OPINION | Is Steven Sim’s Luck Running Out?
24 Mar 2026 • 10:00 AM MYT
TheRealNehruism
An award-winning Newswav creator, Bebas News columnist & ex-FMT columnist
Image credit : The Sun
For the past few years, much of the news surrounding Steven Sim has been overwhelmingly positive. His public image has been shaped by narratives of steady promotion, effective leadership, and a reputation as a minister who is both competent and people-oriented. Whether it was his handling of issues related to HRD Corp, his positioning as a “friend of workers,” or general praise for his administrative approach, the trajectory appeared, at least from the outside, to be consistently upward.
However, recent developments suggest a noticeable shift in tone.
In a relatively short span of time, a series of unfavourable headlines and public criticisms have begun to surface. Taken individually, each incident may be explainable. But taken together, they create a perception that is markedly different from the one that had been built over the years.
The first notable signal came during the cabinet reshuffle late last year. While Steven Sim’s move from the Human Resources Ministry to the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry was interpreted by some as a lateral move on paper, but by others, it was seen as a demotion.
I personally don't see the fact that Steven is the first Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry we have had who is a non-Malay offers no advantage too. There is a reason why the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry ministry has always been Malay - the reason is that it is probably because it is only a Malay that can be effective in that position. That Steven is now in a position where a Malay minister is the one that can generally be effective, might just means that he has been “cold-storaged” to a position where he can't shine..
In the last couple of weeks, I am also hearing back to back bad news about Steven.
Last, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke publicly admonished Sim over his conduct in relation to discussions about the next Penang Chief Minister. Loke’s remarks were unusually firm, urging Sim to stop name-dropping and speculation, and emphasising that such decisions rest with the party’s central leadership rather than individual figures.
Now, Loke could have chosen to privately call Sim to admonish him or to admonish him gently in the public sphere, by not singling Sim out, but the fact that Loke chose the opposite is a decision, not an accident.
The jury is still out on why Loke has chosen to publicly puncture Sim's ego in such a way, but whatever the reason is, it doesn't bode well for Sim.
If that was not bad enough, just a couple of days ago, the high has also come out with a decision that has injured Sim's image and reputation.
According to the ruling, a high court has found that in his capacity as Human Resources Minister at the time, Sim had failed to maintain neutrality in a trade dispute involving banks and a workers’ union. The court determined that his engagement with the employers’ association—without equivalent engagement with the workers’ side—amounted to a compromise of his role as an impartial arbiter. In essence, the judgment suggested that the statutory expectations of neutrality attached to his office had not been upheld.
In response, Sim has maintained that he has always stood on the side of workers, pointing to his policy record and past actions as evidence of his alignment.
But I think Steven simply believing that he is someone who stands on the side of the worker or giving examples of his past work in regards to the workers is not enough for him to restore his image and reputation.
At the end of the day, when you are called to referee a trade dispute but choose to engage with the employers’ side and not the workers’ side, it is difficult to see how your belief that you are a friend of the worker can stand the test of reality.
Merely claiming that one has done much for workers, without offering a clear and convincing explanation for why one engaged with employers—especially in private and without engaging the workers’ side—is not sufficient to establish that position.
Afterall, nobody is claiming that Steven is not intelligent. We all understand that intelligent people will hedge.
If I were in Steven’s position, and I were inclined more towards the interests of owners and employers rather than workers, but I also still need the support of workers, I would also take steps that appear favourable to workers in many cases, to win their approval, while in key moments, supporting the employers.
However, if one is truly on the side of workers, or genuinely aims to act in what is right and fair, then there should be either no occasion where one is not seen to support workers, or no situation where one cannot adequately explain one’s actions when questions of ones impartiality arise from reasonable observers.
Engaging with one party but not the other, when one is expected to act as a neutral arbiter in a dispute between both, is not conduct that would satisfy a reasonable person. If Steven is himself a reasonable and fair person, this should be obvious to him, and being obvious to him, he should understand why it is incumbent upon him to provide further explanation to justify his actions, rather than simply insisting on his position as if it is self-evident to everyone that he is who he says he is , just because he says so.
That said, ups and downs are a natural part of life. No one wins or loses forever, so a downturn after a long period of success may simply be a natural phase in Steven’s career.
At the same time, what we do today shapes our future. It may therefore be worthwhile for Steven to use this period to reflect on whether what he has done so far is right or wrong.
If his actions have been right, then he should continue with confidence and not allow this downturn to discourage him. It may be that the good he has done has not yet borne fruit, and with persistence, he will eventually taste the benefit from the results of his good efforts.
On the other hand, if his past actions have been wrong, then this downturn might signal the beginning point of him tasting the bitter fruits of his wrong actions. In that being the case, perhaps now would be a good time to recognise one’s mistakes and correct them, so that their impact is minimised.
Knowing whether one is right or wrong, and whether one should persist or to change course, is a matter of wisdom.
In this period of changing fortunes for Steven, I end by hoping that he is a person of wisdom and is surrounded by wise people.
However, recent developments suggest a noticeable shift in tone.
In a relatively short span of time, a series of unfavourable headlines and public criticisms have begun to surface. Taken individually, each incident may be explainable. But taken together, they create a perception that is markedly different from the one that had been built over the years.
The first notable signal came during the cabinet reshuffle late last year. While Steven Sim’s move from the Human Resources Ministry to the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry was interpreted by some as a lateral move on paper, but by others, it was seen as a demotion.
I personally don't see the fact that Steven is the first Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry we have had who is a non-Malay offers no advantage too. There is a reason why the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry ministry has always been Malay - the reason is that it is probably because it is only a Malay that can be effective in that position. That Steven is now in a position where a Malay minister is the one that can generally be effective, might just means that he has been “cold-storaged” to a position where he can't shine..
In the last couple of weeks, I am also hearing back to back bad news about Steven.
Last, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke publicly admonished Sim over his conduct in relation to discussions about the next Penang Chief Minister. Loke’s remarks were unusually firm, urging Sim to stop name-dropping and speculation, and emphasising that such decisions rest with the party’s central leadership rather than individual figures.
Now, Loke could have chosen to privately call Sim to admonish him or to admonish him gently in the public sphere, by not singling Sim out, but the fact that Loke chose the opposite is a decision, not an accident.
The jury is still out on why Loke has chosen to publicly puncture Sim's ego in such a way, but whatever the reason is, it doesn't bode well for Sim.
If that was not bad enough, just a couple of days ago, the high has also come out with a decision that has injured Sim's image and reputation.
According to the ruling, a high court has found that in his capacity as Human Resources Minister at the time, Sim had failed to maintain neutrality in a trade dispute involving banks and a workers’ union. The court determined that his engagement with the employers’ association—without equivalent engagement with the workers’ side—amounted to a compromise of his role as an impartial arbiter. In essence, the judgment suggested that the statutory expectations of neutrality attached to his office had not been upheld.
In response, Sim has maintained that he has always stood on the side of workers, pointing to his policy record and past actions as evidence of his alignment.
But I think Steven simply believing that he is someone who stands on the side of the worker or giving examples of his past work in regards to the workers is not enough for him to restore his image and reputation.
At the end of the day, when you are called to referee a trade dispute but choose to engage with the employers’ side and not the workers’ side, it is difficult to see how your belief that you are a friend of the worker can stand the test of reality.
Merely claiming that one has done much for workers, without offering a clear and convincing explanation for why one engaged with employers—especially in private and without engaging the workers’ side—is not sufficient to establish that position.
Afterall, nobody is claiming that Steven is not intelligent. We all understand that intelligent people will hedge.
If I were in Steven’s position, and I were inclined more towards the interests of owners and employers rather than workers, but I also still need the support of workers, I would also take steps that appear favourable to workers in many cases, to win their approval, while in key moments, supporting the employers.
However, if one is truly on the side of workers, or genuinely aims to act in what is right and fair, then there should be either no occasion where one is not seen to support workers, or no situation where one cannot adequately explain one’s actions when questions of ones impartiality arise from reasonable observers.
Engaging with one party but not the other, when one is expected to act as a neutral arbiter in a dispute between both, is not conduct that would satisfy a reasonable person. If Steven is himself a reasonable and fair person, this should be obvious to him, and being obvious to him, he should understand why it is incumbent upon him to provide further explanation to justify his actions, rather than simply insisting on his position as if it is self-evident to everyone that he is who he says he is , just because he says so.
That said, ups and downs are a natural part of life. No one wins or loses forever, so a downturn after a long period of success may simply be a natural phase in Steven’s career.
At the same time, what we do today shapes our future. It may therefore be worthwhile for Steven to use this period to reflect on whether what he has done so far is right or wrong.
If his actions have been right, then he should continue with confidence and not allow this downturn to discourage him. It may be that the good he has done has not yet borne fruit, and with persistence, he will eventually taste the benefit from the results of his good efforts.
On the other hand, if his past actions have been wrong, then this downturn might signal the beginning point of him tasting the bitter fruits of his wrong actions. In that being the case, perhaps now would be a good time to recognise one’s mistakes and correct them, so that their impact is minimised.
Knowing whether one is right or wrong, and whether one should persist or to change course, is a matter of wisdom.
In this period of changing fortunes for Steven, I end by hoping that he is a person of wisdom and is surrounded by wise people.
***
Sim is a politician who knows how to regularly 'promote' his image. But what puzzles me is that he, having been already anointed the next CM of Penang, yet suggested that Lim Hui Ying and Yeoh Soon Hin could possibly be the next Penang CM?
Why?
Being humble?
Bodeking the Lim Family?
Or, he prefers to be in Federal Government as a minister rather than as the Penang CM?
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