PETALING JAYA: Economy minister Rafizi Ramli’s recent comments on Malaysians’ “addiction” to eating out being the cause of their lower disposable income is unnecessary, says Khairy Jamaluddin.
The former minister said the people yearned to hear solutions from ministers like Rafizi, not the cause of problems.
Khairy acknowledged that Rafizi’s attempt to reveal his thoughts regarding the eating-out culture could be appreciated, but said it had an opposite effect on the people.
“The public doesn’t want to know your thought process, but they want to know your decision (on solutions). After you’ve made your decision, then you can explain,” he said in an episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast with Shahril Hamdan.
Two days ago, Malaysiakini quoted Rafizi as saying Malaysians were spending a significant amount of their income on eating out, adding that they were “addicted” to doing so.
The minister also said this could not be blamed on the people, but on past policies and the nation’s economic and wage structure.
Shahril said it was no surprise that Rafizi drew criticism from the public as Malaysians had a form of “righteous indignation” in their response to public issues worth a rebuke.
“Rafizi the analyst might be right, but Rafizi the politician is wrong, as he has gone against an unwritten rule. Ministers should not be analysing problems on social media.”
Separately, Khairy accused law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said of being hypocritical in claiming that Perikatan Nasional did not do much to separate the roles of the attorney-general (AG) and public prosecutor when it was in power.
He pointed out that, at an Umno gathering in August 2022, Azalina had said the AG should be the prime minister’s “own person”.
At the gathering, Azalina had taken a veiled dig at then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob over the retention of Idrus Harun as AG. She said that whoever becomes prime minister will usually “appoint one of their own to become the AG”.
“It was not so long ago she said this and (on Monday in Parliament), she (called out PN) with a straight face. I don’t know how she could say that,” said Khairy.
On Monday, Azalina accused PN of inaction over the separation of the AG’s roles, saying it was part of Putrajaya for more than two years, first with Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister, and during Ismail’s tenure.
FMT has contacted Azalina and her office for comment. - FMT
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