Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali today apologised to Malaysians for breaching the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and regulations.
He will also return his salaries as a minister from May to August and contribute the amount to the National Disaster Relief Fund (Covid-19 Fund).
In a statement, Khairuddin said it was his responsibility as a minister to comply with the regulations and SOPs, throughout the RMCO period.
“To show my responsibility, I will return all my salaries as Minister from May to August this year and contribute the amount to the Covid-19 Fund under the Health Ministry,” he said.
Apart from that, he also informed that he has donated the salaries received for March and April this year to the same fund as per the decision of the Cabinet previously.
“I will continue to work hard and redouble all my efforts and energy to carry out the task as a Minister, to ensure that all the people involved in plantations and commodities, especially the over one million B40 smallholders always benefit and look after their welfare,” he said.
The Health Ministry in a statement today said it had issued a RM1,000 compound against Khairuddin on August 7 which he has paid.
However, pressure is mounting for Khairuddin to tender his resignation after he got off with only a ‘slap on the wrist’ fine of RM1,000 for flouting mandatory Covid-19 quarantine regulations.
The call is not just coming from angry netizens and opposition politicians but also from within Perikatan Nasional.
Umno Youth exco member Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris said Khairuddin’s pledge to give up his minister’s salary from May to August was insufficient and that he should resign.
“This is not about the salary that will be returned but this is a matter of being an example to the public,” he said in a tweet responding to one of the minister’s supporters.
A search for the term letak jawatan (resign from post) on Twitter returned a torrent of tweets demanding for Khairuddin to resign.
Social media was ablaze with fury after the Health Ministry announced that it had fined Khairuddin RM1,000 for not undergoing mandatory quarantine after returning from Turkey on July 7.
Many drew comparisons on the perceived double standards between the PAS minister and a 70-year-old woman who faced a more severe punishment for similarly breaking the quarantine order.
“Makcik who broke quarantine jailed a day and fined RM8,000. Minister breaks quarantine is free to go here and there is fined RM1,000.
Several netizens found suspicious the statement by the Health Ministry today which said the minister had been fined on Aug 7.
“On Aug 19, the Health Ministry director-general said they would investigate the allegations that a minister did not follow quarantine.
“Then on Aug 22 (today), the Health Ministry said the minister was fined on Aug 7. Three days to find a record whether the minister got fined or …?” said a Twitter account with the handle “Konfem Sahih”.
Khairuddin had previously not mentioned anything about a fine in several remarks made to the media.
On Aug 20, he urged the public to wait for a Health Ministry statement and that he would “abide by any statement” issued by them.
Meanwhile, Klang MP Charles Santiago asked whether Khairuddin’s family members had also been fined.
The Health Ministry’s statement today did not mention whether Khairuddin’s entourage, too, had violated Covid-19 quarantine regulations and if they had been fined.
Meanwhile, the timing of the Health Ministry’s statement today from Turkey has only raised more questions.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, who is also Khairuddin’s predecessor in his post, said that many Malaysians were shocked that Khairuddin had been fined RM1,000 on August 7 and had already paid for it.
“I raised the issue of Khairuddin breaching the 14-day quarantine order after returning from Turkey in the Dewan Rakyat on August 18, 2020, but director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Ministry of Health was investigating,” she said in a statement.
“Why did the ministry release a statement today informing the public that a compound had been issued and that he has paid the fine?”
Kok said it is unlikely that Health Minister Dr Adham Baba or Noor Hisham would not have known about the fine.
She added that Khairuddin had not informed the media all along that he has been fined more than two weeks ago and had paid up.
In fact, she said he only apologised and declared he would donate his salary today, after the ministry announced that action has been taken.
“It is clear that the ministry’s statement today and the RM1,000 compound issued to the minister on August 7, 2020, was carried out on the orders or under the pressure of the higher-ups, be it the cabinet or the National Security Council,” she said.
Citing Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, that quarantine violators will be brought to court, Kok wanted to know why the cabinet minister was given special treatment and only given a backdated compound of RM1,000.
“Once again, the people are seeing double standards in the implementation of the Covid-19 movement control order. The people’s anger is evident on the ministry’s Facebook page,” she said.
The ministry’s press statement on the matter, which was uploaded to its Facebook page garnered 18,900 reactions and 7,800 comments, most of which have been unfavourable.
Khairuddin also tops the list of trending topics in Malaysia on Twitter.
Lawyer Lim Weit Jiet took to Twitter to question the difference between punishments meted out to other civilian quarantine offenders and the minister.
“Pink wristband Aunty = fined RM8k + one day imprisoned. Sivagangga = fine RM12k + 5 months in prison. Minister Khairuddin = fine RM1k.
“All made the same mistake: violating quarantine order.
“Sorry, but where is the kedaulatan undang-undang (upholding the law) stated in the Rukun Negara,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, C4’s executive director Cynthia Gabriel tweeted that double standards crush the rule of law.
“Equality before the law is a cornerstone of our constitution…double standards means crushing the rule of law…thats what this is!!” she said.
Prior to the fine, Khairuddin had been up in arms against his detractors and defended the infringement by saying he had undergone three tests with all the results coming back negative.