Apologise to BR1M recipients, Mokhzani told
KUALA LUMPUR: MIC treasurergeneral Datuk Seri S. Vell Paari has lambasted former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son Mokhzani over his remarks on the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) programme.
Vell Paari said it had exposed Mokhzani’s arrogance and showed that he had lost touch with the common people.
“Everyone in Malaysia knows how Mokhzani Mahathir made his billions. In fact (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim once said that Mokhzani’s Kenchana Petroleum received most of the projects from Pertronas.
“Dr Mahathir was also once the adviser of Petronas,” he said.
Vell Paari was responding to Mokhzani’s comments at a talk in Pendang, Kedah, where the latter said receiving BR1M was nothing to shout about.
Vell Paari urged the businessman to stop looking down on BR1M recepients.
“Not everyone in Malaysia is the son of a former prime minister who administered the country for 22 years and who is now a multi-billionaire,” he said, adding that there were people in the country who made an honest living and needed assistance from time to time.
The government, he said, was aware of this and providing assistance to the people accordingly.
He said the amount might be nothing to Mokhzani but it meant a lot to people in need.
“The statement from Mokhzani shows his hypocrisy. If he really thinks BR1M is nothing to shout about, why did Pakatan Harapan not commit to abolishing BR1M in its manifesto?
“The reason is simple. Pakatan knows that BR1M is a very good initiative by the Barisan Nasional government and that is why PH is maintaining it,” he said.
Vell Paari urged Mokhzani to apologise to BR1M recipients as they did not deserve disrespect and ridicule.
Meanwhile, political analyst and economic expert Prof Dr Hoo Ke Ping said the disbursement of BR1M was meant to help the needy and many had benefitted from it.
He said the amount spent on giving out BR1M was far less than what the government had to fork out to keep Proton afloat before this, which amounted to RM1 billion to RM2 billion annually.
“If we look at the amount given out to BR1M recipients and loans given out to Proton during Dr Mahathir’s time it is obvious that BR1M benefits the people directly while the loans to the company only kept certain people happy.”