I read the open letter of Rizal Mansor[1], assistant to Rosmah Mansor, to me with interest. He must have been overexcited over the headlines yesterday that sounded like I approve of Permata. I would like to clarify that my exact words were “….any government initiatives to develop ECCE including PERMATA should not be brushed off immediately just because of the person who advocates is not likable.” It was far from approval of Permata.
Rizal said that I have wrongly accused Permata in my article that it receives generous funding from the government each year but has shown little results in providing affordable early childhood care and education (ECCE). I think if Rizal really want to clear Permata’s name from the “accusation”, the best way is to disclose Permata’s accounts for the past nine years. If this is really an accusation, I am sure Rizal will not be afraid to show the accounts for public scrutiny.
Rizal has invited me to visit the one of the Permata centers. I will be very glad to accept the invitation and hope he can host me there and show me not only the operation part of Permata center but also explain in details to me how the hundreds of millions of government allocations are spent.
Lastly, if Rizal eventually decided not to host me, I would like to suggest to Rizal and his boss that if they are really concerned with ECCE development in Malaysia, the very first step for them to do is to release Permata from Prime Minister Office and place it under the purview of Women, Family and Community Development ministry.