YB Yeo Bee Yin, had stepped down her position as minister at the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) last Wednesday (26 Feb) after serving the ministry for 20 months. She had no plans to leave without bidding a proper farewell to her fellow comrades.
Photo: Facebook Yeo Bee Yin
"I recall the early days of MESTECC, when they didn't even have a name and acronym for the ministry, as the ministry [was] a combination of three ministries – Ministry of Water, Land, and Natural Resources (NRE), Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change (KeTTHA), and Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOST)," she said in a Facebook post.
She apologised to those who had joined her in meetings and on-the-ground operations as she knows the experience they’ve had together might not have always been pleasant.
"Indeed, this ex-minister of yours was not the easiest to work with – demanding, precise, impatient, and to a point, yes, garang! (strict). For that, I would like to extend my apologies to any of you who were offended or hurt by me in the process; please know that it was never intentional nor personal."
Yeo said she is proud to have worked with all the MESTECC officers throughout her 20 months in office hand and has learned a lot from them.
“For the record I am very proud to head this office because of all of you. I’ve seen many of you serving the country excellently and sincerely in the civil service.”
“I’ve received good words and compliments about some of you from other ministers, of which I often replied, “of course, he/she is from MESTECC!”.”
“I’ve also learnt a lot from you - the line of thoughts, the way to do things and more.”
She also said that she would not have traded her job for anything else.
“In short, these 20 months in office has been an incredible journey for me and I’d not trade it for anything else, not because of the power that come with the ministership, but because of the precious opportunity to serve the people and build the country together with you.”
Photo: Facebook Yeo Bee Yin
According to Yeo, the ministry has completed 73 Initiative MESTECC 2019 last year and recently launched 130 Initiative MESTECC 2020 with clear and measurable targets.
Despite not being in office to follow through on the new initiatives, Yeo is confident that the next minister appointed will be able to guide the department successfully.
“Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to see through and work with you on these 130 initiatives. I hope that the next minister, whichever party he/she is from and whoever he/she is, will be able to walk you through 2020 to greater height.”
She hopes that everyone will continue to serve the nation with integrity and excellence and to remember her words during their monthly assemblies.
“Remember what I’ve always said in my speech in Perhimpunan Bulanan? Always strive to pursue excellence in everything we do so that the rakyat will get the best from us.”
She ended her goodbye speech with the MESTECC’s slogan, “own it, do it, ace it!”
Thank you, Yeo Bee Yin, for your service!
By: Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya
