Old video of an ‘overly emo' minister re-surfaces to mock Fadhlina Sidek's unsuitability to helm MOE

Focus Malaysia

5 hours ago

A BIG red bull's eye seems to have been painted on Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek's back.
Targeted for her perceived mishandling of Zara Qairina Mahathir's tragic death and the Education Ministry's (MOE) weak response to bullying in schools, to say the Nibong Tebal MP is under pressure is putting it mildly.
The nationwide anger is seemingly an opportune time for the opposition to pour scorn and ridicule the 47-year-old former activist and lawyer who specialises in Islamic family law and child welfare.
The latest to join the fray is renegade UMNO supreme council member Isham Jalil who dug up a video of a parliamentary session from 2023.
The video shows an almost hysterical Fadhlina retorting to a written question by Wee Ka Siong in a belligerent manner.
Banging her fists on the lectern, she sounded more like an exasperated housewife berating a child rather than a learned cabinet minister answering legitimate questions in the hallowed halls of the Dewan Rakyat.
Editor's note: The description provided by KiniTV to the clip states: 'Education Minister, Fadhlina Sidek did not give space for (Datuk Seri) Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) to interrupt to ask questions when winding up the Budget 2024 debate at the committee level for the MOE.
During the debate earlier, Wee who is also the MCA president had questioned the inconsistent data provided by the MOE on the issue of teacher shortages.
It may be old news but the timing couldn't be worse for the country's first female Education Minister as it just reinforces the perception that she is not cabinet material.
Easily provoked
This is more so as Isham who was also the former UMNO information chief sarcastically remarked on his Facebook page: 'Example of KBAT to kids on how not to answer a question (*not to be followed)'.
Editor's Note: KBAT which stands for 'Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi' is a Malaysian educational framework focused on developing high-level thinking skills in school pupils.
The post has already generated 8.1K likes, 3.8K comments and 912 shares at the time of writing which is an indication that – like it or no – the PKR women's wing chief is very much under the spotlight.
Some commenters openly questioned her ability to carry such an important portfolio. It wasn't even a provocative query, observed one commenter.
One commenter aimed a sarcastic barb at her being a 'PMX (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) sycophant'. The recent birthday message to PMX involving school kids chanting 'Happy Birthday, PMX' and 'We love you, PMX' also reinforces the view that she is nothing more than apple-polisher.
Her fantastical outburst unfortunately led to claims that women were unsuited to such positions of power and authority.
One commenter wondered just how Fadhlina was going to approach the issue of bullying in schools when a simple query in Parliament led to such an emotional tirade.
It is not a good look for the Madani administration when the person in-charge of the education portfolio is being made to look incapable, emotionally unstable and foolish.
It is certainly not great that calls for her to resign are getting increasingly louder and frequent by the day. – Aug 16, 2025.