'If you are a captain of the ship, any mistake done by your officer is your responsibility. You have to account for the mistake.'

On ECM-Avenue merger a conflict of interest?

Peter Ooi: "In principle, there is a conflict of interest if the minister's family member is involved. But here, maybe there was no minister's consent because the matter was not brought to the cabinet - it was decided between the ministry's officials and the party which made the offer," said Shahrir.

The above statement is very disturbing. It means that Pak Lah is absolved of all blame for the approval of ECM Libra and Avenue Capital merger. The reason given was that it is a decision done at official level and Pak Lah may be not aware of the matter.

Mr Shahrir, if you are a captain of the ship, any mistake done by your officer is your responsibility. You have to account for the mistake. There is no such thing as saying that the mistake was done by the second mate and therefore you can go scot-free.

On IKM pulls the plug on Dr M talk

Scarlet Pimple: So what is new? That was the same tactic being used against the opposition all the time. So I hope Dr M does not complain, but if he does he should be complaining on principle. He should drive legislation that disallows discrimination of any parties for talks, holding seminars and reservation of facilities. Don't complain that as ex-PM he should

have special privileges.

On PM goes on air to defend son, son-in-law

Aaron Yap: It was an unconvincing explanation from our dearest prime minister. All Pak Lah has spoken are those generally very normal reply of whom we as normal human beings with some common sense will answer. Pak Lah, to support your statements please show us the facts and your sincere credibility instead of just merely doing the talking.

Meng: If that was Pak Lah's knock-out blow, he's not going to last five rounds with 81-year-old Mahathir. Even without the mainstream media, Mahathir is causing so much affliction. He is now going to the grassroots and unless he is stopped like he stopped Anwar, Mahathir will win in five rounds.

On Dr M takes on Pak Lah's family, friends

Rajen Diran: It really irks me that malaysiakini has chosen to give such undeserved space and coverage to the ex-PM who loathed malaysiakini and any other media that stood in his way when he was in power. He is resorting to the dangerous tactics of whipping up racist sentiments, by making claims that Pak Lah is not doing enough for the Malays, something most Umno members are fond of in their hour of desperation. The less exposure he gets in the 'free press', the

better it is for all Malaysians.

Finally, I would like to add that the phrase made famous by the ex-PM, that 'Malays easily forget' aptly applies to him. He should look at the wealth amassed by his sons and his friends before he can justly point the finger at PM Abdullah. There are enough right-minded Malaysians who have begun to question the practice of nepotism and cronyism that has reared its ugly head within the ambit of the PM's office. We do not need Dr M to do this for us.

On Umno wing: Penang CM rotation not a racial issue

Sathia Balan: Again kudos to Umno Youth for stating the following: "We have no ulterior motives and this resolution is not a racial issue. We are not asking the post only for Umno but for all BN component parties. We are suggesting that the post be rotated among Gerakan, MCA and Umno as the three parties hold the majority seats in the state assembly."

But you guys have yet to answer my question on whether there should be rotation on the PM post... I wonder whether there is an ulterior motive or you guys have no guts to face this?

Normal lah , Malaysia Boleh... semua boleh !

On The day machine guns intimidated Petaling Street

YSM: We have had a pair of robbers terrorising the Klang Valley using luxury vehicles. The police almost caught the duo twice in Subang but they escaped each time. We were told that while the national average was one police officer to every 340 Malaysians, Subang had a ratio of 1 to every 1,200 people.

This can be significantly lowered if they stop following tax officers around and come to patrol Subang! Think of stopping crime first, not helping the IRD find more money.

On Nuclear - the nation's alternative power

HJ Angus: Unless the authorities can do simple mundane things properly we should not even contemplate nuclear power. Here are two related articles that are on my blog .

Maybe if they really must install a plant, please site it in Putrajaya. That way there will be a more conscious effort to do proper maintenance and those man-made lakes may have some use after all.

On Famed turtle virtually extinct in Malaysia

Major (Rtd) D Swami: Not virtually extinct. There are large numbers of the coast of Sarawak. There are two islands which are turtle sanctuaries. Hundreds if not thousands come and lay eggs during the nesting season. That was in the late 80s. It was protected by the soldiers who rotated on operations based in Semanatan, as it acted as a HQ for all other areas. I used to observe them. The water are so very clear that you can see the corral 30 feet below.

Currently the three islands of Pulau Talang-Talang Besar, Pulau Talang-Talang Kecil, and Pulau Satang Besar are restricted areas under the above Sarawak state government rules. The rules state that no vessel, other than a government vessel on official duty, shall enter within half a nautical mile of the low watermark of the above three islands, except with a permit granted by, or on behalf of, the Turtle's Board .

It is a 50-minute boat ride with 40hp outboard motors, we used to chase Indonesian fishing boats in that area or our local boats and fire across their bows. They usually fled.