PUTRAJAYA: Hannah Yeoh has dismissed criticism of her appointment as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), saying that she should be judged on her work rather than her ethnicity.
“Race or skin colour has never defined or limited my work. Since 2008, whether as Subang Jaya assemblyman, Selangor state assembly Speaker, Segambut MP, deputy women, family and community development minister or youth and sports minister, my focus has always remained on policy, implementation and results rather than the colour of my skin,” she said at a press conference at Menara Seri Wilayah here after clocking in at her new office yesterday.
Yeoh was responding to criticism by PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan on her appointment.
Takiyuddin had said in a statement last week that the centralisation of strategic administration of cities, local government, housing and local authorities in the hands of leaders from one party and ethnicity can raise major, legitimate and unavoidable questions regarding issues of imbalance and excessive centralisation of power, as well as the true direction of national governance.
But on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Yeoh’s appointment, along with that of Datuk Lo Su Fui as her deputy, will not undermine the Malay agenda in the Federal Territories.
