GEORGE TOWN, Dec 5 — Penang Consumers’ Association (CAP) president Mohideen Abdul Kader castigated politicians for wasting time and resources on smear campaigns instead of working to improve governance for the public good.
The social activist related to former PKR researcher Muhammad Yusoff Rawther believed his brother’s grandson, who accused a prominent political party leader of sexual impropriety, had been exploited by “power hungry politicians” to make the claim.
“This is not good for the country because we have this whole sodomy politics,” Mohideen told a news conference at the CAP headquarters here after speaking extensively on World Soil Day 2019 and the importance of stopping soil erosion.
“My advice to these power hungry politicians is not to resort to this type of politics. They’ve been elected, they should be focusing on serving the people, not plotting, scheming, backstabbing just because they wanted power,” he said.
He said Malaysians are now facing serious problems in terms of costs of living and environmental destruction.
He pointed out that 60 per cent of the population, including the middle-income group, is financially stressed with many unable to pay most of their bills and some made bankrupt.
“We are not talking about poor people, this is also affecting the middle class; the M40 people are also facing this problem,” he said.
He said public hospitals are now overcrowded with heart patients having to wait a year for an operation and some even died before their turn arrived.
“We are facing these kinds of problems. Our service, thinking, energy should be on this, not fighting among ourselves,” he said.
He urged political leaders to unite with a greater sense of purpose to take Malaysia forward.
“Trust has been given to them, they are given salaries, so it is time they carry out their duties, not to fight for power,” he said.
He expressed his disappointment in political leaders for allowing this to happen.
“I thought we left behind this rubbish, dirty politics. I thought with Malaysia Baharu, politics will be rational and clean, I am sad this still continues,” he said.
Mohideen was upset that his family was dragged into the latest sex allegation.
“As a family member, I am upset with what’s happening, why we have been dragged into this muddy politics ,” he said.
Mohideen described his grand-nephew Yusoff as a young man with a “very inflated ego of himself” who had dropped out of university and was currently jobless to his knowledge that had also drifted away from family.
He believed Yusoff was used based on the fact that the 26-year-old had made a statutory declaration 14 months after the alleged incident and that the timing of it was just a few days before the PKR conference.
Yusoff is the grandson of the late SM Mohamed Idris who died in May this year.
Mohideen said he has not spoken to or been in contact with Yusoff since Mohamed Idris’ funeral.
