The Malaysian Insight

NEWLY appointed Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said he is not interested in launching a witch-hunt against the previous administration.

Instead, Malaysia’s youngest-ever cabinet member said he wants to be judged based on his accomplishments, not his ability to reveal scandals of the past government.

“I don’t want the new Youth and Sports Ministry to be defined by a culture of revenge, where in order to make myself shine, I have to point out mistakes of the past,” he said.

Yesterday, veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang urged the Pakatan Harapan administration to stop its witch-hunt against the previous government.

Lim was responding to reports that Putrajaya has so far fired dozens of top civil servants since taking over the federal government from Barisan Nasional.

Syed Saddiq said that while he is not interested in digging up all the skeletons in the closet although he would begin a probe into allegations that more than RM100 million were misappropriated at the ministry.

“If there is any wrongdoing from the past, it will be investigated.”

In 2016, a ministry official along with eight others from a contractor firm hired by the ministry were questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Media reports at that time said the official was suspected of instructing one of the agencies under the ministry to make payments to at least 14 contractors for non-existent work.

Syed Saddiq said he will spend his first 100 days as a minister to speak to experts to find a way to strengthen the sporting identity in the country.

“To handle sports, I need to hold dialogues with experts. I want to speak to civil servants and don’t want to take any action without first considering those who are experienced.

“We don’t want to be a ministry that is ‘syok sendiri’.” – July 3, 2018.