Malaysia Marine Binocular Fiasco

Recently, the Marine Department purchased a Marine Binocular for MYR56,350 for a set of binocular that are meant for marine usage that i would assume have at least these specs:

1. Night vision
2. image stabilization
3. fog free
4. waterproof.
5. Has range finder
6. has compass.

All you need to combat piracy and to protect the sovereignty of our waterway.

But MYR56,350 for ONE bino, seriously?

taken from The Star

To add insult, the unit that was sent was without night vision. It looked like this

Taken from facebook here

I gave the benefit of doubt that the bino in question has all the capability per i stated above. I believe the intention was to get something of that specification. Here is what a little research can do (i procure for my current company as well, and often, i get more than 3 quotations and compare as many as i can even online).

All exchange rates are converted using the super marked up USD1 to MYR3.80 like the good ol days.

Taken from TheGPSStore

Wow. USD 129.95 or about MYR760. Satisfy all the criteria above minus the image stabilization and night vision.

OK. Nevermind, maybe we can find another one or two that can complement the above and see how much it might cost.

Taken from Binoculars.com

USD749.99 or about MYR3039.92. But missing the other capability of the Bushnell.

Instead of Night Vision, why not settle for Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR) stuff?

They are thermal imaging that is widely used by the military for tactical operations.

These stuff is illegal, you can see people making out behind curtain drawn windows.

Taken from GPSStore

This is by far the most expensive of them all. At USD 3,999, it is about MYR 16,000. But if it performs as it said it will do, no pirates within 0.25miles or 400m will escape the eyes of the Marine Department. Now that we got 5 of the 6 points sorted, we need a binocular that will allow image stabilization, you know, in case the Marine Department boats are being thrown about by rough sea, it might just help to prevent the user from rendering his binocular useless to the movement.

Taken from Binoculars.com

At USD1,599, it will be about MYR 6076. Not too bad. Missing a lot of features, but if this help, why not?

So, as a procurement manager, i now obviously do not have one product (after 1hour of survey) that can do all 6 items above. So, looking at the need or possible need of the operation, i will just consider to buy all four of them simply because i do have a budget of MYR56,350 to use.

Unless your maths is really bad, the total of all four item above comes up to MYR25,875.92

And even if i buy two units and factor in the freight charges, i might still have some change from the amount paid per the report.

So, taxpayers, WHAT SAY YOU?

-tristupe