(Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the statements made in court more accurately.)

The Education Ministry did not take action until the minister’s office intervened in cases of child and sexual abuse as well as financial misconduct involving billions of ringgit, a former aide to ex-education minister Maszlee Malik told the High Court in Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday.

Former ministerial aide Shaza Scherazade Alauddin Onn said this when testifying in Siti Nafirah Siman’s landmark teacher absenteeism suit against the government.