KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — “The struggle for the people is not a cliche. It comes from my heart because I can feel their hardship.”
Those are the feelings expressed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob during an interview in the 3 Pagi Era programme on Astro-owned Malay radio station, Era, today.
Sharing his experience of growing up as the son of a rubber tapper with eight siblings, Ismail Sabri said hardship made a person stronger and able to understand the hardship of others.
“Others may learn about poverty through their readings, but I experienced it first hand. If there were news about people losing their jobs during COVID-19, and children missing their meals, I can feel it. I have lived in their shoes,” he said in the interview hosted by Nabil Ahmad, Azad Jasmin and Radin Amir Affendy.
The one-hour interview was part of the Inspirasi Setahun Keluarga Malaysia programme in conjunction with his one-year anniversary in office on Aug 21.
Recounting the days when he first shouldered the responsibility as the country’s number one leader, Ismail Sabri said striking a balance between saving the people’s lives from COVID-19 and sustaining the economy and livelihood was very difficult.
To make things worse, he said there was no precedent for the situation as the whole world was facing it and struggling to fight the deadly pandemic.
On the National Day and Malaysia Day 2022 celebrations, the Prime Minister called on all people to show their spirit of patriotism by flying the Jalur Gemilang at home and on their vehicles.
He said the country may have been freed from physical aspects of colonialism, but cultural colonialism still occurs, just as in any other country in the world.
“What’s important is for us not to be too influenced by the culture that is not suitable for us…although today’s generation has much better freedom than we were before, there needs to be a certain limit so that they are not influenced by negative elements,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an interview on MY FM, Ismail Sabri said he was happy that after a full year of governing the country, various problems faced by the country including in the fields of economy, politics and health had been well resolved.
“Despite the many problems, we were able to solve them and the political situation is more stable now compared to when I first took over.
“We have also solved some economic issues. Bank Negara Malaysia had also announced that our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of 8.9 per cent is the best in Southeast Asia compared to major economic powers such as the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, China and so on,” he added.
