Thursday, August 13, 2009

US$40,000 For 5 Local Flights!

Update 15/8/09: Ong Tee Keat has agreed to pay for the jet flights from his own pockets.

I'm not asking our Ministers to travel budget airlines like some of the Pakatan Rakyat leaders. But US$40,000 (or ~RM140,000) in expenses for 5 return local flights is just completely mind-boggling. Here are the details of the flights taken by MCA President and Minister of Transport, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat:

Twice, travelling by jet G450:
  • 12 Feb 2009 SZB/JB/KCH - ETD11am/12pm/5pm (Johor Bahru/Kuching)
  • 19 Feb 2009 SZB/JB/SZB - ETD 730am/1030pm (Johor Bahru)

Thrice, travelling by Learjet60
  • 7 Mac 2009 SZB/K'TAN/SZB - ETD12pm/10pm (Kuantan)
  • 24 Mac 2009 SZB/JB/SZB - ETD 330pm10pm (Johor Bahru)
  • 20 Apr 2009 SZB/JB/SZB - ETD 530pm/11pm (Johor Bahru)
Each return trip costs an average of US$8,000 or approximately RM28,000 or the annual salary of a worker paid RM2,000 per month with 2 months of bonus.

I think its disgusting and a sheer abuse of ministerial powers. And Ong Tee Keat has the cheek to tell the public that the flight company's bill hasn't been paid because the Ministry has not received the invoices. This also confirmed that Ong intends to pay for these flights using public funds.

But what is perhaps more interesting is whether Ong's excuse that the bills have not been paid due to the absence of invoice is valid. I'm certain that to book these flights an "order" must have been made via the Ministry? Was the order properly executed and documented and accounted for? Or was the excuse made only because Ong Tee Keat cannot possibly be implicated as having received such favours from the Port Klang Free Zone developer, Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd?

And how about Ong Tee Keat explaining whether he took these flights to carry out government business or private/party matters?

Are these the only private jet flights taken by Ong? Did he take private jets sponsored by generous donors as well to Beijing and Seoul this year?

Is there a Government directive that Ministers are not to take private jets?

There are a hundred and one questions we want to ask both Ong and Tiong now to find out more about their cosy relationship. And I'm certain we'll see more exciting things to come as more and more dirt get exposed.

But one thing for sure, I want to campaign for Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to pay for the luxury flights costing some RM140,000 with his own money and not paid for by the rakyat!

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't play-play!, no wonder Dr M says chinese the real master of economy. The Tiong fellea 'donate' 10mil in cash!, cash! he talk like he keep all the money under his pillow. Cash was given in 3 occasions, wonder how many box of paper are there during 1 transaction. This is more intersting than what shown in Hong Kong movie... why these BN people always carry cash .. plenty of cash...

tupingera said...

aiya!! no need to go nitty-gritty...remeh-temeh.

this is MALAYSIA BOLEHHHHH !!

they can do whatever they want....well protected by the MACC.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you know how this scheme works in the private sector right?

Let's not pretend to get all worked up about public funds being used. The reality is no such thing will happen.

My guess is that the flights are "free" in that no money changed hands. And it is not free in that Wijaya is gunning for a commercial air license to operate a charter service from which Ministry, I wonder?

Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Christopher Yap said...

I thought OTK is a breath of fresh air, being a "lone ranger" and all. But I guess BN is all just about rhetoric..

Anonymous said...

No wonder..so many many..kampung-boy and ulu-bandar men want to become TA-KUAN..! MALAYSIA..BOLEHhaaah..!

Peter said...

Rais Yatim:
"Despite criticisms against the “legal instruments related to media, publications and printing presses,” there has been no “immediate request for the laws to be reviewed or re-examined,” said Information, Communications, Culture and Arts Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim."

Please bring this up in Parliament and make a request for the restrictive laws to be reviewed or abolish, then this idiot Minister will no longer have an excuse.

Anonymous said...

it's value for money to otk. besides being a private jet, got private service also mah. ;p. what about the last GE where AAB & NR used govt jet to hop up/down with all the xtra ballot boxes to make sure they win well over 5000 votes than opposing candidate to avoid malu-ism?

otk will say he need to use the private coz it's faster. get off the plane faster also. can reach the people faster. so faster service must always pay more lah. after all, it's not "my" money mah, it's mca or tax-payers money mah. so what if us$100,000- not "my" money mah.

now we know where all the chinese school funds go to.

don't forget that YAB LGE (Penang CM) took AirAsia to get to KL.

amoker said...

Its just the chinese MCA. They have gotten so fat that they dun dare to do the right thing.

Aeroplane brand said...

Private jet mah!!! Surely you can't compare to Air Asia fare, right?

Do you know how much to maintain/keep a private jet?

In the first place, why do Wijaya Baru need to buy private jets, what busines does the company involved in? Buy jets just to fly politicians?

camcamni said...

I agree that OTK should pay for these flights out from his own pockets or MCA pays for him. Its clear that there is no clearance from Govt for him toi fly in private planes and he even got the guts to ask for the invoice and said his Ministry will settle the bills if invoiced. This is RUBBISH!!!

Please make police reports or report to MACC on this abuse of power. Besides, I think its easy to check if he flown these flights for govt or party matters. This is sheer abuse whihc must not be let go of.

Tony, go for it...dont let us down and we as tax paying citizens are not going to pay for this bill.

Anonymous said...

Actually you want to know the stupidity of this.. Its actually cheaper if he own his own plane and fly himself...In US, plenty of rich friends do that but here all these rich people don't take up challenges...

Anonymous said...

There's a calm before a storm.

It's not about PKFZ , plane , corruption ,election and bla bla..

Cant you feel the Selangor move under your feet ?
By then it might be too late.

Is it a natural disaster ? God knows.

Anonymous said...

Why not fly kite ?

Anonymous said...

why must he even take LUXURIOUS JETS? what is happening..and from where he gets his money anyway? Such RUBBISH

Daniel Tan said...

1. What is the gomen's travel policy? How come can travel by private jet?

2. RM10mil ... Ong lying or Tiong lying?

3. With this RM10mil scaandal... dont you think both flers shound step down voluntarily?

4. You think only private jet? ... any extra private services the rakyat dont know of?

5. How come PM & DPM so quiet on this matter?

1Malaysia ... MALAYSIA BOLEH indeed!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wonder why our minister of transport took so expensive flight?

1) Poor public transportation system
2) JAM JAM JAM !!! if go by car also the "car" might broke down easily due to long distance travel + JAM.... not like Japanese made
3) No big deal it is all rakyat's hard earn $$.

Srikanth Siva said...

Even if this fellow booked all the seats on air asia, it might have been cheaper....can make it his own private jet :)

Anonymous said...

Isn't it common for businessman to offer their private jet to Ministers for favour? If OTK didn't go ahead and exposed the PKFZ scandal and naming Tiong as the culprit, the public will not know OTK travelled by private jet! :)
You are right, Tiong should resign from all posts.

Anonymous said...

This Tiong bugger can just raised 10M RM cash. Who has this kind of cash on hand? Maybe only the Ah Long.

Hey. Maybe Tiong is also in the Ah Long business - since financing is listed as one of the business of Wijayah Baru.

Anonymous said...

Think about it. Why all this fella become a politician in the first place ?

If you think all this travelling are too much. Wait until you see UMNO's bill.

10 million from the Tiong Sarawakian tycoon is peanut. Don't forget how much he get from PKFZ cash cow.

So in economy sense, Tiong is actually practising "recycling". He make a fortune from PKFZ with the help from MCA and now donating back to MCA. Then he jaga the MCA youth and give them job etc.

Sounds familiar ?

Anonymous said...

Come on everybody. This is just peanuts and the tip of the iceberg. Spread the net wide and one will be able to catch a lot of 'big fish'. Not to mention about the paid for luxurious overseas holidays.

It is the poor taxpayers who are made to look like idiots by these so called high fliers.

Anonymous said...

Tony,

You're a hard man to reach! If you could, please check your Facebook inbox.

Thanks.

l藍海 said...

: O
utk BAYARAN ansuran kereta layanan kereta + + bensin + biaya tol + rumah + + bil lektrik wang sagu udara + anak + barang dapur + kos perubatan +++>> 3500-4500
: D
TABANG Penerbangan UTK Kesayangan MENTERI KITA INI HAMPIL DGN wang BELANJAAN SETAHU i

Anonymous said...

eh, no comment from back door minister / father of kpi - ktk?

eh, no comment from drama king of mic - sv?

best comment: it's a personal matter - by so called minister in pm dept.

is the company's private licenced to issue invoice for the flight service? will this not infringe the transport act? it also means that the company that provided the jet was a TOUT !!! bcoz it has deprived MAS & AirAsia whom have to pay millions to get their licence as a commercial carrier, while this private jet (akin to a private taxi at KLIA, LCCT) get away scott-free? ini sudah lebih lah.

but if it was pakatan mp, macc will have a field day at this.

Anonymous said...

another obvious prove that macc is not independent. it is totally dependent on instructions from the PM. otherwise, NFA = no further action.

Anonymous said...

Muhyiddin has asked KDSB Tiong King Sing and OTK to be cautious about making their current spat public as it would affect the image of the Government and BN.

We can see here UMNO is bought out by Tiong. They sided Tiong rather than OTK. Why ? So the whole episode of PKFZ, UMNO is involved too.

In the end, UMNO may want OTK to resign to cover up PKFZ. Everyone is happy then.

The big fish is Tiong and UMNO. DAP is now dancing with Tiong King Sing to help finish up OTK. So UMNO and Tiong are very happy with DAP.

Anonymous said...

Yeah Chinese is the real master... not entirely true. It goes back to Khazanah too.

True Fiction said...

Great - you got details. Now if the info in reliable, bring it up in Parliament:

1. If it is to be paid by the Ministry, then the Minister has abused public funds. Throw the bloody book at him!

2. If they were free flights, debate the integrity and independence of the Minister for taking gifts from the public sector. Throw the bloody book at him!

True Fiction said...

And by the way what about the newspaper pic of Najib sleeping on a goverment plane and quoted as flying off to a BN campaign last just before elections last year?

Wasn't that abuse of public property? Using Government resources for political party purposes? Has anyone looked at it? Oh..I forgot...there is no separation of between Government and political party here in Malaysia....

Hill isn't Broken said...

OTK is a wonderful man. He is amoral but then he was picked as president of a Chinese based political party. He self-claims himself as highly moral man, but what he did is unacceptable by many normal people. Can he be trusted again?
He should tender his resignation as both minister of government and president of party as a gentleman as he himself proclaimed.

Anonymous said...

This is nothing. The real story is still not revealed.

IF $10mil and $40K of flight was taken by MCA, then UMNO and UMNO warlord share of this thing is many many times more. Remember that UMNO treasurer and two former transport minister is involved and being protected in this.. UMMO & Co share easily $100mil and more for this thing...

Anonymous said...

Tony,

I think we should support Ong on his willingness to rectify PKFZ. why put him down? BN is putting him down, shouldn't be you guys support him on this matter rather than put him down just because he is MCA. Would it be you guys afraid of him since he may be doing right for the people?

Anonymous said...

by the way, can he afford to pay the bill even if he wants to?

OKT, stop creating a lie to cover a lie. IT WAS FREE until the shit hits the fan.

By the way, PKFA wasnt created by you. It was thrown to you by your predecessors. Who approved the guarantees? Who was the past Chairman from MCA who oversaw the deal? wasnt he also from Kuala Dimensi group?

Anonymous said...

The thief has threaten to expose once and all more "insiders secret" of whom he has TOLONG along the path.

Chew Mei Fen is getting his monies too.

I think he is the "Best Employer in Politics".

Anonymous said...

While flying Malaysian Boleh MCA Minister airplane is tragically hit by lightning and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met at the judgement entrance.

“Welcome to heaven,” says an Angel. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see Chief Politicial official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.”

“No problem, just let me in,” says the man. “Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Just like what Najib allow the rakyat to hear 1 day ceramah from BN & 1 day ceramah from PR to decide. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.”

“Really, I have made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,” says the 4 Super Yang Berhormat
“I’m sorry, but we have our rules,” says the Angel. And with that, the Malaikat escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and lots of learjets and standing in front of it are all his friends and other Tun & Datuk Seri politicians who had worked with him in BN. Everyone is very happy and dressed in the finest Billion Ringgit batik, mutiara, belian there is. They run to greet him on red carpet and kompang, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had playing with bribes while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then indulge themselves on lobsters, extra large Ketam and the most expensive kenduri food there is in their many palaces. Even with sexy girls provided like what we had used in recent by-election.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time and telling jokes and giving RM5,000 each to come again. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell, wish them to come back again and waves while the elevator rises.

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where the Angel is waiting for him.
“Now it’ s time to visit heaven.”
So, 24 hours pass with the Yang Berhormat joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing living modestly like Nik Aziz home and still alife on earth. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and the Angel returns.

“Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.”
The Yang Berhormat reflects for a minute, then he answers: “ I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think KITA better off in hell.”

So the Angel escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

“I don’t understand,” stammers the Yang Berhormat. “Yesterday I was here
and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and kenduri,
drank a tasty air bandung, and danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a
wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?”

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, “Yesterday we were campaigning just like you during an election…… Today you voted.”
"Your 1st day in hell expenses has not been paid because you will say you have not received the invoices and so will not pay us."

VOTE WISELY IN THE COMING ELECTION

Anonymous said...

SIngapore
PM is paid S$5million a year. that is CEO level pay. Deservedly for a republic that is the 9th largest economy.

Malaysia
A mere politician pays RM10million. Unwarranted or fictatious claims for phantom construction works (source The Star). that is public funds, each Malaysian pays on average 30sen. Now this is only a small fish. what about the collective politicians namely those who can afford to stay in a RM3million mansion?

Mr Tony, What is the opposition government role. 30% Watchdog-governance and 70%economic development.

Share with us, what has Selangor govt achieved? for its people?

- depressed share prices for MNCs located in s'gor
- congestions on road
- poor FDIs
- poor encouragement of entrepreneurship
- poor Public University ratings, rankings.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
offer Permanent Residents to S'poreans who invest >RM1mil in funds for >3years, in factories, in export based businesses

offer licenses to spearhead commodiities - worms farming, sheep rearing, fish culture

offer special purpose vehicles to invest in S'gor

offer research grants and JV between MNC and local tech universities

offer merit scholarships to S'poreans, Australian, East eurporean

Mr Tony, your potential is boundless. DOn't just sit there and yell the govt is no good. Out-peform them = that is competition at work.

Salam

Salam.

Anonymous said...

Now he says he will pay for the flight himself. US$40K - isn't that one year salary for him? How can he afford to pay so easily? This just confirm all this is cover-up. What is it he is covering up?

Anonymous said...

Anon 9.26pm,

Share with us how to implement your few proposal.

Don't sit in Air-con room and talk only.

Go ask your MNC CEO why their share price drop ?

JoeyK said...

If it's coming out of his own pocket, then he has every right to pay such exorbitant fees, whether the rest of us think it reasonable or no. If he has the luxury to take such flights from his own pocket, then fair enough. I won't begrudge Bill Gates for taking a private jet from Seattle to Los Angeles while I am forced to ride the Greyhound, for example. I'd do the same if I were him. It's his own money, let him spend it how he will. No reason for me to drag him down to my level. Many of us really need to get off our high horses before we get hurt.

Of course, where the money comes from is another matter altogether that can and should be investigated separately. But, suppose we give him the benefit of the doubt (innocent until proven guilty etc etc), to criticize him for spending his personal money the way he wants it is rather patronizing.

Anonymous said...

what about the claims made that other politicians also used the private jet service - wow, service must be very stok :P - & also other prominent MCA leaders used it as well. they proudly claimed that they paid for the service. are they suppose to ? were they taxed ? whose money did those MPs paid them with ? public money ? MACC must investigate. it is definitely worth more than RM 2400- flags.

Anonymous said...

Please do not fight corruption. It is the only way those without ability can get everything they want. Ramlax