The department today confirmed to FMT that Kompleks Jabatan Perdana Menteri will be known as Kompleks Setia Perdana from Feb 1.

“It is part of our effort to rename all the government offices here, which have been used since Putrajaya was established 25 years ago,” the department’s spokesman Izzad Zalman Abdul Kader told FMT.

He said the name change is part of an initiative to rebrand the PM’s department, adding that it was not a directive given by the prime minister.

He said a competition was held last year to come up with a new name.

“All the processes and procedures were adhered to because to rename a complex is difficult. We need to get the local authorities and others.”

A letter informing the name-change was shared on social media, attracting criticism from MCA president Wee Ka Siong.

Wee questioned if the current government were “professionals” at changing names, in an apparent reference to new names given to government programmes since Pakatan Harapan came to power.

They include the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) cash aide programme which is now known as Bantuan Sara Hidup.

Wee also asked if the use of the word “setia” (loyalty) in the new name was a call to government servants to show loyalty to Dr Mahathir Mohamad.