SITI Kasim vs Prof Tajuddin Rasdi – Round 2!
With a heavy heart, the human rights activist and lawyer conceded that she is left with no choice but to rebut a friend in academician-turned-political observer/commentator Prof Mohd Tajuddin Rasdi.
Only recently, Siti Kasim had berated the Islamic architecture professor for asserting that Malays will never change their mindset.
This time around, it is over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s unveiling of a further RM100 mil in cash aid to war-torn Palestinians (RM200 mil to-date).
In an opinion piece in Free Malaysia Today (FMT), Tajuddin had asserted that the aid proffered was not a “donation” but a moral obligation among Muslims towards their stricken brethren.
He contended that it was also Malaysia’s responsibility to set an example in the hope that other countries would follow suit.
The 63-year-old who is also a columnist of MYsinchew (English site of Sin Chew Daily) uses his own personal experiences of lending a helping hand to his immediate family as an analogy and such gesture was not charity or donations.
“The RM100 mil to me is both a duty and a responsibility for humanity’s sake. The RM100 mil therefore is not charity,” he argued passionately.
Agree to disagree
That brought an equally impassioned rebuttal from Siti Kasim who asked incredulously in her latest YouTube rant: “Are Malaysians not humans, too? We’ve a duty to our own sisters and brothers in our own country first!”
Insinuating that she was the “well-known Malay YouTuber with frank opinions” alluded to in the FMT article, the aboriginal rights activists further questioned the need for Tajuddin to highlight detractors’ ethnicities when pointing out dissenting views that also included “a few Chinese personalities”.
The vocal legal eagle claimed that she is no longer surprised by the academic’s unceasing support of everything the Madani government does, hence labelling him a “Madani government apologist”.
“It is great that you can help your family but you are in the T20 bracket of society,” chided Siti Kasim. “Are you aware that many Malaysians are not able to feed their own immediate family?”
Citing the salaries of police constables who typically start at RM1,200, she reckoned that it makes more sense for public monies to be channelled towards improving the lot of uniformed bodies.
Charity should start from home
It was also highlighted that 44.4% of Malaysian households fall within the B40 category. “That’s nearly 50%!” stressed Siti Kasim, adding that no matter what the aid is called – “duty, donation or charity” – it should first be spent on Malaysians.
“Malaysians are paying taxes on almost everything and the government collects these taxes. So why are these taxes being used to aid a country thousands of miles away?” she wondered, quite unable to hide her contempt.
In this regard, Tajuddin contended that he had expected detractors to “nitpick” at PMX’s aid announcement to which Siti Kasim simply retorted that “it was not nitpicking but a matter of priorities”.
“This is not Anwar’s personal money,” Siti Kasim insisted. “It is about the government’s responsibilities to its own people.”
This rift between two outspoken activists in their own rights – who are supposedly comrades in arms – looks set to rumble on.
Malaysians are free to decide which side of the fence they wish to sit in. But even if one uses Tajuddin’s line of reasoning, it must be noted that his analogy begins with him helping his own family first before extending it to other needy parties.
Shouldn’t that be the case with public funds being used to help needy Malaysians first before extending it to Palestinians? On the same merit, why the reported reluctance of wealthy Arab states to do their bit to ease the plight of their war-torn neighbour despite being besieged by the so-called Zionist common enemy? – Sept 3, 2025
