FORMER Damansara MP Tony Pua defended Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh saying there is no comparison between her and the husband of former minister Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil who became famous in the National Feedlot Corporation scandal.
He said Shahrizat’s husband, NFC executive chairperson Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail was embroiled in a lawsuit to reclaim a multimillion-ringgit loan, and that should not have any comparison to Yeoh’s husband.
Note that in October last year, the High Court ruled that the government failed to prove any wrongful use of the RM250 mil loan to NFC.
Controversy is boiling over the Selangor government’s appointment of Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti) to be one of two companies to run a bus-on-demand pilot project.
Asia Mobiliti’s owner and CEO Ramachandran Muniandy is Yeoh’s husband, while another Asia Mobiliti co-founder Premesh Chandran is a director and former CEO of Malaysiakini.
“Oh wow. All the wannabe sheriffs seem to be riding out on their pretentious high horses. Even comparing Hannah Yeoh to the NFC scandal. Oh wow. Great soundbites. Great clickbaits. Definitely great for the holier-than-thou image.
“She’s the perfect target after all. Blemish-free. Hardworking. Righteous. Fantastic role model. Nearly an angel. All the more juicy and scandalous, if there was even a mere whiff of possible misendeavour,” said Pua.
He pointed out that the NFC lawsuit arose over a RM250 mil soft loan at a rate of 2% interest (interest-free for three years).
“NFC had no expertise in farming cows and the NFC family purchased luxury bungalows/condominiums for their own use,” claimed Pua, who perhaps wanted to drive the point that Asia Mobiliti has the expertise in ‘Demand-Responsive Transit’ (DRT) or bus-on-demand.
Pua also spoke on the track record of Asia Mobiliti, which was founded in 2018, and emphasised that it has very specific performance targets to meet.
“Asia Mobiliti is specialised and has expertise in ‘Demand-Responsive Transit’ (DRT) (bus-on-demand).
“Asia Mobiliti has won multiple awards for its applications and is one of only three companies pre-qualified by the Land Public Transport Agency.
“The Selangor state government awarded two nine-month trial contracts to two of the qualified companies. There are very specific performance targets (passenger KPIs) to meet,” he added.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is said to be investigating a project involving a minister’s husband after receiving several complaints and new leads on the matter after MACC commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki reportedly said he had no issues with the appointment as it was made by a different entity—the Selangor state government—and not by Yeoh’s ministry.
Nevertheless, he assured that there would be an investigation if a new lead emerged later.
Meanwhile, Yeoh has issued a statement on her social media accounts, saying she welcomes the MACC probe.
— Hannah Yeoh (@hannahyeoh) June 1, 2024
“I welcome MACC’s probe into the Selangor DRT proof of concept. Now that the probe has started, I want to see truth and vindication come out of this investigation. Malaysia deserves nothing less.
“Therefore, it would not be proper for me to comment as it may be construed as an interference with on-going investigations. In fact it was for this reason I had not said anything sooner as in my view the best way forward in dealing with such claims is to leave it to the relevant authorities to investigate them.
“I want to thank all who have reached out to me in solidarity,” she wrote. – June 1, 2024
