Just a little cheer, for starters?

I was travelling outstation when I grabbed a copy of The Star this morning at 9.45am (started late because of heavy rain, still a blessing in Seremban which has experienced water rationing for a week now...)when we stopped at a petrol station to fill up. Was I elated -- I am sure fellow Malaysians like mitochondria too, and Sabrina Tan if she could read the latest on the APs issue -- to be greeted by the front page headline:

The AP kings
Government releases list of Approved Permit holders

The AP ALLOCATION breakdown, accompanied by the three pictures, shows: TAN SRI NASIMUDDIN SM AMIN, (Managing Director of Naza Group) with 12,524 permits; DATUK SYED AZMAN SYED IBRAHIM, DATUK HANIFF ABDUL AZIZ , and DATUK AZZUDDIN AHMAD (all three of Weststar Motorsport) accounting for a total of 15,759 permits.

These four with the permits that allow for the imports of foreign cars accounted for more than 28,000 of the 67,158 permits allocated thus far this year.

The STAR continued on Page 3 with another report headlined
Announcement a big surprise

saying that the surprise was because this was the first time that the names of AP recipients had been made public. Government leaders had earlier said that the policy of not revealing names would remain.


I'm sure all caring and concerned Malaysians welcome the Prime Minister's act in publicising the list. This is an occasion that lights up many Malaysian faces -- including Mitochondria's, SO PISSED WITH THE AP ISSUE THAT he "was tired of being tired" (see Comment to Desiderata's post "Voices from Within" earlier today...).

The APs issue has grabbed the nation's attention for the better part of the past few weeks -- the sequence beginning with calls being made by many quarters for the AP recipients be made known; former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's lament that only his son (Mokhzani) was named as one recipient of the Approved Permits (for the import of Porsche cars), while others were not publicised; and that the abuse of such permits by certain parties has undermined the sales of PROTON, the national car. When Mahathir, as Proton adviser, requested the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to release the full list of permit holders and their numbers, he was rebuffed by the Minister, saying, among other things, this (making public) has never been done, even during Mahathir's premiership.

In fact at one stage, even the position of CEO of Proton, Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, was in the balance when he defended the national car project and criticised some parts of the Government's impending Automotive Policy.

I say "Syabas" to Pak Lah, for whom I have a soft spot as expressed in the preceding posts. I hope yesterday's announcement is just the "starters" to more demonstrations to come of his government's commitment to transparency, accountability and openness.

Now that the complete list has been made public, it's time to do some analysis, including the arithmetics involved in terms of Ringgit and Profits (or is it Profiteering?)and the implications of having APs as a part of the country's Automotive Policy.

What's worrying Desiderata is the open admission by the Minister of International Trade and Industry that indeed, there had been some AP holders who make a business out of selling the permits. "They don't sell cars, they sell APs." Thus was another report quoting Rafidah Aziz on Page 3, The Star, under headline
Govt will punish those misusing APs, says Rafidah

The question beguiling Desiderata is that so many ordinary Malaysians are so easily traced for mere traffic offences, and even threatened, then hunted down like common criminals, with warrants of arrest; but so far, we don't hear of any MITI action against such AP abusers. What's the logic? Big fish get bigger leeway?

I got home from the outstation assignment at about 8pm and attended to this Update later than most fellow Bloggers, I'm sure, because the news was all over national newspapers today on the FrontPage. Maybe I'll continue with this subject after digesting the HotPotato (as hinted to become one at the forthcoming UMNO Assembly debates), with thy Permission?

To Pak Lah, "Syabas" again; yes, I think my soft spot for him is justified. Is this little cheer merely the starters? I dearly hope so.