KUALA LUMPUR: With one disaster after another, an activist said rather than wasting money on superficial things such as fireworks, Malaysians should put the money to better use by assisting the needy.
Alliance of Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye called on Malaysians to band together and spare a thought for the many families that have been adversely affected by the multiple crises the nation is facing.
This includes the current devastating floods as well as the Covid-19 outbreak which caused business closures, movement restrictions, and unemployment among Malaysians.
Although the people would usually get to enjoy watching fireworks displays on New Year's Eve from different parts of the country, Lee urged the public to welcome this upcoming 2022 New Year in different ways.
"Let's use our resources, time, and efforts to lift the spirits of our fellow citizens in their time of need.
"Some of them have lost their loved ones, others their houses, their sources of income, and their belongings in the floods.
"Let's try to brighten their future not with fireworks or other ostentatious displays but with compassion and a helping hand.
"Let's skip the fireworks and build networks of organisations that care. Even if we want to welcome the new year, do it on a small scale minus all the expensive fireworks," he said in a statement today.
At the same time, Lee also urged the people to avoid engaging those with negative traits and bad intent that use the misfortunes of others for publicity to advance their political careers.
"On that score, it is interesting to note how Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will react to calls by some political experts and observers to review his cabinet line-up by removing non-performing Ministers.
"The Prime Minister has been proactive during these challenging times, even to the extent of taking the unprecedented step of urging his ministers who are currently on holiday abroad to return home, in the aftermath of the recent floods. Ministers who plan to go overseas have also been told to call off their plans.
"The political observers have expressed the view that 'non-performing ministers' would make a mockery of what had been announced by the Prime Minister earlier.
"They have expressed the view that the Prime Minister's recent 90 per cent rating for the performance of his Cabinet members over the previous 100 days could not stand scrutiny, given the poor performance of some Ministers and some Government agencies."
Earlier this month on Dec 9, Ismail Sabri said his cabinet members have achieved a 90 per cent key performance indicator (KPI) score for their first 100 days in office.
Ismail Sabri said the 100-day KPI was evaluated based on each ministry's core services (50 per cent), the performance of each minister (25 per cent), and public perception (25 per cent).
However, in light of the recent slow response in search and rescue efforts by the government when a large segment of the population was affected by the massive floods, observers have called on the Prime Minister to review the extremely high 90 per cent rating given.