She said she had received many reports about the floods while at the assembly and decided that she would visit at least one centre after the event, Utusan Malaysia reported.
“I would like to inform the public that on that day, Dec 19, I attended the Bersatu general assembly. As I am the head of the women’s wing, I had to be at the assembly,” said the women, family and community development minister.
“I was only able to change my clothes. I forgot about my shoes, because for me, what was more important was for me to be at the (relief) centre to help and look after the welfare of the flood victims,” she was quoted as saying by the Malay daily.
Rina was criticised for being insensitive after photos of her in high heels at the centre went viral on social media.
However, Rina said she has gotten used to the brickbats as it was common for ministers to be criticised for various things.
She also hoped Malaysians would look at the incident from a more holistic point of view.
“I would like to apologise if my heels were too high. I hope that as Malaysians, in the environment we are in today, we will also help each other.
“We can easily say or write all sorts of things on social media platforms, but what is our contribution to the flood victims?”
Priority to help flood victims
Rina also said that campaigns like “Do Not Donate Here” which discourage the public from donating to disaster relief funds organised by the government were inappropriate as the country was now dealing with a disaster.
She said the priority was to ensure that all resources were utilised to help the flood victims and that the funds would reach the target groups.
“The money we raise (for disaster relief funds) will be given to the people,” Bernama quoted Rina as saying after she visited a flood relief centre in Sepang.
The “Do Not Donate Here” campaign is trending on social media after many expressed their disagreement with the government collecting donations from the public to be channelled to flood victims. The campaign, however, encourages donors to contribute directly to non-governmental organisations.
“In situations like now, there is no need for such hashtags. It doesn’t matter who is doing it (raising money) as long as the recipients benefit and our aims are achieved,” said Rina.