‘The hasty implementation of this programme was a concern as all caution was thrown to the wind, so to speak I certainly do not want my daughter to go through this hellish experience.’

On NS deaths: We know now who to blame

James Low: This very idea of NS training camps was first mooted by none other than our DPM. Among other positives, it was supposed to instil discipline and closer inter-racial cooperation and unity into those young minds. Noble objectives, most of us would agree, but laughable too I would say. Laudable objective-wise but laughable because our national leaders, from the very top to the very bottom, have always been doing otherwise. Having said that, the hasty implementation of this programme was a concern as all caution was thrown to the wind, so to speak. News of trainees falling very sick in the course of their training followed. Then a trainee was reportedly taken out of her camp and raped by her instructor.

Lo and behold, the one that took the cake to the horror of all parents was when trainees started dying. Lee Lam Thye, the chairman of this scheme, lamented that he has no executive power to effect any meaningful changes. If that is so, why hold on to the puppet’s post? Is he doing this for a big fat salary or it’s on a pro bono basis? There is every reason to quit if the latter is true, he is not doing anybody any favours, himself included.

On the other hand, if he receives a salary, would he want to take the money stained with parents tears and trainees’ blood? Maybe he should, at least, read Dr Wong Ang Peng’s letter or direct his pea-brained officers to do so. I am a parent of three with a daughter growing into her teens. I certainly do not want her to go through this hellish experience (NS training programme). I support the scrapping of this whole silly thing. Period.

Concerned Non-Economist: Is it true that it costs RM60 a day to house and feed one NS participant? If that is true then you can calculate the worth of the gravy train. Each camp houses 1500 participants. That means the cost to run one camp a day is RM90,000 or RM8,100,000 for three months. There are other expenses but we do not know of them. But how can you stop this money train now? So I think that we should allow it to continue.

On Protect Karpal's right to views, says Santiago

Peter Ooi: I am shocked that so many reports have been made against Karpal Singh for being disrespectful of the Sultan. Of all the people wanting to charge Karpal for sedition, our prime minister happens to be one of them.

This brings to my mind whether he is truly fair to all Malaysians which he always claims to be. If we were to study Karpal's statement, it pales in comparison with what was said by the prime minister himself and those Umno state assembly persons during the crisis in the appointment of Terengganu menteri besar immediately after the general election.

Pak Lah maintained that his appointment of the Terengganu MB was constitutional implying that the Sultan’s choice wasn't. Isn't this statement disrespectful to His Royal Highness? Yes, the prime minister himself should be the first to be charged with sedition if fairness is the name of the game.

It is time that the ruling parties grow up. The rakyat are not that stupid. Any right-thinking person can see the unfairness in trying to fix up Karpal Singh. And Pak Lah, being the head of the country, should lead by example. If you did not charge Umno members for same act (worse acts), please do not do unto Karpal Singh the opposite. The latter has explained clearly that his statement was not seditious in nature but purely legal.

On Uthayakumar refuses 'secret date' with heart institute

Sitha: Indeed, is there any secret plan? The world knows that Uthayakumar's health is already very bad so why must there be a secret appointment with IJN? He is sick and needs to be sent for treatment and he and his family have all the right to be informed about this. If the prison director or other government officers who have been applying pressure on Uthayakumar are themselves sick, wouldn’t they agree to this? Why are they not thinking like human beings?

I still can't believe there is still a group of people who do not have basic requirements to be humans in this country but are holding some high positions purportedly to take care of the rakyat.

On Ong: I've nothing to do with snoop squad

DelCapo: I've read this report three times. All the statements seems to be missing one thing - ‘There's NO snoop squad’! They all seem to be denying involvement, but not denying the existence of such a squad. - unless I'm missing something. It is interesting to be reading between the lines.

Y MCA?: I am really surprised his nose has not grown longer than Pinocchio's!

On RM3.2 bil spent for Maths and Science in English

Yih Feng: I fail to understand the figures. In a day and age where hardware prices are in a free- fall, and software and human infrastructure costs are rising as businesses worldwide realise that having all that hardware isn't going to mean a thing unless you have the knowledge to leverage it, how did the Government spend RM2.3 billion on hardware yet only a measly RM2.4 million on software? Any IT executive from any company can tell you that that ratio just isn't right and just doesn't make any sense. The figures raises a lot of questions, some with regards to the transparency and the decision making but I'll rather not speculate in fear of being charged for sedition!

I do think the government (or the we-pretend-to-care organisation) should maybe look at planning and research before any policy implementations. This is the country we are talking about. The politicians are treating it as if it is a massive scientific laboratory that they can just manipulate and run tests at their whim and fancy. How many times must we go through this nonsense? Many policies came and went like this (the PTS which allows students to bypass Primary 4 springs readily into mind). Funds are thrown at projects that are literally dreamed up by politicians while they sleep. Most of these projects (e.g. National Service, even though it isn't part of education) have long ranging effects and costs lots of money, but none of them were researched properly beforehand.

On Oil reserves to run out by 2014

Ari Babak: Is this a play on semantics? Yes, Malaysia's own oil reserves may dry up. But there are still unexplored regions in the seas between east and west Malaysia. What about the oil and gas reserves held by Petronas in Chad, Iran, Sudan etc? Some are in their development stage and will be generating income in the next several year and will last well beyond 2014. So who owns these resources and who will benefit from their expected windfall profits?

On Defection rumours: Jelapang rep keeps 'em guessing

Ensin: This assembly woman and others who are not thinking of serving the rakyat but harping on about positions and power should be kicked out of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. If they want to join the corrupt BN government, let them go and kick them out of the party. I'm sure that all people who voted for Pakatan Rakyat do not wish to have this kind of representatives. It would be better to rid of these kind of power-crazy politicians before they become corrupt like the Umno-led government and their bunch of crony parties.

On Khairy's debate on royal address riles opposition

Zi-zenn: They are at it again and again. Some of our honourable MPs never relent in degrading the sacrosanct Parliament to a noisy market place. Trading insults and sarcasms have fast become their daily hobby, yelling and name-calling their game. Such behavior is not only unbecoming of the lawmakers, it is outright disgusting if not nauseating.

As voters, we do not have to tell the MPs what their duties are. They can keep drinking coffee in the cafeteria when issues are being deliberated, but they do not have to shout ugly remarks at one another even though they think their rights are protected by Parliament. That is the wrong way of gaining any political advantage.

Perhaps, in future, we shall only choose MPs who can truly represent the interests and concerns of the voters and not those who would open their big mouths so very often.

On The domino effect - Sabah crossovers

Yee: Sabah and Sarawak have always been exploited by the Federal Government. It is a case of take and not give and ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ when it comes to our East Malaysian brothers and sisters Just go and visit the two beautiful states and see for yourselves the natural beauty of the land and people. Yet little has been done to promote tourism, the infrastructure there like road systems and airports are trapped in the 70s. Yet it has so much to offer apart from tourism as they are rich in natural resources like timber, oil and minerals. Poverty is rampant and naturalised immigrants from the Philippines are almost as many as the locals. This is thanks to Project M which has never been investigated.

Do we truly expect the BN government to suddenly change out of sincerity and the goodness of their heart for the people of East Malaysia? It’s only a matter of their survival. Basically, the racially-divided political parties will never change their agenda and will remain racially segregated with Umno being the dominant party. Each race will fight for its own good and thus split the nation forever.

I think as we move into the 21st Century, we must discard this idea of race dominance and begin to work towards competing globally for our mutual survival. As such, we as Malaysians (East and West) must choose carefully. Both BN and PR are risky but which has the right formula for the future of Malaysia?

On Pakatan wants May 13 truth unearthed

History Buff: School history books put the blame squarely on the communists for the May 13 tragedy. But recent revelations seem to imply otherwise. Is there another side to the official version? The authorities insists there's no necessity for any review. I wonder why.

Prof Ungku Aziz’s recent revelation on the social contract issue (and goodness knows what other future revelations may come) means that the history on the formation of the Federation of Malaya as taught in schools will have to be rewritten. It is common knowledge that those in power will not only use the mass media but also school text books to promote their own political agenda amongst impressionable young minds

Should Pakatan Rakyat wrest control of Parliament, please review our school history books and at the same time emphasise in Pendidikan Moral the corruption malaise – a subject which is hardly mentioned even though it is crippling our country.

The fall of the Malacca Sultanate as mentioned in our history books was due to a weak leadership, disunity among the Malay elite, corruption, lust, dissatisfaction among the foreign traders and the reliance on foreign mercenaries. The present political scenario has many similarities to that of the last days of the Malacca Sultanate. Are we going to see a repeat of history?

On Children without childhood

Mony Yeoh: Thank you Stan Yee. I have long cautioned my wife, relatives, friends, church members and anybody I can on our exam-related mentality. Thank God, I myself had a very fun and memorable childhood, running around my neighbourhood, lepak-ing in the kampung with my Malay friends and playing football every evening after school except the one week before exams.

But my nephews and the children of the ego-concerned parents will never have this special times called childhood just like the school bags will never get lighter until one skinny kid breaks his back. So all said and done how, who, can anybody really seriously give these children back their childhood as so nicely and happily illustrated by Datuk Lat.

On Umno must go!

Call A Spade A Spade: Umno continues with its battle-cry of Ketuanan Melayu. Umno is the backbone of BN. This implies that all component parties subscribe to Umno's battle cry. There are no two ways about it. These component parties should either persuade Umno to change its stance or they have to withdraw from BN. This applies to the non-Umno component parties as well as to each and every MP or state assembly person.