This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Juggling political ‘hot potatoes’ left some burn marks
Rafizi Ramli
Minister of Economy
Rafizi Ramli’s first stint as a cabinet minister brought challenges from both inside and outside the government, particularly over Putrajaya’s moves to reduce fuel subsidies.
His plan to streamline subsidies through the government database, Pangkalan Data Utama (Padu), continues to be opposed by many, including some within the coalition government.
In March, the Sarawak government urged its people to hold off from updating their data on Padu, with its State Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Abdul Karim Hamzah likening the process to baring “naked” the confidential data of users.
Rafizi also received a lot of flak from the public for his remark that “everyone is up for another surprise” when asked when fuel subsidies would be removed, although he defended his statement by pointing out that it had to be done in such a manner to avoid forewarning traders, so they would not hike the prices of goods beforehand.
The usage of the “T15” income classification by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the subsidy removal was also confusing as Rafizi had talked about removing classifications based on gross monthly income, and using Padu’s refined data instead to determine eligibility. This led to questions of whether the government had abandoned Padu.
On the political scene, Rafizi was blamed for the unity government’s failure to recapture the Sungai Bakap state constituency in Penang in July as he was Pakatan Harapan’s election director.
His bold claim that the unity government had seen higher support among Malay voters in Sungai Bakap prior to the by-election proved to be unfounded, as the election data showed that 80% of the Malay votes went to Perikatan Nasional.
However, Rafizi appears to have done better in shaping new government policies and initiatives to boost investments in areas such as renewable energy, semiconductors and data centres that are geared towards attracting higher-value investments to provide better paying jobs and opportunities.
Fahmi Fadzil
Minister of Communications
Among the members of the cabinet, Minister of Communications Fahmi Fadzil has been caught in the cross hairs the most as the spokesman of the government, tasked with explaining and clarifying the government’s policies.
Perhaps the biggest challenge that Fahmi faced this year was the decision by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) requiring all internet service providers (ISPs) to implement public domain name system (DNS) redirection in a bid, Putrajaya said, to allow the government to block access to certain websites deemed “malicious” and that contain unlawful content so as to protect vulnerable groups.
It backtracked on its decision following a public outcry.
Another hot potato for Fahmi was his ministry’s award of the second 5G network to U Mobile Sdn Bhd as Singapore’s Straits Mobile Investment Pte Ltd, a unit of ST Telemedia which is owned by Temasek Holdings, is the largest shareholder of the company.
ST Telemedia in an announcement to the Singapore Exchange said that it will reduce its holding in U Mobile to 20%, from roughly 49%, by selling the majority of its stake to Mawar Setia Sdn Bhd, a company jointly owned by Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim.
Fahmi said U Mobile was selected through a “beauty contest” among the bidders, including bigger players Maxis Bhd (KL:MAXIS) and CelcomDigi Bhd (KL:CDB).
But critics say he did not sufficiently explain what makes U Mobile’s plan and offering the best among the three.
Media practitioners and non-governmental organisations were also unhappy with Fahmi over the government’s proposal to amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act as well as the Communications and Multimedia Act, as they maintain that the Acts can be used to curb media freedom.
Steven Sim Chee Keong
Minister of Human Resources
It has been a roller-coaster year for Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong, both in his capacity as a minister as well as a politician.
In the political arena, Sim’s political fortunes received a boost when he was elected chairman by the Penang DAP chapter in the state party election held in September. Crucially, winning the DAP Penang chairmanship will put Sim in a leadership role in the party as he replaced the current Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow who had served as the state DAP chairman since 1999. Nationally, Chow is DAP’s vice-chairman.
As Penang DAP chairman, Sim will have greater clout at the party’s next National Congress, which could be held in 2025.
In the last congress, Chow secured the second-highest number of votes among the candidates after Minister of Digital Gobind Singh Deo, and ahead of Minister of Transport Anthony Loke, who was elected as the secretary-general of the party.
As HR minister, Sim has had his fair share of problems. In April, the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) lodged a police report against the minister for allegedly abusing his power and breach of trust. NUBE accused Sim of not taking the side of bank workers but favouring their employers, represented by the Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association, when it came to negotiations between the parties.
Then, in early July, the Auditor General’s Report 2024 flagged suspicious disbursements of training grants by the Human Resource Development Corp, totalling RM51.69 million. HRD Corp is an agency under the Ministry of Human Resources that collects levies from companies for the purpose of reskilling and training workers.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is still investigating certain findings related to HRD Corp in the AG’s Report as well as others by the Public Accounts Committee.
As HR minister, Sim managed to secure cabinet approval for increasing the minimum wage to RM1,700 per month, starting Feb 1, 2025 — a major win for the ministry and workers.
Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.
P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.