steadyaku47

Sunday 15 November 2009

Formula One - a formula for disaster?


Toyota Motor joined Formula One in 2002. When they left in 2009 they had spent RM $8.11 Billion. RM $3 million a day – everyday for 7 years!


Honda quit F1 in April this year.
BMW withdrew at the end of this year season.
Toyota, Honda and BMW! What does that say about F1? F1 is simply not sustainable. And now Mokhzani Mahathir, Chairman of SIC’s  announces: 
Malaysia’s plans to start up and run it’s own Formula One team….If Malaysians need to rally behind an effort to unite our people, let’s use motor sports” and most important of all he reminds us that “Contrary to popular belief, motor sports isn’t just about fun and games but is big business in other parts of the world”.
Company Name: 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd

Team Name: Lotus F1
Team
Country: Malaysia

Team Principal: Tony Fernandes

A partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. What madness is this? You can put any spin you like into this but this is the bottom line. The Barisan Nasional Government will be using hundreds and hundreds of million, if not billions of our Ringgit to finance an entertainment spectacle that will financially benefit their cronies and big business. Najib and Rosmah will enjoy their delusion of grandeur –  he having that few seconds of glory when giving away the F1 trophy to the winners at Sepang and she putting on her Islamic Fashion Show in Monaco!
Are we to be taken as idiots again? No businessman in Malaysia  not even Lim Goh Tong (may he rest in peace!) if he was alive today would have the audacity to invest in Formula One anywhere in the world – what more in Malaysia! Unless that businessman has been able to conned the Barisan Nasional Government to come up with the billions of Ringgits of Rakyat money to “invest” in this Man Telor of a scheme! And it looks like Tony Fernandes and his team have been able to do just that! Congrats Tony..but that Najib guy is not that bright is he?
Call this F1 Team anything you like but not 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd. Because when it fails, as it surely will, it is Malaysia that fails on the world stage.
Somebody better tell Najib that hitching his 1Malaysia to F1 will not make it a success. 
As for what participation in F1 will bring to Proton, Lotus or Petronas in terms of innovation and product development - just understand this - with globalization everyone has access to the same material, manpower and technology. F1 is simply not sustainable. It is just entertainment and big business – not for the masses but for the political Elites and their cronies.
But what can we do? We have a government totally out of synch with the realities of what its people want. We must find a way to put the fear of God into this Barisan Nasional Government before we too are drag into the abyss of corrupt and greedy cronyism that they have all comfortably settled into at our expense. I know that we still cannot keep these bastards honest but let us not forget to keep our anger burning. Keep our anger burning so that we will not forget what we have to do come the next General Elections to kick these Barisan Nasional bastards OUT! Keep our anger!

8 comments:

  1. Salam HH,
    This F1 thing is really a blessing for PR actually. This is the most stupid thing Najib can do to hasten the fall of the UBN polical hold on the country. Can you imagine the anger it will generate amongst the people when PAS, DAP, PKR use this issue in their ceramah? Keep playing this story for them to shiok sendiri and finally see the sun set. If the guys at the so called cheap flights outfit really need to put the country in a better light as far as motor sports is concerned, then A1 GP is the place, since it is the World Cup for motor racing. When Honda, BMW, Toyota and possibly Renault too left or about to leave, and here comes 1Malaysia..it's a big foolish joke indeed!

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  2. erilIn the near future there may only be 2 F1 team and Malaysia can boast it is at least SECOND. What glory

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  3. This is the best time for Malaysia to enter Formula 1.Do not worry, Toyota/Honda/BMW/Renautl(possibly) have left. Basically we now have a level playing field aka NEP ala Formula 1. Kalau big team don pull out, mana boleh Malaysia compete with dia orang kan....Malaysia PM memang pandai timing dia. Formula 1 need abt 300 million RM to run every year and they cannot guarantee result with any KPI...WOW this is perfect way to syphone money without having to show any result. Pandai la PM kita. Marilah Malaysian yang bodoh teruskan undi BN, janji anak2 cucu2 kamu akan terus dibeban dengan kos Formula 1 through income tax.
    I tau Malaysian memang bodoh sebab ada lebih kurang 55% dari undi GE13 yang undi BN, ini maksud masih ada lagi 55% Malaysian suka NEP,kroni,discrimination,korupsi,ISA,polis bunuh orang,MACC bunuh orang...wow....maybe 55% ni orang is da pandai 1....i tak tau la....maybe uncle HH boleh jelas kan...

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  4. I think the very we started the team is because a neighboring country started its very own F1 circuit, at night, and yes just like the ps2 game - need for speed - with all the lights and glitterings. It would seems that they stole the attention from yours truly. Hence it would be fit to do something - compete in the very race if it means to rival thy neighbor, even if the current downturn may not agree with this fincially, as you quoted the toyota, honda, and bmw case.

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  5. Like father like son. He thinks our money are theirs for the taking. I guess old habit dies hard. Family of thieves with bloated ego.

    Rainforest Man

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  6. why waste millions or billions in a motor-race ?? or maybe it's another UMNO/BN project to enrich themselves !!



    Bayot

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  7. No doubt that Tony guy is smarter than the PM. Either that or both are out to con the rakyat. That Tony guy knows that it is not feasible but when the govt is backing him and he can make tons of money out of it, why not?

    He is not a politician looking to be PM/Minister. He just want to make the money. You think he will take the gamble using solely his own money? He is not stupid like many of the UMNO goons.

    Economically, it does not make sense to venture into this F1 thing. This is just for grandeur with no or little economic benefits to the citizens of this country...very much like the Monsoon Cup. A few people will make their fortune at the expense of taxpayers money. How many high income/developed countries have F1 team?

    When we want to embark on a business venture, we must have the comparative economic advantage over other competitors/countries. We do not have the comparative advantage to go into for e.g automobile business. Proton will not be able to grow or penetrate the world market because we do not have any economic advantage over those top ten car manufacturers in the world. Proton is surviving solely on protectionism. They will need it for the next 100 years otherwise it will die.

    But as long as TDM is around, he will not allow that to happen. It is his legacy. Never mind if the people suffer by paying high prices for lower quality cars. Where else do you find a country that sells its cars much cheaper to foreign buyers than to its own citizens? And the rakyat is paying through their nose to own the expensive Proton. Rakyat no money to buy? No problem, allow them to buy Proton with repayment period of 10 years! Hutang sampai pencen.

    The govt says abolishing the import duties on foreign cars will make them loose RM6-7 billion in annual revenue. But there is a report that says that the govt is losing RM28 billion yearly through overpriced/overpayment for procurement of materials, services and awarding of infrastructure projects. Pay RM200 for a RM20 screw driver. Pay RM40,000 for a RM3000 PC etc...etc. Award a project to cronies and friends at 50-100% mark-up. Reducing wastages leakages and corruption through good and transparent governance will easily cover this shortfall in import duties for cars with a few bilions to spare. This way, the rakyat will benefit. They will have more disposable income to spend and move the economy. If I can think this way, I am sure they can think the same way. But these people do not have the political will to change because of self interest and personal greed.The fact that our future generations will pay the price is not in their mind.

    Do we want to be taken for a ride by these unscrupulous, incorrigible and greedy people?

    Tepuk dada tanya selera.

    HH, if i can supply a PC to the govt at RM40,000 apiece, I will donate 5 PCs to you so that you need not solicit donation to buy a PC !! Unfortunately, I can't secure such a lucrative contract. Sorry.

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  8. These are a bunch of egoistic people who use people's money to satisfy thier own desire. The F1 is like a very expensive toy that they cannot own if it is up to using their own money. With the power in their hands and with a few well connected people they embark on this hobby using rakyat's money. Do you know that there is no prize money for the F1 winner. Only glamor. And that only the driver gets all the spot light. Malaysia will get nothing out of this venture. Would the knowledge gained be channeled into the car industry? Just like they have spent millions sending a space tourist to space. Just ask yourself - what and how did Malaysia benefit from it? There is no space prgm in this country. There is no research facility. When milllions can be spent to better equip the education system the gomen spend on "boh liow" stuff. This is the kind of Malaysia I am ashame to call home.

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