Minister defends F1 team, says it will spur growth
Rahmah GhazaliPublished: Oct 26, 2009 10:29 AM | Updated: Oct 26, 2009 10:34 AM
The government has shrugged off criticism of the controversial 1Malaysia F1 team on the grounds that it will benefit the people by stimulating innovative and creative investment for the country.
The government has shrugged off criticism of the controversial 1Malaysia F1 team on the grounds that it will benefit the people by stimulating innovative and creative investment for the country.
Responding to a question from Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut), Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Razali Ibrahim believed the government has made a responsible decision to ensure that it will benefit the people.
Razali said the country would benefit from the branding and marketing strength of the F1 sport which has about 600 million fans worldwide, especially tourism, as it is one of the most popular sports in the world.
"With live telecasts throughout the year from strategic locations worldwide, this would help promote Malaysia continuously and stimulate our tourism industry," he said.
Razali also said competing in the Formula One motor racing was not all about winning, in reference to Sauber Petronas' failure in not being in the winning podium in the past several years.
"Petronas has become one of the renowned companies in the world to head this (Sauber) team. It is not all about winning in this competition because it is about how we put our local companies in the eye of the world," he said.
Razali also brushed aside suggestions that the 1Malaysia F1 team will face the same fate as the BMW team which had been driven out of the championship by financial losses.
"It is not right to say that our team would end up like BMW because we never know the reason why they withdrew in the first place. They could have bailed out because the company was losing money," he said.
It's an enviable achievement
According to him, it was an achievement for the country to have its own F1 team and that the fact was even recognised by neighbouring Singapore.
He pointed out that Singapore's mentor minister Lee Kuan Yew had said they should have started their F1 team much earlier than Malaysia.
Earlier, Razali was also quizzed on the government's involvement in the racing team where its annual budget is expected to be around RM300 million.
He said the people should not be worried about that as the team was an initiative from a private company and the government had no investment in it, either "directly or indirectly".
He added that the 1Malaysia F1 team was jointly-owned by Naza Group, Tune Group and Litespeed UK.
Razali added that whatever revenue earned from the venture, would be used to build facilities including a research and development centre for the team, at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC).
"The returns from the venture will also depend on the placing of the team on the grid at every race and the team's ability to attract sponsors," he said.
Razali added that the 1Malaysia F1 Team would also provide an avenue for the transfer of technology between Lotus and Proton, as well help Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM) to build the chassis of F1 cars.
"Malaysians can also be proud of the F1 car as it will be produced locally and with components from Malaysia. This would increase the profiles of local companies involved in the motor industry and also boost the world's confidence in sophisticated Malaysian technology," he said.
He added that at the initial stage, 30 percent of the workforce for the 1Malaysia F1 Team would be made up of Malaysians while participation from foreigners would account for 70 percent.
"For the first year, the management, Chief Executive, Chief Financial
Officer, Legal Department, Human Resource, Marketing and Public Relations will be filled up by locals.
"Once the facilities are in place and completed in two to three years, the proportion will be reverted to 70:30," he said.
BN reps unhappy as well
The setting up of the F1 team also saw flak from BN backbenchers, especially from outspoken Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) who called it ‘wasteful'.
Bung Mokhtar asked the rationality of having an F1 team as he said the sport does not belong to the ordinary people but only to the elite.
"The government should know that the people do not like us spending money on things we do not need. In reality, they prefer that their problems are sorted out," he said.
He also accused the government of lying when it said it did not need any investment whereas he claimed that the team needed RM300 to RM500 million from the administration.
"I read about this in the newspaper. How could the deputy minister say that it does not need any investment from the government? I do not believe this. Don't you get involved in lies.
"For me, this is not the truth. You should know the people will get back at us if we screw up," he said, to the desk thumping from his colleagues.
Razali, however, rebutted this, stressing that the annual budget of RM300 million does not come from the government.
"This is the truth. We are not hiding anything," he said.
Responding to a question from Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut), Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Razali Ibrahim believed the government has made a responsible decision to ensure that it will benefit the people.
Razali said the country would benefit from the branding and marketing strength of the F1 sport which has about 600 million fans worldwide, especially tourism, as it is one of the most popular sports in the world."With live telecasts throughout the year from strategic locations worldwide, this would help promote Malaysia continuously and stimulate our tourism industry," he said.
Razali also said competing in the Formula One motor racing was not all about winning, in reference to Sauber Petronas' failure in not being in the winning podium in the past several years.
"Petronas has become one of the renowned companies in the world to head this (Sauber) team. It is not all about winning in this competition because it is about how we put our local companies in the eye of the world," he said.
Razali also brushed aside suggestions that the 1Malaysia F1 team will face the same fate as the BMW team which had been driven out of the championship by financial losses.
"It is not right to say that our team would end up like BMW because we never know the reason why they withdrew in the first place. They could have bailed out because the company was losing money," he said.
It's an enviable achievement
According to him, it was an achievement for the country to have its own F1 team and that the fact was even recognised by neighbouring Singapore.
He pointed out that Singapore's mentor minister Lee Kuan Yew had said they should have started their F1 team much earlier than Malaysia.
Earlier, Razali was also quizzed on the government's involvement in the racing team where its annual budget is expected to be around RM300 million.
He said the people should not be worried about that as the team was an initiative from a private company and the government had no investment in it, either "directly or indirectly".He added that the 1Malaysia F1 team was jointly-owned by Naza Group, Tune Group and Litespeed UK.
Razali added that whatever revenue earned from the venture, would be used to build facilities including a research and development centre for the team, at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC).
"The returns from the venture will also depend on the placing of the team on the grid at every race and the team's ability to attract sponsors," he said.
Razali added that the 1Malaysia F1 Team would also provide an avenue for the transfer of technology between Lotus and Proton, as well help Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM) to build the chassis of F1 cars.
"Malaysians can also be proud of the F1 car as it will be produced locally and with components from Malaysia. This would increase the profiles of local companies involved in the motor industry and also boost the world's confidence in sophisticated Malaysian technology," he said.
He added that at the initial stage, 30 percent of the workforce for the 1Malaysia F1 Team would be made up of Malaysians while participation from foreigners would account for 70 percent.
"For the first year, the management, Chief Executive, Chief Financial
Officer, Legal Department, Human Resource, Marketing and Public Relations will be filled up by locals.
"Once the facilities are in place and completed in two to three years, the proportion will be reverted to 70:30," he said.
BN reps unhappy as well
The setting up of the F1 team also saw flak from BN backbenchers, especially from outspoken Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) who called it ‘wasteful'.
Bung Mokhtar asked the rationality of having an F1 team as he said the sport does not belong to the ordinary people but only to the elite.
"The government should know that the people do not like us spending money on things we do not need. In reality, they prefer that their problems are sorted out," he said.
He also accused the government of lying when it said it did not need any investment whereas he claimed that the team needed RM300 to RM500 million from the administration."I read about this in the newspaper. How could the deputy minister say that it does not need any investment from the government? I do not believe this. Don't you get involved in lies.
"For me, this is not the truth. You should know the people will get back at us if we screw up," he said, to the desk thumping from his colleagues.
Razali, however, rebutted this, stressing that the annual budget of RM300 million does not come from the government.
"This is the truth. We are not hiding anything," he said.
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