YOURSAY | When ‘sorry’ doesn’t cut it

YOURSAY | ‘Both Zafrul and Azmin are singing the same tune.’

Azmin apologises for shortcomings, says many suffered due to pandemic

I did my best, says former finance minister

BusinessFirst: Former minister of international trade and industry Azmin Ali, you betrayed your party and the voters for power. Apologise for that.

At least with the power you have, if you had used it wisely, one would give you grudging respect. On this score, you failed and failed miserably.

I did not know whether to laugh or cry when I read, “although the economy is recovering, many have suffered during this ruthless global pandemic".

It is expected for the economy to recover this year considering last year's massive contraction. Singapore is to grow around seven percent. The US also about there. China eight to nine percent.

Malaysia, according to international financial information services firm Fitch Group, is to grow zero percent. So, far from improving, it has stayed stagnant.

For most countries, growth this year is a no-brainer. Malaysia is not one of those expected to grow which means, in effect, last year's misery has continued. What does that tell you about your contributions?

As for former finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, whether you tried your best only you know.

The economic projections you had were pure fantasy. Further, your heart is also not in the right place.

It would have cost the government nothing and banks little to have agreed to a full loan moratorium, but this was not given, and even when grudgingly given just saddles the borrowers with unsustainable debts in the future. The banks come up even better.

We do not need a finance minister to take care of the big boys and the banks; they can take care of themselves.

Even when windfall taxes were imposed on companies making profits like gloves, there was no mention of banks shouldering some responsibility. These same banks gave their CEOs big bonuses.

It would ruin what little credibility you have if, on retirement, you join a bank in any role. I would advise you against doing that.

In the end, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. After last year's disaster where the Malaysian economy contracted drastically, this year under your hands, Fitch just downgraded Malaysia's growth to zero. What does this mean?

It means that all the suffering from last year - lost jobs, lost income, etc - has effectively continued. Think for yourself who except the strongest can endure two full years of lost income and jobs.

Thankfully, oil prices have recovered because the rest of the world, unlike Malaysia, is recovering. If it did not, it would be far worse.

Suicides, white flags, black flags, unemployment, people going hungry, rising indebtedness, crime, physical and mental health issues caused by unemployment and lack of money, rising homelessness, empty shop lots and businesses, unsold or uncompleted projects.

This is the legacy that is being left behind, not solely by you, granted, but by an administration that you are a key part of.

Yet, we have spent about a trillion or at least hundreds upon hundreds of billions, that dwarves even 1MDB. Did you exercise proper controls to ensure that the money is well spent and accounted for, or did you just give blank cheques to power brokers because, for all the money spent, we see scant returns?

All said, I for one am not sorry that you are no longer finance minister.

Iphonezours: Muhyiddin Yassin and his former ministers, including Zafrul, are singing the same tune – ‘I did my best… I apologise for my shortcomings.’

None of you had the decency to apologise for the blunders that took place as a result of wrong policies that caused over a million Covid-19 infections, thousands of deaths, and a wrecked economy.

Vijay47: Together, Azmin and Wan Saiful Wan Jan would have made a formidable Abbott and Costello or Laural and Hardy, though those were of the silent movie era.

Azmin, you cunningly mention your failures as the minister of international trade and industry as though that is what history will remember you by. Are we supposed to be impressed with your pious admission of shortcomings only as minister?

You will always be regarded as a traitor who betrayed an entire nation with your dodgy moves within a hotel. Had you stuck to principle and honour, stayed loyal to a duly elected government, yours would have been a glorious record and future. And to think you forfeited reputation and dignity by associating with that old master of evil.

Wan Saiful, your fame might extend way beyond your name. You suddenly sing paeans about Muhyiddin’s statesmanship in finally giving up the office he did not qualify for.

First of all, surrendering what was stolen does not elevate anyone to statesmen. Muhyiddin never had the majority confidence to make him prime minister.

Why this sudden revelation, Wan Saiful? Had Muhyiddin withdrawn from Putrajaya and spared the country months of toil and trouble, that may have brought him close to being a gentleman, though hardly statesman.

Proarte: The Sheraton Move traitors, the prime movers Muhyiddin, Azmin and Dr Mahathir Mohamad are largely responsible for the dire health of our nation, be it political, economic, and dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Muhyiddin is being portrayed as a 'saviour' by Wan Saiful which is pure bunkum. Let us not forget that this former Ideas 'independent intellectual' was seduced by political power to betray the people of Malaysia and he was part of the Sheraton Move.

The list is endless of the people who have been let off the hook in the 1MDB-linked court cases.

Corruption charges against Musa Aman, the alleged kleptocratic Umno Sabah warlord, were dropped. He then challenged Warisan president Shafie Apdal by effecting defection that led to the Sabah elections, which was a major cause of significant Covid-19 clusters. The rest is history.

It is my firm belief that Najib Abdul Razak, Mahathir, Muhyiddin, and Azmin are part of the Malay ruling elite, which include Umno and Bersatu. PAS is the reverse side of this same Malay supremacist power structure. Their ideology is based on racial and religious privilege, which by its very nature is undemocratic and kleptocratic.

Their purported aim is to uplift the Malays but in reality, they use and abuse constitutional privileges to enrich themselves.

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