I feel relieved, Muhyiddin tells his wife on day of resignation

 

After performing the dawn prayer on Aug 16, Muhyiddin Yassin sat with his wife, Noorainee Abdul Rahman.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“I feel relieved,” he replied. “This burden on me as prime minister is no more after today.”

Muhyiddin would later tender his resignation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after just 17 months in office.

He also met with his staff at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Putrajaya where he recalled his conversation with his wife and spoke about dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

A recording of the meeting was posted on his Facebook yesterday soon after Istana Negara announced that Ismail Sabri Yaakob would be the next prime minister.

Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his wife, Noorainee Abdul Rahman, at their residence after the Sheraton Move.

Elaborating on shouldering responsibilities, Muhyiddin said: “I have to do what is right. Not because I think it is right but because Allah says this is right.”

“You don't do what you think is right, you do what is right. There is a difference. You may think this is right but Allah says it is not right. I believe in this.

“There is no room for corruption because it is haram (forbidden)... Because of this, I am willing to speak the truth even if it is bitter. So this is my principle.”

'God willing, I will come back'

Noting that positions are not permanent, he quipped that he might be mentioned in the footnotes of history that “there was once a prime minister called Muhyiddin Yassin or Mahiaddin Yassin, and this is what he did. Perhaps it would be a brief chapter.”

“But I think I should be proud that we tried. So it is a question of principle. I must tell you, it is important. Do what Allah says is right. Fight against evil,” he added.

Muhyiddin also recounted the time he had briefed his staff after he was sacked as deputy prime minister in 2015 by the then premier Najib Abdul Razak.

“After he kicked me out, I went back to the deputy prime minister's office. I did not sit there for long. I said 'sorry, we have to pack up. I just met Najib, he sacked me'.

“I took one novel. I had no secrets in my drawers, no letters. We cleared fast because we knew we did nothing wrong.

“Here, I am again today... That is what life is about. What goes up, maybe must come down. But what goes down now, God willing, I will come back,” he added to applause.

Earlier, Muhyiddin said he became prime minister during a difficult period with regard to the pandemic, which his administration had been accused of failing to contain.

“I am probably the prime minister with the shortest tenure. I believe I did what was needed to save lives and to ensure people had food on their table... These are important aspects of life of a nation. Perhaps Allah bestowed this position on me for this purpose.

“Thank God, towards the end of this journey, we have seen the efforts by all of you together with me at PMO and the entire civil service, I think we have come to some success,” he said.

When certain countries are still struggling to obtain vaccines, Muhyiddin said the vaccination rate in Malaysia has been exceptional and there is more than adequate stock.

In an obvious reference to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Najib, he reiterated there are those who crave power at a time when people are suffering.

'We tried but it was tough'

Speaking about the hardship faced by the people, Muhyiddin recalled distributing food items to his constituents in Pagoh, Johor, adding that he felt responsible for their plight.

“I have never seen Malaysians in such dire straits before... I distributed chicken, beef, fish and vegetables, which I have never done in the whole of my career as the MP for Pagoh.

“I gave thousands of these so-called fresh rations. Why? Because they have no money left. There is nothing to eat.

“I feel responsible because I am the prime minister. But to say I am responsible because I did nothing is not correct. We tried but it was tough.

“Lockdowns have not ceased. I don't know, I have forgotten how many lockdowns there were. Some said it (lockdowns) are not effective but it has an effect on saving lives.”

Touching on his decision to ease restrictions, Muhyiddin said by the end of the year, all sectors of the economy would be operational.

“So it is just about one year that we struggled, and in the one year, we also achieved. There are records of sorts. I need to thump my chest a little on this because nobody else wants to praise me and I did not ask them to praise me.

“Because we know what we did, we never neglected. The cabinet which I formed had nothing else (to focus on) but Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid... day and night.

“So when people say we did not do what we should be doing. I think they are wrong.” - Mkini