Don’t embarrass king, PM, Kadir tells Waytha

PETALING JAYA: Veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin has rebuked federal minister P Waytha Moorthy over his conduct in the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple issue.

In a blogpost made in his personal capacity, Kadir said Waytha was the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of unity and social well-being, yet his recent actions had helped strengthen neither.

Kadir, the media adviser to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, also said Mahathir had already “advised” Waytha. However, he did not say what the advice was.

“But our prime minister is kind-hearted and even when he is angry, people may not realise it. Waytha, who has not known Mahathir for a long time, should not be so gung-ho and comfortable with his position.

“Remember, you were not chosen by the people. You are a senator appointed by the king and made a minister by Mahathir. Please do not embarrass our king and prime minister,” he said, inviting Waytha to leave a comment in his blog if he was unhappy with his words.

The temple relocation saga has seen a lengthy legal battle, protests and chaos, including burned vehicles, mob violence, an attack on the temple and damage to property.

Kadir also trained his guns on Education Minister Maszlee Malik, saying the PPBM MP had also been “lectured” by Mahathir.

He said he agreed with Mahathir that the country already had many religious schools and there was no need to inject more religion into national schools.

Such schools, he said should go back to their original objectives of being schools to unite all races and religions.

“It’s unlikely that an intelligent minister like Maszlee does not know many non-Malay parents no longer send their children to national schools as they have become more like religious schools.

“On the other hand, more Malay parents are sending their children to Chinese schools because they want their children to excel.”

Kadir added that his singling out of Waytha and Maszlee didn’t mean the “rest” had succeeded, just that it wasn’t “their” turn yet.

“Think of me as an elderly visiting teacher, sitting at the back and watching their actions,” he said. - FMT