It does not matter if people want to condemn the rice bags with the face of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak printed on them, as long as the aid reaches the flood victims.

So says Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

"It doesn't matter if people want to condemn, what matters is that the items from the Ministry of Agriculture reach flood victims and help lighten their burden," Ismail ( left ) told Malaysiakini today.

The ministry yesterday received flak after picture of rice bags for distribution to flood victims, with the faces of Najib and Ismail Sabri printed on them, was spread online.

The picture was first posted by pro-Umno blogger Syed Akhbar Ali on his blog, Out Syed The Box .

Syed Akhbar claimed that extra workers were hired to paste the prime minister’s picture on supplies provided by the Agriculture Ministry.

He also claimed that he was sent the picture by one of those who were hired and that the supplies could not be distributed until the pictures were pasted on them.

Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub was also subjected to criticism from netizens after bags of rice with his face and the words ‘Datuk Lan, Ahli Parlimen Machang’, together with the BN and 1Malaysia logos, were circulated online.

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