Syed Saddiq : We hear more about Timah than issues of public interest

 

PARLIAMENT | Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Independent-Muar) has questioned if the government is paying as much attention on good governance and issues of public interest as it does on the bizarre controversy surrounding local whiskey Timah.

In his 2022 Budget debate today, he said the government appeared to pay more attention to issues other than good governance.

"What was announced by Finance Minister (Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz) is good but the announcement will be wasted without proper implementation. The key is the execution of government projects (or decisions). This is the issue we faced now," Syed Saddiq said.

To prove his point, he cited the government's inability to deliver 150,000 electronic gadgets to help poor or underprivileged students by early this year and the latest Auditor-General's Report which revealed loss of public funds, irregular payments and wastage amounting to RM620.07 million in 2020.

"We hardly hear a debate on implementation (of these decisions). But in the past two weeks, we heard about Timah brand name.

"Was a special cabinet meeting held just to discuss a brand name? Has the same focus been given to the RM620 million leakage and wastage in public funds? No. Only silence, silence in the House. It's as though Timah is the biggest issue in the country," Syed Saddiq said.

 He also criticised Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man for not attending the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) currently taking place in Scotland but, instead, is focused on the Timah issue.

"What kind of message are we sending here? Is a brand name more important than malpractice and employment issues? There is so much effort given to cosmetic issues but issues closer to our hearts were not given enough time," he said.

On Oct 30, Tuan Ibrahim told the PAS Youth muktamar (meeting) that the cabinet has decided products capable of causing "public distress" cannot be sold.

Over the past two weeks, Muslim groups and politicians, including those from PAS, have claimed that naming a bottle of alcohol “Timah” constituted an insult against Islam because it bore similarities to the name of Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatimah.

They also said the whiskey brand and logo - a picture of bearded colonial officer Captain Tristram Speedy - “confused Muslims”. - Mkini