Discount on Police Summons

I pulled this off the MYEG website. I am actually quite surprised to learn that one can get a discount on a traffic summons. Meaning that is you commit a traffic offense , that offense will cost you less if you pay up sooner rather than later. Somehow I feel the messaging of this proposition is all wrong.

I think summons should work the other way – upon committing an offense, there is a base rate you will pay then the longer you take to pay the more expensive it becomes. People should not be able to pay below the minimum amount.

For speeding it is RM300. Assuming you pay in 30 days, the police will give you a 30% discount. What they should do is to set the base rate at RM210 and if you don’t pay in 30 days it goes to Rm300 and then next 30 days RM400 and so on.

A discount only encourages bargaining and becomes a motivation for corruption. Whereas a non negotiable publish rate eliminates bargaining and makes corruption very difficult.

Here it what it says in the MYEG website:

PDRM SUMMONS ALERT REGISTRATION – [FREE]

For selected summons that are paid within 1 month of issuance, PDRM offers a discount scheme of 30% to 50% from the original amount.

Normally you do not receive any notices that you have been issued summons until after this one month grace period. Therefore, you have no choice but to pay the summons amount in full.

By subscribing to MyEG’s new FREE service, we will inform and remind you via email if you have any new summons. Now, you will always have the option to get this discount scheme. Furthermore, as you receive the summons notification early, you can still remember who was driving the car at that time and be more careful in the future.

In the event that you are very certain that you were never in the area mentioned in the summons (as you have received the summons early), you may refer to PDRM for a review on the photos taken by paying PDRM a small fee.

Najib – too little too late – Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau losses

The BN loss in Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selembau is essentially a micro reflection of the mood on the ground towards UMNO’s new line up and Najib as PM.

As I have contended earlier – too little too late. Unlike Pak Lah who became PM with a Mr Clean reputation and immediately won over the hearts of most Malaysians, Najib comes into the job with more baggage even as compared to the baggage Pak Lah is leaving behind.

So much so that even with Tun M jumping in and drawing the crowds at the by elections, the votes still went the other way.

Should we be surprised with the outcome – the answer is no.

If Najib wants to endear himself to the Nation – being the son of the former Prime Minister is not enough, walking through brickfields is not enough, freeing the 13 in ISA is not enough, unbanning harrakah and suara keadilan is not enough even having Rosmah Mansor (his wife) declare that she want to be a mother too all Malaysians is not enough.

All the things that he has done over the last few days, in the minds of the general public are things that the government should have done in the first place anyway. None of it in itself captured the imagination of the Nation. As far as the people are concerned the ISA 13 should not have been detained in the first place, neither should harakah and suara keadilan have been banned. Reversing and unjust decision is not a victory – it is atonement.

To rebuild – Najib need some huge symbolic actions and the most symbolic of all, is to reverse his stand on Perak and allow the dissolution of the State assemble and call for a fresh elections. No matter what BN says – Perak is truly the elephant is the room – an absolute perversion of democracy. Again I stress, BN is fighting a perception battle.

True, if BN was in power in Perak, and if BN people had defected and PKR swept in to power, maybe nobody would be calling for a fresh elections. But this is not about tit for tat. This is about managing perceptions and the perception is that Najib/UMNO/BN stole Perak. That perception has to be fixed.

The way forward for UMNO and BN is to reform forwards and not regress backwards. Its not about power but about serving the people. When the rakyaat see UMNO people all driving protons and number plates containing 4 digits all of which are different numbers – maybe people will start to believe that things are starting to change.

Just remember, Mahathir planted the seeds of all these troubles and listening to him, is not going to get you progress. Good Luck Najib,you are going to need it every step of the way.

Maid whacking small kid… don’t watch if you cant stomach it

This is simply cruelty. It is supposed to have happened in KL. It is absolutely sickening.

Our first days with Najib as our PM; and Rosmah’s first days as our …MUM??

Grooming for challenging role: Incoming First Lady Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor wants to reach out to people and would like to be seen as a mother to all Malaysians.

Grooming for challenging role: Incoming First Lady Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor wants to reach out to people and would like to be seen as a mother to all Malaysians.

Foster mothers: Prof Datuk Dr Aminah Ayob (left) Jeanne (third from left) posing for a photograph with Dr Siti Hasmah, Rosmah and Jane after opening the Bakti AGM in Petaling Jaya Wednesday.

One for all: Najib and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor waving to well-wishers on the staircase of the Prime Minister’s office yesterday.

Touching moment: Najib hugging Abdullah just before the former Prime Minister left Putrajaya yesterday.

Family’s love: (Right) Najib kissing the hands of his mother Tun Rahah Mohd Noah yesterday.

The VVIPs: (From left) Najib having a chat with the King while the Queen speaks to Rosmah at the gala. (From the picture, can you tell who is the first lady?)

Comeback: Najib accepting Dr Mahathir’s application form as Dr Siti Hasmah and Mokhzani (behind) wait to hand in their forms in Putrajaya Saturday. Looking on is Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

All pictures and captions appeared and were taken from The Star Online.

Najib swears in as PM on Friday

According to the news – Najib will be sworn in as PM on Friday.  The good news is that the gridlock in UMNO will be settled and hopefully the politicians will be able to focus on the task at hand.

The bad news is that, I think  Najib – for whatever reason, will end up winding the clock backwards and probably be the most draconian PM we will have seen.  As the saying goes there is no fire without smoke, and Najib is stepping into office with a hell of a lot of smoke spewing.

Najib will very quickly try to get a grip on the country and the only way he will do it is the way Mahathir did it- by stamping out dissent very quickly.  I’ll bet that we will indeed miss Pak Lah.  For all the jokes that were made about Pak Lah, he allowed for dissent, and a much freer environment for expression of opinions.  He may have paid the ultimate price for it, but for the rakyaat, it was a most welcome change from Mahathir’s regime.

A clamp down / draconian approach is only going to back fire on NAJIB . The world has changed, Malaysia has changed and every credit must be given to the rakyaat for choosing change. What NAJIB has to do is to CHANGE – and he has to change UMNO. NOT bring UMNO back to the “good old days.” Those days are truly good and old and gone.  He needs a true UMNO baru that speaks to the language of the electorate.

Is the very same key words that Mahathir used when he first became PM – bersih, cekap, amanah – meaning a Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy (fiduciary) government. When Mahathir took office – Malaysia and South East Asia for that matter was very much a back water.  Today  we risk ending back up as a back water country albeit a modern one, if our policy makers keep focusing on the feel good past instead of charting a path through the yet to be known future.

UMNO truly has to be rebuilt from ground up and the 2 things it must shed from its mindset are “The Malays are weak” and therefore “the Malays ned UMNO.”  UMNO must stop talking down the malays.  NAJIB must create a vision that have MALAYS as strong and capable – a confident race that can compete anywhere  in the world.  UMNO needs to figure out why professional Malay’s have gravitated so much towards PAS.  UMNO needs to become a party that becomes attractive to these Malay’s. Attractive not because of contracts and money – but because of ideology and vision.

The fact that PAS – Keadilan – DAP can openly fight each other over political differences is a strength that must be admired and not seen as a weakness. It shows an open-mindedness and preparedness to dialog and debate issues not matter how contentious.  Whereas for UMNO and BN towing the party line is key to survival – hence the myopic and close minded view of the world.

Overall I am not hopeful for Najib and  I would be glad for myself and the country  to be proven wrong on this one.