RM60,000 Number Plate
EVER wonder why RM60,780 worth of government revenue should be sacrificed to satiate the desire of a cabinet minister?
If the story is true, something terribly wrong has happened. The story goes something like this; the newly minted Federal Territory Minister Zulhasnan Rafique was one the successful bidders for the plate number "WPA 1". The bid went as high as RM60,780.
But for reasons known only to the JPJ Director (presumably of the Federal Territory), Zulhasnan was offered the number FOC.
Could this be true? If it is, has the JPJ Director the discretion to sacrife that much government revenue?
Why should the minister of FT need a special number? Even if he's charged for it, questions will certainly be asked about his wealth. He could be a wealthy man. But at the time when a growing number of ordinary rakyat are living hand-to-mouth, ministers should not be flaunting their wealth.
I was told that these days some ministers no longer use Proton Perdana as official car unlike during the days of the former Prime Minister. No wonder Proton is not getting the kind of support it once enjoyed.
If this story is true, we should demand that the minister be made to pay the sum or we cut the JPJ Director's salary.
This is not the way to show respect to a minister. He is an elected representative and a public servant. He should live and behave like one. But sadly this is how some people make gods and Napoleons of politicians.
I hope this is a fiction.
No, it isn't a fiction.
[Update, May 17
According to Utusan Malaysia today, Zulhasnan has decided to return the number plate to JPJ. Still it does not answer the question whether a JPJ director has the discretion to sacrife government revenue in favour of a minister.
And why should the minister accept it knowing that he was depriving his government and the people RM60,000 worth of revenue?
Baguslah kalau akhirnya mamanda menteri akhirya sedar -- setelah didedahkan -- bahawa dia sebenarnya wakil rakyat dan bukan ahli koperat.
Inilah yang kita mahu. Bila sesat kembalilah ke pangkal jalan. Tak guna buat alasan yang bukan-bukan. Tidak semua rakyat bebal dan semua media massa akur kepada PKMB.]
Coming so very soon after the Jasin MP's fiasco, the Prime Minister has a lot to explain if he wants the people to continue to believe in his transparency, accountabilty and integrity mantra.
"Tell me what I need to know and not what I like to hear,' said the PM in the opening days of his Hadhari administration under three years ago.
So the DAP chief told him and everybody else via the Parliament that something was amiss with the Jasin MP's tirade against the Custom and Excise Department.
Johor Baru Shahrir Samad embraced the Prime Minister's plea whole-heartedly and asked his BN colleagues to support the DAP's motion. He was sorely misguided. His fellow MPs wanted nothing to do with the opposition's motion.
He resigned as BN Backbenchers chairman and was told by the deputy Umno President and Deputy PM to punish himself for sinning against the party.
The PM too did not want any part in the DAP's whiste-blowing attempt. BN MPs, he said , would not be allowed to support opposition's motion.
Ironically, in the Jasin MP case, it was exactly the kind of unpleasant thing that the PM had wanted the people to tell him. But the people in this case happened to be in the opposition.
I am more than certain that the PM is more than aware that there is a danger in leading the people around the mulberry bush too often in his pursuit of transparency, acccontabiloity and intergrity.
About Me
- A KADIR JASIN
- I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).
15 comments:
to say it is disgusting is an understatement. what's happening to transparency and accountability. at a time when people's wealth is dwindling the last thing we want to hear is people paying huge sums of money to satisfy their craving. this must stop. datuk, keep up the fight against these irresponsible acts. its time for the rakyat to say enough is enough.
If we itemize all the scandals ( too may to put them down here) I would say these are precusors to the countries destruction.
Because all these diamerically opposed to what the PM has vowed to stop. But they are increasing in numbers and the PM is helpless.
Hello Brader, Saya nak bagi tau yang saya pun pergi JB juga minggu lalu. Saya pergi nak tengok apa yang kawan2 kata. Kawan2 kata rugi kalau tak pergi JB tengok sambutan parti Umno yang ke 60. Oklah! Saya pun isi minyak dan pergi ke JB. Setidak-tidaknya dapat jumpa kawan2 lama atau makan mee rebus di sana. Yang pentingnya dapat pergi jalan2 cari jalan..
Pada hari sambutan, saya bergegas ke tempat di mana majlis berlangsung. Biasalah, saya borak2 dengan makcik2 dan pakcik2 yang berada di situ. Apabila saya tanya pukul berapa sampai, mereka kata mereka diarah untuk samai di perkarangan Istana Besar awal2 pagi. Mereka datang dengan bas. Ada yang sampai lebih awal dan bermaam di JB. Ada yang sampai pagi2 buta dan terus ke padang. Seronok juga tengok mereka memegang payung Umno 60 tahun sambil membelek-belek bungkusan makanan yang disediakan. Ada yang duduk di bawah pokok2 besar di sekeliling padang mencari tempat yang teduh. Maklumlah, matahari dah mula naik dan majlis tak juga bermula.
Saya lihat Tan Sri Musa duduk di baraisan hadapan di pentas veteran. Disebelahnya pula ialah Tun Dr Mahathir dan penerima Anugerah Melayu terbilanang Tan Sri Shamsuddin Kadir. Dua kerusi lagi kosong. Saya lihat Tasn Sri Shamsuddin tak senang duduk, seolah2 tak tahu apa nak buat. Nak borak2 dengan Tun Mahathir, dia pula sedang rancak berborak dengan Tan Sri Musa. Nah! Dua pemimpin yang satu ketika dulu mendapat jolokan 2M - tagline yang akhirnya padah. Musa melabelkan dirinya intelek Melayu Terbilang sebelum Pak Lah bawa slogan tu. Dia tak berhenti berbincang sesuatu dengan Tun M. Tak ada eye-contact, saya lihat. Mulut saja kumat-kamit. Dalam pada itu, ramai juga ahli parti dan orang ramai yang mendekati pentas untuk bersalaman dengan mereka, lebih2 lagi dengan Tun M. Kalau saya da kamera, saya akan ambil gambar mereka dan hantar ke surat khabar. Saya tak nampak pun akhbar memuatkan gambar mereka berdua. Mungkin mereka tak minat atau sengaja tak mau bagi publisiti. Yang rata2 orang kata, apa si Musa yang kita semua tahu ialah antara penasihat Pak Lah, bincang dengan Boss lamanya yang terbukti tahan lama. Orang dalam parti kata Pak Lah tak bincang hal2 negara dengan Boss lama yang melantik beliau sebagai pengganti. Jadi mungkin dia gunakan Musa untuk menyampai maklumat atau mengorek maklumat! Sama2lah kita cuba cari jawapan.
Anyway, satu soalan bermain di kepala - mengapa Tun Mahathir ditempatkan di bawah khemah veteran, bersama2 Tan Sri Aziz Tapa (juara pntuk dari Melaka) dan bekas Menteri Penerangan Dato Kadir Sheikh Fadzir. By the way, Kadir langsung tak nampak berseri di bawah khemah tu. Panas kot! Setelah dia diketepikan, Kadir lebih banyak menyepi. Rata2 kawan2 di majlis tu tertanya2 mengapa Tun Mahathir tidak ditempatkan bersama dengan pemimpin2 kanan parti di atas tangga Istana Besar? Penganjur majlis terlupa ke? Atau sengaja nak tunjuk kuasa dan letak Tun Mahathir di khemah sampingan. Sanggup mereka buat begitu kepada pemimpin yang menjadi Presiden parti lebeih dua dekad! Tergamak mereka memperlekehkan bekas Pm yang banyak berjasa! Satu kawan kata apa nak hairan! Bukankah Setiausaha Agong UMNO kini bekas orang Semangat 46! Dah tentulah perkara begitu akan berlaku!
Whichever way you look at it, pemimpin Umno ni tak tahu budi biasa. Bukan kurang ajar, tapi biadab! Seoarng anak Johor di situ berkata orang Johor malu kerana buat bekas pemimpion yang disanjung dunia sebegitu!
Oh ya! Seorang pemimpin kanan sebuah kerajaan Negeri berbisik pada saya - buat apa buat orang ramai berdiri di bawah matahari dan mendengar uacapan pemimpin yang hambar dan tak ada benda baru tu! Nak ketawa pun ada! Sedang Pak Lah berucap di atas tangga sambil dipayungkan oleh kadamnya, orang ramai yang hdir pun berucap juga! PakCik2 dan MakCik2 yang duduk berteduh di bawah pokok2 besar di situ berborak sesama mereka sambil bertanya: " Bila nak habis ni? Aku rasa elok kita beransur2 mencari bas supaya senang sikit." Ada seorang MakCik bercerita tentang lawatan singkatnya ke Singapura.
Saya rasa Umno ni elok cari sebuah Event Organiser untuk buat aturcara. Nak sambut Ulangtahun yang ke 60 pun tak reti!
Kesimpulan saya dari lawatan ke JB:
1 - Mee Rebus JB memang hebat
2 - Otak2 Jb pun ok
3 - Musa Hitam nak main peranan dalam Umno tapi orang Semangat 46 yang duduk dalam Umno tak caya sama dia
4 - Umno dah tunjukkan tahap baru macam mana nak tunjuk biadap dengan orang2 yang kita hormati
5 - Umno ni tak kreatif
6 - Ada pemimpin Umno tidak Walk the Talk!
By the way, ke mana beberapa pemimpin Umno seperti Rafidah Aziz? Tak nampak batang hidung pun..sakit kaki ke atau melancong?
"WPA 1". The bid went as high as RM60,780?
Datuk, Nombor kereta semacam itu, di dalam ilmu saokologi di sebut nombor EGO.Ketua Pengarah JPJ panggil Golden Number. Pemilik nombor itu, tak kira siapalah, menunjukkan ego nya sangat tinggi.
Saya ingin mencadangkan Tak uasah lah kita pertikaikan sangat pasal nombor EGO ni.Dalam Akta pengangkutan jalan nombor-nombor Ego macam ini boleh di keluarkan dengan kebenaran menteri pengangkutan.Saya rasa elok Emran Kadir, Ketua Pengarah JPJ (Kontrak)Buat cadangan kalau nombor UMNO dikeluarkan. tentu banyak taukeh umno yang mahukan nombor EGO dan sanggup berbelanja besar.Kalau kerajaan nak dapat 1 billion dari hasil penjualan nombor UMNO ni senang-senang saja.Tetapi dengan syarat taukeh cina dan India pun boleh tender la.Jadi, Kalau untung Tak payahlah harga minyak dinaikkan lagi.
Lama tak merasa Mee Rebus JB...
Isn't that the way of the world now? The pioneer overshadowing the obsolete?
Heh... Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat...
interesting enough,
is that..
dalam Seksyen 7(a)
Peraturan Kenderaan Bermotor
(Keselamatan Tali Pinggang Keledar) 1978 [P.U. (a) 378/1978]
memberikan pengecualian
kepada sesiapa yang berada
dalam kenderaan polis, tentera,
bomba dan ambulans
daripada memakai
tali pinggang keledar ....
apa ni?????
bukankah memakai
tali pinggang keledar ini
perlu kerana keselamatan?
adakah ini memaklumkan bahawa
anggota polis KEBAL?
(undang-undang mahupun badan)
Lead by Example...
dear dato,
I would greatly appreciate if you could write an analysis about the effect(s) that the current perceived squander would have on the stability of the current government in the next general election. Would they be punished by the rakyat or would they be forgiven, as the case has been all these years.
I used to detest you when i read your "other thots" column in the NST as I felt what you wrote was against the principle of justice, fairness and "amal maaruf nahi mungkar".
But now I'm not so sure, as I find almost all of your writing, point of views, opinions etc are in agreement with my conscience, belief system, opinion etc.
I'm not sure whether there has been a turn-around or not within you, but I respect you now for your contribution towards the fight for justice and for the overall improvement of the Malaysian rakyat.
Thank you
Inilah orang kata, cakap berdegar-degar, tapi habuk pun tak dak. PM ni kena bikin serupa cakaplah, baru orang boleh percaya. Kalau dengan MP Jasin yang banyak mulut tu pun tak berani dikenakan hukuman...syusyah lah..
('letih aku memikirkan perangai orang-orang UMNO'...bisik Alam Buana, sambil dia menyedut kopi 434 dari Muar yang dikirimnya dari seorang sahabat..Alam Buana mengeluh lagi, 'memang UMNO hebat, berjasa dari dulu sampai kini, tapi...' tak sempat dihabiskan ayat tu, pintu bilik Alam Buana diketuk orang..lalu dikelik tutup blog The Scribe A Kadir Jasin)
( Alam Buana keletihan membaca kisah-kisah melayu diruangan-ruangan sebegini, lalu dibukanya Hikayat Abdullah Musyhi 'eh! macam pernah baca cerita ini, tapi dimana ya' terkejut Alam Buana. Cepat-cepat Alam Buana membelek ruangan The Scribe dan dibelek pula mukasurat Hikayat Abdullah Musyhi berulang-ulang..'hairan juga macam mana Abdullah Musyhi dapat mengagak tepat kepelbagaian sikap dan budaya orang-orang Melayu dulu kala hingga masa kini'..Alam Buana terfikir sendirian)
Dato',
At last the WPA 1 was returned to the JPJ. Macam biasalah Dato', dia orang spin the story like he was doing a great national duty by returning the plate number!
To walk the talk, the JPJ chief must be sacked! But, what about the act of accepting the offer?
Offer and Acceptance, remember!
Benta
is this something factual or hearsay?.
Pada saya, anda sendiri tak sure samada perkara itu benar.
Kalau ditetapkan, anda dari golongan tertentu yang diberi keistimewaan tertentu, is it your fault sekiranya anda excersice the previlage?
Please gentlemen,
Let's not make a drama out of a crisis.
What is the big deal about a Minister of FT or a CM or MB of the State getting a previleged number plate if and only if it is used on the official car and not his private one? Is that going to bankrupt the nation?
I mean when his tenure is over, he should be expected to return it or pass it on to his successor in the FT Ministry.
What's becoming of our leaders? Why are they trying to curb the rights of politicians and treat them like scum?
Recently, after the MP from Jasin's fiasco with the Customs dept, some fools have mooted the idea of whether to allow MPs to do business or not.
Do these fools know that MPs are paid peanuts? How in God's name are they to serve their constituents when they can hardly support their travelling expenses every week?
Why do we allow our politicians to be subjected to this sort of scrutiny? This also includes politicians from the opposition. We have to be fair.
The profession of the politician is rapidly becoming a dirty word thanks to the kind of freedom the current leadership allows.
The current govt is so hard up on trying to please the rakyat that it forgets to serve the rakyat.
Even the damned newspaper editors are thinking they are above politicians in the public hierarchy just because they are only answerable to the good Prime Minister in the case of NST.
I call upon all UMNO members here to campaign against sitting Supreme council members especially those who are members of the cabinet in the next UMNO elections for their failure to porperly advise the President on the day to day affairs of UMNO held entities.
Check out the 2nd page of NST, 12/05/06, the very day after the UMNO 60th anniversary entitled " Malays must emerge as developed race by 2020". Then check out the next page (pg3) I dare say it looked like that message on Malays being a developed race by 2020 was brought to you with compliments from Tiger Beer, enjoyed among 60 countries in the world, and will be enjoyed among Malay children as NST is sponsored in Malay schools to encourage them to read the English language and master their drinking habits as well. They might as well add, " After kelas agama, hit the Pubs lads!" A good place to discuss Agama Bangsa dan Negara, especially on the second pint!
The hypocritical members of the UMNO Supreme Council remains silent as the UMNO owned newspaper continues to run their struggle and that of Islam Hadhari to the ground.
They are not helping Pak Lah at all. Even worse they are helping foreign agents to ridicule the good name of UMNO.
Let us begin today our campaign to take back the authority of the govt and put it back in the hands of the Party.
Change the supreme council members in the coming elections and elect non members of the govt. Only then can they speak their minds without fear or favour but for the interest of the Party and assist the President in making the right decisions.
Assalamualaikum Datuk,
How dissapointing to hear such hoo hah as scribed by Datuk. In some developed countries I know for a fact, MPs often take the taxi especially when they go to the parliment. In New York, Mayor Bloomberg takes the subway like the rest of the public.
How we hope we can have more of this walk the talk example in this country. e.g. (http://patrickteoh.blogspot.com/2006/03/well-ill-be-damned.html)
I recalled that a certain MB suggested that we should cycle to the workplace. Did he mean the treadmill ? Sigh :(
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