Selangor reps in ‘magic pen’ dilemma

SUPPORT LETTERS: ’A norm to expect it from state exco officials’

(NST) – SELANGOR state government officials are forced to issue support letters as some people will not leave until they had obtained the state officials’ signature.

Selangor Education, Higher Education and Human Capital Development Committee chairman Dr Halimah Ali said the culture had become a norm among the people.

However, Dr Halimah stressed that the letters issued to those seeking endorsements after Pakatan Rakyat took over were not support letters and Pakatan assemblymen did not have “magic pens”.

“It has been the norm in our society to get a YB’s (assemblyman’s) signature to get jobs, get into universities, get contracts, projects and so on. In Selangor, YBs don’t have a magic pen where a signature means approval.

“Some of these people, they won’t leave a YB’s or a government officer’s office until they have a letter, even though the letter does not say that their company must be chosen.”

She was commenting on the support letter controversy involving Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim’s political secretary Faekah Husin.

Khalid is under scrutiny for defending Faekah, who wrote a letter of support for her relative’s law firm to be in a state government-linked company’s legal panel.