Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy said these special envoys had no special skills or diplomatic experience to improve or enhance Malaysia’s relationship with the countries they are put in charge.

“Imagine the salaries and perks they are entitled to without any concrete contributions to the country.

“Imagine how taxpayers’ money will be squandered by the government in paying these special envoys,” he said in a statement today when commenting on the announcement that MIC president SA Vigneswaran had been appointed as the special envoy to South Asia, which includes countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The appointment was announced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the Deepavali open house at the Malaysia Tourism Centre in Kuala Lumpur last night.

In September, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was named as Malaysia’s special envoy to the Middle East. In the same month, Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing and former human resources minister Richard Riot were appointed special envoys to China and East Asia respectively.

In 2011, former MIC president S Samy Vellu was appointed special envoy to South Asia by the Barisan Nasional administration, but the appointment was terminated after Pakatan Harapan came to power.

Questioning the need for these special envoys, Ramasamy said the public was not aware of their duties and responsibilities and Malaysia already had ambassadors and high commissioners in various countries.

He also questioned the contributions of Hadi, Tiong and Riot in the areas they represented.

“Has Hadi brought investments to Malaysia from the Arab countries?”

He also questioned if Tiong had the skills to resolve problematic maritime disputes in the region.

On Riot, he questioned what steps he had taken to enhance the country’s relationship with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.