VOXPOP ‘What is the use of having skyscrapers when the people are scraping the bottom of the barrel?'

Warisan Merdeka height now 600m, possibly world's No 3

LittleGiant: The 100-storey Warisan Merdeka is another mega prestige project for the government to boost its image in the international scene.

The government can see the project as important and defend it.

But it is duty bound to explain to the people how this 100-storey tower would have a multiplier effect on the economy.

What are its projections in terms of optimum utility and job creations?

What about the project's impact on the environment in terms of traffic congestion and its effect on public utilities in the surrounding areas?

It is nice to have iconic structures - tallest, highest, longest, biggest, etc, etc - to make the country attractive and popular to international investors and visitors.

But do we have what it takes to project ourselves as a nation with a high esteem for good governance?

Are we really 'walking tall' in the world arena of respectable and commendable nations?

Kosongcafe: With four schools in the vicinity, the roads are already grid-locked during certain hours.

I can foresee the schools will be told to relocate sooner rather than later when this project gets going.

The multiplier effect is certain but only to those beneficiaries privileged enough to profit from this project.

The important thing for policy-makers is to make hay while the sun shines.

M Y Kee: If I were the government, I would use that money to build an international university, hiring lecturers from all around the world, paying them top salaries and letting them run the campus.

Years later, we will have a group of world-class graduates. From then on every year, we will churn out thousands of bright graduates.

Isn't this better than having a world's third or fourth or fifth tallest building in a congested area?

P Dev Anand Pillai: Here we go again, instead of coming up with ways and means of solving bread-and-butter issues, we have a regime that is more interested in building skyscrapers.

What is the use of having skyscrapers when the people are scraping the bottom of the barrel?

Mushiro: So much for PM Najib Razak's policy of listening to the people. I remember the hundreds of thousands who protested when the idea of Menara Warisan was first mooted.

But as usual, Najib answered that the people did not understand the aim of the project and that the Menara was for the good of Kuala Lumpur.

Again I believe the commissions and the percentages must have been good for this project to be forced through like this.

Blind Freddo: It's fascinating the way despots in Third World countries love to build these monuments to themselves.

Why not call it Najib's Folly... because that's what it will become.

Steaming military officer morphs into road bully

Bozo: What the heck is happening to this country? A military officer attacking an ordinary citizen when they are supposed to protect the people? Is there still any law and order in this country?

Dont Just Talk: Wow, don't play play when overtaking a military officer on a highway, you can be clubbed with a golf stick even in a restaurant.

We are certainly living in dangerous times. While in the police station and being questioned, the officer was still boiling with anger.

The military officer is a danger to society and needs to consult a psychiatrist before he kills someone.

Anonymous #76965586: The nation's laws are designed to deter people from making those mistakes.

Only strict enforcement will ensure that the incidences are minimised.

Jiminy Qrikert: Rank is everything to the military. The higher up the officer is, the more lethal the weapon to use in assaulting their victims.

At the very top, the weapon of choice is C4. It blows the victim to smithereens. No hassle.

Better still, the top gun even has standard-issue fall guys. Two, to be precise.

And he is allowed to blow up foreigners. Mongolian preferred.

This 50-year-old datuk officer, several rungs down, is only allowed a golf club.

The lowest levels, similar to the PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) attacking the Bersih protestors, are only allowed to use their fists and heavy boots.

Unless martial law is imposed, then they can shoot live bullets at will.

After all, by that time, the top dog will have caused the country to implode anyway.

Bystander: Even if the civil servant might has riled this amok military officer in any way (which I doubt), it doesn't warrant such despicable conduct.

He might have lost face when a much humbler and cheaper car overtook him.

It was also possible that he was hogging the fast lane that made the civil servant honk him, and he took offence, especially being a high-ranking military officer who thinks he has the absolute right of command - both in the camp as well as on the road.

1Malay-sia-sia: What kind of officers are we having now? Certainly this nutcase is not a gentleman, more like a retarded bully.

Disgusted: I guess when he went to the police station in his full regalia of an Army big shot, they saluted him, made him sit on the OCPD's chair, offered him kueh and coffee, and assured him that they will throw the report into the dustbin and charge the other party, the lowly civil servant, with provoking a reputable defender fo the nation who is always ready to sacrifice his life for the nation. Phui, 1Malaysia!

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying 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 .