IT'S SHAMELESS, OBSCENE AND EXPLOSIVELY SCANDALOUS.

GOODIES galore is the most common modus operandi Barisan National is a franchise holder to. One would expect that after half a century, we would see something more innovative and less susceptable. Putting new strategies in place does not seem to be BN's forte. They still cling to that poor management mantra: If it ain't broke, why fix it!

Putting aside this form of "bribery" or "vote-buying" as something we have come to live with, it now appears that the latest goodie smacks of the devil may care attitude.Our next Prime Minister (?????) tried his hand at being innovative. But I think it is shameless, obscene and explosively scandalous.

Let's read what Kim Quek, popular columnist and author, said in his latest piece in Malaysiakini:

In the most daring act to 'bribe' the electorate of Kuala Terengganu (KT) to date, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak dished out 583 government contracts in a “lucky draw” fashion to each and every Class F contractor present at the Wisma Darul Iman in Kuala Terengganu on Jan 10, the fifth day of the KT by-election campaign.

These contracts (valued between RM30,000 to RM200,000 each), which were claimed to be for infrastructure works in the local township, were distributed in random by having the contractors come on stage to click on the computer.

And upon pressing the button, a contract would be awarded to the contractor, details of which - nature of works and contract price - would instantly appear in a big screen in the hall. Thus the contractor would walk home with his “prize” (a contract with a pre-determined price), with no question asked on his track record or suitability for the works assigned.

Najib, who launched these innovative awards, proudly claimed this as “a world record”, saying that: “In this lucky draw, everyone wins. Everyone gets a contract.”

He further added that if Barisan Nasional wins in the coming Kuala Terengganu by-election, there would be more and bigger such contracts, so that the Class F contractors (confined to Malays, for small contracts) would “continue to make money and the country’s economy would continue to grow”.

While Najib may be entitled to claim he has scored “the world’s first” for having satisfied every one of the hundreds of contractors present, few can share his pride over such bizarre method of disposing government infrastructure projects.

Continue reading HERE.

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Let me take you back to what happened last year:

MARANG, April 13 (Bernama) -- Sekolah Menengah Wakaf Tapai whose hall roof collapsed on Friday does not have a Certificate of Fitness for Occupation (CF) although it has been operating since 2005.

The Education Ministry's buildings division principal assistant secretary (Technical) Samini Omar said the school, built under the Eighth Malaysia Plan, had to be used because of pressing needs at the time.

"We were issued a temporary CF while waiting for the CF to enable the school to be used because of pressing needs at the time.

"The contractor involved has agreed to undertake the repairs (at the hall) and also some more repairs at other buildings in the school," he told reporters after making a visit to the school here today.

The roof of the hall, which cost over RM2 million to build, collapsed at 8.30pm on Friday.

However, there were no casualties in the incident.