YeinJee's Asian Journal

Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang will introduce an accountability index next year that awards star ratings to all ministries, state governments and statutory bodies for their management of public funds. [Malaysiakini]

Marks (and stars) will be given according to performance…

4 stars – Excellent (90% – 100%)
3 stars – Good (70% – 89%)
2 stars – Satisfactory (50% – 69%)
1 star – Not Satisfactory (49% and below)

The Auditor-General’s idea is quite a bold one, but what’s the point? What would happen if some influential leaders get a 1 star rating? Samy Vellu should be a hot favourite, but can the cabinet fire him? What if Badawi or Najib get a 1 star… what can be done?

(I am not too sure if the ministers themselves will be accessed, just my thoughts)

The ministries and various bodies are not stupid; they might be managed by some of the brightest people in the country… they know how to manage public funds, a bit too well perhaps. Most of the funds are not simply wasted; the money has to go somewhere, into some bank accounts. The question is… whose accounts has the money got into?

Whenever there is some scandalous stuff exposed, there will be criticisms here and there… vowing this, swearing that… but in the end, nothing happens. The money is gone like the Bermuda Triangle mystery, no people is penalized accordingly, and no solutions are provided for every cases.

It’s not about mismanagement of public funds, it’s about corruption… from top to bottom.

We need some drastic methods to fight against corruptions; the Auditor-General’s star rating is not going to work well. Besides, if Mr Ambrin Buang is to publish something that could really harm the government leaders, do you think he will be allowed to hold his current position for long?

Some figures from Auditor-General on government spending…

• 146 sets of screwdrivers bought for RM 224 per set when the market price is only RM 40 per set;
• 82 sets of Staedler Mars technical pens bought for RM 225 per set when the market price is only RM 120 per set;
• 90 sets of Faber Castell technical pens bought for RM 1,147 per set when the market price is RM 160 per set;
• 17 sets of technical books consisting of 10 titles priced at RM10,700 per set when the market price is only RM 417 per set;
• 5 units of 3.1 megapixel digital camera that was bought for RM8,254 per unit when the market price was only RM 2,990 per unit.
• 650 sets of plastic vases bought at RM 42.80 per set when the market price is only RM 5.20 per set:
• 3 sets of settee bought between RM 8,250-RM9.075 per set when the market price is only RM 1,500 per set;
• two tower cranes bought for RM 5.72 million when the market price is only RM 2.98 million
• 60 used cars bought at a price of RM 4.24 million when the market price is only RM 2.8 million an excess of RM 1.44 million;
• 152 desktop computer packages bought for RM 4.5 million when the market price is only RM 1.4 million, an excess of RM 3.1 million;
• 420 sets of cement mortar boards bought at RM 1,027 per set when the market price is only RM 150 per set;
• 3 cabins bought for RM 141,900 per cabin when the market price is only RM 20,000 per cabin; and
• 2 units of two-tonne car jack bought for RM 5,471 per unit when the market price is only RM 50 per unit.

This is how Malaysian government is spending our tax money. [Hat tip to Wengsan]

I saw something disturbing when I was having dinner at a restaurant in SS2, PJ on Sunday. There was a family having dinner as well, but while they were enjoying their meal… their Indonesian maid was sitting behind them waiting for them to finish their dinner.

I am not sure how most people will think about this, but I find it inhuman. It won’t cost much to have the maid having dinner together… those people were treating their maids like slaves.

If you read some Indonesian papers, like The Jakarta Post for example; you would often read some strong reactions from Indonesians about how their countrymen (and women) are badly treated in Malaysia… and I can’t blame them for being overreacted sometimes.

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The Malaysian hockey team defeated Japan on Sunday (Sep 9) to clinch third place in the 7th Asia Men’s Hockey Championship in Chennai.

It is Malaysia’s best achievement in this Asian-level tournament since 1994 when they finished third in Hiroshima, Japan. [Bernama]

Malaysians often criticized our sport teams when we are doing poorly, but are stingy in praises when we are doing well… we need to change this mindset, really.

Congratulations to our men hockey team. Work hard and continue achieving good success.

2 men are injured after live bullets were fired in the crowd at the Batu Buruk violence in Terengganu on Saturday night (Sep 8).

The clash was sparked when police ordered the crowd of 500 people (some reported 750) gathering at Jalan Sultan Mahmud, close to Batu Buruk, to disperse peacefully at 10pm. The crowd was there to attend a talk organized by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH), which was held without police’s permit.

Police officer fired live bullets

Terengganu police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ayub Yaakob said that the policeman has fired one shot as act of self defence, while some PAS and PKR spokesmen claim that a few shots have been fired.

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Pig farmers in Malacca have been ordered to get rid of 105,000 swine before September 21, reducing the number of pigs from 153,000 to 48,000. [IHT] Malacca state government has stressed multiple times that it is an environmental decision to cull the pigs and nothing racial… which is only half true in my opinion.

My maternal grandparents were pig farmers, and I have friends and relatives that are still in related business at the moment… I can assure you that it’s not easy to be a pig farmer in Malaysia. Let me share some past stories from what I know…
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DAP today unveiled its shadow budget dubbed the “Malaysian First” budget. The shadow budget, released two days ahead of the tabling of the official budget 2008, among others, promised a ‘fair wage’ policy and ‘Malaysia bonus’ for the low-income group.

The 52-page budget was presented by party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and his economic advisor Tony Pua at the Parliament building. Several DAP MPs, including Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, were also present. [Malaysiakini]

You can read some of the excerpts via Wengsan or download the full report here (download link no longer available).

I had some conversations with friends and family over the weekend about the 50th Merdeka celebration, that our government is making too much hype about it… for me, 49th, 50th, or 51st anniversary doesn’t make any difference.

Most people were not sharing the same idea as mine, they do feel that it’s something special for a golden jubilee… and our government obviously thinks the same way too. In fact, the government is so excited about the 50th Merdeka Day that they dumped over RM100 million for the celebrations. [Details]

I am not sure how they spent the money… RM100 million is one huge sum. Imagine the schools and infrastructures that can be built, or the needed people that can be helped using those money.

With 26 million population, the RM100 million tag worked out to about RM4 per person; I would rather see the government distribute all those money to everyone… at least all Malaysians can enjoy a nasi lemak and teh tarik with that, which could be a real happy Merdeka Day celebration for everyone.