You read it. The Malaysian Government has been paying RM3 for a curry puff that would cost just 50 sen at your local road side stall. And that's not all. Other items apparently billed at exorbitant prices included :
- RM10,700 for a set of technical books
- RM5,741 for a 2 ton car jack
- RM224.94 for a set of screw drivers
- RM10,700 for a 3.1 megapixel digital camera
According to front page report in The Star :
| ...that was what the Government paid to supply tools for students at the eight National Youth Skills Institutes (IKBN) around the country, according to the Auditor-General’s (AG) report.
...And it does not stop there – the AG went a step further by examining the prices paid for 12 other tools and equipment bought for the IKBN project, comparing it with market prices when the procurement was done in late 2002. ...According to the report, consultants for the Youth and Sports Ministry had reached an estimated price tag of RM399.67mil for the equipment for the IKBN project which later ballooned to RM767.98mil after two appeals by the ministry for additional allocations |
Later reports in the papers tell us that the price tag for the cameras were justified because each unit also came with a multimedia computer, printers and other peripherals. Which made me wonder ...
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Did the technical books also come with the machinery that printed them? - Was the 2-ton car jack for 2-ton cars or was the weight of each jack 2 tons?
Or maybe the jacks also came with second-hand cars attached to them! - Did the screw drivers also come with self running robots to turn them?
There are times when I wonder... should I be slaving with my wife in my hot kitchen and slogging on my websites when I just need to scratch someone's back and have mine scratched in return? Maybe I can sell Popiah to the government at RM5 each. I could say they each come with decorative multi-colored, high-compressed, fiber-rich holders (otherwise known in the ordinary world as serviettes). 
Anybody want to scratch my back? 
