Malaysians have been urged to reflect carefully whether Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was to blame for all the complaints raised by protesters at a rally last week.
Tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing accused the previous governments of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin of poor governance, and leaving the country’s finances in disarray, which had to be cleaned up by Anwar’s unity government.
Tiong said Anwar’s government came to power in November 2022 as Malaysia was emerging from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The poor governance of the country by Mahathir and Muhyiddin had caused foreign investors to pull out, various projects to be cancelled, and government assets to be sold off, said Tiong in a Facebook post.
There were also several financial expenditures with unclear accountability before Anwar became prime minister, he said, all of which left the national coffers in disarray by the time the unity government took over.
“The current government has had to shoulder the burden of fixing all of these mistakes. It takes time to undo these mistakes, and results cannot come overnight,” he said. “I urge all Malaysians, regardless of race, to think carefully. A united society cannot come from one that expresses its dissatisfaction in extreme ways; rather, it leaves us with an uncertain future.”
Tiong, who is Bintulu MP and president of the Progressive Democratic Party, said Anwar’s government has been focused on stabilising the economy through reforms such as targeted subsidies and responsible spending.
While some of these initiatives were initially unpopular or politicised, they have started to show positive results – including increased tourist arrivals and benefits to small businesses and lower-income groups.
He said tourists and foreign investors could be deterred by anti-government protests like the one last Saturday. Such protests, if held frequently, could give the impression that the country is politically unstable and constantly in turmoil.
