5 reasons why Ahmad Maslan should resign

Najib should retire this minister who has performed poorly and done more damage than good with his comments.

COMMENT

By Shakira Iskandar

The Deputy Finance Minister, who is also UMNO’s Information Chief, has made many infamous remarks, making me wonder how he ended up being so highly ranked in the party and Federal Government.

Granted that some cabinet positions are decided more on its political value than qualification, Ahmad Maslan is nevertheless a bad choice as his comments have even overshadowed YB Bung Mokhtar’s often outrageous ones.

I do not question Ahmad Maslan’s intelligence. But I am starting to question his EQ. Here are some reasons why:

Out of touch with reality

A position of power comes with its perils – one of which is the tendency to lose touch with reality, something our deputy minister seems to be suffering from a bad case of. Telling students to cook their own food instead of having to pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on bought food and “advising” the rakyat to walk away from paying the 10% restaurant service charge are some of his more infamous quotes. One wonders when the last time was when he had to pay for his own meal. Also YB, it is often cheaper to eat out than cooking for one. It’s not like all grocery items are zero-rate or exempted from GST anyway…

Does not understand his own policy

A glaring reality of Ahmad Maslan’s statements is that he does not seem to fully comprehend his own policies. Nor does he seem able to understand the hiccups and loopholes in the implementation of it. In this particular case – the implementation of GST.

Instead of telling people to ignore the 10% service charge, why isn’t he focusing on clamping down on restaurants who are taking advantage of the GST? Even top-ups became an issue under his watch. Our dear YB has also said: “GST only affects the rich” since it is a consumption-based tax. Last I checked, even the poor had to buy groceries. Sometimes dear YB, it is better to accept criticism head on and just focus on fixing the problem rather than deflect the issue or give answers that are just… cringe-worthy.

Does not listen to the people

Leaders should understand their power comes from the people. When the rakyat is disgruntled, our leaders should take note, not dismiss them. Our dear YB keeps repeating the theoretical facts he mentioned before the implementation of GST, even after receiving thousands of complaints regarding its implementation. The fact is, the cost of living has increased, some prices did not go down as expected. The fact is, you still have a long battle with retailers who are taking advantage of the GST.

Lacking communications skills

Why or how he became the information chief for UMNO puzzles me as he seems to be only interested in one-way communication – him telling the people what they should listen to. He even once said that it was okay for Barisan Nasional (BN) to campaign in schools as they are technically government assets. Clearly not enough thought was put into such an arrogant statement.

Maybe I should have said he is over-confident of his communications skills instead…

He is making people lose confidence in the government

Granted that the Federal Government is already facing confidence issues due to 1Malaysia Development Berhad. Ahmad Maslan’s many infamous remarks is agitating the already agitated rakyat. The deputy minister is making our prime minister look like a fool. He has betrayed the trust given to him. GST is not the first issue that has caused controversy. When the price of fuel increased back in 2013, he came up with his own formula based on the assumption that everyone with a car worked about a stone’s throw away from their homes. On BR1M, school aid and (the now removed) subsidy for petrol, he said three months of our lives were being sponsored by the government. Such arrogance and ignorance is toxic to our country’s administration.

Why he is still a deputy minister of such an important portfolio puzzles me no end. Najib should for once take a stand and retire this minister who has been performing so poorly and has only done more damage than good for the nation.

I believe (actually ‘hope’, would be more accurate) that our nation still has better talents to serve the deputy finance minister post better. Even YB Bung Mokhtar is starting to make sense now.

Step down, Ahmad Maslan. We are tired of you.

Shakira Iskandar is an FMT reader.