Government must walk the talk - Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad

Former political secretary to the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad said, a good management would be seen through the execution of matters and not based on rhetorical talks.

“Because at the end of the day, people will not only be assessed from talks and rhetorics, but actions," he said during his speech at a special forum to commemorate the passing of second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak.

Abdullah added that during Tun Razak’s administration, there wasn’t any racial and religious unrest as what is happening now.

“Because Tun Razak knew how to handle problems of this sort…and at that time PAS was with UMNO, and DAP didn’t interfere then because we were just,” said the UMNO veteran.

He explained the situations are prevalent now because many are not only talking about racial and religious issues, but also human rights and the Constitution.

Abdullah also said that there is a larger poorer fraction compared to the rich and also in terms of the income gap between the intra- and inter-race.

“Even among Chinese, the wealth gap is widening between them…among Malays, it is even wider.

Previously, there was no urban poverty among the Malay population, but now it is huge,” said Abdullah who is also the former The New Straits Times' editor-in-chief.

However, poverty can also be a uniting factor among Malaysians as poverty is race-blind.

“(For example), floods affect all despite race…despite PAS, DAP or UMNO. That’s why I said if aid is offered, it should not be based on race or political party affiliations,” Abdullah said.

However, he said what is happening now is that the poor are fighting among them, while the rich are united to protect their wealth.

“The poorer fraction is a lot compared to the richer ones in Malaysia, because the rich are more united to protect their wealth while the poor are always in dispute among them.

“So they are further divided…and as long as the rich can divide the poor, my sympathy to them,” he said.

According to him, this did not take place during Tun Razak’s administration because Tun Razak’s agenda at that time was to uplift the poor to a more comfortable state to provide them with a better quality of life.

Talking about Malaysia now, Abdullah is of the opinion that Malaysia is in a good state but can still do much better.

The forum entitled, ‘Memperingati Tun Razak’ (Remembering Tun Razak) was organised by the DAP online portal, roketkini.com on Wednesday night.