PETALING JAYA, — Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik has dismissed speculation of impending changes in the ministry, saying the matter was not discussed in his recent discussions with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Yesterday, I was with the prime minister; we did not discuss that… what we discussed was about enhancing English language proficiency and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
“Every time we meet, he (prime minister) would ask to be updated on this,” he said after launching the University Student Volunteers Foundation (YSS) education project for B40 group at the Lembah Subang 2 People’s Housing Project (PPR) here today.
Maszlee was responding to a question on whether there would be changes in the Education Ministry with the speculated re-establishment of the Higher Education Ministry.
He said the merging of two ministries previously into the Education Ministry has been a success as it provided for the streamlining of policies under one roof.
Dr Mahathir has denied news reports about a Cabinet reshuffle but said he might make some portfolio changes among its members. — Bernama
Syed Saddiq defends PPBM members’ appointments in official sports roles
KUALA LUMPUR— Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman today defended the appointment of members from his political party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM) youth wing for official roles as coordinators of sports development in Malaysia.
Syed Saddiq, the youth and sports minister, reportedly said there was a “misunderstanding” on the 13 PPBM Youth members being given the positions of state sports development coordinators.
“Firstly, under the ministry, we have more than 4,000 staff and for me to know the political affiliations of every single person would be impossible,” the PPBM Youth chief was quoted saying by news portal Malaysiakini.
Syed Saddiq reportedly highlighted that the lack of knowledge of each individual staff’s political inclination had resulted in situations such as a member from political rival party Umno recently being attached to him under the Perdana Fellowship programme.
According to Malaysiakini, Syed Saddiq said he had not acted or discriminated ministry staff from opposition political parties such as Umno and PAS, explaining that the recent appointments of the 13 individuals was similar.
“So, this is the same in this case. As long as the (application) process has been followed, that is the best way,” he was reported saying, stressing the desire to ensure that all parties are treated fairly.
An August 19 letter purportedly from the National Sports Council had appeared on social media recently, with the letter stating that the council had so far appointed 13 officers for 13 states (excluding Sarawak) to coordinate sports programmes and development in the respective states, especially for paralympic sports.
A list that was shared on social media showed the names of the 13 officers for 12 states and Kuala Lumpur.
Questions were subsequently raised over the 13 individuals’ appointments, due to their political affiliations. MALAY MAIL
BERNAMA / MALAY MAIL
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