SENATOR Datuk Guan Dee Koh Hui’s appointment as the new deputy minister of tourism, arts and culture has drawn ire from Malaysians.
Why wouldn’t it, considering the fact that it was Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin himself who claimed that Putrajaya did not have much money left for the country?
According to the prime minister, his Government had spent over RM600 bil dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulating the economy in the national budget. Thus, there isn’t much money left in the country’s money jar.
But yet, there he goes appointing another minister to join an already over-bloated Cabinet!
In this case, I guess what the prime minister really meant to say was that there is ‘not much money left for the country but just enough to appoint another minister’.
If the claims are true that the Government does not have much money left, the Government should be doing all they can to save money.
Adding another minister to its payroll is certainly not the answer, especially if this meant further aggravating the country’s financial situation.
As a matter of fact, here’s a very good suggestion: Why not trim down the number of Cabinet members? Better still, why not get all the ministers to take a pay cut to save costs?
The ministers are already earning tens of thousands of ringgit every month, and with overseas travel out of the question, surely a pay cut wouldn’t bruise their pocket linings much.
While the Government has no problem paying the salary of another minister, millions of people in the country have lost their homes because they have no jobs and no money to pay for mortgage or rent and even food.
Economic stimulus packages are a welcomed relief, but they are meant to be short-term measures.
Furthermore, the country seems to be doing just fine without a deputy minister.
In fact, the position isn’t even a critical one, considering the fact that most of the travel industry is at a standstill at the moment due to the pandemic.
So, is Datuk Guan Dee Koh Hui’s appointment really necessary?
I think not, and judging by the sheer amount of angry comments left on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, the netizens really don’t think so either. – April 20, 2021
Photo credit: Istana Negara’s Facebook
