10 theSun | MONDAY APRIL 13 2009

speak up!

The numbers
But really, why do revenue from tourism? more to digest:
government agencies These questions have » Re-spraying 60 units of
want to compete with remained unanswered, Hyundai Sonata was invoiced at
the private sector? Or for for the simple reason RM182,000 or RM3,035 a unit; and
that matter, why should that no one can provide » The cost of five litres of engine
Tourism Malaysia or its plausible answers. The oil was invoiced at RM180 or RM36
companies spend their issue cannot be swept a litre.

don’t add up
IT does not take a degree in rocket
science to come to the conclusion
that Malaysia had (yes, in the past
tense), the most expensive taxis in
the world. At RM7 million for five
taxis, it would have cost a whopping
RM1.4 million each. Not many may
have had the opportunity to ride in
these taxis, but bless those who had
because they will have their names
etched in gold in the annals of
Malaysian transportation history.
Having used the Opels in the
eighties and Protons over the years,
never had many imagined travel-
ling in such luxury. Never mind
that some of our cabbies overcharge
and throw tantrums, but when you
do the numbers, something does
not compute. Let’s assume each
taxi runs for five years. To re-coup
the investment, you must generate
revenues of RM768 a day. That does
not include fuel and maintenance
charges. Let’s put that at a conserv-
ative RM100 a day. So, to make it
worthwhile for the cabby, he has to
rake in at least RM1,000 a day. That
means he has to do the KLIA-city
run at least 12 times a day.
But what beats me is what car
can cost RM1.4 million? Surely a
Porsche or a Ferrari with just two
seats and hardly any luggage space
cannot be used as a taxi. Rolls Roy-
ces are owned by car rental firms
and are never used as taxis. So,
what are we left with? The S-Class
Merc? The BMW 7 series? Have you
seen any such taxis in Malaysia?
My hunch is that the govern-
ment overpaid. And that someone
deceived the people at Tourism
Malaysia or that the same people
gave the nod knowing that the
prices quoted were exception-
ally high. That aside, did Tourism
Malaysia and Pempena in
particular, know anything about
managing a fleet of taxis?
money on businesses under the carpet. If
which are alien to them? people who misuse
How could Pempena ministerial letterheads
have parted with RM18 and stationery can be
million? Were they lured CitizenNades sacked, what about
by greed because the by R. Nadeswaran those who caused this
project paper forecast colossal loss?
a RM17 million profit? It is frightening
Didn’t someone realise that an that despite having qualified and
almost ringgit-for-ringgit return learned people on the boards of
from investment (annually at that) some of these companies, no effort
was something out of Grimms’ Fairy was made to bring the culprits to
Tales or to put it in local context, Pak book. Yes, an audit was carried out,
Man Telo’s get-rich-quick scheme. but what happened next? Parts of
The whole exercise stinks to high the audit were made public, but
heaven. But the key question is: the key issues raised were never
What is the principal role of Tour- pursued. The irony is that after the
ism Malaysia? Annually, millions of hullabaloo, Pempena thought it fit
ringgit are allocated to the agency to to operate its own taxi services.
promote tourism. Why then did it Does its management have the
venture into this business? expertise or is it a case of spending
Didn’t someone smell a rat? good money chasing after bad?
Didn’t someone do the numbers? The documents sighted by
Didn’t someone’s eyes pop out or theSun show other irregularities
didn’t someone’s antenna go up including the wife of a Tourism
when they saw these figures? Or Malaysia director getting the
did they know and chose to keep contract to service and maintain the
their lips sealed because they were cars, but that’s for the authorities to
merely people yang menurut perin- investigate as it involves pecuniary
tah? Wouldn’t it have been prudent interests. But here’s an inkling on
to ensure that every sen of govern- what these documents reveal. If
ment money (read: people’s money) these figures cause your eyes and
is spent with a view to increasing mine to pop out, here’s something
From the little I know, engine oil
comes in four-litre packs unless it
is bought in bulk in 225-litre drums
and Syntium 800 SM 15W/50 from
Petronas costs RM86 a pack. But I
will concede that there are synthetic
oils that cost an arm and a leg. But
that I believe is for high-end cars.
Walk into any spray painter’s shop,
and he’ll gladly do the job for under
RM2,000.
So, what we have before us is
a blatant abuse of public funds.
There can be no justification and
neither can anyone mitigate getting
involved in such a business and
paying extraordinary prices. With
a new minister at the helm, there’s
no better way to start than getting
to the bottom of this and hold-
ing them accountable for such a
colossal waste of money.
R. Nadeswaran is willing to part
with his collection of documents
on wrongdoings to the authorities
with a view to bringing the culprits
to book. Anything less, would be a
waste of everyone’s time and effort.
He is editor (special and investiga-
tive reporting) at theSun, and can
be reached at: citizen-nades@thesun-
daily.com).

letters
letters@thesundaily.com

Judge CM Lim on his record No room for

I THANK Jeffrey Chew for his
letter, “Credit due to state for a job
well done” (April 2), which was in
response to my assessment of Lim
Guan Eng’s performance as chief
minister of Penang, “Penang govt
must change tack” (March 25).
However, after studying Chew’s
reply, I find the response to be unsat-
isfactory, as it did not address any of
the concerns I had highlighted and
in fact raised even more questions.
I had, in my appraisal, concluded
that Lim’s administration has been
focusing too much on trivial and
superficial issues while eschewing
strategic and long-term thinking
and planning. In addition, I had
also observed an over-emphasis on
public relations, excessive image
building for the chief minister and
a steady stream of self-congratula-
tionary statements emanating from
the chief minister’s office.
I had also pointed out to the
current Penang state government’s
unfortunate proclivity for claiming
credit for the successes obtained
through efforts by others while
quick to abdicate responsibility
for issues facing the state. Instead,
Lim’s administration chooses to
pass the blame on and responsibil-
ity to their predecessors, the federal
government or its agencies.
Let’s examine some of the “sig-
nificant successes” as pointed out by Chew. The
much-hyped Wireless@Penang project was hailed
by the CM as an innovative initiative that would
propel Penang to be the first WiFi state in Malaysia.
school bullies
For a start, the name itself is unoriginal, obviously I REFER to the article in a taken, then I am truly disap-
“inspired” by Singapore’s Wireless@SG project. local English daily on the bully- pointed with the headmaster,
What Lim has failed to inform Penangites is ing case in a secondary school district and state education
that the project itself is a recycled effort that was in Serdang, “More trauma for department heads for their
originally conceived and launched by former chief victim as video clip surfaces” inaction. I will personally
minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon in 2005. A part (April 12). investigate this matter and
of the Penang i-Land 2010 Masterplan, the original I am writing as a concerned institute disciplinary action
WiFi project by the previous BN government was citizen and parent, firstly, as action against these officers
designed to provide the necessary infrastructure to the kind of students we are for not doing their jobs. And
to make Penang a fully connected state by 2010 producing in our schools. let this be a warning to all
and was one of the projects under the National Secondly, the quality of other officers and headmas-
Broadband Plan. civil servants and ministers ters, please do your job and if
When Lim assumed office in March 2008, at who are running the Educa- you can’t then resign.”
least 34 free WiFi hotspots were already opera- tion Ministry. Similarly, Wee’s statement
tional with another 100 or so hotspots on track to I also saw the video clip is a reflection of the state of
be fully operational by the first half of 2008 on ntv7 the night before the education system, where
Hardcore poverty elimination is another subject where the director-general the disciplinary system is in
that has been politicised by the DAP-led Penang of education said in response a shambles. Do you need a
government. Based on 9th Malaysia Plan data (the to the parents of the victim deputy minister to handle a
latest available), the incidence of hardcore poor in complaining why no action straightforward disciplinary
Penang in 2004 was below 0.05%. The percentage was taken by the authorities case? What happened to all
for the year 2009 surely would be even lower. As since the incident on Oct 14 his officers who are in charge
such the claim by Lim to have eliminated hardcore last year: “Please ask the par- of such matters?
poverty in a year is highly ludicrous, misleading ents to contact me regarding Not a word was mentioned
and irresponsible. this matter ...” to address the bullies.
As for the Komtar building, what was once the And Deputy Education Can we allow these teen-
pride of Penang has over the years deteriorated Minister Datuk Wee Ka age bullies to go unpunished
into an eyesore. However, Lim’s simplistic and Siong was quoted as saying and off the hook without
superficial cleaning up job that cost taxpayers in the news article that he taking responsibility for their
millions will not solve the problems facing Komtar. was aware of the matter actions?
The chief minister has wasted public funds and and had instructed the state Or are we Malaysians only
showed a lack of understanding for the root causes education department to good at making statements,
of Komtar’s sad decline. submit a report. promises and press releases
As for the Penang Global City Centre project, Quote, “ ... If he (Tee, the after lives are lost?
I also read Lim’s comment that the project was victim) is unable to get help Are we producing respon-
“good as dead”. However, having been exposed from his school, he can come sible leaders and productive
to politicians’ doublespeak for many years, most to see me.” citizens who respect life and
Penangites want the state government to cancel the Pray tell me and every par- the law or gangsters and
project outright rather than making vague com- ent and citizen, what kind of murderers from our school
ments that can be interpreted in different ways. message are the DG and Wee system?
If Lim wants the public to be convinced of the sending to the headmaster, Everyone is talking about
sincerity and effectiveness of his CAT (competency, district and state education key performance index these
accountability and transparency) principles, he has department heads with their days, let us start with the
to walk his talk. Lim is no longer a member of the statements? Are they saying, Education Ministry and show
Opposition or an NGO but the chief minister of “It’s okay NOT to do your job, the public how KPI will be
Penang. People no longer judge him based on his sweep it under the carpet used to measure the per-
press statements but on his record in delivering and if nothing happened for- formance of the headmaster,
the promises that were made to Penangites in the get about it. If it appears on respective officers, right up
“Dynamic Penang” manifesto. Otherwise the vision national TV and newspaper, to the education minister on
of “Dynamic Penang” would translate into reality don’t worry, I will handle it.” such matters.
as “Gostan Penang”. I would have expected the
DG to say nothing less than, White Shadow
Calvin Sankaran “If this is true that no action is Puchong
Bukit Mertajam