JOHOR BARU, Jan 3 — Former Johor mentri besar Datuk Osman Sapian believed Maszlee Malik’s sudden resignation as education minister yesterday was due to the pressures of intense politicking and negative press.
Drawing parallels with himself, he said Maszlee likely could no longer fend off the criticism against him.
“He went through what I did as Johor MB before. Victims of circumstance,” said Osman when contacted today.
Osman served a short 11-month stint as Johor MB from May 12, 2018 to April 13, 2019 before he was replaced.
His time was marked by critical news coverage, ending in his resignation as the 16th Johor menteri besar.
Osman, who is still the Kempas assemblyman, said it was sad that negative press could eclipse a person’s contributions.
Yesterday, Maszlee also took veiled swipes at the media in the press conference to announce his resignation, saying they had exaggerated his policy missteps to portray these as crises.
“I understand what it feels like despite doing one’s best as a minister as I was in a similar situation before,” Osman said today.
“I hope YB Maszlee will hang in there and stay strong. We wish him all the best for his future undertakings.”
Osman and Maszlee are senior members of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
Osman’s previous controversies include his dubious academic credentials, triggering a diplomatic row with Singapore during a border dispute, absence during the toxic fume crisis in Sungai Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang, and clashes with Putrajaya over a transhipment hub in Johor.
He had also failed to toe the party line in disagreements between the federal government and the Johor palace.
Maszlee’s time as education minister was arguably even more controversial, beginning with an announcement in 2018 introducing black shoes as part of the national school uniform that critics mockingly refer to as his biggest achievement.
However, he faced a far larger controversy involving the introduction of khat calligraphy in vernacular schools that most damaged his position.
After vehement protests, the Education Ministry was forced to walk back on the decision by presenting it as lessons on the Jawi script that would also be introduced only with the consent of the vernacular schools’ parent-teacher associations.
Jawi was the archaic form of written Bahasa Melayu, before it was romanised.
However, the issue left the ruling Pakatan Harapan in a position where it would take political damage no matter how the policy was decided.
Yesterday, during a special press conference in Putrajaya, Maszlee said he made the decision to resign on the advice of the prime minister after meeting him.
He said he is “returning” the post to Dr Mahathir, referring to his appointment after the prime minister dropped the education portfolio to honour the Pakatan Harapan (PH) election manifesto.
