Why was deputy minister unaware about Taliban-led visit, Wee asks

PETALING JAYA: MCA president Wee Ka Siong has questioned why the education ministry kept its deputy minister Wong Kah Woh in the dark on its hosting of officials from the Taliban-led Afghanistan government.

Wee said he was puzzled as to why education minister Fadhlina Sidek knew about the delegation but her deputy was unaware, based on what DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

“Why didn’t the deputy minister know? Aren’t they supposed to work closely together?” Wee said in a post on TikTok.

He also asked DAP to state its stand on the visit and questioned whether the Cabinet had discussed the delegation’s visit.

Lim previously questioned the ministry’s decision to host officials from Afghanistan’s education ministry earlier this month, saying it was a matter of great concern, given the Taliban-led government’s controversial policies on women’s education.

However, the education ministry defended the delegation’s visit, saying it was in line with Putrajaya’s policy to help the Islamic republic in terms of healthcare and humanitarian assistance.

It said it had given the Afghan officials an overview of Malaysia’s “inclusive” education system, including the education of women and girls.

According to the ministry, the Afghan delegation had wanted to make Malaysia a point of reference for best practices in terms of developing education policies, especially on training and co-curricular activities.

In a further dig at DAP, Wee said one of its leaders had previously warned that Malaysia could end up like the Taliban-led Afghanistan if certain parties were to govern the nation.

“Now, these same leaders are part of a government hosting the Taliban for talks,” he said.

He was making an obvious reference to Perak DAP chief Nga Kor Ming, who is also the housing and local government minister.

During the campaign for the 2022 general election, Nga reportedly warned about a Taliban type of government in Malaysia should Perikatan Nasional come to power.

The Teluk Intan MP said PAS, a component of PN, would push for what he called extremist policies on gambling, alcohol, concerts and gender segregation if the coalition were to govern Malaysia.

Perak PAS later lodged a police report against Nga over his remarks.