The mantra and how HSR was cancelled

Based on comments I received in this blog, I think most of us will revert  to the mantra "Najib stole the people's money, so that's why things are like this now", whenever we can't articulate ourselves properly on any arising issue.

It's probably the same mantra to be used by the government whenever it wants to do something, such as collecting money from the people to strengthen the economy, or can't do something, such as fulfilling its election promises.

I'm quite sure I'll get some more of that mantra at this post.

Well, this Najib guy however seems quite oblivious to all these.

He is still a free man and issuing statements refuting the new government's claims.

Here is the latest;

Najib: Benefits of HSR exceed

 cost of project

excerpts;

“The projections from the relevant report I have seen indicate an estimated economic benefit of RM650bil in Gross National Income by year 2069.

“There would have been 110,000 job opportunities created, which is estimated to increase to about 442,000 by year 2069,” he said, urging for the report to be shown to the public.

Such infrastructure projects, he added, bring returns in the form of land appreciation, local economic growth, technology transfer, job opportunities, higher income, brain gain from Singapore, and boost in tourism.

Najib also questioned how the government arrived at the conclusion that the project would cost about RM110bil.

He said the costs of the project as of early this year stand at about RM72bil, taking into account payments made to the citizens for land transfer.

“The true cost can only be known when the tenders for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of the rolling stocks and assets of the rail are fully closed on Dec 28 this year,” he said.

He also questioned if the agencies involved in the project have been given a chance to present their case before the cabinet and the Council of Eminent Persons.

Okay, I think those points are quite fair to consider.

And this is the reply given by Dr Mahathir;

RM100 billion HSR for 100000 jobs? Not very efficient

excerpts;

“You want to spend RM60 billion to RM100 billion so that 100,000 people can work. That’s not very efficient,” he said at a buka puasa event here.

Najib had also claimed that the HSR would have garnered RM650 billion for Malaysia by 2069.

Asked to comment on this, Mahathir only said: “We are studying it (the report).”

So, the HSR project was cancelled before being fully studied, is it?

Hmmm....that's not very reassuring.

How about the cancellation of the other projects?

I think the government should thoroughly study things such as the HSR project and the findings be presented to the public before a decision could be made on it.

Otherwise it's not going to be good for the country.

We can't go on forever just repeating the mantra "Najib stole the people's money, so that's why things are like this now", right?

I think we need to be more rationale and mature than that.

Whether Najib really stole the money, let the court decides.

We follow the rules of law, right?

But seriously, I think Najib seems so cool about it.

If I'm the one whom they said had stolen the billions of ringgit, I really don't think I can smile and issue statements like that.

Najib on first day of questioning at MACC headquarters

I would be as quiet as a mouse and try to save my skin more than anything else.

Anyway, the other day, a friend asked for my opinion whether Najib is really going to jail.

I told him that I seriously don't know whether Najib is really guilty at this point but based on what happened in the past few weeks, I think this PH government will make sure he goes to jail, one way or another.

After all, it's their election campaign promise.

And with that, Malaysians probably can keep repeating the mantra for the years to come.