Friday, May 16, 2008

Stupid Ad: Spend RM25k to get a RM650 bag


I am usually quite impressed with HSBC offers and promos but this one has to take the cake for its stupidity.

At first glance, the offer of a free Samsonite Freeminder catches one's attention. And then you realise you have to spend RM25k before you get it. There's a penalty of RM650 for the bag if you don't spend the requisite amount.

I was thinking if anyone is rich or foolish enough to spend RM25k with this card, he or she wouldn't need or want this bag.

Now, if they had given free country club membership that would have been something more eyebrow raising....

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Let's Celebrate Mediocrity II: Malaysia better than 76% of countries

Remember how I blogged about Teras Teknologi (the UEM subsidiary responsible for Touch n'Go system development) celebrating their achievement of coming in 6th in last year's Enterprise 50 awards?

Well, now our dear PM has come out to trumpet the fact that we are better than 76% of countries in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, and by doing so, continues that grand Malaysian tradition: the Celebration of Mediocrity.

Rather than outline steps of how we can further combat corruption in this country, he chose instead to focus on the fact that we might be better off than some despotic states elsewhere in this world.

Rather than compare with the absolute best practice countries in the world like Singapore and Hong Kong, he chooses to compare Malaysia with Zimbabwe and Myanmar.

Is he saying that with an average "good and stable" score of 5 points every year for the past 5 years that we should be happy and content that greedy politicians continue to steal and siphon off the rakyat's money as long as it doesn't reach the excesses of Robert Mugabe???

Let's hope it doesn't take a 7.6 richter scale earthquake to witness the destruction corruption can wreak to a country.

Hidup Mediokriti!


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