Ex-MOF staff defends Guan Eng, rebuts Tajuddin's 'tanglung' slur

Ex-MOF staff defends Guan Eng, rebuts Tajuddin's 'tanglung' slur


Former Umno supreme council member Tajuddin Abdul Rahman's claim of racial sidelining within the Finance Ministry during Pakatan Harapan's tenure in office has attracted brickbats from those in the know, including at least one former staff to the then minister Lim Guan Eng.

Taking to Twitter, journalist Rahmah Ghazali recounted her four months serving as press secretary to Lim, who is the DAP national chairperson.

"I worked with the finance minister for four months after the opposition (Pakatan Harapan) took over the (federal) government.

"There were many Malays, and during Hari Raya, every department will have an open house," she said.

Tajuddin (above) as a panellist on Malay-daily Sinar Harian's “Wacana Sinar” discussion last night had accused Lim of sidelining Malay staff in the ministry and bringing in his own team.

"How many Malay staff were fired? The finance ministry's office has transformed to look like a Chinese temple. Many went in wearing shorts.

"Are there any Malays who can even step on the stairs or enter the office at that time?" asked Tajuddin, at which point the panel moderator tried to argue that there should be nothing wrong with merit-based appointments.

He, however, brushed off the moderator's attempt to interject his rant, claiming that the latter has lost the sense of Malay-ness.

"What merit? He (Lim) turned it into a tanglung (sic). All the existing ministry staff at the time were placed in a room, with no work.

"He brought in a new team, all his own people. Do you know that? That is why we can't allow Harapan to continue ruling," Tajuddin claimed.

Based on her experience, Rahmah further rebutted Tajuddin's allegation, pointing out that the design and decoration in Lim's office were unchanged from the time of his predecessor, Najib Abdul Razak.

Another journalist, Amer Hadi Azmi, also shared an image that previously went viral, showing a framed Quranic verse that remained hung behind the finance minister's table from Najib's time to Lim's term in office.

The original topic for the “Wacana Sinar” discussion, which also featured two women leaders from PKR and PAS, was on the relevancy of GE15, "for people or power?"

Tajuddin was initially asked for his opinion on Umno's view that their leaders said to be from the "court cluster" are facing political persecution, and whether any change after GE15 would restore their confidence in the justice system.