As the government chastises critics of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, a former Umno minister has dismissed the notion that Malaysians should be loyal to their leader.

The loyalty of the people should be with the country rather than any individual leader, said the former international trade and industry minister.

"Loyalty is to nation; there is no such thing as loyalty to anyone," she said at a public lecture in University Malaya.

Citing two songs iconic to Malaysia - the national anthem Negaraku and Sejahtera Malaysia (Prosper Malaysia) - which the audience sang before the public lecture, she asked if the lyrics of the songs stressed that the rakyat should be loyal to the leader.

"Did you feel the song? Did the songs ever talk about the prime minister and deputy prime minister?

"Did the songs say (we should) support leader A or B? Or did it mention ‘ sejahtera PM’ (prosper the prime minister)?" she asked.

If people knew the difference in terms of where to place their loyalty, then the country will do better at nation building, she said.

'Your right to curse'

It is okay to even curse an individual leader, she said without mentioning anyone specific.

"If you want to curse the individual, that is your right," she said.

She also shared her own experience in which she caused a scene when disagreeing with ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who said Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ( photo ) should have picked a person loyal to him as a successor.

She then told Mahathir that the successor should be loyal to Malaysia instead of any individual.

Rafidah, also known as the ‘Iron Lady’, said she does not mince her words when dealing with those who criticise the country.

She recounted an instance when a representative from the US repeatedly called Malaysia a 'pariah country' and she rebutted those words.

Later at the press conference, she said that was the period when then US president Bill Clinton was literally caught with their pants down and was struggling not to be impeached.

"I (said I) didn't care what the president did and who he had an affair with, I am here to do business," she said.