Jonathan Chai
KUCHING: The appointment of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as interim Education Minister is another disappointment as Pakatan Harapan (PH) has again failed to deliver its promises in the PH manifesto, said Sarawak United Association Chinese Aided Primary School Boards of Management secretary-general Jonathan Chai.
He said he is ‘a bit disappointed’ with the announcement as the PH manifesto ‘actually forbids the prime minister from holding other ministerial position’.
“They (PH leaders) may argue that Tun Mahathir is only taking over as the ‘interim’ education minister but however you named it, he is holding a ministerial position.
“In a way, it showed that Tun Mahathir has limited choices in getting someone qualified and experienced enough from PH to fill the senior position,” he said when prompted for comments yesterday.
Looking at Dr Mahathir’s past records, Chai opined that the United Chinese School Committees’ Association Malaysia (Dong Zong) could find it difficult in dealing with him on issues relating to Chinese education as Dong Zong had previously been labelled by Dr Mahathir as ‘racist’.
“It would be interesting to see whether he (Dr Mahathir) would attempt to revive the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English and also the ‘Sekolah Wawasan’ (Vision School).
“With him at the helm, the hope of getting UEC (Unified Examination Certificate) recognised sooner might have drifted further away,” he pointed out.
Chai said he hoped that the prime minister would make full use of his time during his tenure to come up with some meaningful and farsighted policies in the interest of future generations.
Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen, who is PH Sarawak and Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak did not immediately respond to the matter.
In a statement yesterday, Putrajaya announced that Dr Mahathir will serve as the interim education minister.
The statement added that the Federal Cabinet decided on Jan 8 that Dr Mahathir would act in that capacity effective Jan 3 until the next education minister is appointed.
Dr Mahathir takes over the portfolio from Dr Maszlee Malik who resigned on Jan 3 after holding office for 20 months.