In the ongoing spat between the Selangor assemblywoman and the prime minister’s aide, Yeo referred to a comment by Rizal yesterday that Chew, who is the wife of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, only rejected the post due to criticisms.
“This is another lie. Betty Chew rejected the proposal quickly after being informed of the proposal.
“Nevertheless, with the same logic, why didn’t Rosmah Mansor resign as the patron of Permata after so much criticisms?” Yeo said, also questioning why Rosmah does not respond to criticms by herself instead of having Rizal speak on her behalf.
The ongoing spat began with Yeo last week asking for justification for Permata, an early childhood development agency, being parked under the prime minister’s department and Rosmah being its patron.
“Early childhood education development should not be under the prime minister’s department. It should be under the education ministry and the women, family and community development ministry, as they are better equipped and have more expertise and experience in this field,” Yeo had said, adding that there was also no need for a patron for any government agency.
Rizal had responded that Rosmah did not receive a sen and that the agency was placed under the PM’s department for the simple reason that its large allocation required more stringent monitoring.
Yeo also accused Rizal of distracting the issue by questioning unrelated persons, including Lim and his wife Chew, only because he had no other way to defend the prime minister’s wife.
She again urged Rizal to answer the four questions that she had repeatedly asked on Permata, or just admit that Rosmah is the patron of Permata “because she’s the wife of the prime minister and that she wants the position”.