KUALA LUMPUR – Former human resources minister V. Sivakumar, who was the only minister axed in today’s cabinet reshuffle, has expressed his gratitude to those who aided in the ministry’s many successes during his tenure.
Taking to social media platform X, Sivakumar, who is also DAP deputy secretary-general, conveyed his well wishes to ministers part of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s reshuffled cabinet.
“The cooperation between the Human Resources Ministry and other other agencies has led to so many achievements in just one year under my supervision. I am very proud of all of you,” Sivakumar, who is also Batu Gajah MP, said in the thread.
“Thank you also to the prime minister and party leaders for giving me the opportunity to serve under the Human Resources Ministry for the past year. I hope that the Madani government continues to properly govern the nation for the sake of citizens.”
He also congratulated his successor for the ministerial post, fellow DAP representative Steven Sim, who was previously deputy finance minister.
“I apologise to all agencies, officers or any parties which I might have wronged during my time with the ministry,” said Sivakumar.
Sim, who is also Bukit Mertajam MP, will be aided in his ministerial duties by his deputy, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad.
In April, Sivakumar rejected calls by certain quarters for him to step down from his ministerial role after he was summoned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as part of the anti-graft agency’s probe into the recruitment of migrant workers.
Following the investigations, which saw three of Sivakumar’s aides being detained, the then-minister gave the boot to five of his aides before the MACC disclosed its findings on the individuals.
At that time, Anwar had said that there was no need for Sivakumar to resign from his post as he was merely summoned for investigations without the MACC bringing charges against him.
In November, Sivakumar was summoned by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to assist with probes into the management and finances of Human Resources Development Corp (HRD Corp).
This came after the Finance Ministry’s representative on the HRD Corp board, Datuk Rosli Yaakub, raised the alarm over the introduction of a skills passport programme, which allegedly did not obtain the board’s approval. – December 12, 2023