KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing today chided Umno Youth chief Muhamad Akmal Saleh who accused him of power abuse and demanding the tourism, arts and culture minister be stripped of his Malaysian citizenship over an incident at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) recently.
Tiong demanded an apology from Muhamad Akmal for jumping the gun in claiming the minister had trespassed into the KLIA arrival hall and interfered with Immigration officials into releasing a foreign tourist without first finding out the facts of the case, news portal Malaysiakini reported today.
“If he can be a good politician to help the country, I very much appreciate it.
“But if he doesn’t know how to be a politician, please don’t talk rubbish.
"If you don’t know the whole story... what is happening, don’t just follow social media.
“I demand him to apologise to me, tell him (Akmal) that,” Tiong was quoted as saying.
Tiong defended his action, and said he is willing to face the Cabinet over his corruption remarks implicating Immigration officials.
“Yes, no problem. I can say, I have no issue. I don’t have any agenda.
“Because first, we must give confidence to tourists from around the world to come,” he told the news portal.
Tiong issued a statement yesterday explaining that he was in the KLIA arrival hall on a work visit and had a valid pass at that time.
In his statement, the Bintulu MP also claimed to have been told that there were Immigration officers who allegedly asked for money in order to release detained foreign tourists, claiming that there were some who allegedly asked for up to RM3,000 to be released from detention including for the flight ticket to return to the country of origin.
He claimed that an additional RM3,000 was sought if the tourist wanted to return to the country of origin immediately using a “special lane”, and RM12,000 was allegedly sought as the cost for visa processing.
Separately, Tiong told News Straits Times he wished to implore Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to take immediate action against the longstanding issue of corruption at the country's international gateways, especially its airports.
“I have already told them many times. Do not do it anymore. I said enough is enough. But I do not know.
“This is a longstanding issue. The Home Ministry, under the leadership of its minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, should do something about this for the sake of the country's image.
“I will leave it to them to investigate,” he was quoted as saying by the daily.
