YOURSAY | Penny wise, pound foolish in leasing Vellfires

YOURSAY | ‘This is when the country’s debt level is at an all-time high.’

Ministers now use Vellfire as official cars, Najib says don't blame him

OCT: This perk of having the Toyota Vellfire as the ministers’ official car is an abuse of privilege. If ministers perform well and Malaysia is prosperous, there won't be an issue. However, Malaysia’s debt level is at an all-time high (at RM1.35 trillion).

Due to the pandemic, most ministers have been idling at home. And in another month, it will be the first 100 days of this Umno-PN government. Let's see how Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will react to their report cards. Will the underperforming ministers be reprimanded, sacked, or given warnings?

This government cannot differentiate between wants and needs. All ministers want to travel in style, live a comfortable life and enjoy it as much as possible but don’t want to do useful work.

How can these ministers sleep at night when they know that the luxuries they are enjoying are coming from the rakyat who have to pay taxes, many of whom are working more than one job to support their families?

Don't the ministers have any conscience? It seems that currently, a minister’s real job is to support the PM and they would be rewarded handsomely. Results and deliverables are not important.

BobbyO: Former prime minister Najib Razak has no right to talk about Vellfires or any other cars driven by the ministers. Firstly, don't compare 60-over years of BN rule to less than two years of Pakatan Harapan rule.

In the 60-over years of BN rule, if all the monies due to mismanagement, corruption, and wastage are calculated, the Finance Ministry can afford to give each citizen a house and a Vellfire.

Najib and his colleagues in Umno, Bersatu, and PAS are always quick to raise issues concerning the 22 months of Harapan rule, but they are reluctant to look at all the major damages done to the nation during their tenure.

The sad fact is that it is ongoing. Until this government is not removed politically, Malaysians stand to lose more than Vellfires.

RedHorse3829: Najib, you supported the current government and the previous Muhyiddin Yassin government. So aren’t you in this together with them?

For you, it is always other people’s fault, it is never your fault – even the 1MDB scandal. Well, I guess that’s a convict’s personality. It’s always other people’s fault.

Nash: The one who criticised Harapan last time for wanting to change the official cars to Vellfires (but they decided not to go ahead) was Najib. Now, the one who is silent when ministers are using Vellfires is Najib.

Why is Najib so quiet when the Vellfires are used by the Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Muhyiddin administrations? Why don’t you make some noise? Ask them to change back to Proton Perdana, or perhaps Proton X70.

On another note, have you returned the furniture that you took from Seri Perdana?

Anonymous_3f4b: As always, they are wasting taxpayers’ money. They can support the national car industry and use Proton or Perodua but they use an imported vehicle like the Vellfire which costs much more to lease and maintain.

Just because it isn't their money, they think they can use it like it belongs to their grandfather. No wonder, the country’s finances are in a huge deficit and hurtling towards bankruptcy.

PurpleCat9452: The national debt ceiling was raised to 65 percent. Was it so that ministers and senior government officials can sit in Toyota Vellfires and/or Mercedes Benzes?

What’s more, they imposed a prosperity tax. Who would want to invest in Malaysia now?

Demi Rakyat: Just RM907.74 for the maintenance costs of a Vellfire per month? That’s if there is no problems or issues.

But if there are issues, the maintenance will be sky high and this is likely the case for some people to make money.

MarioT: Penny wise, pound foolish. The country is slowly recovering from an economic downturn, having spent high on health services, and providing many aid programmes to the people.

Do we need to burden the nation further with a luxurious vehicle for each of the many window-dressing ministers? Has our Proton Perdana suddenly become less prestigious or unworthy?

BlueMouse0551: I was working for an MP but resigned when a rubber tapper spoke to me about her hardship. She wanted to see my boss because she was unable to repay the loan she took to buy some shares run by politicians.

The shares were dwindling and the dividends were extremely low. I was sick to my stomach at their lack of compassion towards the suffering of the people and saw how they splurged on "luxurious lifestyles".

Please have a conscience and think, is it really necessary to waste people's money for your selfish purposes? Just ensure we build our economy and look into every rakyat's welfare. No one should be begging for food.

Suria: Be it Proton Perdana or Vellfire, what we see is the endless quest of our politicians for power, money and status. 

The rakyat have become so familiar with the corruption at high places that it no longer shocks us if the next official car is BMW 8 Series.

Leonard: I can't afford to change my 10-year-old car despite working for 15 years and diligently paying taxes. 

But sure, go ahead and use my hard-earned taxes to splurge on luxury cars for these so-called civil servants.

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