Malaysians Say The Darndest Things!

Poor Trengganu Folk

July 24, 2008

When I say ‘poor’, I don’t really mean it in a monetary sense, but more like a sense of pity for the people in Terengganu (or rather Trengganu, as some people in the state would prefer it spelled).

At first, I wanted to say ’serves you right’ to citizens of Trengganu for electing BN and UMNO to power in their state, but I refrained from doing so, remembering those many non-BN anak-anak Trengganu sacrificing their weekends and money to participate in the Bersih rally and the petrol hike protests. And they came by the busloads.

So, pity the Terengganu folk for having a bumbling Menteri Besar as their leader. I believe that there is NO ONE in this country who doesn’t think that Datuk Ahmad Said is just plain bullshitting.

The scenario? Buying 14 Mercedes E200 Kompressor for government use at RM3.43 million (that’s RM245,000 per car).

Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said the state government had planned to purchase the cars for a long time now to replace its Proton Perdana V6 Executive fleet in a move to cut cost.

Smell the BS? Not yet? How much does a Perdana cost? RM120,000 perhaps?

“Please understand that the Proton Perdanas go through continuous long-distance journeys. It’s costing us a lot of money due to high cost of maintenance.

“We are not saying that the national car is not good but in reality we are coughing up more money for maintaining the Proton Perdanas, particularly the gear boxes,” he said.

Ahmad cited the example of the Proton Perdana of state Commerce, Industry and Environment committee chairman Toh Chin Yaw, which has twice undergone expensive repairs costing RM50,000 within 36 months.

“In the long run, Mercedes cars are cheaper to maintain and could also save us fuel costs.

“This is the state’s long-term plan – we are farsighted. The cars could also fetch a high market price, when sold as second-hand cars.

Now do you smell it?

Here’s some more, if BS is your fetish. This is after being told by the BN Federal Government of the cabinet directive on the restriction on driving non-locally assembled cars:

Later yesterday, Ahmad said the state government was willing to auction off all the 14 Mercedes E200 Kompressors if the Federal Government scrapped the use of the German-made cars.

“We will do it on condition that the Federal Government bears the maintenance cost of the national car fleet.

“If they (Government) tell us to dispose of the Mercedes cars we will do so, but the state government cannot go on absorbing the high cost of maintaining the Proton Perdana cars,” he said.

So now the Federal Government has to pay for their vehicle maintenance. Poor Trengganu folk. Having to put up with this sort of crap from their leader.

Of course, nearly all Malaysians with half-a-brain would ask:

1) If you wanted reliability and fuel cost savings, wouldn’t you buy a Japanese car? The Hondas and Toyotas are pretty decent vehicles right? Or not luxurious enough for your fat asses?

2) How many of Trengganu’s previous Perdana’s went through a RM50,000 overhaul? One? Two? And that justifies replacing the whole fleet?

3) Why is the vehicle service so expensive? Is it RM25,000 to change a gearbox? Or RM1500 to change oil and service the car? Perhaps RM500 to top up battery water? Here are some fantastic figures by PaulTan.org. Proton has also revealed that there has been no warranty claims on the Proton Perdanas sold to the government since 2004. I wonder why…now the bullshit is starting to smell a lot like corruption and typical government wastage.

Well, all’s not gloomy. It seems like the ACA is on the case of the exorbitant service charges already, and I really hope its not a open case, close case issue. ACA needs to show us they have the balls to prosecute.

But this episode clearly concludes that:
Ahmad Said says the darndest things!

*grin*

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