Cabinet on Wednesday should discuss the international infamy for Malaysia as a result of BAM’s vindictive action against Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei and work out a strategy to prevent 2022 from becoming the Year of infamy for Malaysia
The Cabinet on Wednesday should discuss the international infamy for Malaysia as a result of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM)’s vindictive action against Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei and work out a strategy to prevent 2022 from becoming the Year of infamy for Malaysia as the BAM’s action causing the infamy is only the latest in a series national infamies for Malaysia.
Last year was full of infamies – but will the new year of 2022 see more infamies?
The year 2021 ended with a spate of infamies.
On Saturday, 25th December, 2021, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri ignores the annual Christmas high tea of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, which had been attended by the Prime Minister or his representative every year since 1999, signalling that Ismail Sabri’s “Keluarga Malaysia” is not for unity in diversity of Malaysia’s multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural population and no unifying policy at all.
On Sunday, 26th December 2021, we have Cabinet Ministers launching their Ops Damage Control for their disastrous mismanagement of the massive floods especially in Selangor and Pahang, which were mere PR stunts of no benefit to any flood victim.
Rina Harun started the Operation, and although not in her high-heels or a grand hotel dinner, used a water jet to wash an apparently clean patch of pavement while surrounded by cameramen.
After Rina’s “water jet” gaffe, there was Prime Minister Ismail Sabri’s “shovel gate” where he posed in front of press cameras with a shovel which he used to scoop and toss some dirt once before the shovel was handed back to a person in a Fire Department uniform.
Ismail also created world history where an ambulance had to wait at a junction to give way to the Prime Minister’s convoy to allow Ismail to perform his one-scoop PR act.
This was followed by the farce of the Deputy Minister for Women, Family and Community Development posing for photograph driving a lorry as her contribution to the efforts in the flood situation, but she forgot to put the key in the ignition lock.
On 27th December, 2021, a convicted criminal on corruption opened an international conference in Malaysia.
On 28th December 2021, academician Edmund Terence Gomez resigned from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)’s Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel, sparking a three-week long and ongoing crisis of confidence in the MACC and highlighting that something is very rotten with the anti-corruption efforts in Malaysia.
Gomez resigned in protest against the Panel’s inaction against MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s alleged ownership of close to two million shares in a public listed company.
On 29th December 2021, former Sabah minister, Peter Anthony, quit Warisan to form a new political party which will co-operate with GRS-led Sabah State Government – an increase of the “political frog” population in Malaysia.
But 2022 seems to be likely to produce even more infamies for Malaysia than 2021.
There are already two infamies for the month of January 2022, the parliamentary and government paralysis over Azam-gate of the Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) culminating in the “Tangkap AzamBaki” demonstration in Kuala Lumpur by Malaysian youths last Saturday and the two year-suspension of national badminton players Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei as if they had committed serious crimes for wanting to go their separate ways to be world champions.
The Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu should present a special report to the Cabinet on Wednesday as to how the problem of Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei can be satisfactorily resolved.