JOHOR BARU, Aug 6 — The Johor Youth Council has cast doubt on Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman’s sincerity in helping the southern state following the Muar MP’s penchant for posting his photos with certain state and national leaders on social media.
The council’s vice-president Mohd Rashidi Ismail claimed the posed shots show the young federal minister is more interested in “play acting” for the sake of his political future than having any real concern for Johor.
“The Johor Youth Council is of the opinion that if YB Syed Saddiq is sincere, he should assist Johor in obtaining appropriate incentives and benefits for the people of the state.
“However, the fact shows that Johor is one of the top states in contributing to the federal government with more than RM40 billion a year, but only receives about RM2 billion a year in return for the state’s benefit,” said Mohd Rashidi in a strongly-worded statement last night.
He said this in response to a recent Instagram picture with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal that was uploaded by Syed Saddiq, who is also youth and sports minister.
Mohd Rashidi said Syed Saddiq had presented himself as a concerned Johorean in the picture with a caption in Malay that read “hubungan Johor & federal boleh diperumpamakan bagai cubit peha kiri terasa peha kanan”, a Malay idiom that means the federal and Johor governments are close-knit.
In a broad statement, he claimed that since being appointed as a federal minister, Syed Saddiq has disappointed Johor youth for not performing his role as minister or MP properly and pointed to contractions in the state economy has contracted since the last general election.
“Instead, YB Syed Saddiq, who is expected to be a bridge between Johor and Putrajaya, has sabotaged the Johor people’s economy with political statements that have generated a great deal of prejudice between the state and the federal government.
“In addition, Johor is often the last to receive federal benefits or incentives,” said Mohd Rashidi.
Mohd Rashidi also asserted that Johoreans are treated like a “step child” by the federal government, but claimed Syed Saddiq turned a blind eye to these.
“As a federal minister, of course, Syed Saddiq is well aware of the matter, but he deliberately remains silent when it comes to Johor for political reasons.
“The question remains if the posting of such a picture with the Johor MB and PM is enough to surprise the people of this country in the sense that he works for Johor?” Mohd Rashidi asked.
