Do our ministers come from another planet, Kadir Jasin laments

Do our ministers come from another planet, Kadir Jasin laments




A FORMER Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia leader panned Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid for his inability to understand the rationale behind calls for ministers to take a pay cut.

“Even those who lack cognitive skills know that slashing a minister’s pay even by a 100% will not help stem the rising cost of living.

“But if the minister can think a little, he will know that the pay cut for ministers as suggested by former minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and others is a symbolic gesture, showing that they empathise with the people’s plight,” A Kadir Jasin said in a Facebook post.



Yesterday, Mahdzir dismissed Rafidah’s call for ministers to take a pay and allowance cut as it would not help the people deal with the rising cost of living.

“We don’t know what Rafidah meant about the salary cut, whether she really meant it or was just being sarcastic,” he said, adding that as a senior, she should be giving a much better idea.

“She is a veteran, a person who should give good advice on what can be done. If she has an idea, she should meet the Prime Minister and tell him her ideas,” Bernama reported him as saying.

Touching on the matter, Kadir said that it was obvious that solving economic problems like inflation was not easy as it is usually connected with global issues.

“If it was easy, then we need not go through a process to choose ministers and deputy ministers. We can resolve it among ourselves,” he added.

Intoxicated by luxury

The veteran newsman also said that slashing the Cabinet team’s pay during an economic crisis is not something new as it has been done before.



“And we didn’t hear stories of ministers dying out of starvation back then! It’s just a move to instil public confidence on our leaders.

“At the same time, the Government also did a lot of things to resolve the problem such as by providing vegetable seeds and ruminant to farmers. Second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein launched the Green Book initiative while the fourth prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched ‘Pasar Tani’,” Kadir mentioned.

Hurling brickbats at ministers, he said that it seems they are becoming more detached from the suffering public due to the luxurious lives they enjoy despite coming from humble beginnings.

“And their hedonistic attitude is worse than the Western society. The more educated we are, the more class conscious we become instead of transforming into an egalitarian society,” he remarked. – June 27, 2022