KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 ― Tan Sri Rais Yatim reportedly urged Education Minister Maszlee Malik to give serious thought to his performance and decisions following a string of controversies involving his portfolio.

The former minister also said Maszlee should seek guidance from Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

"The party leadership may be angry at me and I may be criticised but I have accepted that,” Rais said when contacted by Utusan Malaysia, referring to PPBM in which he and Maszlee are fellow members.

"I have my stance; we cannot keep quiet if what we see may bring suffering that will cost the country and nation.”

On Monday, Rais tweeted that it was "a waste” to let Maszlee continue as a minister, following news the latter suggested for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to be included in the history syllabus.

Yesterday, Maszlee’s press secretary Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari clarified that the minister was trying to say that the 1MDB scandal would be part of Malaysian history — and not History textbooks — when replying to Pontian MP Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan in Parliament.

In response, Rais said he was uncomfortable with Maszlee’s frequent faulting of the media for his controversies.

"This tendency to [blame the media], you can do it once or twice. But to do that every time, even the media have their own record,” he was quoted saying.