Screenshots

why wouldn't they? that's a tough question. i think... and i'm just clutching air here.... maybe it's not in their best interest to print these things? i can't think of anything else really. if it's not beneficial, why print?

As far as I know leasing is definetely more expensive than buying. It only reduces out right cash flow and in long term more expensive. Who is he fooling? Expect responsible bloggers but not the government.

Buy or lease, the money still comes out of our pocket. His reactions are similar to that of a little boy who just got caught.
He has explained that the plane was meant for the government, now he needs to explain why they need such a plane. Is it too costly to fly 1st class on MAS or any other airlines? Do they get a discount when they fly on official trip or are they fully subsidized by MAS? 1st class cabin Not big enough for everyone? Who pays for landing and parking fees at airports? Cost of flying 5 people on a private jet vs. 30 is the same because you are paying for the operational cost per hour of the jet and not person, so is he planning on flying the entire cabinet somewhere?? If the cabinets goes off with the PM, who is looking after the country???

AAB is taking cue from TDM's comment about the PM's residence in Putrajaya
"It’s not for me. It’s for the future..."

"We are not purchasing, we are leasing" -- quoted from The Star.

Yeah right! Semantics, semantics. I'm afraid, Abdullah, sir, you're missing the plot.

Come on guys, give the guy a break. The US President has Air Force One, and AAB is the PM of the country, man. Takkan kita nak PM kita fly commercial, do we?

Now, imagine the situation on the in-flight announcement:

Air stewardess: "Good morning ladies & gentlemen. We are pleased to have you to fly with us. Oh! By the way, we are also pleased to have the Prime Minister of Malaysia flying with us this morning. However, please refrain from going into the 1st class passanger seating area as it is currently reserved for VVIPs & authorized personnel only. This is for security reasons.

Also, please do not approach the PM personally with your comments, problems & etc. He's a busy man and he needs all the rest he could get while flying with us.

Again, thank you for flying with us."

Like the ex-doctor, the ex-religious teacher has lost his way. Seduced by the trappings of power, he has chosen to ignore the suffering of the rakyat, the precarious state of the nation, the chancy future ahead. Both made the same miscarriage of reasoning - that so long as they could find a way to explain off their excesses, they could just go ahead and ignore better use of state funds for the rakyat from whom the money ultimately comes.

Mr BadRWe, would sitting in a cushier plane seat make you a better prime minister when of all people you should damn well know how hard it always is when money is scarce for people who need it the most to overcome even their daily grinds? You were out in the cold; now that you're more than warm, you make hay for yourself using the same method that has been formulaic in depriving thousands others from sustaining even their lives.

And you talked on behalf of the country at Davos? Shame.

neil, minus seventeen degrees.

Now, anybody can fly? Sure or not? Some of us can fly AA and MAS only. But for that piece of luxury jet, only cronies and kawan2 can fly.

What can i say? Go Fly kite la!

Difference between buying it and leasing it....in terms of costs, I would say leasing it would be more expensive, right?

Well, at least now we know where our taxpayer dollars and 30 cents per litre from our petrol subsidy are going. Sure as hell isn't going into the betterment of the Komuters, I can tell you that much.

Transparency for everyone.

The main media did not carry the news because being the government mouthpiece, they are not supposed to inform the rakyat of the government luxury spending. Here I want to ask [ DELETED ] of the Star, why the Star did not carry this piece of news?

You guys can discuss whether the PM deserves a private airplane or not but how come no one is mad that the PM lied? Of course the shareholders of PMB are Khazanah and the shareholders of that? The Government.

And while I'm steamed, someone answer me this....do our eunuch reporters never ask follow up questions? The follow up would've been "But Mr. PM with all due respect is not the main shareholder of PMB a government investment agency?"

If you want to kill blogs popularity just start acting like real journalists.

I cant believe a PM can lie bold faced like that and get away with it. I weep for this country.

Many are confused over pm's statement. A 100% khazanah entity Penerbangan malaysia Bhd (meaning owned by the government of Malaysia) buys the plane and lease it to the government of Malaysia. Therefore the government buy and still pay for the lease of the plane. A double whammy. No wonder we are all screwed up.

[ DELETED ] surely know why! Well..............

Tolong insaf lah.

And now this is a very good example of "freedom" to fly without responsibility.

The issue is not even whether he flies on a commercial flight. Already have few little birds, remember?

Like a rich man having a fleet of luxury cars for hobby or whatever. But, this is taxpayers money they are squandering here. Worst still, the country is now in the economy crisis!

Any hope to weather this crisis in piece with such squandering at work?

Leasing or buying, which one is more "economical".

Well, a Private company will ops for leasing to IMPROVE their cash flow. Furthermore, lease items doesn't count as assets. For technology stuff, you can always lease new stuff (e.g. faster and better computer) without paying full price of it and suffer the long term account write off.

But in the luxury jet issue, I wonder how "leasing" can be economical. Is that mean government can TERMINATE the contract ANYTIME? If so, then is the point for MAS, a losing money GLC, lease a plane to government?

I just don't see the logic.

The question which Pak Lah need to answer to rakyat is whether he gets any approvement from Parliment or anyone before instructing PMB to buy the jet?

"There's no justification for such acquisition," parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang told Reuters. "It's most unfortunate the whole thing has been done without transparency and without coming to parliament for approval."

There's no private jet charter service? Can save even more compared to leasing.

Now let me see.
The Executive Jet is owned by Penerbangan Malaysia, which is 100% owned by Khazanah, which is in turned 100% owned by the government. The jet is then leased back to the government.
This is just a corporate version of a magic show.

Does "Dollah Copperfield" really think we are all that dumb ?

Like President Bush, AAB maybe entitled to travel in complete security, but as LKS said, tragically this was done without transparency, and that to me, means it was done with a load of GUILTY CONSCIENCE that the public money is beng wasted for something unnecessary. DISHONEST that's what it demonstrates, and from THE HONEST ONE???

I simply tak bloeh terima langsung Pak Lah's justification for the jet.

It makes about as much sense as Samy Vellu's repeated "govt will compensate the toll concessionaires so the rakyat will not have to pay the full toll increase".

"Govt's money", "PMB's money" - Siapa punya duit tu?

And why on earth do we need so many luxurious jets?

Especially when there are so many of my fellow Malaysians still living such hard lives? Remember Daniel? Remember all the cases we still see every now and then appealing for donations for operations?

How much are our teachers and policemen being paid?

A.Kadir Jasin has voiced not only my own opinion, but that of a large number of Malaysians, I think.

I have been finding it increasingly difficult to find reason to vote BN in the next General Elections. Unless episodes like the latest luxury Airbus are not stpped, it is likely I will not be voting for BN.

They have not yet told you that the plane is capable of mid air refueling, carries 2 tonnes of weaponry, needless to say is also stealth (before Datuk Jeff Ooi) discovered it.

This plane is for flying VVIPs, but above all, used to keep out AAB in the air for as long as possible when Malaysia is at war and/ or hit buy nuclear weapons so that the First Family is safe and our leaders guide this Malaysia out of crisis.

U must watch 24!

Isn't PMB controlled by the governement? PMB's operating expense comes from the government and so that's tax payers money goddammit. What about the Boeing Business Jet bought at rm120million during Tajuddin ramli's reign? If being military registered is such a big problem isn't it cheaper to deregister and let MAS maintain than to go lease another aircraft? The BBJ is hardly used and it's one of the best business jets around, So why do we need another executive jet when the one we have is hardly used? Was Parliament's consent sought or the decison to lease made soley by the 4th floor boys? Is this where our fuel subsidies saving is going to? Govt say can't afford to increase civil servants' pay, can't afford toll subsidy, can't afford fuel subsidy, gives a pittance to the johor folks affected by floods but then can spend money to lease VVIP a/c, please please call for a GE now Pak lah and see if the majority is still supporting u! Some more going about leasing the a/c in a hush hush manner, it's truly, cermerlang gemilang temberang!

why is it that we need to read blogs to get the truth?

why do we mudah lupa?

why only a tip of the population is aware?

why do we have silly stmt from leader as in that PMB money is not tax payers' money?

why do we pay contractors/consultants for bridges not built?

why do we need to buy another NEW plane when we have MAS, AirAsia and 4 govt planes to fly our SERVANTs around?

why citizen need to tighten belt, when the GOVT spends needlessly?

why can't we see the concessionnaire's agreement when we are the stakeholders to our country?

why are we serving our SERVANTs?

Many have voiced that they will vote for the opposition, come election time.

I dont see this happening. Batu Talam is not far an example. I still think those who voice the concerns here are minority. The masses are either still ignorant, dont want to believe, tied to the Government or just simply dont care.

I really hope there is a way to change things but the way I see it, this is a continuous trend. The cancer of corruption is so rampant that it has become a source of income, especially during these hard times of high cost and small salary.

This country is no less backwards politically than any 4th world countries in Africa or even as the Kazakhtan as portrayed by Borat.

Is there any hope to change things?

Blogging seems a good way but my opinion is that it is already saturated and the reach is already close to max. Its only the same people who read and post comments here or in anywhere else.

After some time, people would cease to read blogs cause there simply is no more good news beside nice pictures of Malaysia and Malaysians.

Pardon for my negativity on everything but the news that I see coming from both mainstream media and nonmainstream are just opposing to each other and it just shows things are not going well for all. Bloggers getting sued, politicians getting away with everything, normal folks suffering. Nobody is doing well except a few and everybody is losing their way one after another.

Its a sad thing how this country deterioriates. We will become a good study , even better than the fall of the Roman Empire. Well, maybe not up to that level but somewhere there.

Govt buy jet need approval from treasury. But PNB is a "private company" so only need approval from board of directors. If you are one of the Khazanah appointed directors would you say no!!!

Pak Lahhow stupid do you think we are? It is taxpayers moneylah!! We are not that stupid.Maybe you are for thinking we will buy your explanation!!!

Guys, I've seen a few blogs about this aircraft. Lets give some credit to the original photographer.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1166733/L

BBC News, 1 August 2002

Swaziland's MPs have called for their prime minister to resign after he announced the country was buying an expensive private jet for the King.

Swaziland is one of the countries in Southern Africa hit by severe food shortages and 33% of the population is HIV positive.

Senators and MPs say they were not consulted and have accused Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini of stealing money from the nation after making a down-payment of $2.8m and pledging a further $2m for the jet before the end of the year.

Mr Dlamini argued that buying the jet was cheaper than hiring one, following the 11 September attacks on the United States.

Food aid

He said the security risk - heightened by the US attack and the high cost of chartering flights - was the reason for the purchase.

Thursday, 1 August, 2002, 17:01 GMT 18:01 UK
Swazi fury over jet purchase
King Mswati III
The King has stayed clear of the jet debate


By Alistair Leithead
BBC, Swaziland
Swaziland's MPs have called for their prime minister to resign after he announced the country was buying an expensive private jet for the King.

Swaziland is one of the countries in Southern Africa hit by severe food shortages and 33% of the population is HIV positive.

Senators and MPs say they were not consulted and have accused Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini of stealing money from the nation after making a down-payment of $2.8m and pledging a further $2m for the jet before the end of the year.

Mr Dlamini argued that buying the jet was cheaper than hiring one, following the 11 September attacks on the United States.

Food aid

He said the security risk - heightened by the US attack and the high cost of chartering flights - was the reason for the purchase.

The multi-million dollar jet is expected to be delivered to the mountain kingdom at the end of the year, a time when it is estimated that 21% of its people will be in need of food.

Already, aid donated by the United States is on its way to help 144,000 Swazis in desperate need of food in the drought-stricken south-east of the country.

The King of Swaziland is considered to be an absolute monarch, in overall control of politics and the judiciary, but is not seen to be a dictator by the majority of the million people living in the country.

Senators described the purchase of the jet as theft and said they were considering a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.

Malaysia, Malawi or Malaise?

Economist.com
Stick beats carrot
8 August 2002

ARE aid donors being callous or clever in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world? Just as it faces acute food shortages and appeals for emergency aid for 3m people, foreign donors have pulled the plug on most other types of assistance. Though food help is rolling in, the IMF is refusing to disburse a $55m loan; Britain has suspended its budgetary help; Denmark shut its embassy in January and scrapped all its aid projects. Now the EU has told Malawi to refund euro8m ($8m) given as a road-building grant but “diverted” by the government. Unless the money is returned by August 30th, five years of further EU help worth euro345m will be in jeopardy.

Donors are exasperated with graft, economic negligence, over-borrowing and undemocratic behaviour by Malawi's elected government. With good reason. Ministers and civil servants jet between their offices in Lilongwe and the commercial capital, Blantyre; they are fonder of foreign travel, country retreats, perks and workshops than of reducing poverty. The country's anti-corruption unit said this week that senior officials should go on trial for selling all 160,000 tons of maize from the national grain reserve two years ago, despite warnings of impending famine. Aid workers in Lilongwe suspect well-connected traders of hoarding the grain and selling it at a premium to hungry Malawians. In response, the president, Bakili Muluzi, promptly sacked Leonard Mangulama, his poverty-alleviation minister, on August 6th on suspicion of snapping up grain himself on the cheap.

Since aid is about a third of the government's revenue, concerted foreign pressure is likely to tell, at least on senior politicians. And it should set an example to other poor but corrupt countries in the region. Most foreign aid, aside from emergency food, has been stopped for Zimbabwe. Swaziland may be next: donors have learned that the government is spending some $55m on a presidential jet, while appealing for foreign help to feed its hungry.

But turning off the tap may not be the answer. Many diplomats believe carrots work much better than sticks: “It is impossible to make governments meet conditions other than by rewarding good behaviour,” suggests one aid specialist. Emergency food-aid is never tied to good government behaviour. If it were, Zimbabwe's hungry would become a great deal hungrier yet.