Pakatan Rakyat Will Not Succeed unless...

If DS Anwar can make bold predictions (which have been proven time and time again to be grossly inaccurate), so can I.

I predict that as long as Pakatan Rakyat continues to be fixated with this character known as DS Anwar Ibrahim, as long as they refuse to differentiate personal ambition and political expediency, they will not form the next government of Malaysia.

I am not saying that DS Anwar is guilty or innocent. I am saying that there will come a time when Pakatan Rakyat has got to rid itself of this mentality of idolizing a person or personality. UMNO too has this problem, but for all its dependency on Tun Mahathir, there was no talk of UMNO (and Barisan for that matter) breaking down in his absence.

The supposed “damning” evidence against IGP and AG over his 1998 ordeal apparently stopped at his “black eye” incident, and not the sodomy charge itself which he continues to claim till today was a conspiracy. If you can file a police report over one conspiracy, why not the others? Heck, you’ve even been declared “innocent”, right?

The threat on his life which necessitated hiding at the Turkish Embassy is conveniently forgotten as DS Anwar “bravely” goes for his nationwide “ceramah”. The massive cross-over have not materialized – the promise turned to caution and despair. How much of manipulation can Malaysians take from one man? Apparently, a lot.

Roadshow Anwar (Malaysiakini)

Polls Soon if Malaysia Day Plan Fails (Malaysian Insider)

Instead of holding on to his coalition and showing UMNO and Barisan how local governments should act, he is busy going around the country, playing on to people’s emotions about fuel prices and the conspiracy against him. Meanwhile, just as an example, the promise of local council’s elections remains just that – another in a long line of promises that remains a promise.

Sure, UMNO has got its own problems. And we will never hear the end of it if we start comparing one to another. I just wonder if Pakatan Rakyat really is ready to admit to its own folly, just like they want us to admit our own.

E Class = Economy?

Yes, while we are UMNO supporters, we don’t beat around the bush when we see something that goes against what we stand for. Unlike certain pro-Opposition bloggers who chose not to cover YB Loh Gwo Burne’s faux pas, we don’t condone foolishness, no matter if they are UMNO members or not, which brings us nicely to the imprudent action of the Terengganu State Government.

In these times of economic turmoil, every penny wasted would be seized upon by the rakyat and of course, the Opposition.

We are not against Exco members getting some perks and benefits. What we question is the rationale in purchasing expensive European cars without just and reasonable cause.

The Terengganu State Government’s decision to purchase 14 Mercedes-Benz E-200 Kompressor at RM 245,000 (tax free) each for a total cost of RM 3.4 Million will surely be viewed as an extravagant expenditure.

Yes, we quite agree that the Proton’s unreliability is a hindrance, but does the cost benefit of having a Merc outweigh the disadvantages of a Proton Perdana? A Proton Perdana V6 would not fetch beyond RM 100,000 (especially in light of the discount given for state purchases). In other words, even if the Perdana becomes totally useless, you could still buy another brand new one to replace it before the total cost even reaches the price of the Merc.

Guna Merc Elak Kos Selenggara Tinggi (Berita Harian)

MB Ahmad Said argument about re-sale value is partially correct, because Merc do hold their value more than Proton’s. But by the time the Government wants to sell of the Merc, a new model would already be in the market. Don’t tell me the MB didn’t know that the E-Class model they just bought is due for a replacement in mid-2009. What 2nd hand value you’ll have then?

As a car aficionado myself, I am of the opinion that a compromise between the two extremes of Proton (cheap but unreliable) and Merc (expensive but supposedly reliable) could be achieved if the State Government has taken the time to really research the car market.

You have the brand new Honda Accord 2.0 or Toyota Camry 2.0 retailing around RM150,000 (of course with the special discounts and tax breaks it could go down even further to around RM 100,000). Heck, if your objective is to get from point A to B in comfort while at the same time maintain low maintenance cost and fuel consumption, why not consider the new Nissan Sylphy, which retails at a staggering RM 75,000 at Tax-Free Labuan.

The money saved should then be channeled back to the people.

In other words, the government, whether Federal or State, must look back at their expenses to ensure the best value for money is achieved. For that, they must be bold to explore new measures, or in this case, new brands.

Now, this must not negate us from the issue of Proton’s reliability. For this, at least we have a Minister brave enough to call a spade, a spade. I love the concept of Proton, but in today’s globalized economy, how long can we sustain its independence at the expense of the rakyat?

Proton Needs Foreign Partner - Muhyiddin (Malaysiakini)