'The annual cost to maintain the homes of PM and DPM could be used to build a 12-storey low-cost flat for 120 poor families.'

It's RM26,000 a day to maintain homes of PM, DPM

Yobama: Wow, what a revelation! Is that how the prime minister and his deputy live? What a lavish lifestyle for a country which has a budget deficit year in, year out. No wonder, there is so much poverty still in the rural areas despite being ruled for 53 years by Umno/BN. They spend the rakyat's tax-money as if there is no tomorrow.

And despite being audited year in year out, and being told that money is being wasted left and right, there is no sign that things will improve. If anything, it is becoming worse by the day.

Let them have the snap elections, and let the rakyat vote them out of Putrajaya. If they think Putrajaya is the private property of BN, let the new government move the capital back to KL.

Call me Jibby: The money for three days maintenance is higher than a new low-cost house. The annual cost to maintain the homes of PM and DPM could be possibly used to build a 12-storey low-cost flat - with two lifts - to house 120 poor families.

Ghkok: Looking at all that wastage and corruption, I cringe when I see the "major investments" in the budget. I really don't want all that "investments" because it only means more wastage and corruption.

Prudent: This is simply crazy. Pakatan Rakyat, when it has taken over the federal government, should cancel its lease with Putrajaya Holdings and move back to Kuala Lumpur.

Putrajaya is the biggest white elephant in the world. Simply wasteful. Don't they have the word 'prudence' in their vocabulary?

Penang hits record high in state revenues

Wira: Increases in revenue collection in the absence of tax increases means the Penang state government has been taking the correct steps to improve revenue collection and to decrease delinquency. This is good.

However, the mere increase in accumulated funds is not necessarily good for the state, because it means the state is not spending the additional money for the benefit of Penangites.

I hope Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng will come out with programmes to improve public transport in the state so that the funds may be gainfully deployed. He doesn't have to leave that bounty for future generations - not unless his coalition controls Putrajaya.

Wanderer: Hard luck, Penang Umno, you have to remain as opposition for a long time to come... Your coalition partners, MCA and Gerakan, may not even be around after the next general election.

Ong Guan Sin: The Umno media will spin it in such a way that the BN federal government will be seen to have made the economy so good that the Penang state government can collect more taxes as a result. In truth, the previous BN state government was simply incompetent.

Fido Dido: CM Lim Guan Eng, you have make Penangites proud with your CAT (competence, accountability, transparency) government. Thank you. Koh Tsu Koon, where are you now? Say something. To Sarawak and Sabah, please reciprocate for our future success and security.

Fair n Fair: We have to give credit whenever a person has done a good job. No more politicking please. This is the way to move forward a state. Who can we trust to take up the challenge of moving the whole country forward? BN or Pakatan?

No improvement for M'sia in global graft index

Anonymous: The graft index will remain as it is or worsen unless certain actions are taken. And the actions must originate from the powers-that-be. If the leaders do not have the political will to eradicate or minimise corrupt practices, the low anti-graft index will not attract huge inflows of investments.

The general perception is that certain people are "untouchables", which means that no further action (NFA) will be the result in spite of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) findings.

The MACC must be empowered to prosecute those who are corrupted. Leaving this decision to the attorney-general is not satisfactory. How many cases submitted by the MACC received NFAs? The MACC must also be answerable to Parliament, not the PM.

Similarly, all ministers and deputy ministers must reveal all their assets on the Internet for the public to scrutinise. Again, revealing them only to the PM will not do. What happens if the PM himself is corrupted?

Rolls-Royce: The government is incompetent, period. It is a fact and it is not due to perception. The sovereign rating is low and this is due to our poor fundamentals, not because rating agencies are against us.

People want to see substantive change, change that they can see, feel and believe in, not slogans. We must kick the butt of the civil service and get rid of nincompoop ministers if we want GTP (Government Transformation Programme) and ETP (Economic Transformation Programme) to happen.

Finally, high income is a desire state - it is the consequence of years of consistent, prudent and competent macro-economic policies and management. There is no such a thing as high-income model (I think it was Dr Mahathir Mohamad who first proposed this model and of course all the smaller nincompoops followed suit. His memory is short; today he said we must be wary of high-income model. Maybe he has just woke up).

It is that simple - if there are high-income model, which country on earth would want to remain low income. It is like: ‘Let's become rich. Can we talk our way up to high income?'

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only Malaysiakini subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .