Single point of failure
Playbook #1
Heading into 2025, as this newsletter will be my full-time project, I’ve been doing some spring cleaning.
First thing on the agenda: Monday newsletters will be under Playbook and it discusses the nexus of bureaucracy, politics and government, from policies to lobbying to civil service reforms. Gossip? Got you covered, too.
The lead pic for this and future issues will hint towards what’s being covered in the newsletter. I’ll usually cover a handful of key topics, and these would be skewed towards my previous coverage of tech, politics and finance. But as and when I’ll venture into other areas.
For now, Playbook is be available to all subscribers but from March, I’ll park this for annual subscribers and founding members.
You’re reading a paid version of The Malaysianist, a newsletter on money and power by writer and journalist Emmanuel Samarathisa.
I run monthly and annual subscriptions. There’s also the atas or founding member tier where you get all the perks of an annual subscription and more, such as an annual or founder’s report and insight into how this little corner of the internet fared throughout the year.
Group subscriptions are on the table, if you’re mulling over purchases for your organisation or for family members.
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A. Unpacking Weststar’s RM16.5 billion defence contract
B. Separation of powers heats up as criticism piles on PM Anwar
C. Storms in the Comms Ministry cup
D. We’re still miles away from having a proper GovTech unit
Weststar Aviation Services bagged a RM16.5 billion contract to lease 28 helicopters to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and Navy (RMN), per Malaysia Defence’s Marhalim Abas.
Nothing much was fleshed out in the press release by the RMAF on Thursday but the signing was witnessed by some of the civil service’s top brass.
The deal was hotly debated in the Dewan Rakyat last month as the project cost of RM16.5 billion ran across 15 years.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim defended the deal saying his government went for the leasing model to reduce maintenance costs while improving operational readiness of the fleet.
He didn’t address criticism that the government would be paying roughly RM1 billion a year for 15 years for the choppers, but said they were selected based on the specifications and requirements of respective government agencies.