goes on to show only one thing- PAK LAH is a lame duck!!!
#2 by oknyua on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 5:34 pm
YB Lim KS, the defiance is deafening and “Big Ears” heard nothing. In fact the various implosions since 8th March have been met with self denial; “I am still needed, I still have work to do, my party needs me, I am indispensible.” As I said, he is like a rejected lover, yet telling his buddies he has a loving girlfriend.
Let’s look at the scenario.
1. His home state Penang had rejected him. This should be the first implosion that he heard.
2. Kedah, which is traditionally a “religious” state, had rejected him, which should imply their rejection to his Hadhari theology.
3. Kelantan is PAS stronghold and despite his pre-election promises and frequent visits by all the UMNO big guns, there was hardly a scratch to the grip of PAS.
4. Selangor and Perak were unexpected, but given a better leadership-PM, it could have been difficult to topple BN in these two states.
5. N. Sembilan ALMOST fell.
6. The aftermath saw further rejections; Sabah MPs had to be bribed with RM billions projects.
7. Johore openly call for AAB to step down.
8. Perlis rejected his MB.
9. Trengganu rejected his MB. This current Mercedes is the second snub by Trengganu and it carried a deadly sting – investigation into the Monsoon Cup and Crystal Mosque.
10 In the federal capital, only one MP survived.
Let us ignore the mathematics of the Mercedes. What is significant is that only two states, Pahang and Sarawak, that had not verbalised their rejection of Abdullah. “Big Ears” must be selective is his antennae; hearing only what he likes. For that I really pity him because the rumbling is really getting louder and louder. Another snub, another defiance; where would he hide his face?
#3 by yhsiew on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 5:40 pm
Obviously the state executive council members are deriving their “enjoyment” through Terengganu people’s hardship and suffering at this difficult time.
Pak Lah is a weak PM. Nobody will listen to him – even his own people!
#4 by kentutoyol on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:05 pm
We wait for pak lah next press statement. His integrity is being challenged. If other states emulate Terengganu, pak lah will have migraine.
#5 by Jan on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:06 pm
In 2004 he was hero but in 2008 he was zero. What a turnaround.
He has only himself to blame, being lazy, incompetent and the only good at sloganeering. If I were him I’ll go jump in the lake and hide my face.
#6 by Godfather on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:08 pm
Don’t you people know that Badawi is the master of reverse logic ? When he says no, he means yes, and vice versa. “Nothing more, nothing less” to Badawi means “more, more, more”.
He wanted to remove Ghani from Johor, but the sultan balked, and Badawi spent an hour with the sultan. After the meeting, he said Ghani stays. He said the Trengganu Sultan’s move to reject Idris Jusoh as CM was unconstitutional, after receiving advice from the great AG. A few days later and after a meeting with the Agong, Badawi capitulated, saying that everything was fine and agreed.
Anyone still believe he will ride into the sunset in 2010 ? Even if we dared believe in this, the country cannot possibly afford another 2 years of flip flops which will inevitably happen on a rudderless ship.
#7 by vincent on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:10 pm
Sleeping head said, it will be a great waste parking in the garage when there is no V VIP visit. Nothing more, nothing less.
#8 by Godfather on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:10 pm
What is clear now is that the act of stealing will be decentralised as the individuals warlords realise that the central authority is headless. Each BN controlled state will now make its own decisions on expenditure and contracts – no one wants to wait for Badawi.
#9 by LittleBird on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:29 pm
What has Pak done so far?
1)Said zero accident target , so far zero results. Worse now openiing some highways like Ampang elevated Highway to motorbikes when there’s no side lane.
2)When Moorthy case said government will do something, already years zero results.
3) IPMC = habuk pun tarak
4) Big fish corruption , only side show without any concreate results.
5) Tak nak campaign = tak jadi campaign. Now some of my friends switched to cheaper brand which is more harmful.
6) Unjustified increase in sin tax, now market being flooded with smuggled or fake goods.
7) Proton must find new partners but until now the same old policy remains. We are losing to Thailand.
8) Corridors = where?????
9) Lingam’s tape = zero action.
10) Merc = also cannot do something correct. Do you know how much a new gearbox for a 11years old Wira costs? RM22000!!!! (Thanks Mahathir for your pet project. )Policy still enriching selected few.
Anyone want to add more?
#10 by Loyal Malaysian on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:39 pm
What can we expect of a lame-duck PM?
Also the excos are smarter – unless the state government sells off the Mercs , what is the point of letting them lie idle around their parking bays?
If there is a standing order with regards the type of cars allowable, then whoever approved of the purchase must be made accountable!!
#11 by nyghtsky on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:48 pm
It only goes to show, the BN/ UMNO politicians in Terengganu couldn’t care less about Rakyat’s opinion, let alone care about how Rakyat’s suffering…
They know for certain, they will not get reelected, thus.. already adopting a ‘ tidak apa ‘ towards the Rakyat, State and Country… and might as well go out in style in a full-guzzling mercedes, rather than in a proton!
For all we know, they r the smarter ones… since Najis and Bodowi are still under the impression that by using Protons, they can ‘CON’ vince Rakyat of their false sincerity!
#12 by Rakyat Teraniaya on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 6:53 pm
ha ha ha, the band of merry terengganu umno bandits defy the lame duck’s orders! Who will follow next and buy BMWs now or maybe Range Rovers?
Eh pak lah stop patting yourself on the back saying you are still needed la the truth you are NOT! What you mean by you still have work to do is you still got lots of Malaysia’s money you haven’t squandered away. Even state exco member defy head of umno directive. Pak lah give up, get lost.
#13 by Jong on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 7:10 pm
It seems to me Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is on life-support system now. If Trengganu State Councillors dare to defy his directive, what is there to prevent his Ministers and those around him doing same?
Look what happened to Mukhriz, a subordinate from the party that he heads had spoke up against him yet, he dared not lift an eyelid and reprimand Mukhriz. What sort of a leader is he, what is he afraid of?
I simply cannot understand the man. With such a powerful position – a Prime Minister of a country and he allows himself to be ill-advised and ridiculed by those around him? He’s an idiot, if he cannot do the job he should just vacate and just GO! Do not destroy this country.
#14 by Captain on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 7:26 pm
This is yet another test if Badawi is an efective n functioning PM. If Terengganu Govt is not punished, Badawi would loose yet another battle on terengganu grounds.
If you look at it little closer….. the MB being so defiant… the Sultan must be standing strong behind the MB.
Another SHAME for Badawi. If UMNO members are not blind, deaf n dumb, they better vote Badawei out before being themselves being booted out for ever.
“sembahyanglah kami….(undi out lah Badawi..) sebelum anda disembahyangkan…(diundi out oleh oleh rakyat malaysia)”
Some people are more qualified to rear camels in Saudi Arabia.
#15 by Orang Malaysia on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 7:34 pm
Isn’t it obvious that there is some backroom dealing? Pak Lah has to bend a bit with the present state government because if he doesn’t, then they will dig up more things on the previous administration, which will lead back to Putrajaya. So the only way is to agree that the cars can be kept and hope that the Terengganu government will back off and not dig more. But now the tricky thing is that ACA has begun investigations and the public will demand to know what has been found. Of course, we know that all ACA investigations are discussed with the PM (regardless of whatever is said about their independence) and it is he who gives them ‘advice’ on whether to go further and charge or to just ‘keep looking’ for better evidence’.
In the end, I think that some unfortunate small fry will get arrested, charged and the case will be declared closed. The PM will declare that once again, transparency has been shown and the corrupt brought to court. But you and I know that the much bigger fish will have escaped again somehow.
#16 by Mr Smith on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 7:42 pm
As the PM he could have made that decision himselfto bar Trengganu Ex-coes from using the Merc but since he had no balls he needed the weight of his cabinet to the directive.
They are literally showing him the middle finger. Now what can he do? NOTHING or else UMNO Trengganu might join Pakatan.
#17 by lee wee tak_ on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 8:46 pm
this is the man who said, ” aku pantang dicabar!”
the only thing consistent about him is he is inconsistent
how can he hold the country together when a comparatively lower rank MB can openly flaunt his directive?
office bears, as administer and guardian of public fund, must have a higher standard of conduct.
the Selangor and Penang state governments have made their car replacement plan for the moment crystal clear – no replacement whereas the Terengganu one goes for what financial planners would advise against people inhard economic times – cut down on luxury goods
#18 by kosmoalpha on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 8:47 pm
(The Star) – The Federal Government is paying RM80mil annually to Spanco Sdn Bhd to have the latter maintain its fleet of 1,400 Proton Perdana V6 Executives and other vehicles designated for official use.
This works out to about RM12,000 annually to maintain each of the locally-made luxury-line Proton Perdana leased from Spanco.
On Friday, Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said called on the ACA to probe the high service charges imposed by Spanco.
The Perdanas were part of a fleet of 5,600 vehicles of various models and makes that Spanco, a vehicle fleet management company contracted to lease and maintain vehicles for ministers, top civil servants and senior government officials, made available to the Government.
The contract was inked in 1994 for the duration of 25 years as part of the Government’s privatisation exercise. It expires in 2019.
In that contract, the Government paid Spanco RM100mil a year to lease and maintain its entire fleet.
But in June 2003, Spanco and the Government returned to the negotiating table when the Finance Ministry found the contract awarded to Spanco in 1994 excessive. The Government appointed an international audit firm to look into Spanco’s books.
Under the revised agreement, the audit firm recommended the Government cut back the contract by 20% to RM80mil annually. Spanco chief executive officer Datuk Hamzah Mohd Salleh said the issue of cost overrun and high maintenance charges did not arise at all under the Government-Spanco deal.
“Any overrun would be borne by us,” he said, but declined to reveal the details of the package.
“We only leased the vehicles to the Federal Government. We don’t do the state governments’ business.”
A source told The Star that the Government was Spanco’s only customer.
Under the deal, the Government gets new Proton Perdanas every fourth year.
hence,it seems like ahmad said n gang are telling their chiefs;compare to Spanco,theirs is jus chicken feed!!habislah rakyat!
#19 by lee wee tak_ on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 8:48 pm
“I simply cannot understand the man. With such a powerful position – a Prime Minister of a country and he allows himself to be ill-advised and ridiculed by those around him? He’s an idiot, if he cannot do the job he should just vacate and just GO! Do not destroy this country.”
Jong,
perhaps he doesn’t give a damn. his concern lies elsewhere
#20 by observer on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 8:52 pm
3 Million is a small sum as compare to the PKFZ Scandal, but what matter most to AAB is he can reprimand the Trengganu MB. By openly defying the Central UMNO , Datuk Ahmad Said is inviting AAB to have another bout with him. At the mean time it seem the propaganda machine is diverting people attention away from the Anwar sodomy saga. Those international pressure had stalked the BN plan to drag DSAI to the dog. It will be an interesting episode for us to view the next few days
#21 by limkamput on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 8:58 pm
JOng says: I simply cannot understand the man. With such a powerful position – a Prime Minister of a country and he allows himself to be ill-advised and ridiculed by those around him? He’s an idiot, if he cannot do the job he should just vacate and just GO! Do not destroy this country.
I think it is not so simple. PM is smart; he wants to stay in office. So he will sacrifice a little here and there, so long as he can cling on to the position. Most of people around him are just taking advantage to exploit as much as possible from him knowing that he is vulnerable. Because he does not want to resign, he will bear all these and hope the situation will turn around. That is how I look at it.
Political offices in Malaysia are simply too lucrative that no incumbents are expected to relinquish their positions voluntarily. That is the reality today. If he has dignity and honour, he should have resigned in the early morning of March 9. It is just too good to give up. So if we think he is stupid, it is actually the other way round. He thinks we the rakyat are stupid and in a way we are because till today, despite PR and also the revolt within UMNO, he is still PM!!!! Don’t underestimate the power of incumbency due in no small way to Mahathir who made Prime-ministership almost untouchable.
#22 by KennyGan on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 9:05 pm
The PM is too weak to impose his will so the country is essentially rudderless. Perhaps he should have asked Najib to crack the whip. Allowing the state to keep the Mercs for VIPs is essentially a face saving gesture to allow them to use the cars as everybody knows it will be flouted. The proper way is to order the cars to be auctioned off.
#23 by oct on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 9:05 pm
This is insubordination. If Pak Lah doesn’t handle this properly, he will find that no one will respect his authority. You are the chief in command and if you can’t get your staff to obey you, you will have a mutiny on hand very soon.
When a person who has breached a directive, he should be reprimanded and punish. If you caused the govt to lose money, you should be sacked straight away. In the Private sector and prudent management, this is what should be done. No two way about it. So if sleepy head doesn’t take action for wrong doing, he is sending the wrong signal to his staff that he is weak and indecisive. This really shows he lack leadership qualities and unable to manage his team properly.
He is not a team leader at all. So how can he lead the country? The world will look at this silly old man whose incompetency is showing to the world for all to see. If I were him, I don’t know where to hide my face
#24 by FanOfKit on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 9:22 pm
Well done, Ahamd “Shadey” Said! Thanks for highlighting what we Malaysians hv known all along ….. the substandard quality of all Porouston car models. Let us see what Bodowi’s reaction to this latest defiance. Let the shit hit the fan and splatter all over the shameless goons!
Perhaps, the Sabahans may want to purchase the latest Merc 4wds ML350 since they hv the excuse that they need to go into the jungles to get to their constituents. I’m sure Bing Bang Bung Mokhtar would be pleased with that! Bodowi may even be able to please Yong Teck Lee if he allows the purchase; Hell, I would be too!
#25 by dapforever on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 9:23 pm
Even MPs don’t care what our PM said…but what can our PM do?NOTHING!!!
#26 by monsterball on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 9:29 pm
He will need to forgive and forget…with another smart idea….to save face…to save UMNO…to save his PM position.
Never in the history of UMNO….showing guys..dare to defy their PM…so openly..
I guess..these ikan bilis have just about enough..from big crooks in K.Lumpur.
Dollah is asking for it….falling into the trap of Mahathir….being too selfish and too smart for personal advantages.
Now…every small guy in UMNO with some responsibilities want Merz….and rightly so too…no favoritism …he always say….remember??!!
#27 by disapointed86 on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 9:50 pm
dont hope too much from a 0 IQ person pls? his so called “CABINET MEETING” looks like a joke to me…means that all the cabinet ministers are dumb…cant they come out with a better idea like what Uncle Kit has mentioned?…i think the cabinet ministers only know to “AMPU”…or in hokkien “HU LAMPA”
#28 by sheriff singh on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 9:55 pm
Ah, Confucious, he say:
When Leader is weak, the people will disobey,
They rebel, ignore him, the country in disarray.
The winds of change will blow stronger and stronger,
Can the Leader lasts much longer?
#29 by smeagroo on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 9:58 pm
phark lah balls are tied to the monsoon cup. he can only utter OUCH OUCH as long as MB keeps only pulling the monsoon cup deeper into the ocean.
ahmad said, though we rakyat disagree with u on the usage of funds but hey, this time u hv made phark lah to look like a lame duck.
THanks! But dont do it so often!
#30 by smeagroo on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 10:06 pm
phark lah is only good in sloganeering?
he shld join CON-test la……
NTV7 just gv out Rm10k tonite. He cud be rm10k richer.
Feel good with NTV7 makes me want to……(in less than 10 words)
ZZZZ ZZZZ oh ah oh ah oh ah ZZZZZ ZZZZZ
#31 by ShiokGuy on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 10:07 pm
Yeah, should have sell it as discount to the public.. Calling E200 K for 300K anyone?
Who or which company sell those car to the state? direct from Merc?
http://shiokguy.blogspot.com/2008/07/who-profited-more-rm700k-from-merc.html
Shiok Guy
#32 by fish-warezmasterz on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 10:27 pm
haha this is the man who said “saya pantang dicabar”..see,even his BN guy ignored him.this issue is not about using wang rakyat by Terengganu,but its more toward revealing to Malaysia what are current BN’s mistakes in Terengganu.i hope ahmad said will further demolish Pak Lah reputation.bravo! i need to see Pak Lah ‘down’ before december! please..
#33 by despin on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 10:30 pm
Lame-duck, weak and no-balls are words to describe Badawi in this fiasco. How about adding the word “Liar” to his resume. Why liar? Because I believe he knew about the impending purchase of the Mercs a couple of months’ ago due to the typical waiting period for new cars. But at that time, he was too pre-occupied with the issues of the menteri besar post and wang ehsan so he daren’t and couldn’t impose the federal directive. When it came to surface a week ago, he pretended to be surprised by the Terengganu state decision, convened a meaningless cabinet meeting, and announced that the new cars should be used to ferry foreign dignitaries only. (We should ask him whether Jackie Chan qualifies as a foreign dignitary). Want to spin, spin properly lah. Tak tahu malu. ?
#34 by Justicewanted on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 10:40 pm
Personally I think this Bodowi will not do anything to offend the delegates,division or branch leaders of Trengganu as he still need their votes to be UMNO president.
The crap thingy like already purchase the cars so no choice but to use for foreign VVIPs only serves to pacify the rakyat.
The PM hopes that the Rakyat will forget later and those bozos later can use the cars. Will this happen, just wait and see….
#35 by limkamput on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 10:48 pm
As several commentators had pointed out in the thread on this item yesterday, there is a simple solution to this fiasco. Since the market price of the Mercedes E-200 Kompressors is RM350,000 while the State government bought them for RM245,000 without the various taxes, selling them to the public could even bring a tidy profit to the State Government of RM70,000 to RM100,000 each. Why didn’t the Abdullah Cabinet think of this?
Really, the state government making money, but at whose expense? We must take note that the Federal government has to forgo taxes more than the amount the state government is able to profit from the cars are if they are sold to the private sector. So what difference does it make, right pocket, left pocket? The reality is it is already a sunk cost. Just let the exco use it, retire the Perdana and hopefully save some maintenance charges.
#36 by Anak_Penang on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 10:52 pm
A nice article : http://votingmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/07/keris-hishammudin.html
#37 by Justicewanted on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 11:00 pm
As far as I know, to obtain any tax exemption the state government must apply for the tax exemption from the Treasury @ the Ministry of Finance.
Just wonder who approve the tax exemption letter?
#38 by smeagroo on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 11:01 pm
now is the best time to defy your BOSS. He wont be able to offend you for he needs you to stay in power. but after he secured his seat then you guys better watch out la.
The only way is to defy him now and at the same time, dont support him so that he cant do shait to you next time.
Time to retire those Perdanas And that Perdana Menteri.
#39 by Jong on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 11:13 pm
Well said smeagroo!, how come we never thought of that huh, the two Perdanas need to go! :D
#40 by PureMalaysian on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 11:15 pm
Pak Lah is really the “Ned Flanders” (in Simpsons)!! And TDM was the “Mr Burns”! ;)
#41 by kassimselamat on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 11:28 pm
Dear Lim Kit Siang.
————————————————–
you wrote :
http://dapmalaysia.org/english/2008/jul08/lks/lks4851.htm
he recent revelation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that there has been three Umno-PAS talks on address issues of Muslim and Malay unity since the March 8, 2008 general election has raised to the fore the question why the pre-eminent issue bothering the Prime Minister is still that of Malay unity rather than Malaysian unity.
——————————————
my comment is..
i’m not a fan of PakLah.
but from my point of view, Paklah always brought this Malay unity issue because he felt Malay itself does not unite.. just like you and MCA.
To achieve the ‘Malaysian unity’ or ‘bangsa Malaysia’, one individual race itself has to be united first. if we the Malays doesnt like our own race, how can we unites with chinese or indians?
personally, i’m a malay, n love to co-operate with chinese or indians. but we Malays, same religion, today has been separated by politics ideology..
n that’s why PAS allow themselves to co-operate with UMNO.. BUT in certain aspects like religion and race issues. NOT political issues.
to tell the truth, it is AMAZING that now DAP-PKR-PAS has combined to create Pakatan Rakyat. it shows that multiracial government is still relevant. with Pakatan Rakyat, we are getting near to the ‘Bangsa Malaysia’
#42 by I Malaysian on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 11:31 pm
Abdullah is losing grips on Ahamd Said. On the other hand Ahmad Said also becomes a rebellious MB under UMNO rule. While one says limited usage only the other says wait and see la.
—————————————————————-
But the worrying news is Karpal’s latest comment on PAS-UMNO dialogue. Karpal has said “DAP wants Pakatan Rakyat to review PAS membership”. Though Karpal has his right to his opinion the current political climate does not permit such a remark at this point in time. Is it necessary for DAP leader to come out with such a topic when things are seem to be settling. Leaders of PKR should limit their comments to themselves. They could show their displeasures during their monthly meeting to follow with amicable understandings. Please do not subject yourself and your alliance to public perception that could be more negative than anything.
MR.KARPAL PLEASE TAKE NOTE
#43 by BaronV on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 11:35 pm
Unsure on whether or not I agree with the purchase of the mercs themselves but Im glad to see that the Trg excos are at least using them as intended.
anyway. Cabinet needs to learn that they are NOT the law! who is AAB and the Cabinet to decide what the Trg government can or cant do with their cars? Official pollicy or not, this is a clear state government matter. bravo terrenganu government for standing your ground on this principle. There is a reason for seperation of federal and state powers.
Anyway, these are the possible benefits that I can see in the mercs over the hopeless Proton’s
1) Less (although nt necessarily lower individualy) OVERALL maintainance costs. Mercs are of a much higher quality and standard compared to proton. Sure their parts is expensve n the maintainance charges at authorised mechanics is higher, but repairs and such will be WAAAY less frequent than Proton Perdana which is notorious for problems.
2) Merchs 2000cc Kompressor should be more efficient than Perdana V6. I believe despite the merc being heavier, the car is more efficient coupled with the lower engine volume it should consume less petrol.
3) safer than proton need i say more?
#44 by limkamput on Sunday, 27 July 2008 - 11:44 pm
To I Malaysian and others who asked Karpal to shut up,
What are you fellows trying to get at? Here we have the party (PAS) who negotiated without the knowledge of other PR members and yet you are defending them. Come on, political alliance is not without any cost. If we allow all these nonsense to proceed, years down the road, what make you think that PAS will not behave worse than UMNO? Because we are angry with UMNO and BN, we are willing to overlook all the inefficacy and unethical behaviour among the PR members. This is not right. PAS needs to explain. Even Nik Aziz is now talking about dissolving UMNO and PAS to form a new Malay party. What is all these nonsense? We don’t want to come this far to go back to square one again.
#45 by I Malaysian on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 12:04 am
Hi Lim,
My point is clear. Never did I say Karpal was wrong. All I said was, use the right platform to put your points firmly across. UMNO has on going infighting. Despite all the differences PKR is learning well to handle situation. Any uncontrolled statements, charged by emotions no matter how valid it is, the repercussion is more negative than positive. If you have overlooked my points please read again:-
“Though Karpal has his right to his opinion the current political climate does not permit such a remark at this point in time. Is it necessary for DAP leader to come out with such a topic when things are seem to be settling. Leaders of PKR should limit their comments to themselves. They could show their displeasures during their monthly meeting to follow with amicable understandings. Please do not subject yourself and your alliance to public perception that could be more negative than anything.
So if you are charged with emotions instead of sense, I can’t help you friend. After all we support the same cause. “Good Governance”
#46 by m.hwang on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 12:18 am
Gasp! And my mrs. chides me for thinking YB Lim actually reads his reader’s comments! This is the first time my comments are being referred to by YB Lim and it feels good actually.
limkamput Says:
‘As several commentators had pointed out in the thread on this item yesterday, there is a simple solution to this fiasco. Since the market price of the Mercedes E-200 Kompressors is RM350,000 while the State government bought them for RM245,000 without the various taxes, selling them to the public could even bring a tidy profit to the State Government of RM70,000 to RM100,000 each. Why didn’t the Abdullah Cabinet think of this?
Really, the state government making money, but at whose expense? We must take note that the Federal government has to forgo taxes more than the amount the state government is able to profit from the cars are if they are sold to the private sector. So what difference does it make, right pocket, left pocket? The reality is it is already a sunk cost. Just let the exco use it, retire the Perdana and hopefully save some maintenance charges.’
limkamput is right to a certain extent. But I am not suggesting that the State government be the next AP King. This is a one off deipensation by the Federal government to solve the current fiasco which the PM did not think off.
The crux of the matter is why waste public funds on luxury when the government claims to be on an austerity drive. What makes you think there will be savings on maintenance charges? On past trends I say the maintenance charges will be higher simply because there are no proper audits on what they actually charge at the service centres.
The solution given by some of the readers here is that if there’s going to be any solution then the best solution is to sell the mercs off at market price and settle for a less luxurious but no less reliable car i.e. Camry or Accord. If the problem is really Perdana then by all means change them but don’t raise the ire of the man on the street and show off with your German machine purchased with our money!
#47 by limkamput on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 12:41 am
So if you are charged with emotions instead of sense, I can’t help you friend. I malaysian
So you are saying I am emotional and have no sense. How arrogant can you be.
What proper platform? Like MCA and Gerakan? Don’t worry we fight for you using proper channel, without the Cabinet and within BN Supreme Council. Sound familiar to you. Please don’t be an apologist, ok. We have enough of all these dominant and subservient relationship.
#48 by limkamput on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 12:44 am
hwang, who do not know it is a governance issue? Of course whatever we say in premised upon that. When did the issue of AP come into the picture? I must say Sdr Lim take your wrong advice if that advice come from you.
#49 by limkamput on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 12:47 am
sorry repost for I Malaysian:
So you are saying I am emotional and have no sense. How arrogant can you be.
What proper platform? Like MCA and Gerakan? Don’t worry we fight for you using proper channel, within the Cabinet and within BN Supreme Council. Sound familiar to you. Please don’t be an apologist, ok. We have enough of all these dominant and subservient relationship.
#50 by harrisonbinhansome on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 12:48 am
It seems to me that Najib is the de facto PM since quite sometime ago. The arrest and charges brought onto Raja Petra Kamarudin and Anwar Ibrahim and the “Saiful-Anwar saga”, which implicates the suspicion of Najib of orchestrating the sodomy affair reflected Najib’s
personal vendetta and his power-current abilities to get things in favour of him like dodging in testifying in the Altantuya’s Sharibuu case, reminds me of AAB current status – the de facto “ousted” PM.
Najib will always reminds me of Mahathir Mohamad.
#51 by justice fighter on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 1:04 am
The Truth is Out There…
Doctor on the run: police want him to fabricate evidence against Anwar
http://w2.malaysia-today.net/content/view/10433/1/
#52 by m.hwang on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 1:10 am
My, my somebody woke up on the wrong side of bed or shall I say is getting on the wrong side of bed. Please read all comments carefully before making any rash statements.
And that includes I Malaysian’s post amongst others.
For the record referring to one’s post is different from taking one’s advice. If you can’t even get this right I don’t blame you from fixating on the AP reference and misunderstanding the entire context of my post.
#53 by limkamput on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 1:25 am
Typical; splitting hair when cornered. You are the one who introduced all the non pertinent issues when my original post was essentially on “Really, the state government making money, but at whose expense?” So instead of you advising me how to read and what to read, I guess it is better for you keep those advice to yourself. And there is no need to for you to solicit I Malaysian to your side. I can handle all half baked with ease.
#54 by m.hwang on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 1:47 am
The last time I read this article was about the Proton/Mercedes Fiasco. I don’t recall saying anything impertinent. Impertinent is lashing out at anyone who asks Mr.Karpal to take note. Talking about Karpal when we are talking about Kereta, that’s really proper.
I’ve had the misfortune to read from some post that you are quite a regular and wise contributor here. I can see the regular part but on the latter I shall reserve my judgement. Dear Mr.Lim, you don’t have to be so angry and confrontational all the time. We are only putting our points across. You don’t have to win or to be right all the time.
Coming back to your accusations of I Malaysian, what makes you so sure that PAS negotiated without the knowledge of other PR members on the Malay unity issue? What makes you so sure that DAP or PKR have no knowledge of this so called muzakarah? We can agree to disagree right? On this point I agree with I Malaysian and I disagree with you. Can you swallow that or must you accuse everyone who don’t agree with you for soliciting?
Anyway please don’t be so emotionallah, this is just a typical, splitting hair half baked talking…
#55 by I Malaysian on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 2:10 am
Hi, m.hwang,
Thanks for agreeing with my views. As you have mentioned correctly ours are views alone and therefore agreeing or disagreeing does not matter. Anyway referring to the issue of kereta, I had given my view first before recording my concern on Karpal’s remarks.
On Limkamput’s disagreement with me and you, I would like to believe that he just wants to make this blog more lively. I have been following his remarks on others quite closely. Many disagree while some agree and others get angered. But my instinct says he is a nice but a bit mischievous fellow. Keep it up LIMKAMPUT.
No Offense
#56 by limkamput on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 2:13 am
That is your problem. you can’t even see your own arrogance. Who is fighting to win? Who is angry? Just look at the way you wrote, “I have the misfortune to read….”. Monkey, no body is asking you to read my posting if you feel so misfortune about it. Just skip when you see limkamput, ok. You will not be missed.
I made my comments based on official statements provided by the PR members. DAP claimed no knowledge of the secret talk. I believe commentary is made on that basis. If I have reasons to doubt the statement made by DAP, I will also mention in my comment. Right now, there is no reason for me to postulate that DAP is not telling the truth. So on what basis you think they knew of the secret talk? In fact, this is one indicator of half baked argument if you want to know what half baked is about. Sure we can agree to disagree. Just don’t be arrogant with me enough. You can trace back to the language used by you and I Malaysian. When I first made my comments, I did not even mentioned your name or I Malaysian. But please just look at language used in your response and that of I Malaysian.
#57 by m.hwang on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 2:40 am
As I’ve said earlier, read properly before lashing out. I said, “I’ve had the misfortune to read from some post that you are quite a regular and wise contributor here.” It means some posts mentioned that you are regular etc.. meaning NOT your post but some other post commenting on you. If you don’t understand then please let me know, I can explain in a way that will make you understand. Like that also I kena called a monkey? We are not in parliament and you are not an UMNO MP or are you?
Further I had the misfortune (sorry have to use this word again) to be ‘belasah’ by you when you said,
“So on what basis you think they knew of the secret talk? In fact, this is one indicator of half baked argument if you want to know what half baked is about.”
Actually not only I’ve read about it but so many others have also read about it at Malaysia Today, this was in mid March right after the 12th GE:
http://w2.malaysia-today.net/content/view/4292/84/
You call me arrogant. let others judge for themselves what I posted which I reproduce in totality:
“limkamput is right to a certain extent. But I am not suggesting that the State government be the next AP King. This is a one off deipensation by the Federal government to solve the current fiasco which the PM did not think off.
The crux of the matter is why waste public funds on luxury when the government claims to be on an austerity drive. What makes you think there will be savings on maintenance charges? On past trends I say the maintenance charges will be higher simply because there are no proper audits on what they actually charge at the service centres.
The solution given by some of the readers here is that if there’s going to be any solution then the best solution is to sell the mercs off at market price and settle for a less luxurious but no less reliable car i.e. Camry or Accord. If the problem is really Perdana then by all means change them but don’t raise the ire of the man on the street and show off with your German machine purchased with our money!”
How was I arrogant Mr.Lim? And your reply:
“hwang, who do not know it is a governance issue? Of course whatever we say in premised upon that. When did the issue of AP come into the picture? I must say Sdr Lim take your wrong advice if that advice come from you.”
Arrogant Mr.Lim?
I.Malaysian, if what you say about limkamput is true then I am encouraged. However you may want to review your perception after his last post because I really don’t know how the both of us have managed to offend him.
#58 by I Malaysian on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 2:59 am
m.hwang,
One thing I like about YB Lim is, he looks firm, speaks firm, witty and sometimes sarcastic but I have never seen him uttering words that are vulgar or rude in nature. We could learn a lot from this nice old gentleman.
I hope you get my message.
Good Nite.
#59 by m.hwang on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 3:10 am
I agree if you are talking about YB Lim. But all nite I was referring to Mr.Lim of limkamput.
For your magnanimosity towards limkamput, it is you I Malaysian who is the nice gentleman. Good nite.
#60 by choonchoy on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 3:12 am
justice fighter Says:
Today at 01: 04.20 (1 hour ago)
The Truth is Out There…
Doctor on the run: police want him to fabricate evidence against Anwar
http://w2.malaysia-today.net/content/view/10433/1/
—————————————————————-
Saiful,Saiful, timun & ky tak boleh lah. Hang patut gunakan ‘baseball bat’ yg dibalut kertas pasir. Atau boleh pergi ke zoo negara, gajah punya pasti dapat kesan yg boleh dipercayai Dr.
Saiful, I believe your ass is still virgin. Cause if you were ever sodomized, you’ll be brain dead. All the in/out motion will mach yr brains since it is in your rear end!!! hahahah drop out hahahaha!
#61 by Justicewanted on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 6:23 am
Since the market price of the Mercedes E-200 Kompressors is RM350,000 while the State government bought them for RM245,000 without the various taxes, selling them to the public could even bring a tidy profit to the State Government of RM70,000 to RM100,000 each. Why didn’t the Abdullah Cabinet think of this?
+++++++++++++
Technically since the E200Ks are tax exempted, it cannot be sold without first paying the taxes to the Custom department.
#62 by Anba on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 6:34 am
Dear Malaysians,
We are in a sad state of governance. Dr. Mahathir, being the “Bapa Ketuanan Malaysia” was quite an alert leader. On the contrary, Pak Lah seems like an incompetent leader. There is an old saying that suggest that it’s easy to wake someone who is sleeping, but it’s difficult to wake someone who is pretending to sleep. Is Pak Lah truly sleeping or pretending to sleep?
May the truth and justice wake us and set us free.
God bless.
Anba
#63 by chin on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 7:29 am
Whats been done is done ! But this shows that instruction was not being followed. A nightmare for Pak Lah, he is losing control, thats all. Respect ! i think thats the last thing you would gonna hear from these bunch of goons.
#64 by Jeffrey on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 7:36 am
YB Kit, on what Raja Petra wrote (pointed out by posters justice fighter & choonchoy), kindly refer to my comments (5 days ago) on July 23rd, 2008 at 15: 41.11 under earlier blog thread on Dr Chen Man Hin’s article “Stop harrassing Anwar for DNA”.
#65 by Kathy on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 7:55 am
Anba, the current PM needs to have a firmer hand on his followers…. can translate what he intends to do (more transparency) to the reality.
Too bad he is scared to take action against those who defies him. Should be a little more like TDM on this matter.
#66 by undergrad2 on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 8:29 am
“May truth and justice wake us and set us free.”
Why should Ms. Truth and Mr. Justice set you free?? Are you in jail?
#67 by Bigjoe on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 8:33 am
Lets not kid around about what this is. This is about Terengganu local politics. Idris Jusoh camp vs. the current ones. Badawi is trying to put up a face of still being in control while its obvious he is no longer. The sacrificial lamb is the tax payer’s money.
At the moment, I kind of like what is going on because the feud between the two camp is leading to more dirt being digged out which we need more. This PM and the next PM (especially given the announced transition plan), must be clear there is no such thing as making promises on reform and backing out of it. There is no such thing as NOT sacrificing UMNO warlords at the expense of the Malaysian and the nation as was founded by our forefathers. There should be no such thing as compromising standards on reform.
The message we should send to the PM is, see what happens when you break your promises? I comes back to bite you.
#68 by marc.placo on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 8:38 am
I already can predict what our lame duck ie our PM will do, he will do basically nothing. His track record is absolute failure, as you can also hear from other commentators herein. Higher crime rate , economy mismanaged, bad legal governance system status quo or worse than before, nothing improves but talk a lot, then not transparent, then disappear… his presence is as worse as his non-presence, and he will continue to ruin our tanah air and malaysians at large. Can opposition parties do something? We can’t live on like this….
#69 by Kathy on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 8:47 am
Anyone has the constitution of Malaysia on hand (the lastest version – since they mentioned about the various changes made).
Need to know if we can “buburkan” parliament and go for the next election in the same year.
#70 by Kathy on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 8:48 am
The Mercs can be sold without paying taxes via the UMNO way….
#71 by taiking on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 8:55 am
Someone said that Badawi is the master of reverse logic.
I agree totally. In fact I think he is actually more than that. He is like our country’s “jalan sehala” road signs because such signs do not mean one way. It does not even mean two ways. It means multiple ways in any which way like so:
left to right on the road,
right to left on the road,
right to left on the pavement,
left to right on the pavement,
road up onto pavement,
pavement down onto road,
and any possible combination of two or more of the above.
By the way, what is this thing about Merc being overall cheaper than Perdana?
Its 245,000 vs 130,000 mind you.
After 6 years of use, taking 4% simple interest loss into account on the two amounts, we would be looking at 303,800 vs 161,200.
Mercs parts and service would be more costly too, say an average 4,000 a year for six years. That would be 24,000 after six years.
Perdana is cheap. It has to be because it is local. It could costs an average of 2,000 a year for six years or a total of 12,000. Of course, Perdana is less reliable and more trips to the workshop must be anticipated. So lets factor this in by a multiplier of 2 (assuming Perdana’s unreliability is twice that of the merc). That gives us 24,000.
So the numbers now add up to 327,800 for merc and 185,200 for perdana after 6 years of use.
What about resale value after that? Merc would fetch a higher second hand price surely. Yes certainly. But after six years who do you think would take over the mercs as registered owners and how much would they pay?
#72 by k1980 on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 10:54 am
Goodbye, Big Ears Dollah, Goodbye
Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay
Gone are my friends from the padi fields away
Gone from the earth to a better land I know
I hear their gentle voices calling, Big Ears Dollah
I’m coming, I’m coming, for my head is bending low
I hear their gentle voices calling, Big Ears Dollah
http://www.playingbyear.com/songs/old-black-joe
#73 by greenacre on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 12:47 pm
Being part of the public, I applaud the buying of mercedes benz cars by the Trengganu state government.
With that one decision, a host of revelations came about.
At the end of 4 years the Trengganu government may be able to show the public, how much they have saved by their decision compared to owning the Perdana.
I support this.
#74 by patriotic1994 on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 12:52 pm
The thing is, why PM is involved in this car issue? Why his power is everywhere? Is this normal? Why can’t he limited to only sign the paper in the parliament? Just like Agong, his power is only pardoning.
Our country need to revamp the legislation. It is major overhaul. Break down the power so that nobody has absolute power.
#75 by Damocles on Monday, 28 July 2008 - 4:15 pm
I think that the crux of the problems all Malaysians are facing is the BN government!
So, the sooner this government is booted out, the better – right?
So, let’s give all our support to DSAI to do so at the earliest opportunity!
So, we should not soften our resolve in this direction or balk at any methods that DSAI may use to achieve this end!
Just don’t forget that the BN will use whatever methods it can to remain in power!
#76 by zak_hammaad on Tuesday, 29 July 2008 - 2:32 am
Damocles, I believe that a multi-party rule impedes development and is most of the time, an obstacle in charting a unified approach for national development. If you take S’pore as an example, a single party rule since it’s independence has done well. As the saying goes “too many cooks…”
I agree that it is very plausible the opposition can shown better governance. The BN of today is a hodge-podge of incompetent and clueless leaders and it will take a fresh approach from new, younger and more dynamic people to lead. This does not include Anwar; where Anwar is eager to become PM and openly prompting the sale of Malaysia to foreigners with his naive grasp of economics and foreign policy; here we have a sleep-walking PM who will sleep-walk the country into unmitigated disaster. We also have a sex-made deputy PM who is trying everything in his power to stop anyone else becoming PM but himself!
Anwar will not be charged, this is clear from the desperate attempts by UMNO to forge links with PAS as they see the latter as being the lynchpin that can make or break Pakatan. We remain in uncertain times, blindly leading Malaysia into the unknown.
#77 by Yee Siew Wah on Tuesday, 29 July 2008 - 3:25 pm
I give up. Never heard of a PM in the whole world have sooooooooooo..many names, lame duck, sleeping beauty, flip flop etc… Must be at least in the Malaysia Guiness book of records.
Actually in 2004 I admire him when he became PM. Now I vomit whenever I see him on TV or hear him talk. Sooo..pathetic. Oh yes, before I forget, that also apply to his Ox-fart SIL too.
What has Malaysia become???