I get lots of emails from people asking me to post up letters, promos and announcements. All of which i usually decline else it’d clutter up my blog. But this letter pulled at my heartstrings cos i hate wastage. I recycle every single scrap that goes through my apartment and a little part of me dies inside every time i see styrofoam lunch boxes.

Eddie sent this letter to the Star but got no reply so he asked whether i would post it here since they seem to have no regard for it. And i willingly said yes.

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The Editor, Metro Mail,

Menara Star,
Level 3A, 15, Jalan 16/11, Section 16,
46350 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Email: metro@thestar.com.my

Dear Sir,

Re: The Star’s Bid & Win

To celebrate the Star’s 40^th Anniversary, the national newspaper has launched a “Bid & Win Series” where various denomination of points(from 100 to 500 points) can be collected every day for 14 days and the highest” bidder” with the most points gets a chance to win prizes. A quick calculation shows that even if the maximum 500 points was available daily for the entire 14 days, this will only total to 7,000 points and with 4 series until 5^th January, the maximum total points is 28,000 points. In the so-called first “Diamond” series, the first 4 prizes are from 3,000 to 6,500 points while the remaining 4 prizes are from 9,000 to 22,500 points. If a 46” LED TV and Osim massage chair requires 20,000 points and 22,500 points respectively and assuming the cost is RM10k, how many points will be needed for the grand prize of the Peugeot car which has a cost of RM 218k – more than 436,000 points?  So what will and has happened – the Star has leveraged on the greed of its readers to purchase multiple copies (not in the tens but in the hundreds) to try to get more points. Under the guise of its 40^th Anniversary, the Star’s sales and marketing team has to be commended for this strategy in increasing its sales and circulation multiple fold with even road shows where the public can purchase hundreds of copies of the Star just to cut out and collect the points. What is the implication?

a)     The Star is promoting and encouraging wasteful spending when under the present economic situation, it should be following the Government’s lead to advise the people to spend wisely and buy what is needed.

b)     The Star is expending energy in terms of power and raw materials as well as manpower to produce a product that is only wanted for a 4.5” x 3” paper cut-out. Shouldn’t the Star, as a responsible national newspaper, be advocating reduction in use of natural resources – energy efficiency, using less paper and cut down fewer trees? All these power and raw materials used to produce an increased quantity of product that is neither necessary nor needed.

c)     What will the person(s) who bought a few hundred copies of the Star newspaper do with them? The tens of hundreds if not thousands of copies of newspaper become a waste product (hopefully recycled).  Shouldn’t the Star be advocating reduction in waste generation, rather than the opposite?

How does this tie in with the Star’s Corporate Social Responsibility? How is this not contrary to their Environmental Responsibility and their Environmental Policy or their Environmental Management Systems and the ISO 14000? Could the conduct and promotion of such an event be considered environmentally friendly or environmentally sustainable?

Perhaps the Star should consider other means to run this event to celebrate their 40^th Anniversary?

Instead of trying to collect maximum points for the prizes, perhaps follow a system like the online auction bidding on the internet. Make it a requirement that one has to collect the 14 consecutive day’s Star masthead for the two weeks period in order to qualify to make a bid in cash and the cash bid received by the Star can be donated to a charity or charities selected by the Star or of the reader’s choice. So for example if the prize D6 in the present series is the MacBook Air 11inch which has an approximate retail price of RM3500.00, a reader (if he has collected the 14 days masthead) can bid for it starting from a reserve price set by the Star. It could be as low as RM100 but if someone feels that he still wants to own a MacBook Air for RM3400.00 and at the same time, knowing that sum will be donated to charity, he could do so and there is also the possibility that some might bid higher than RM3500 if they know that amount will go to charity. This way it becomes clear that the Star is fulfilling its CSR (while at the same time it can get a tax reduction). Should the donation to charity be in the bidder’s name? Probably not, because then someone may calculate the tax reduction and if he is paying 26% income tax, he can bid for the MacBook Air at up to RM4410.00 and feels that he is still not at a loss. Then at really expensive prizes, for example the car, someone could be willing to bid up to RM274,680.00  This would defeat the purpose of leveling the field and providing equal opportunity for everyone to bid for something that he need or want. This way the sponsors also know that their sponsorship has gone to good causes.

If this is not quite what the Star has in mind and insist on the present format of collecting maximum points, then instead of forcing people to buy actual copies of the newspaper, allow your readers to purchase the points online or at your offices. So if on that day, the points printed is 400 points, allow your readers to purchase 400 points for RM1.20 and if it is on a Sunday, the points are 500 points then the cost of purchase is RM1.50 per 500 points.  At least then, the Star still has increased its circulation and sales income but has not wasted energy and raw materials to produce unnecessary paper waste. So for those who still harbor hopes of spending a few hundred dollars to get a particular prize, they can continue to do so.

It is surprising that the relevant Ministry and Government Departments nor the Environmental NGOs or the Members of Parliament or Assemblymen has not noticed this horrendous waste of resources to produce a waste product, not to mention the promotion of wasteful spending.

Yours sincerely,

Eddie

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