Malaysia in Formula One

What? Malaysia in Formula One? Yeah... (with a sinister laugh)

Malaysia is joining F1 after BMW and Honda decided to pull out. Can we compete with Ferrari and Renault?
I bet you know the answer. I bet Malaysia is proud with her Si Kancil and Si Saga.

This is adopted from MSN news about what Malaysians think about it.

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Loh Ving Sung from Kuala Lumpur (F1 fan)
I think it's a bad idea. First off, I think it's a waste of money. We have millions to spend on an F1 car, why not use it to develp better QC for our national cars? Lets focus on our national cars first, and then maybe we can do something with the F1 car. Besides, aren't we joining to lose?

Basil from Subang Jaya (Ferrari fan)
Malaysia needs to be prudent in spending and be more responsible if they want to achieve the 1 Malaysia plan. How do they do that in wasting millions in motor racing? Billions of ringgits are wasted on egoistic show-offs like space travels, unnecessary government expenditures and now f1 motor racing. Why don’t they use the money to subsidize fuel, develop slum areas, reduce poverty, provide better medical assistance, upgrade the police agencies and other country development programs instead of wasting tax-payers money on frivolous personal glory.
The economy is struggling, the poverty level is still very high, the petrol crisis is still not resolved....food prices are soaring, and Malaysia spends millions on motor racing while others are pulling out and cutting down.

Patrick from Kuala Lumpur (Sauber fan)
I think it’s a large waste of tax payer’s money, especially since the money can be use to save lives in some third world country. There’s no need to go out of Malaysia even, amongst ourselves, we can do a lot to help. So why waste billions of dollars on something they want to be the first at?
Angie from Subang Jaya (Renault fan)
Instead of spending billions on something we don’t direly need, how about we try cleaning up the slums for a chance? If Singapore can do it, why can’t Malaysians?

Bonita from Kuchai Lama (Ferrari fan)
First helicopters, then submarines and now an F1 team? How people draft plans to consume billions so fast nowadays seem so predictable.
Is an F1 team so important to us now? Billions go down the drain, and even well-performing teams find it difficult to maintain the team, find sponsors and survive in the tournament year after year.
How do you think this team is going to fare?
We in Malaysia have bigger things to invest on and prove to the world. A better education system is a good example. How do our universities rank in the world, or at the very least, Southeast Asia?
The people who are pushing for this project are either not far-sighted enough or they have their own personal agendas in mind.

Greg from Kepong (Ferrari fan)
Leave out the economic situation, I think it’s about time we entered. We’ve got our own circuit, some of the best facilities in Sepang, and it gives our Malaysian’s a chance to show what they can do in front of the whole world.

Leena from Damansara (McLaren fan)
It doesn’t seem to me like it’s anything grand to have your own F1 team. Especially since the country is facing some of its darkest hours these days. We really ought to be focusing our attention elsewhere.

Christina from Ampang (McLaren fan)
I think it’s one of the best things for us right now. If you want to talk about uniting Malaysians, putting a Formula One car on the grid would do much better than any 1Malaysia campaign. Imagine the fans at our own track next year when F1 comes to town. Can you not already see the thousands of Malaysian flags?

My view is, can the government stop investing in such expensive sport and instead, give me the millions of money? Are we promoting or demoting our country?