KUALA LUMPUR: MCA president Wee Ka Siong has urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to drop Fadhlina Sidek as education minister in his upcoming Cabinet shakeup.
Wee, a former deputy education minister, claimed that Fadhlina had proven to be incompetent and should not be at the helm of the ministry, which has been receiving the highest budgetary allocations annually.
“This is a view shared by the majority of Malaysians regardless of ethnicity or background.
“We need an (education minister) who is efficient, has long-term vision, and is bold enough to implement reforms in leading this important ministry, which determines the future of the country.
“We hope the prime minister will take the people’s sentiments seriously. The power is in your hands. Please take appropriate action,” he said at MCA’s general assembly here today.
Fadhlina, the Wanita PKR chief, has faced numerous calls to resign in the wake of several troubling incidents in schools involving murder, rape, and bullying.
She has acknowledged her weaknesses and previously said she considered the criticism as motivation for her to improve.
Anwar is set to reshuffle his Cabinet, which currently has four vacant posts: economy; natural resources and environment sustainability; entrepreneur development and cooperatives; and investment, trade and industry.
Wee said Fadhlina had failed to resolve several issues since being appointed to the post, including the seven-year delay in building SJKC Kuek Ho Yao in Johor Bahru, partly because of land issues.
The matter was resolved after the Johor government handed over a plot of land to the federal lands commissioner, specifically earmarked for the school.
Wee said he had raised the issue in Parliament eight times, but the education minister always failed to give him a straightforward answer.
