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IPPs laugh all the way to the bank
Published:  May 28, 2011 9:14 AM
Updated: 3:39 AM

your say 'The IPPs must be able stand as normal commercial enterprises without special crony sweetheart deals. If they cannot, they should close shop.'

Gov't to announce power tariffs hike on Monday

Kit P: The rising cost of fuel is just part of the story with electricity tariffs. Malaysia's power costs are high because TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) has to pass on to consumers the insane ‘guaranteed profits' business model that IPPs (independent power producers) enjoy.

It may have made sense to give the IPPs special incentives to start their business 20 years ago. Why are they still feeding like leeches off the Malaysian electricity-using public, nearly a generation later?

The IPPs must be able operate as normal commercial enterprises without any special crony sweetheart deals. If they cannot, they should close shop.

Ttloo: Consumers will have to bear the brunt of the failure of the government to protect the interest of the people by the hike in power tariffs.

Industries will follow suit churning the wheel of inflation, causing further damages and resulting in people's miseries.

With some industries unable to pay for the spike in power tariffs, they will have to shut down, resulting in thousands losing their jobs and homes.

When the government warned the people earlier to be prepared for the increase in power tariffs, calls by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin were made to the government to buck up before such drastic action is taken. Sad to say, it had fallen on deaf ears as Khairy belongs to a different camp in Umno.

Wira: If the BN government cannot protect the interests of its citizens and safeguard their savings by allowing inflation to set in, then we should change the government in Putrajaya and let a more capable party run it.

Inflation is a hidden tax. Why must we pay more tax in this form when we are still a net exporter of energy?

Sentinel: Malaysians must not accept this price hike without protest as long as the government do not abolish the subsidies paid to IPPs. This is preposterous and  daylight robbery by the BN government.

SusahKes: Is PM Najib Razak living on cloud nine or something? Is the government so desperate of funds that it appears as though they are scrapping the bottom of the barrel for whatever nickels and pennies that they can find?

For how long are we going to keep letting this government rob us? Perhaps this is what happens when a person born with a silver spoon in his mouth gets elected by no more than 2,000 rent-seekers, to be PM?

When all is said and done, when we look back after we've gone way past being a bankrupt nation, Umno's time capsule message to the rakyat will be, "thanks for letting us screw you".

Tpn: Don't worry, the government will tell us that the increase is very minimal and the rakyat will hardly feel it. On the other hand, they will warn others not to increase the price of goods and that action will be taken against them.

Too many top scorers, not enough scholarships

Josephine: I got 4 As for my MCE many years ago. In those days, out of the whole country, we only get maybe a handful of full 9As students.

While today's students argue that they are smarter because of diet, the Internet and tuition, it still does not make sense. If our people have progressed so much, shouldn't the yardstick be raised so they can be challenged to be better?

Lee Ming Siang: Why are we still surprised by all this? It's been on going for so many years. Malaysian children especially those in secondary schools are already exposed to such treatment.

Non-bumiputera students have to work extremely hard to excel in studies only to find that all their hard work and achievement is not recognised by the government. How many of us have personally experienced this during our schooling years?

We need to ask the right question here. Are these scholarship being given to deserving students? Have we met the criteria when giving these scholarships?

Personally I've seen some non-deserving ones during my days in school, i.e a fellow friend, whose dad is a High Court judge, was given full scholarship to study in Australia when her result was mediocre. But another classmate of mine scored 9 A1s in SPM was given nothing whatsoever.

Nevertheless, he won the Asean scholarship and currently resides in Singapore. How do you explain this?

Petestop: As a non-bumi and a former PSD scholar, I can only say that for most people, the first rude shock of the bumi/non-bumi system is when they want to pursue higher education. Not only scholarships are biased to particular race, but so too are placements in the local universities.

Worse is that even if you get a PSD scholarship, you were then told that specific courses, like medicine and certain top universities (like Oxford, Cambridge) are only reserved for the bumis. So, even if the cream of the crop in our nation are offered scholarships, they are not given the education of their choice.

I have seen many of my fellow non-bumi PSD scholars try in vain to get into courses like medicine. Therefore, my advice to non-bumi parents is that save early and save ahead for their children's education.

 


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