Please allow me to clear my mind and at the same time, hopefully, get some clarification about the sum of US$200,000 paid to former US president Bill Clinton on awarding him the Tan Sri BC Sekhar Award

Do not get me wrong. I am an admirer of Clinton and the award itself is named after a great Malaysian, otherwise known as Mr Rubber. He probably he deserves more. I must also point out the vital role rubber played in the economic development of our country and the role Indian estate workers played in that respect.

The clarification I am seeking, and so are the many others I have spoken to is this: does the US$200,000 go with the award, like the Nobel Prize? If yes, I have no problems with it. If not can someone, preferably the organisers of the event, clarify why Clinton was paid that hefty sum.

From the reports I read, the audience was allowed complimentary admission. If that is the case, were there sponsors for the event? In either case, the sum paid to him plus his and his group's expenses could have amounted to US$300,000. That converts to RM1 million.

Knowing the plight of the marginalised Indians in Malaysia, why was the money not used to award scholarships to children of Indian estate workers?

In other words, children of displaced rubber tappers and other workers from rubber plantations BC Sekhar was identified with, and who are unemployed and unable to pay for the children’s education?

Assuming that RM50,000 is spent on a degree course, 20 students could have been sponsored and 20 families could have been liberated from poverty and that benefit will carry on for generations.

Having stated truly that I am an admirer of Clinton, I wish to point out that Clinton is not a Prophet either. What did the audience who were at the function and Malaysia gain from his lecture? It goes without saying that Clinton does not need the money either.