KUALA LUMPUR: It was the spike in the number of his constituents who came knocking on his door for help that inspired Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub to come up with the Rahmah initiative.
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He said he had witnessed a different trend in his suburban constituency of Pulai, Johor, as it was usually the Malays who would seek aid from his service centre.
"In 2020, I started seeing many Chinese constituents making a beeline for my door.
"I got in touch with (former women, family and community development deputy minister) Hannah Yeoh and Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok.
"They both said the issue of high living costs was affecting their constituents as well.
"Rahmah is actually our battle cry in Parti Amanah Negara. It carries the Islamic concept of 'rahmatan lil alamin', which means 'love' and how you should take care of the people, especially those in need.
"Following this, the Pulai community service centre organised a food basket initiative during the Covid-19 period and it was successful," said the former agriculture minister, who is now domestic trade and cost of living minister.
Salahuddin is determined to keep all Rahmah initiatives going for as long as possible.
"Rahmah symbolises how the people can stand together under one roof during difficult times," he said, adding that coming up with people-centric programmes to lessen the people's burden would be the ministry's priority.
"When you have the platform and the power is in your hands to help the people, that is what we should do."