Screenshots

Jeff,
Logic yg di pakai Utusan ada juga logicnya... right hand to left hand.... nasib baik pandai dia orang putar belit, kalau tak, habis le jadi modal parti lawan. Tapi bidaan yg dibuat Tuanku Sultan i dont think its additional duit rakyat, because Sultan memang dah ada peruntukan tetap, so rakyat tak keluar duit lebih untuk Tuanku.

Dalam tradisi Melayu angka Empat (4) adalah 'ong' pasal masa kecil2 my parents selalu bilang... "..malaikat 44...", and the res 4 archangels in Christianity too...so i sarankan pihak Kerajaan membida angka 4, 44, 444 dan 4444 kesemuanya.

While there is indeed no actual waste per see as it is from one government pocket to another, I would view it as a general opportunity cost.

Assuming the bid was not won with taxpayer's money which was allocated to the state, it could have been won by another party which would be a net income to govt instead of an internal transfer.

Also another point would be - what was the original fund budgeted for if it was not used for buying a number plate?

Was there a clearly an additional surplus fund? If not, then it could be an abuse of fund allocation. If yes, then why was there a surplus? Was the budget allocated too generous? Has all the projects been carried out or some projects were sacrificed for this number plate?

what a stupid logic. He gets economist of the year which prize is a broom.

Won't the govt be better off if an individual buys the number at even say RM1,000. The govt gets additional M1,000 instead of recycling the same money. Lost of opportunity cost but then you don't expect someone like Adnan or many other HP6 BN leaders to understand it.

BTW it is tax payers money Adnan not so much gomen money. Please get a plate BODOH 9. BODOH 1 goes to...

it's still loss of revenue, jeff..

such 'luxuries' should be paid with the buyer's own money....only then the govt makes money....if politicians buy the 'numbers' with govt money, the govt 'loses' revenue....

JEFF OOI says: The flaw in MB Adnan's argument is that he failed to see the net loss -- at the expense of net gain -- to the government's coffers, as one of the my respected Screenshots readers has said. Had the numbers been given to the public to bid -- the kiasu tauke and vanity-hungry datuks -- that will be net and real revenue to JPJ, which will go back to fund taxpayers' programmes. So congratulations to Pahang, you get the Menteri Besar you deserve for putting him there election after election.

For that he should be given a broom.

What is so hot about having a special plate number for a state-owned vehicle? Will the state guests marvel at the largesse of this state already in the red with no new income sources than timber and water to show?

And if it's G2G, why not ask JPJ to give the money from the auction to the state instead, so that it can be used to help the poor of Pahang, of whom there are many?

There's the thought that it is usual practice to give golden handshakes to key officials when they retire, such as a state vehicle sold to them for a ringgit, which they can then resell, neat number plate and all, for a large sum later. Is it this?

Back to the broom. The other MB gives them out for failure to collect enough rents due. But he has failed to punish the MPPJ for (a) not inviting the public to query the items for next year's MPPJ budget, and (b) not answering why another half a million needs to be spent on rebeautifying the MPPJ office, when it is already beautified to grave suspicion. If the service is bad and the rent is stiff, making the place look canggih doesn't reduce the anger of the rakyat. After all, it's their money they have to pay out more each year to support a headcount that's just excused as being overblown.

For the same reason one wonders what goes on in the heads of such sakai's (and nothing derogatory of the originals is meant), one wonders what can be served by cheating the rakyat by squandering taxpayers' money in such flippant manner. If officers are being hauled up for corruption, officers should also be hauled up for simply spending rakyats' money in wasteful manner that don't benefit the rakyat directly but apparently benefit the officers' own environment, and some may add, pockets.

Pahang is a big state with rich natural resources and much land. There is much the Adnan's can do on their own without waiting for Putrajaya to schedule its development. Has this MB come out with a plan for it to develop its ecotourism programs further? Perhaps, modernization of its furniture making industry, or even looking ahead, car accessory hubbing for Asean, transformation of the Kuantan port, investment program targeting special seedling production with more agro-savvy researchers from, say, China? You know there's a craze for durians in that country every year. It's a mega-million market; yet local durians are not there now monopolized by the tasteless variety from Thailand - they say it's because of the ripening process. Why not Adnan Yaakob kick ass and get this problem resolved so that the farmers of Pahang can make some money from selling new breed durians to China?

So far he only thinks he's acting macho on youtube but instead everyone sees it as a show of inherent weakness so rampant in his group. Oh, they're called Umno. And their signature characteristic is to spend your money when they think they can get away with it, and then they will say you've voted them in so that means they can do any damn thing they want with you money. Clear enough for our next generation of soyuznauts?

There's another piece of news the day before which may have escaped attention. Not anymore.

Suliman of the JPM told the House that Petronas has invested RM83 billion in oil exploration projects in 33 countries. He quoted:

12.4B in Sudan
10.7B in Egypt
6.6 B in SAfrica
5.7B in Chad
5.6B in UK
4.4B in Myanmar
4.0B in Russia

Faintly recollects that only Sudan has yielded something so far. So, for a govt forty percent of whose budget comes from oil revenues, what new revenue has Petronas obtained from those other countries apart from Sudan which can justify those amounts spent them? And btw, what projects were those?

Now, this is the way to ask questions in the House.

Now and then they try to placate the rakyat by throwing a morsel or two to quieten them. Like dogs. But once they think they have hoodwinked the rakyat, they will proceed to spend with the usual wild abandon.

Where are the important issues?

a. Transparency so that a PM cannot simply say that criticism must be constructive and based on information. Don't blame the rakyat for being angry if you want constructive criticism but hide the information. Be like Sweden, even its cabinet minutes are open to anyone.

b.Productivity - when was the last time we read about productivity measures as surveyed by the NPC?

c.New Investments- seen any new names from companies which have invested here lately?

These are some of the things the govt should be dealing with, not special plate numbers, not lighthouse, not weaponized water against the poor, not special privileges for sons-in-law.

Do we still have hope? Nah.

These guys may seem to be giving dumb answers, which they are prone to do when caught offguard due to their HP6 intellects, but their ultimate motives are anything but dumb.

First they obtain these coveted numbers with state funds. Then, when they leave office they will be rewarded with the purchase of the car WITH the coveted plate at a low price. They can then sell the number plate later for a hefty sum. Savvy?