Ramasamy: “Want to waste taxpayers’ money? Just appoint special envoys”

Ramasamy: “Want to waste taxpayers’ money? Just appoint special envoys”

By Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy



IT is truism to state that the new administration led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is nothing but a recycled Government.

Not only the new ministers and deputy ministers were from the former Government of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, even the appointment of the special envoys to the Arab World, China and Easy Asia saw no change whatsoever.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, Datuk Seri Tiong King Seng of the Progressive Democratic Party and Datuk Seri Richard Riot of the Sarawak Democratic Party have been retained as special envoys.

Hadi, Tiong and Riot have been retained as special envoys to the Middle East, China and East Asia, respectively. These are appointments not with any expectations to improve relations between the regions or countries with Malaysia.

They are merely political appointments to appease their respective political parties within the Perikatan Nasional coalition.

Hadi may have religious and language credentials, but other than that, I am not sure whether he has professional and diplomatic qualities to enhance relationship between Malaysia and the Middle East, or the countries in the region.

Hadi might be a firebrand when it comes to religious exhortations but he is poorly equipped to understand Middle Eastern dynamics.

He is dead set against Israel but is oblivious on why several Arab countries have slowly developed good relations with the Zionist state.

On the topic of the Palestinian statehood, Hadi has no clue how to proceed on the matter, other than echoing the usual line calling for the destruction Israel.

Even some Arab countries are not comfortable with this perspective, where many believe it is counterproductive to the very survival of Palestine.

Whether it is coincidence or not, the appoint of Hadi as the special envoy to the Middle Easy has come at a time of thawing in the relations of Israel with some Arab countries.

Clueless leaders given important tasks

And I do not think Hadi has ever commented on this matter, or probably he lacks the intellectual insight to do so.

As Tiong’s appointment, it is no different to Hadi’s case. However, unlike the latter, the former does not pretend that he is well versed on matters relating to China.

Even though he has been in the position for some time, I am yet to know Tiong’s contributions in enhancing bilateral relations between Malaysia and China.

The Chinese government’s treatment of the Muslim Uighurs is something that is of great concern to Malaysians, particularly the Muslims. Being a businessman, I doubt Tiong is interested to deal with such matters.

Since Hadi and Tiong are paid salaries using taxpayers’ money, the Malaysian Government should be responsible enough to publish their accomplishments, if there any.

Riot from Sarawak is another politician like Hadi and Tiong. He was a former Human Resources Minister under the Barisan Nasional Government, but his performance leaves much to be desired for.

In fact, during his tenure, many were not aware that he was in charge of the Human Resources Ministry. Apparently, he spent more time in Sarawak rather than taking up his federal position seriously.

East Asia is a big region; it consists of China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. If Riot could not efficiently manage his ministerial position, how he is going to manage and enhance ties of this region with Malaysia?

Malaysia has much to gain but can Riot do the job that he has been assigned to? What has he accomplished in the recent past? Anything that we could be proud of?

It is manifestly clear that the candidates have been appointed to their respective posts for political reasons. It is a sort of political appeasement by the present Perikatan Government.

The appointments have come with costs that will have to be borne by taxpayers. Knowing that these individuals will have no contribution, their appointments are a terrible waste of resources. – Sept 2, 2021



Ramasamy Palanisamy is the state assemblyperson for Perai. He is also Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang.