The decision to cancel the delegation of 68 officials to Berlin has the full support of the Cabinet – PM
KUALA LUMPUR: The decision to cancel plans by a ministry and agency to bring 68 officials to an exhibition in Berlin has the full support of the Cabinet, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said entering the two years of his administration, no minister and political party leader in the Unity Government had ever disputed any of his decisions related to governance.
“So far these two years I have been with the team in the Unity Government, there has not been a single minister or leader who disputed our decision (such as) first; the project must be tendered, not for leaks.
“… and when I recently confronted a government agency (that wanted to) send 68 people to a party in Berlin, I got full support from the Cabinet. This is the first time in history that the Prime Minister said no need to go,” he said.
The Prime Minister said this at the Forum Ilmuan Malaysia MADANI here on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister said he had to be firm on the matter to ensure that such practices did not continue.
“Why do I have to do it? Because my friends are fighting for full support. The minister wants to go too; we control it,” he said.
At the same time, Anwar reminded the Council of Ministers to always be open to hearing new views and not bound by the cocoon of old thinking.
“It is important for continuity. Without the injection of new ideas, we will be more comfortable; our approach is too tied. Therefore, it is impossible for us to grow.
“We must explore new disciplines, including digitization, artificial intelligence, engineering, and mathematics,” he said.
FIM is an initiative inspired by the Prime Minister as an important platform to bring together scientists, industry figures and community leaders of various backgrounds to discuss critical issues facing the people.
In addition, it becomes an inclusive intellectual dialogue platform where various views from civil society, academia and industry can be presented to help the country’s leadership formulate policies and future policies.
Also present were Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, Minister of Education Fadhlina Sidek and Minister of Human Resources Steven Sim Chee Keong.