YOURSAY | Again, racial card used to defend Jasa

YOURSAY | ‘Why is there a need to highlight the race of the sacked officers, Zahidi?’

Saifuddin caught off guard by huge Jasa budget - report

Oriole: Public money is not for party purposes. Use your own money to boost your failing electoral support.

For decades, political parties have played with the rakyat's money for their selfish party needs. It is time this comes to a stop. This is another form of stealing being done by political parties.

The pandemic is a national disaster that is leading to people losing everything. The money needs to go to the suffering masses, to children facing starvation, to families without means for survival, for education to ensure that all children have access and for a billion other things.

A more compassionate Budget 2021 is necessary. Remove the Jasa (Special Affairs Department) allocation.

Two Come Out: “So, we bring back Jasa and have allocations for the unit, but we will have to thank Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for allowing us to do so – to protect the fate of Malay officers sacked from Jasa," Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin.

Zahidi is trying to turn this into a racial issue.

RM85.5 million for 1,000 cybertroopers will mean about RM7,125 per person per month, assuming all is for salary as the ministry should already have the infrastructure.

Alternatively, RM85.5 million can be used to give RM500 aid to 171,000 Malaysians. RM85.5 million can be used to give food aid of RM200 to 427,500 students.

Malaysia Is Surrealist Art That Can Be Bought: Why is there a need to highlight the race of the sacked officers, Zahidi? I suppose since they're of a particular race, it makes their getting rehired, all 1,000 of them, more justifiable.

So Jasa is going to be a 1,000-person force. And their seemingly sole role shall be to disseminate information truthfully. Oh well, I suppose they are going to need to station like a quarter of the total taskforce throughout the country to obtain honest information.

No, wait, that's the role of the press... oh well, more is better. And you do need like a strong 300 just to negate negative press coverage and re-educate the public. Another 300 would be required to do actual work - filming, design, layout and upload, while the remaining but not least 150 heads would be just that... heads of sub-departments.

Jasa is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Move over, Malaysiakini.

RedParrot0282: Zahidi, you think RM85 million is your grandfather's money for you to buy political support?

It is the hardworking taxpayers' money, don't forget that! And why should you put a racial slant to re-employing the 1,000 sacked officers? Why "protect the fate of Malay officers"?

We are not a welfare state and, if the said officers are any good, they should be able to find alternative employment elsewhere.

Anonymous 79: I really don't understand why Perikatan Nasional (PN) government still wants to play the racial card.

Zahidi said: "So, we bring back Jasa and have allocations for the unit, but we will have to thank Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for allowing us to do so – to protect the fate of Malay officers sacked from Jasa."

What about other races? In this pandemic crisis, all Malaysian must unite. Why does PN want to divide Malaysians? All Malaysians are suffering, including our Malay brothers and sisters.

Malaysia is not like the US. If Malaysia fails to manage our economy and race relation well, all of us will be in very deep trouble. Do PN leaders work for our country or work for themselves?

Low Class Coolie: What utter rubbish, what nonsense, what madness! In life, nobody owes you a living.

To even have such a mindset that the ‘Malay’ government owes you a living is very scary and toxic indeed. What will the future hold for these people whose sense of entitlement is now seen as their birthright?

Honestly, ask yourself why we have reached such a sorry state of affair.

Rupert16: So, it’s confirmed that the revival of Jasa and the huge public funds allocated for the agency is to keep people who have spread fake news and who incite racial hatred gainfully employed.

All the more reason why this Budget by the backdoor government should be rejected.

Cogito Ergo Sum: At a time when nations are doing their best to shore up economies and create jobs for the millions who have lost them, the PN government is spending RM85.5 million on a department whose functions are at best murky.

Jasa has indulged in nefarious and clandestine propaganda programmes to shore up flagging support for the former Umno/BN regime.

Now, it’s being revived with a humongous budget with no clear explanation as to what the money is being used for.

If the opposition MPs keep silent on this, then we only conclude that there has been some horse-trading going on in time for Budget 2021 to be passed.

BluePanther4725: Who approved this massive amount of RM85.5 million for Jasa? Jasa is nothing but a useless, cybertrooper propaganda mouthpiece for PN.

It's horrendous that backdoor PN allocated such a huge budget for those in Jasa, while so many poor Malaysians are suffering.

What have the officers in Jasa contributed to deserve such a huge amount? The opposition must not approve this wastage of our taxpayers' money in Budget 2021.

BusinessFirst: So PN will get 1,000 votes, plus their immediate families and close relatives. It is a vote bank of perhaps as much as 10,000 votes.

They know that in the next elections if PN loses, they will lose their jobs. So, it will not take a rocket scientist to determine who they will vote for in the next election.

YOURSAY | Jasa in Budget 2021 a red herring?

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