'Do you think the BN government will request (GFI lead economist) Dev Kar's service? No way, by my reckoning.'

Illicit outflows: GFI ready to help Bank Negara

Swipenter: 1) It is an undeniable fact here that poor governance and corruption are two major social ills of our country.

2) UNDP (United Nations Development Program) has also through a study found that our income disparity is the highest in this part of the world cutting across racial lines, but the worst is found within the Malay community.

This is not surprising through the bastardisation of the NEP in the form of nepotism and cronyism. Only the politically well-connected gets to cream everything, leaving crumbs to the masses to fight over - the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer.

3) Transfer pricing is a legal means of transferring money overseas.

All these factors are interconnected. These are symptoms of a country slowly being starved of our own money but the overall picture is a pervading confidence crisis of the people. The root cause lies in the kind of politics that is being practised for over 40 years. That all kinds of inequalities and unfairness is being justified in the name of race and religion.

Atan-Toyol: Do you think the BN government will request (Global Financial Integrity lead economist) Dev Kar's service? No way, by my reckoning.

Even those crimes which were so blatantly committed here are not properly investigated (e.g. the cases involving Altantuya Shaariibuu, A Kugan, Eric Chia, etc), there is no possibility at all that they are interested in this illicit money transfer case. The result of such investigation can topple the BN before its present term ends.

Avatarista: A few years ago, I attended a forex (foreign exchange) seminar in Petaling Jaya. During a break, I sat down and chatted with one of the organising staff. He used to be a ground staff at the airport before his retirement.

He told me that frequently he had to supervise the loading of crates containing hard cash into transport planes to be flown to Europe. There would be high security and the loading would be done after midnight. Those monies would be stashed away in secretive bank accounts in Europe. At that time, the transport minister was Ling Liong Sik and TDM (Tun Dr Mahathir) was the PM. Billions must have been siphoned off that way.

Passing Cloud: The man-in-the-street just want to know from Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Najib Razak: Has Bank Negara any illicit financial outflow figures for 2000-2008 together with any action plan to address it? That's all they want to know right now and nothing else.

Josephine: It is interesting to note that illicit outflows tripled in 2008. Any coincidence with the 308 tsunami?

Tenang Indians' blind love for BN

Rick Teo: It's very sad. The Indians will never get out from the cycle of poverty if they continue to have this blind faith with the BN government. What they are getting is crumbs and they continue to remain faithful to BN.

They must learn to unshackle their blind faith and loyalty to the BN government if they want to improve their livelihood. Start by changing the government and they will see a change in their lives.

John Noel Bright: Changing the government may not necessarily change their fate as can be clearly seen through the blind support for the opposition in the last elections. None of their issues were fought for by the opposition: custodial deaths, Tamil schools, temple demolishment, cow-head incident, Interlok, etc.

Not a single issue fought for the minority or the marginalised - how can they lay their faith in the opposition again?

Habib RAK: These ill-informed people are being robbed and abused by MIC/BN and yet they feel indebted to them. What a sad situation. The mentality of these people can only be changed with examples that they can see.

Pakatan must have a comprehensive programme where these people are physically taken out from the estates and be given a mind-opening tour so that they can learn to appreciate how they have been cheated.

Temenggong: They are trapped in a cycle, but the Pakatan Rakyat parties have never reached out to them, therefore they find no reason to support Pakatan.

Phoenix Star 88: It is easy for middle-class, urban Malaysians to judge these people as ignorant but try picturing yourself in their shoes. Why bother challenging the mighty establishment when you have so little?

I don't think voting for either Pakatan Rakyat or BN will dramatically change their lives especially when you have adult children who don't care about the well-being of their parents. In a way, I think these people are wise in not expecting too much from political parties.

If you raise your children with good values, keep them in school and ensure they get into university, your family will have a stable future regardless of who's in charge of Putrajaya.

No toll hikes for 5 years for two highways: PM

Onyourtoes: I don't care what the deals are. Pakatan must give notice that when they gain power, all toll concessions in the country shall be reviewed and all illegitimate profits returned.

Irrespective of who are buying these concessions, the Pakatan government must promise to review the concessions to reduce the tolls. To the buyers of these concessions, be warned: we don't care how much you have paid for the concessions, the Pakatan government is going to review the toll rates.

I got the feeling that the cronies are cashing out. So be it - if you want to cash out, you cash out at reasonable price. In many ways, the Malaysian economy has been stifled for years by all these moronic tolls and all the other ill-conceived privatisation.

Another example: Just look at JKR (Public Works Department): how these vultures have systemically "eunuchise" the department and all the profits siphoned by crony contractors and consultants.

Wira: Don't yet rejoice. It is a zero-sum game. They pompously give you this, but they quietly take something away because the total revenue must be maintained. Otherwise, the government may run into greater deficits. The best way to increase revenue without increasing taxation or collection in this country is to stop money lost to corruption and its related ills.

Pants on Fire: Isn't this one of Pakatan's promises in its 100-day plan? It looks like Najib is copying Pakatan all the way, just like his actions in implementing Pakatan's manifesto after GE12.

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