COMMENT To say that one did not consume the turtle eggs because of its high cholesterol content, and later to be caught with his pants down, is simply no excuse for Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

This is apparently not the work of the opposition; the people and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are watching the cabinet ministers all the time, especially a controversial figure like Ismail Sabri.

In the first place, Ismail Sabri should have told the truth, without the twist. He should not have even denied that he had consumed the eggs served. It cannot be that Ismail Sabri would consume anything that was served on the plate, without asking what it was.

As a special guest, he would usually get to see and even choose the menu from the organisers themselves with regards to his preference. Organisers usually do this, especially when it involves a minister, and even if it is not, Ismail’s personal assistant would have requested it from the organisers.

Having realised that it was the turtle eggs that were served, what did Ismail Sabri do about it? Did he ensure that such practices or the culprits were being penalised before the pictures went viral instead of leaving the responsibility to others?

Did he even complain about the turtle eggs to his colleague in the cabinet who is in charge of conservation? If he did, why did he not state so right from the beginning? You know this is a serious issue with the conservationists, yet you took things lightly and remained oblivious to the sentiments of the people.

In fact, it is not only the NGOs that are concerned about the leatherback turtles which are becoming extint. Members of the public like me are equally concerned.

Therefore, for Ismail Sabri to now claim that he had no knowledge of the turtle eggs being served, is like telling the tiger in front of you that you thought it was a cat. It is too late, after he denied eating it, yet the nearly empty plate told the whole story.

Ministers not above the law

In Malaysia, ministers think that they are above the law. This has been happening more rampantly in recent years especially during the administration of the current Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak.

Wrongdoings are done in the open, and the culprits do not even feel remorse over what they have done. They no longer hold on to the good moral principles that make them good leaders; instead, they will lie their way around, and when found to be lying, they tell more lies to cover the earlier lies.

This is the merry-go-round, with which the public is not impressed at all - and it is not always that the true story that is being told up-front. The 1MDB scandal is a good example.

With Ismail Sabri, even when photographs clearly showed that the turtle eggs were being consumed, he could still come out with all sorts of stories which only morons would believe, but no one in the public would believe.

If leaders cannot live by the rules that they set others, who else will? Ismail Sabri is supposed to be a lawmaker and he should know that leatherback turtles are supposed to be protected, especially when the species are fast becoming extinct.

Instead of blaming it squarely on the organisers, Ismail Sabri should also face the axe, not only for consuming the turtle eggs, but for telling us one lie after another.

Assuming that there were 20 tables at the function, and each has 10 guests, each taking two turtle eggs, that would be a total of 400 eggs! What conservation of the leatherback turtles are we talking about!

It is not surprising that the ordinary man in the street is always asking: “Can you trust these politicians? They are the worse liars of all! They are blatant with their own lies.”

From the high cholesterol story to the up-front denial, “I did not eat it!”, the latest pictures show that the minister himself did consume the eggs. A nearly empty plate tells the whole story which can no longer be denied.

Should resign

If he was being honest with himself and his constituents who voted him as Member of Parliament, Ismail Sabri should immediately resign from this current post as minister in charge of rural and regional development.

Frankly, I do not see any other options available for Ismail Sabri, since this is not only for his own integrity sake, but that of Najib who picked him to be a minister, that will be at stake.

If Ismail Sabri can get away with the white lies, then I do not know who else we can trust, especially when Ismail Sabri is expected to deal with serious issues relating to his own ministry and the rural people who do not read or write as much as most of us who are in the cities.

After all, was this not the minister who made senseless remarks that irked most of us when he asked people to boycott Chinese traders? All the twists and turns thereafter have not really helped this Barisan Nasional man’s overall reputation, and being a public figure, he deserves to be criticised for his actions, especially when it relates to the conservation of the leatherback turtles.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.