your say 'The PM is just trying to out do his predecessors and hoping to stamp a mark with the building of the 100-storey tower.'

Poll: Two-thirds of M'sians oppose 100-storey tower

Ghkok: The construction industry should support the economy - not the other way round. If you start building 100-storey buildings at inflated prices, creating a glut of office and residential space, and cause enormous traffic jams, you may create some value but at the same time, you destroy a lot of value as well.

You create a boost to the construction industry but you do that at the expense of huge debts, destroy the value of other office and residential properties, and generate losses in terms of the cost of traffic jams to ordinary people plus the opportunity cost of not using the money for more productive and sensible use.

The net effect is a loss to the economy. But if you manage to attract foreign investment to say, build factories to produce goods for export, the building of factories generate a boom to the construction industry plus the factories provide jobs, and the exports of goods generate foreign exchange for the country. It makes more sense.

Cala: To PM Najib Razak, economics does not matter. Looking at the way Najib and his cohorts are concocting their projects is truly amazing at a time when the regime has lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament and a bleak future awaiting them at the imminent general election.

A rational being can make his decision base on any three criteria:

) base on ideology

ii) base on efficiency

iii) base on personal preference/motive

First, the decision to go ahead or not has nothing to do with any ideology as it is external to any economic agent. Second, efficiency theory is founded on weak ground because there is already a twin-tower, and Kuala Lumpur has an oversupply of office space.

The third argument, base on personal craving, may be plausible. This iconic project, once built, is the symbol of Najib's personality and leadership quality as he can find no other way to beef up the confidence of his people, much marred by a corrupted regime.

Rolls-Royce: Two-thirds of Malaysians are against the 100-storey tower, people are against nuclear power, the colossal scandal in PKFZ (Port Klang Free Zone), moronic tolls, IPP (independent power producers) privatisation programmes and all the rent-seeking beneficiaries, just to name a few.

How then can we label this government the government of the people, by the people, and for the people? Or is it more aptly to label this government the government of the elites, by the families, and for the cronies?

Anonymous: The danger is that the rakyat have been told that everything suggested by the government is not acceptable. So far every project, suggestion or even policy is objected by the opposition for political reasons. How does this help the rakyat? We won't go far with this attitude.

P Dev Anand Pillai: Yes, they are not bothered about the rising cost of living, the price of petrol and its spiralling effects on the cost of other goods, which are essential for a decent living.

Blind allegiance is what that causes this phenomena. The PM is just trying to out do his predecessors and hoping to stamp a mark with the building of the tower. He does not need to be perturbed by the fact that we have to stretch our ringgit to make ends meet.

Instead of coming up with a policy to keep prices of essential items controlled, he seems to allow it to spiral in the hope that the people will cope. It will only lead to more corruption as many would have to make more money to live the lives that they lead now.

Armour Man: Why shouldn't Najib build this colossal tower for fear of the financial risk? If the project fails, charge the CEO!

DOC: I don't think this survey result is going to make any difference to Najib. The reason for the 100-storey tower is nothing to do with the rakyat's need for the tower as echoed by Najib. Basically, this wasteful project is to make some Umno cronies happy with the many sub-contracts that will be handed to them. It is for this reason that Umno is bulldozing this project through.

Is it wise to build a tower that will be used for office space or apartments which will add on to the traffic congestion?

Rakyat Malaysia: All the money from the recent price hikes are collected to pay for this tower and BN for the next election. The rakyat get nothing. What rakyat get is sweet talk. That's all that the BN government can and will do. Don't expect BN to listen to rakyat, it is rakyat that must listen to the BN government.

‘Ubah gaya hidup anda supaya orang-orang BN-Umno boleh hidup mewah seumur hidup' (Change your lifestyle so that BN-Umno people can live well for the rest of their life).

Sharman: This is another example of one of BN's grandiose ideas. The government is hoping for a multiplier effect with the construction of the Warisan Merdeka tower. It definitely will have that effect but sadly it will be the wealth of the cronies that will be multiplied. This cycle will continue until BN is booted out.

DuluBN_Sekarang?: The government is going to raise another RM90 billion worth of bonds next year. ‘Hutang sekarang, bayar kemudian' (Debt now, pay later). Pity our children, who will have to pay for it via their income tax in future.

Pakatan Rakyat, tell us how are you going to govern Malaysia, how much is needed and on what. Tell us now. If we are satisfied, we will vote for you.

Sapusaja: Who cares, anyway. As long as I can open up a small ‘teh tarik' shop near the contruction site, I am happy.

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