Yeo said there was never any questioning of Rosmah’s qualification nor credentials.
“The aide, Rizal Mansor, had said that Rosmah’s academic qualifications made her suitable to be the patron of Permata. In fact, the question of who should be the patron of Permata should not arise in the first place.
“I reiterate, 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 said, adding that there was also no need for a patron for any government agency.
In a statement released late yesterday, Rizal had taken Yeo to task for asking the prime minister’s wife to step down as patron of Permata.
“Rosmah has a Bachelors degree in Sociology and Anthropology and a Masters in Sociology. Her specialisation therefore, reflects her ability to take Permata to greater heights,” Rizal said, before reminding Yeo that as patron, Rosmah had no executive powers whatsoever.
He also said that Permata needed to be under the prime minister’s department as there are tighter controls pertaining to the disbursement of funds.
Yeo, who is also DAP social media strategist, said that being the patron has nothing do with qualifications.
“If academic qualification is the measure of whether a person is qualified to be the patron, is he saying that among all civil servants in the two relevant ministries, there is no one more qualified than Rosmah for the position? This is a huge insult to the civil service in Malaysia.
“The only reason that Rosmah Mansor is the patron of Permata is that she is the wife of the prime minister. If one goes to the website of Permata, it is not difficult to spot that the centre of attention on the website is Rosmah Mansor instead of the children,” Yeo said.
In her statement yesterday, Yeo, who is Damansara Utara assemblywoman, had said that Rosmah should leave early childhood development to the ministries that have more expertise running it.
While supporting programmes to develop early childhood education, Yeo said the only question was on the need for a separate agency and the need to place it under the prime minister’s department.
“Why do we need a separate agency under the Prime Minister’s Department (PMD) and with the prime minister’s wife, who is not elected by the people, to have such a big role in government?
“Early childhood education development programmes should be parked under the relevant full ministries as they are better equipped and have more experience,” Yeo said, giving the example of childcare being under the purview of the women, family and community development ministry.