KUALA LUMPUR – Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar is on the receiving end of online backlash after he posted a photo of him laughing while visiting flood victims in the state.
In a post on X yesterday, Samsuri, who has been widely upheld as potential prime minister material from PAS following his landslide win in the Kemaman by-election last year, shared an image of him visiting an elderly woman housed at a temporary flood relief centre.
In the caption, the PAS vice-president wrote that he had asked the woman if her stay at the centre was okay, followed by: “We laughed because she said that she’s already used to being here.”
Responding to the post, netizens were quick to criticise Samsuri over the senior citizens' nuanced response, seen as a veiled complaint.
Several X users pointed out that the state leader should have been more attentive to the people’s distress instead of “romanticising” the situation.
“This proves that your governance somehow failed to solve the recurring flood issue. The audacity to laugh at other (people’s) unlucky events is irresponsible and unprofessional,” chided user @firdausnurzaman.
Another user known as @dxn_cyrllvs said that they would be “embarrassed” if they were in Samsuri’s position, adding: “You shouldn’t be laughing (at how) your voters are saying (that) they’re used to being in disaster evacuation centres; it means you suck at your job.”
“If this is the future 11th prime minister, the creme de la creme of the opposition; we are doomed. You should be righting the norm and normalising what is right.
“You should be appalled by that statement, not laughing at those who are moved to relief centres,” said a user by the name of @xatyrosdi.
Expressing similar sentiments, user @MDQYP1 questioned Samsuri’s “lack of humanity” as a leader and reminded him that power is temporary while his attitude towards the people will be questioned by God in the future.
Samsuri is not the first Terengganu leader to come under fire for his jovial take on floods as state exco member Dr Azman Ibrahim previously courted controversy after he advised flood victims to “enjoy” the experience.
“Enjoy your childhood. If time could be turned back, I would like to go back to this time too,” Dr Azman said in an X post in December which showed youths having fun in calf-high waters.
He had shared a video of two youths riding a motorcycle while towing another boy sitting on top of a bucket lid across in the flood, and was widely criticised, including by Skudai assemblyperson Marina Ibrahim. – January 28, 2024
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