I WRITE to highlight the disgraceful attitude of people who cut queue during the sale of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW) shares.

These people have learned how to exploit the queue system in banks and post offices by doing multiple transactions with one number.

I am not talking about two to four transactions, but six to eight at one go!

Some individuals also took a few numbers to “insure” their turn in the scramble for the ASW units.

I arrived at a post office at 9am when the sale was to begin and joined the queue of fewer than 20 people outside.

When I took a number, I noticed that I was 26th in line. In the end, I finished my transaction after noon and I doubt that I was served as the 26th person.

Herds of family members, including teens and adults, suddenly appeared with individuals before me when their turn at the counter came.

There was also one man with a sling bag, whom I suspected to be a runner. He piled the cash of his clients on the counter like changing money in a casino. He did more than six huge transactions with a few queue numbers, throwing the whole system at the post office into disarray.

I would suggest that post offices and banks should enforce a rule of limiting two transactions per queue number and the numbers must also not be in a sequence, but far apart.

Parents with young children may do their transactions together but I’m sure they don’t mind teaching their teenage or adult kids who come later to take a number and join the queue like others.

Secondly, the authorities should make last-minute announcements like what is done for Amanah Saham Malaysia to prevent runners from gathering “exclusive” patrons and hog up queues.

KG,

Cheras, Selangor.

Sauce

THE recent distribution of ASM and Wawasan 2020 unit trusts seems to fall short of expectations. Having Malaysians queuing up from 4am to buy the units is not something to be proud of and should not be happening in this day and age.

Releasing units suddenly with little notice sends members of the public scurrying to banks withdrawing or transferring money only to be disappointed when they were told that the units had been exhausted barely hours later.

Not only does this cause a loss of productivity but also puts many at risk of losing their hard earned cash.

This scheme was initiated to help the underprivileged share the nation’s wealth.

Just like giving discount to buyers of million-ringgit property, people who have thousands of ringgit available at short notice should not be the target group of this scheme.

This is another fine example of a good policy being marred by poor implementation.

The people who need help are those struggling daily and who can perhaps spare a few hundred ringgit on a monthly basis. This may be the reason for the slow uptake of the Indian ASM quotas. There is a need for a fairer distribution system to ensure the poor are not marginalised.

Such a system already exists and has proven highly successful for the bumiputras.

It is only a matter of extending the same to all other Malaysians. For NEP to be truly for all Malaysians, there must be a revamp in the impementation of the scheme, otherwise it will merely remain a lip service.

After numerous disappointments, it does leave a bad taste in the mouth.

IMALAYSIA WANNABE,

Subang Jaya.

Sauce