Syed Saddiq pointed out that the remark was only directed at associations that openly supported political parties, especially during the campaign period for the 14th general election (GE14).
“I’m sorry for the stereotype. It is not right for all youths and associations to be called ‘macai’. It (the label ‘macai politik’) should only be directed to the leaders of youth associations who have openly endorsed Barisan Nasional (BN) and claimed that without BN or Umno Youth, the associations would not exist.
“I would like to emphasise that under the new leadership of the ministry, associations do not have to openly support the government, and I’d prefer if they genuinely criticised the government over what they like and did not like,” he said.
He was speaking after attending a meeting with the leadership of the Malaysian Youth Council (MYC) today. MYC deputy president Mohd Zaidi Aziz was also present.
At the press conference, Zaidi also acknowledged the fact and apologised to all parties for explicitly throwing its support behind the previous government in GE14.
Meanwhile, commenting on Pakatan Harapan’s 100-day manifesto, Syed Saddiq said the government should provide an explanation and be honest to the people if there were items which required more time to implement.
“The people have the right to know, if there is a manifesto yet to be fulfilled, the government needs to be frank. People are constantly watching and evaluating,” he said.
In another development, Syed Saddiq pointed out that the ministry would not agree if any action was taken against Dr Nur Ilyani Mohamed Nawawi, a medical officer at Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital who voiced out her opinion over the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues.
“If there is any disciplinary action taken against the medical officer, I will personally speak out against it as she is entitled to give her personal views,” he said.
Dr Nur Ilyani had on Aug 6 wrote an open letter on her Facebook, which she addressed to Marina Mahathir who is a champion of LGBT rights.
Among other things, she said if the LGBT community had rights, then she too had a right to live peacefully, free from “deviant lifestyles”. She suggested that Marina and others appeared to “promote” the LGBT lifestyle through their various media statements.
Nur Ilyani added that despite her stand on the LGBT community, she gave them the best treatment she could.
Yesterday, Kelantan Muslimat PAS chief Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff in a press statement urged the health ministry not to take any disciplinary action against Dr Nur Ilyani after it was alleged that certain parties had lodged complaints about the matter to the Public Complaints Bureau.