'Change not just the driver, but the car, too'

YOURSAY 'Rather than taking forever to reach my destination because the driver kept making U-turns, I would hire a new one.'

PM: Don't switch driver of change halfway

Pemerhati: PM Najib Razak said, "According to 2011 records, the country's GDP has reached RM852.7 billion. This performance has allowed the government to collect its highest revenue since post-independence history of RM185.4 billion."

This is very good news for all the top Umnoputras and their cronies because they will be able to siphon off even more billions by using their usual strategies such as the Mahathir-style IPP-type of crooked deals, the NFC-type of handouts, the many overpriced negotiated contracts and purchases with huge kickbacks, the unnecessary purchase of overpriced military hardware with large commissions, etc.

Going by the past figures, the amount siphoned off by these Umno crooks is estimated to be about a third of the revenue. Hence these Umnoputras and their cronies would be looking forward to siphoning off a whopping RM60 billion or so in one year.

PB Win: What good is a driver who keeps engaging the reverse gear instead of forward?

What good is a driver who can't see that a former top cop and the attorney-general were allegedly involved in underworld activities, especially with the evidence right in front of him?

Joker: If the driver is not taking me where I want to go, I would ditch him immediately. Rather than taking forever to reach my destination because the driver kept making U-turns, I would hire a new one.

The new driver would also be cheaper to keep since he won't keep asking for commission and salary top-up.

Anonymous_3f4a: Najib, the issue at hand is not the 'driver' but the 'vehicle'. We need to change the 'vehicle', which has been on the road for more 50 years and running ever slower than before.

By any account, it needs replacement because of technological obsoleteness, corruption of its machine and operational inefficiency. A mere change of the 'driver' will not make the 'vehicle' more advanced, more efficient and less corrupt.

Maplesyrup: If a country can be run by good speeches, inspirational slogans and instant-mee projects, then yes, nobody does it better than Najib.

But reality is, we need to go beyond mere rhetoric, we need real measures, and first and foremost, Malaysia needs to weed out corruption.

There is no point having more government revenue, when there are people in high places (and low places too, I am told) siphoning it away.

Malaysiasakit: I dare say most Malaysians would like to see BN retain power provided that it has demonstrated improvement in reining in corruption, uplifting standard of civil service and education and manage race and religious relations.

If I were to give Najib a report card on these subjects, he failed with an ‘F' all round. If there is a subject for sloganeering and acronyming, Najib would have scored A+.

It is shameful for a driver to ask for a licence when he fails miserably in all aspects of the driving test. I would recommend that he go back to driving school and learn the basics of handling the vehicle and respecting traffic laws.

Chee Hoe Siew: It is a regulatory requirement that there should be two drivers for a long-distance bus. This is because long-distance driving is very tiring and very dangerous if one person is to go all the way.

Therefore, the long-distance bus switch drivers halfway between the journey to maintain safety for the passengers.

Equally, Umno and BN are getting very tired after more than 50 years of driving and it is already too late to switch drivers. Malaysia will be driven into the canyon if we do not do so soon.

KSD: Change? ISA still there or replaced with a similar law. Freedom of Assembly further curtailed. Education system in a mess. Religious tensions in worst condition since independence. Economy sputtering. Prices out of control. Public transport barely moving. Corruption even among cows.

This is change we can do without.

Trueglitter: It's inevitable that in having Najib as driver and the two Ali stooges, Hasan Ali and Ibrahim Ali, as his conductors, a change of driver and even the bus itself becomes a dire necessity for reason of our safety and self-preservation, due to their demonstrated incompetence and blatant negligence in discharging their duties.

The analogy of a change of drivers by Najib is an ominous indication of his undisguised admission that he has the capability to plunge his political vehicle into ravine with the rakyat on board.

Hence the demand for a change of driver by the rakyat must be made loud and clear as it ensures the nation's own survival and the rakyat's well-being by the collective institution of a new government under Pakatan Rakyat when corruption and the blatant abuse of power by the BN is so overwhelmingly unacceptable.

Multi Racial: I agree with Najib. If the driver is good, we should not change the driver. But then we have been having this driver for more than 50 years. Many of those countries use to be behind us are now way ahead of us.

We have come to realise our driver and those mechanics who have been maintaining the car have cheated us, such as paying petrol price at much higher price than market price and buying replacement parts at prices many times what others could get them.

The condition of our car, in spite of being regularly maintained, has deteriorated very badly. Very often the driver drove us to the wrong places and as a result we have lost so much time.

We always hear excuses given by the driver for all his mistakes and he swears that it will not happen again, and yet it continues to happen.

So in such a situation, would you change your driver? I don't know about you, I regretted not doing it earlier. - Malaysiakini