KUALA LUMPUR – Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s apparent posturing as a politician of higher “moral standing” than the opposition has fuelled public backlash concerning her husband’s involvement in a company part of a Selangor Mobility pilot project.
According to former Umno man Khairy Jamaluddin, the DAP minister’s penchant for presenting herself as a “morally superior” individual has come back to bite her amid controversy over her husband Ramachandran Muniandy’s role in the state initiative.
Ramachandran is the chief executive of Asia Mobiliti, one of two companies selected in the proof-of-concept period for Selangor’s Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) pilot project.
“The problem now is that (Yeoh) previously took a very sanctimonious stance to show that she was morally superior. I’m sorry to say it, but (Yeoh) was one of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders who liked to show off her moral superiority.
“She made a trademark of herself as being someone who is very sanctimonious, as if (she was implying) that the other side – at that time Barisan Nasional – were immoral or (implicit in) crony capitalism,” Khairy said during last night’s episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast.
The former health minister alleged that Yeoh’s building of such an image was one of the reasons why various quarters had strongly criticised the Segambut MP over the DRT project debacle.
“Due to her previous moral posturing, the reaction against her from Perikatan Nasional supporters, fence-sitters and even PH supporters has been quite harsh,” Khairy said.
He also suggested that the state administration should do a better job at managing the “optics” of the situation, positing that uproar over the issue might die down once a proper explanation on the matter had been conveyed to the public.
“The issue here is that the husband of a DAP politician secured a licence from the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad), which is under the Transport Ministry helmed by a DAP minister, before it was evaluated at the state level by a DAP executive councillor.
“The way Ng Sze Han (Selangor investment, trade and mobility executive councillor) has addressed the issue has missed the point (as) he should emphasise that the proper request-for-proposal process is being followed and there were professional evaluations conducted.”
Yesterday, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said Yeoh had not influenced the decision to appoint her husband’s company as one of those running the DRT pilot project.
He added that neither he nor Ng were involved in the appointment process as it was fully conducted by Menteri Besar Inc.
Ng has previously said besides Asia Mobiliti, BadanBas Coach Sdn Bhd is also involved in the proof-of-concept process.
The decision to involve only these two companies, Ng said, was based on the fact that they were the only ones licensed by Apad to participate in the proof of concept.
However, he also said Kumpool Sdn Bhd had recently proposed to join the proof of concept after receiving Apad’s approval. This proposal is said to be currently under evaluation for potential inclusion in the next phase.
The proof-of-concept period is from November 2023 to July 2024.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Tan Sri Azam Baki has since said the anti-graft agency has no issue with Asia Mobiliti’s appointment.
The DRT system is a shared transportation service that groups passengers based on their locations and sends vehicles accordingly. This system can adjust routes on-demand, unlike traditional services that follow fixed routes and schedules. – May 31, 2024