Are We Going to War?

RM6bil approved for six patrol vessels

LUMUT: The government has agreed to allocate RM6bil to build six second generation patrol vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Saturday.

The construction of the ships would boost the economy while benefiting 632 vendor companies, he told reporters here after a briefing on the project.

"Thus, we will ensure that at least RM2bil of the allocation will benefit these vendor companies which are strategic partners of Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd," he added.

Ahmad Zahid said that he would himself monitor the progress of the project, due to start next year, and ensure that all concerned benefit from it and that there was no delay in paying the vendors.

He said that Boustead Naval Shipyard had constructed several new generation vessels for the RMN and shown itself to be on par with other ship builders in the world.

Ahmad Zahid also said the Lumut-Bagan Datoh coastal area here has been identified for a world-class shipyard to be developed over the next 10 to 20 years.

He said the defence industry, including shipping, had immense potential in the Asean region and now generated income of US$25bil (RM75bil) a year.

If Malaysia could attract at least 20 percent of the defence spending, US$5bil or RM15bil could be generated by companies in the country, he said.

Ahmad Zahid the government was now trying to attract more defence industry-based projects, including ship building, to the country. - Bernama

Source: the Star

Another awesome RM6 billion well-allocated. If one were not wiser, one would assume that Malaysia was planning to go to war with some country or other. I particularly like this line:

The construction of the ships would boost the economy while benefiting 632 vendor companies, he told reporters here after a briefing on the project.

One wonders how the construction would boost the economy. OK, it will add RM6 billion to GDP growth. Then what? Next year, we build another 6 more ships? This is very much the same as injecting steroids into the economy, which does nothing more than temporarily boost the GDP. Even if it were to create more jobs, the people who are hired to construct these boats would be redundant once the project is complete.

Ahmad Zahid said that he would himself monitor the progress of the project, due to start next year, and ensure that all concerned benefit from it and that there was no delay in paying the vendors.

I shall let you deduce for yourself what the above sentence implies.

Ahmad Zahid also said the Lumut-Bagan Datoh coastal area here has been identified for a world-class shipyard to be developed over the next 10 to 20 years.

Yes, the Lumut port is world class because of its depth which allows large ships to dock there. Why not let the private sector do what is actually world class? If you have a world class port, why are you using it to build second generation patrol vessels? This is akin to the Chinese saying, "Slaughtering the chicken with a knife for beef". In short, isn't this overkill?