Let’s be honest, Malaysia hasn’t been doing well financially. Budgets for public universities and scholarships have been cut down, and fellow Malaysians struggling to make ends meet seem taxing enough.
Therefore, it’s no surprise when Malaysian netizens slammed Najib for giving RM 10 million to help the Rohingya refugees.
Source: Indian Express
On January 19, Najib announced that Malaysia will donate RM 10 million to help build the educational institution and public healthcare facilities, FMT reported. The lump sum of money will also be used to boost the development in Rakhine and improve the living standard of the people.
Source: NPR
“Malaysia will continue giving support in human resource development through Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme. I encourage and welcome any contribution from other participating country, ” said Najib.
According to him, Malaysia in recent years has also been on the front line protecting 56,000 Rohingya refugees that comprised of men, women and children.
He added that Malaysia was ready to take up all the financial and social responsibilities by providing shelters and basic needs of the Rohingyas.
“On moral grounds, it’s something that should be done. The fact that they (Rohingyas) had to run away shows how much suffering they are going through,” Najib said.
Najib also stressed that ASEAN has the right to raise this issue and he’s happy that the issue has been acknowledged in ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting. While MPs don’t have the right to raise 1MDB issue.
“We would be failing them if we don’t try our best in preventing the tragedy that is happening on the Rohingyas,” added Najib.
The RM 10 million donation is without a doubt, a good news for the Rohingyas, but Malaysians generally weren’t happy about it because they reckoned the money should be spent on Malaysians instead of foreigners. After all, it’s Malaysians tax payer’s money.
“I haven’t received the OKU allowance for December yet but then you were giving away money to the Rohingyas? Are you looking for publicity? The rakyat themselves are suffering too!” said a netizen.
“While I sympathised with Rohingya’s plight, Najib and the ministers should use the money to help the local poor people. You should take care of the rakyat first,” commented another netizen.
I personally do feel sorry for the Rohingyas and feel that they deserve help. But I’m just worried that the RM 10 million will end up in an anonymous Swiss bank account and not the Rohingyas hand, if you know what I mean.
