A raft of MPs posted pictures of themselves performing various tasks in flood ravaged areas on their social media accounts, but some commenters were quick to question how genuine these efforts were.
International trade and industry minister Azmin Ali, who visited his constituency of Gombak yesterday, was skewered after he posted a video of himself helping to sweep muddy water through a small hole at a flooded house.
On Twitter, @dhahrxo said: “You know, this reminds me of that folio for moral lessons where you had to take pictures of yourself doing housework.”
“This looks like my little sister faking her school work when her teacher asks her to take a picture of her doing house chores,” said another commenter, @KANONFAVGIRL.
User @niezahalim summed up the sentiments of many commenters with the tweet, “There’s a lot of people who are still stranded. Short of food and needing shelter, but this guy chose to clean first.”
While netizens were generally kinder to Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming, who rowed a kayak with some others to help those in the affected parts of Petaling Jaya yesterday, he too received some criticism when he posted a picture of himself being pulled by others wading through the knee-high water in one of his boats.
“In the pics you don’t get off the kayaks,” said @FarhahZm. “The paddle is also there in the kayak instead of in the water. Perhaps you could get off the kayaks and walk like the others?”
Ong responded to this and other commenters who accused him of just sitting in the boat, clarifying that he had done “99%” of the kayaking during each rescue trip, and was only pulled in for the final part of the row.
“Each trip out takes 15-20m, the last pull in takes 30 seconds,” he said.
He also posted a picture of reddened arms, commenting: “I don’t think I can get this tan from doing a few photo ops, right?”
In another viral clip making its rounds, Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari is seen in waist-high flood waters helping a family move to safer grounds with a baby in hand, with netizens asking why others were standing around watching him.