THE FALL OF MUHYIDDIN YASSIN

Jason Chin

After officiating an essay writing competition organised by Yayasan Maybank and Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana not long ago, Tun Dr. Mahathir said if he were in Prime Minister Najib’s shoe, he would not hesitate to sack anyone that does not tow along his lines. In fact, he even admitted that during his tenure he gave the sack to many people. Of all the things Mahathir have been telling Najib to do, little did he expect Najib to listen and follow this one. It would really be puzzling now if Mahathir questions Najib’s decision on the sackings and cabinet reshuffle because this is exactly what Mahathir said he would have done.

Netizens conclude the sacking of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is a repercussion of him speaking against 1MDB just a couple of days prior.

Did Muhyiddin get the sack because he spoke up or did he speak up because he knew he was getting the sack?

People from within reckon that Muhyiddin all of a sudden questioned the government’s stand on 1MDB because he was told he would not be part of the imminent cabinet reshuffle. If you remember, about a month before there was a video clip circulating the web of Muhyiddin’s speech condemning 1MDB in a closed-door meeting that was secretly recorded. Some say it was purported to send an indirect message to Najib about removing Muhyiddin from the post of Deputy Prime Minister. After that, he kept his lips sealed again. However, the gutsy Najib still went along as planned, as Muhyiddin was becoming a menace in Najib’s administration due to constant pressure from Mahathir.

Performance as an Education Minister

Considering only the performance of his ministry, Muhyiddin was not at all impressive. Education standards continue to fall, university rankings fell and the command of English among students and teachers is at a laughable level. Forget students and teachers, the minister himself speaks English with grammatical errors. The number of parents racing to enroll their children into international schools itself speaks volumes regarding the SekolahKebangsaan education standard. Even his very own cabinet colleagues and family members hardly send their children to national schools.

The 1BestariNet mega project failure does not sit well on Muhyiddin’s cap as well. The alleged direct issuing of this project to YTL Communications raised many eyebrows. Approximately RM 1 billion of taxpayers’ money has been spent for a project that spectacularly failed. Poor planning, implementation and execution have been cited as the reason of failure. A NGO called Penasihat Ekonomi Persatuan Minda Sosial Prihatin (PMSP) claims to have made a complaint to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding possible misappropriation of funds and technicalities against the Education Ministry.

Internal sources have revealed that presently the Education Ministry is planning to embark on another mega project by upgrading school labs nationwide that is going to cost billions of Ringgit. While the intention may be good, direct negotiation between the ministry and a private crony company again has raised questions with regards to Muhyiddin’s credibility.

Although not much information is currently available regarding this upgrading of school project that is rumoured to have hidden agendas, I am sure this news would hit the digital world soon enough.