KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): The Ministry of Finance confirms that Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman has been removed as the chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd with immediate effect.

Tajuddin's letter of termination from the Ministry of Finance, signed by its Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, went viral earlier today. The authenticity of the letter was later confirmed by an authorised Ministry of Finance media spokesperson.

The dismissal came after Tajuddin's conduct during a press conference yesterday on Monday's LRT crash drew heavy criticism for his lack of empathy for the victims of the tragedy, and his lack of professionalism when handling questions from the press.

His behaviour sparked an online petition on the website Change.org titled #LetakJawatanTajuddin (#ResignTajuddin), which has garnered nearly 140,000 signatures in just 24 hours — and now declared a success. The petition was created at around 7pm yesterday.

Petitioners alleged that Tajuddin's lack of sensitivity and empathy in managing the victims of the LRT collision on Monday had shown that he was “not qualified to hold the position as Prasarana chairman”.

Petitioners also slammed Tajuddin for being arrogant during the press conference and alleged that he had made a racist remark to a reporter from China news agency Phoenix TV when she asked him a question.

In addition, petitioners said Tajuddin had breached Covid-19 standard operating procedures by wearing only a face shield and not a face mask, and urged the police and the Health Ministry to take action against him.

For allegedly flouting the SOPs, Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Mohamad Zainal Abdullah said all parties involved in the case would be called in for questioning soon, according to Bernama.

Tajuddin, meanwhile, said he has not received any official termination letter, the Malay Mail reported.

But he did not appear to mind the termination, the news portal wrote. “Not yet. Want to terminate, terminate then. What is the issue? What is the matter? Want to terminate, terminate lah. Thank you lah. I can do other work,” he was quoted as saying when contacted over the phone.

In the LRT crash, which involved the collision of two LRT trains, 47 passengers were seriously injured while 166 others sustained minor injuries.