YOURSAY | ‘It’s not rocket science, just takes political will and guts.’

COMMENT | Why wait to close loss-making GLCs?

Dr Kam: Just take a chapter from the Donald Trump and Elon Musk playbook - step one: shut down 86 out of 217 federal agency subsidiaries that somehow managed to rack up RM2.81 billion in losses. Easy, right?

We need to be pickier about who gets hired, and board members of government-linked companies (GLCs) should actually do their jobs instead of just enjoying the perks.

It’s really not rocket science - just takes some political will and the guts to deal with a little short-term pain.

As suggested by the author P Gunasegaram:

Step one: Stop the bleeding—no more setting up new, pointless companies.

Step two: Bring in external auditors (yes, the scary ones) to assess the mess and hire competent people for the job.

Step three: If a company can’t be saved, pull the plug—no mercy.

There you go, a simple three-step guide to fixing the mess. If only our leaders could follow instructions as well as they give them!

Traveloka Winning: If we were in the US and we had Trump and Musk, we could expect that "reforms", "closing down inefficient departments and GLC" would be carried out summarily and with efficiency, and with absolute disregard for people's feelings and votes.

What's happening in the US is nothing short of a revolution. Musk is downsizing the government like how he downsized Twitter.

Great shake-ups at company levels might work, but as history shows us, the revolution at nation level - like the cultural revolution in China, Russia revolutions in 1917 - almost never ends up well in the end. Ask yourself, is this what you want?

Regardless of what you want, certainly the Madani government who doesn't have Malay votes can't afford to do this.

Apanama is back: Closing down loss-making GLCs? You must be joking. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim too is joking in Dewan Negara.

Since 'maruah' (pride) is at stake, closing down loss-making GLCs is a big No! It will be an admission of their incompetence and it would be like slapping their own faces.

Anwar is willing to pump in/inject billions to bail out loss-making GLCs in the name of 'bantuan ihsan' (goodwill aid), 'pinjaman' (loan) and strategic move. The latest example was Sapura Energy.

He will simply talk. Hope you do not fall into his rhetoric jokes.

Just: Simply put, the prime minister is in a precarious position, where he can go anytime, which is why he will then be on the defensive. He simply cannot do anything to rock the boat.

He needs to steady the boat in the shark-infested sea. A slight blunder will sink him. So how to govern the country well after over 50 years of abuse?

Steven Ong: The government needs to continue making the shameless and less diligent supporters happy by wasting billions and billions of taxpayers' money, or else a new government that is willing to do the same will replace them.

The addiction and habits are too deeply embedded in the minds of these uncompetitive, less diligent citizens that it is very hard to awaken their minds that it is going to destroy this country.

Evidence of ruined countries is there for all to see, but as often said, the present government is afraid to lose its position to its competitors who are using the same method, that is the 3R (race, religion and royalty) art of war.

But the numbers of those from the same group, who had awakened and who spoke out against the destructive path this country is heading, are growing.

We must all believe and pray that these minds who are against destructive mindsets are awakened and this country is saved.

BluePanther4725: Many GLCs are used as fronts for massive corruption, rewarding cronies, and politicians and wasting our country's resources and taxpayers' money.

The amount of wastage is enormous and is bankrupting our country. The CEOs of these GLCs are paid sky-high but are incompetent and contribute nothing useful.

This corruption has been going on for decades. There should be no more bailouts. Anwar should not wait to shut down these unprofitable, parasitic GLCs immediately.

Wah Gor Your Favourite PM: Without a political financing act, there will be no transparency on where funds are coming or going. There’s a reason why these GLCs are bleeding money.

Money goes to feeding the machinery and also the random orphanages, temples, mosques, schools and the destitute.

It’s almost a victimless crime and almost the perfect system of taxing the rich and distributing to the poor.

MarioT: When everything is handed in a golden platter and allowed a free hand to operate, profitability becomes the least of the priorities as this goldmine gives ample opportunities to feather your own nests.

Living in luxury becomes the main objective while letting the company dip downwards. Money is not a problem as the government will always come to its rescue.

Billions have been wasted in such a way since Dr Mahathir Mohamad's first term in office. These companies operate under a cloak of secrecy and deceit.

The management of the company enjoys huge perks and high income for practically doing nothing. These parasites under the guise of helping the Bumiputra, in reality, become big liabilities to the country.

Our country, rich in natural resources and good investments, keeps throwing our hard-earned money down the drain to please the bumiputera cronies and their supporters.

If no immediate action is taken to stop the outflow of funds to support these parasitic companies, we can turn into a beggar for international help to sustain our existence in the near future.

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