KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor took on her critics who had repeatedly questioned her work in the Permata Negara project, saying that the early education programme was for the benefit of the nation’s children.

The wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said despite the brickbats, she remains unfazed because she is sincere in running the programme.

“Don’t believe what you hear. I am sincerely telling you the programme is not for me, but for our children to improve in their education,” she said in her speech at the Second Picoms Convocation at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

The Permata Negara project, under the patronage of Rosmah, had received allocations of RM150 million in 2013, RM111 million in 2012 and RM100 million in 2011.

In June, PAS MP for Rantau Panjang, Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, had asked why the government was not developing agencies such as the Community Development Department, and was only focusing on Permata.

Rosmah said Malaysians should realise that allocations for the Permata programme was not given to her, but to the relevant ministries.

She said the negative perceptions towards her have to stop because the programme was aimed at safeguarding the welfare of rural children. — The Malaysian Insider


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 2, 2014.