Former Perak menteri besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu has come to the defence of his successor, Saarani Mohamad, after the latter came under fire over low-powered phones being distributed to students.
Faizal (above), who resigned from his post on Dec 5 last year after losing a confidence vote in the Perak legislative assembly the day before, said insults against the current menteri besar were unbecoming and should stop.
"Perak Bersatu condemns and disagrees with the actions of some media practitioners and netizens who muddied the situation by hurling accusations at leaders who are trying to help ease the people's burdens.
"The act of insulting and belittling efforts and contributions from Saarani is unethical and disappointing," Faizal said in a statement today.
The Perak government has been courting brickbats after it distributed 20,000 smartphones to students, which critics claim are unsuitable for home-based learning.
The phones were contributed by YTL Foundation and have been identified as the YES Altitude 3. Specifications include a five-inch screen, an 854x480 pixels resolution and a 1.3GHz processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage.
The devices were given free to students from B40 families under the state’s “Tuisyen Cikgu Saarani” initiative that was named after the menteri besar.
Defending the contributions yesterday, Saarani said people getting aid should not be picky.
“If people want to give us alms when we are in difficult times, we should accept it and not demand this and that. If people give us sardines when we are in difficult times, let us eat the sardines. Let us not say we want to eat chicken.
“The story is that these smartphones were given to us for free and we (the state government) accepted them and distributed them to the students," he added.
Saarani’s statement prompted widespread ridicule, with graphic artist Fahmi Reza among those poking fun at the menteri besar.
Faizal said that the people should not let political differences divide them.
He added that people should unite in combating the Covid-19 pandemic. - Mkini
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