The bottomless pit


— Nawawi Mohamad
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 25, 2011

OCT 25 — The headlines in the news are crying foul over the extravagance, abusive and utter lunacy in the way the government and its machineries have spent our money. Nine ministries and government departments over spent the allocations, 50 per cent failures under poverty eradication projects, procedures were breached, the Bukit Jalil stadium is not save and too many others that need not be mentioned here.

In short the vast preponderance of funds for the ministries, departments and government agencies could become a “bottomless pit” for the taxpayers. Please be aware that in the 2010 budget allocation 73 per cent was for operating and 27 per cent for development expenditures; a skewed proportion.

That is why there was a delay in announcing the audit report done by the PAC. The whole debacle reflects how irresponsible the government is. This is bad governance.

Unfortunately there is no indication that the government is trying to improve its performance. The government still holds back and distort the process of development and will continue to disproportionate the poorer and weaker of society. The government will continue to withhold critical budgetary operational information to the public.

Ministers and other public officials will continue to be unaccountable or not answerable for their actions. The government will continue appointing the wrong people for the job resulting in lack of vision and no clear direction resulting in failures; double handling and wasted effort. The interface between the public and private sectors will be hampers with red tapes.

Contracts are still being awarded through negotiations. The government will continue to spend money on unnecessary expenditures. There will be more money-making schemes. There will be more borrowings and depletion of our funds. There are no “wastage”, “leakage” and “corruption” in the Umno/BN government’s dictionary.

In short the government will continue with what Umno wants, without acknowledging what the rakyat wants. Excuses, justifications and cover ups will still be the norm.

While many have strongly urged the government to practice “good governance” it will never be carried out.

Malaysians please wake up before disaster befalls us.

  1. #2 by All For The Road on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 - 6:42 pm

    What more need to be said and done?

    Vote in the Pakatan Rakyat government in the 13th GE!

  2. #3 by All For The Road on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 - 6:42 pm

    What more need to be said and done?

    Vote in the Pakatan Rakyat government in the 13th GE!

  3. #4 by dagen on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 - 6:46 pm

    Hey nawawi tell you wot. That is true mass orgy umno style. And that is not the end yet. Consider the money taken out of the country. Imagine the brains that have left. And think of the “rubbish” that umno takes in to fill the vacancy.

  4. #5 by yhsiew on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 - 6:47 pm

    Idris’ prediction that Malaysia will go bankrupt by 2019 is no big joke!

  5. #6 by dagen on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 - 6:54 pm

    Yup we seriously need guan eng to come and clear up the umno mess for us.

  6. #7 by boh-liao on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 - 7:04 pm

    Jiak, jiak, jiak, cannot stop walloping 1, jiak here jiak there, everywhere jiak
    After jiak Technology Park Malaysia, now jiak Beef Valley, truly bottomless
    Husband, wife, n children too – 1 big happy family jiak pa pa mah
    Truly an unbelievable paradise here 4 d blessed chosen ones, Y them NOT us?
    http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/audit-finds-ministers-family-made-mess-of-national-cattle-farming-project/

  7. #8 by waterfrontcoolie on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 - 8:31 pm

    This is not a bottomless pitch but the BLACK-HOLE which sucks the nation into oblivion the like of Zimbabwe. How much longer will thinking Malaysians continue to endure such wantonness? Yes, Petronas has just announced the largest payout ever but it will be gone even before that public announcement. It is obvious that BN is not borthered for the future in spite of the slogan on 2020! We are already owing a debt of 470 billion or some 16.7 k for each Malaysian and at the rate we are budgetting, we will living on an empty future. Indonesia and Philippines are slowly doam their maid export; maybe we will fill up the slack! It is senseless yet true that we export 1st class caliber and import manual workers with the dream of a 1st world lifestyle by 2020! Thinking others are just as reckless as we are in planning their future; high hope! based on such shallow and naive planning, I just can’t figure how we could compete with those snapping at our feet at the moment. It is senseless to the average Malaysian, but to BN it makes plenty of sense as they are prepared with their overseas accounts. So Malaysians, unless you love going oversea as maids and labourers , you better change your destiny by changing BN’s destiny FIRST!

  8. #9 by kpt99 on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 - 10:27 pm

    Najib administration has been greatly shaken by release of Auditor General Report.

    PR must not let this opportunity go.

    Make use of this report and use it effectively as one the of election campaign issues,materials and tools in this coming election.

    Most right-thinking and rational Malaysians would like to know more and how their hard earned money were being spent by this irresponsible and bad governance.

  9. #10 by boh-liao on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 12:41 am

    UmnoB kaki2 keep quiet on d leakage n corruption
    MCA kaki2 also keep quiet on d leakage n corruption
    Gerakan n MIC kaki2 also keep quiet on d leakage n corruption
    Perkosa kaki2 also keep quiet on d leakage n corruption

    Where ARE d HONEST n PATRIOTIC kaki2 fr UmnoB/BN n Perkosa? Jialat!

  10. #11 by boh-liao on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 1:21 am

    With all these gravy trains n no-need-2 account 4 blatant leakages, no wonder PM must also double as Financial Minister lor 2 pau ka liao lah

  11. #12 by sheriff singh on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 4:18 am

    This is what ‘Transformation’ is all about. Failures, Wastages, Incompetence.

  12. #13 by HJ Angus on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 7:02 am

    The TRANSFORMATION is done.
    For more than 30 years we have become a nation that has become corrupted; with the BN regime playing the lead role.
    Unless the voters bring this regime to heel by voting them out, there is nothing but BANKRUPTCY looming.

  13. #14 by yhsiew on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 7:26 am

    Some kind of punitive action must be put in place (e.g. demoting the fund abuser or deducting a certain percent of his salary to recoup losses) to stop such nuisance, otherwise the country might plunge into the abyss of economic ruin.

  14. #15 by undertaker888 on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 7:31 am

    Gadafi once thought that he is invincible. Look what happened to him. Hiding in a sewer pipe. Saddam once thought that he is untouchable. Caught in a dirt hole. Both are dead.

    Now this tyrant umno is thinking the same that they are invincible and untouchable. Well see you all in the sewer pipe and dirt hole once we vote in PR.

  15. #16 by Jeffrey on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 7:36 am

    The Bottomless Pit will always be there for so long as people who implement public delivery are recruited based on race quota than merits, attitude, jaguh kampong, work ethics, without aspiration and inspiration for Excellence. For then all look good on paper but when it comes to implementation, the opposite result. Look good it has always been. We plagiarise/copy current ideas/models from the developed world eg: Tun Dr Mahathir’s Look East (Japan Korea) & then Privatisation (from UK) but if feudal cultural attitudes don’t change, efficiency & delivery never happened and it soon led, as Prof Jomo said in 2003, to “20 years of privatizing profits and profitable public assets and socializing losses and liabilities”.. And when money and more money needed to be raised, next PM Tun Badawi came up with Private Financing Initiative (PFI) to get the private sector involved in funding government infrastructure projects based on deferred payment’s as profits in future rolled in- but never did, instead losses as PKFZ’s RM12 billion showed!

  16. #17 by Jeffrey on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 7:55 am

    Even now under present admin, everything on paper looks good. In place we have the 1989 Modified Budgeting System, the 1993 Client’s Charter, Govt’s E Service converging ICT & social media in driver and vehicle registration, licensing and summons services and the payment of utility bills, One Stop Clearance centres for Housing Development etc with performance appraisal based on 6 NKRAs, and MKRAs and now even a “Blue Ocean” strategy that led to loss in National Feedlot Centre….New ideas & procedures are evident (eg even police stations have procedures for public feedback on service quality) and in many cases better queuing system and slightly more courteous front line staff but when it comes to buying equipment, there’s still this big mark up from market price. Everyone wants to seen good and doing something surfing Blue Ocean top meet NKRAs without heed of ultimate purpose or result and meanwhile incurring more and more cost at public expense….

  17. #18 by Jeffrey on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 8:12 am

    We can copy best current ideas and models for public management from the rest of developed world such as Mahathir’s Privatisation, Badawi’s PFI, Najib’s Blue Ocean but what is on paper that looks good cannot be translated into results if mindset & attitudes of those who implement are jaguh kampong and not that of developed world based on excellence, meritocracy, public accountability and governance…. The best ideas from global trend of public managerialism can easily be circumvented and subverted to bring about the worst results if implementation keeps being sullied, nay sabotaged by feudal laid back attitudes that prioritize looking good in form over delivering good in substance, and making use of private sector and public as a source of supplementing one’s income as part of the affirmative wealth transfer from haves to haves not. Ultimately, the best of ideas, systems and procedures won’t work if attitudes, work ethics and work ethos of people in charge of executing them are remote from any benchmark of “good” let alone best, and the bottomless pit persists turning as one commenter earlier said to the Black Hole! At macro level the British gave us institutions independent judiciary civil liberties parliamentary system under constitution monarchy but can these take root when cultural and feudal attitudes subvert circumvent and sabotage everything so that only form is there but not substance and spirit???

  18. #19 by homeblogger on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 9:53 am

    We ARE awake. Unfortunately, this minority government controls the police, military, judiciary, NRD and EC. They are now gearing up for the biggest, most shameful cheating ever in the history of Malaysia’s electoral process. My vote against 100 phantom voters. However, God is great and will not be fooled.

    Quote Jeffrey : “but what is on paper that looks good cannot be translated into results if mindset & attitudes of those who implement are jaguh kampong”

    That’s the root of the whole problem. These jaguh kampung continue to love being jaguh by any and all evil means.

  19. #20 by trublumsian on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 10:25 am

    Agree. With UMNO at the helm Malaysia is a country that copies. We like to think we can do this do that too, and we like to spend money to make it seem we have arrived. Cases in point. We built the tallest buildings in the world for a while. We paid for a space tourist to ride in a rocket. We wanted to build structures for e-this, bio-that, and whatever-corridors. All with pomps and promises but no recipe and commitment to pulling them off. We copy form but have no substance. After enriching the BN clowns and cronies, or clownies, we shrug and move on to the next plunder.

  20. #21 by boh-liao on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 10:39 am

    WHERE GOT jaguh kampung 1? Lots of village idiots got lah
    UmnoB/BN kaki2 cannot pakai 1, oredi confirmed by >50 yrs of incompetent, racist n corrupt governance, resulting in worldwide acknowledged MALUsia, MALAISEsia

    D AG’s Report is our annual NATIONAL BOOK OF SHAME, CORRUPTION n INCOMPETENCE, splashed in newspapers globally n on d Internet – it reaffirmes corruption at d highest level n how stupid we r as a nation always retaining d service of corrupt UmnoB/BN

    Just visualise dis scenario: Mooo on visit in Sg where its newspapers reported all d corrupt practices mentioned in the AG’s Rpt n where its politicians knew abt d corrupt practices
    Mooo, so thick skin n no moral no shame, shook hands with Sg’s ministers n smiled
    Of cos, Sg’s ministers smiled back but rakyat sure they larfed at dis useless corrupt cow

  21. #22 by Godfather on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 11:15 am

    A fairly common comment in the Auditor General’s report is that many transgressions were made without tender and without the approval of the Ministry of Finance. Don’t be misled by this comment. The transgressions had almost had the implicit nod of the Minister of Finance, and we know who that is. Why would Ng Yen Yen or Liow Tiong Lai worry about transparent tenders for their ministries if Zahid could do whatever he wanted on defence contracts or Noh Omar could do whatever he wanted on agricultural deals ?

    This has always been a case of “you makan, I makan” and “you don’t rock the boat, I don’t rock the boat”.

  22. #23 by Cinapek on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 11:16 am

    There are enough voices of condemnation of bad governance and the rampant abuses, wastage and stealing of taxpayers’ money by not only the various ministries, govt depts and agencies, but also by ministers and their family members so I will not add any more to this.

    But what probably escaped notice in the AG’s report is the criticism of the PDRM and their lackadaisical attitude with managing and recording of forensic evidence. Even more astounding was the admission by the IGP that the PDRM is already aware of this problem from as far as 10 years back!! And he stupidly went on to confirm that the PDRM has been trying to improve this with new processes added since 5 years ago. 10 years and still at it?!! I know aht he is trying to imply. That they were not his fault and that he has been trying to fix it since he was made IGP 5 years ago.

    How do you dispense justice with such mentality in the PDRM? This simply confirms the defense argument in the Sodomy II case that the DNA evidence has been compromised.

    World class my foot!! Hisham, the ball is in your court. Get them to shape up or ship out starting with the IGP.

  23. #24 by k1980 on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 11:41 am

    Jibbi will just cut more subsidies to make up for the extravagances above.

  24. #25 by boh-liao on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 11:43 am

    UmnoB/BN always CON rakyat
    Just like NR shamelessly n blatantly CON rakyat over d much publicised ‘1Malaysia People’s Menu’: d RM3 meal dat he loudly declared he took at 1Malaysia Restaurant is actually RM6
    Damn blardi liar, CON man n thick skinned 1, while rakyat suffer fr inflasi

  25. #26 by boh-liao on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 11:56 am

    Imagine if we don’t hv petroleum and palm oil $$, our male n female citizens would b exported as maids, labourers, con men n women, ATM-card cloners, obedient wives or husbands, designer handbag carriers, etc

  26. #27 by boh-liao on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 12:03 pm

    “D RM1.3 billion Desaru highway linking JB and Desaru is grossly underused, unsatisfactory n a DANGER to ROAD USERS.”
    Sg residents read d above in their papers – do UmnoB/BN expect Sg drivers 2 use d highway

  27. #28 by Jeffrey on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 12:39 pm

    To correct wasteful, lackadaisical and corrupt prone attitudes, it is the government, which expression comprises leaders and decision makers, must take, and be pressured by their constituencies to take the lead. For that to happen, their constituencies, ie rakyat, must have a commonly shared value system placing importance on excellence integrity good governance and public accountability and united against wastage corruption and abuse of power. Only then can they collectively exert the requisite pressure on political elites/leaders and by extension the bureaucrats under them to deliver rather than pay lip service. However, this is not to be because rakyat themselves are deeply divided based on primordial loyalties to race, religion and culture which politicians – especially but not exclusively amongst those in power- could continually exploit for votes, keep bringing to the fore and force make comparisons and driving deeper schism and wedges between one racial/religious group as against the other groups.

  28. #29 by Jeffrey on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 12:46 pm

    As a result, rakyat will not develop a united and shared common outlook against bad governance of their leaders as each group is interested in how it fares or is measured in terms of privileges and material well being – whether entitled or deprived- as compared to the other groups. We are caught in this narrow groove of race and religion and for so long as this is the trap from which we cannot extricate, then let there be no illusion that even the passing of baton from BN to PR, in a regime change, will not change things for the better and advance nation building and development since politicians on both divide will always have to pander to the whims and sentiments of their constituencies to get the votes to come to and maintain political power and positions. This is the root of our predicament when the specific based affirmative/NEP policies become so entrenched and cherished as sacred cow that no Prime Minister dares rock it less he be jettisoned out of power immediately! To change mindset and entrenched attitudes takes generations and not just one or two elections….

  29. #30 by yhsiew on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 12:46 pm

    It is a case of national coffers in the wrong hands.

  30. #31 by dagen on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 12:48 pm

    Look at sleepyhead, the ex-pm. Even in semi-conscious state he was able to whack a good chunck off our national coffer. I am so happy for cintanegara.

  31. #32 by trublumsian on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 2:45 pm

    kampung person: better my kind a devil than your kind a saint.

  32. #33 by AskChong on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 9:57 pm

    We need more young voters to end BN control by next GE. Mere complaint by the same group of anti-BN people is just NOT enough. We can write and comments for next ten years until the country become a bankrupted nation. Get more young voters!!

  33. #34 by tak tahan on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 - 10:13 pm

    Ya,spread this news to your friends,relatives and whoever acquaintances(any races) you feel convenient to talk to.We must work towards that to ensure all messages get across community,be it Malay,Chinese,Indian,Iban,kadazan ect or orang utan lah.To be frank,i’m been doing this whenever i can.ABU!ABU!ABU!

  34. #35 by dagen on Thursday, 27 October 2011 - 8:50 am

    Hoi cintanegara, di mana si celaka tu? If only you are here, I hv some questions for you.

    1) So did you supply any overpriced goodies to the umno gobermen? I you did, congratulation. I am so happy for you. I am not jealous. It is your constitutional right. Your are the tuan. I am the hamba who pay taxes into your pocket.

    If not, then

    2) Did you get any special construction contract from the umno gobermen at some greatly overprice rates and with a perfectly elastic completion time-period? If you did, then again, congratulation and I am happy that you did.

    If you did not get either, then that makes you a (wot?) Joe Ahmad(??!!) And and you would get only the crumbs – those loose crumbs that happen to fall out of umnoputras’ deep and oversized pockets. Oh you poor thing. And it seems, the crumbs must now be shared by an fast expanding number of Joe Ahmads like you. Because you see, umno, your hero, is letting in foreigners in large number and turning them into people like you.

    Awww! Poor thing. After paying taxes, I still have the take home part of my salary here with me.

  35. #36 by k1980 on Thursday, 27 October 2011 - 9:36 am

    http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/10/24/nation/20111024173255&sec=nation

    I now dare Parti Cinta Msai Youth chief Liew Yeow Hooi to go after the thieves in the ministries, departments and government agencies as listed in the AG Report and arrest them by making a citizen’s arrest.

    Hey, liew, if you want to be a hero, act like a real hero!

  36. #37 by Godfather on Thursday, 27 October 2011 - 10:12 am

    Talking about the Senai-Desaru Highway, how many people know that it was given by direct negotiation to a glocal bumiputra group that managed to secure financing through Maybank ? The land acquisition costs doubled, according to the Auditor General. The construction costs also went up and this concessionaire decided to cut costs. The end result is that some parts of the highway are now sinking. There is no money for repairs, so the highway is going to be left high and dry. The tolls are insufficient to pay back Maybank, so now the glocal Malay group is trying to sell it to any unsuspecting buyer.

    Eventually, like all things in Bolehland, this glocal Malay group cannot be embarrassed with failure, so some GLC will be asked to bail out this group by paying full price for the damaged highway. Watch the space for a bailout announcement.

  37. #38 by boh-liao on Saturday, 29 October 2011 - 9:12 pm

    No worries, can still jiak 1, no reach d bottom yet, it’s bottomless pit mah, more 2 jiak

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