`


THERE IS NO GOD EXCEPT ALLAH
read:
MALAYSIA Tanah Tumpah Darahku

LOVE MALAYSIA!!!


 


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Yen Yen's mystery firm Impact Creations

Yen Yen's mystery firm Impact Creations

Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen has a lot to answer for to the Malaysian public.

Controversy has erupted over the use of RM1,758,432 spent on developing six Facebook pages to promote Malaysian tourism.

According to the answer provided by Deputy Tourism Minister James Dawos Mamit in parliament, each Facebook page cost RM293,072 — Cuti-Cuti 1 Malaysia, Citrawarna 1Malaysia, Karnival Jualan Mega 1 Malaysia, Festival Pelancongan Seni Kontemporari 1 Malaysia, Kempen 1 Malaysia Bersih and Fabulous Food 1 Malaysia.

In fact, at least two of the sites mentioned are non Facebook pages: 1Malaysia Green And Clean and Fabulous Food 1Malaysia, while Citrawarna 1Malaysia is confirmed to be a Facebook Fan Page.

Which leaves the other sites a mystery and the answer by the Deputy Tourism Minister inaccurate.

What then was RM1.8 million really spent on?

Contradictory explanations

An under-pressure Yen Yen has defended the deal, saying Facebook pages were free. She also added that the RM1.8 million would cover the cost of six different campaigns across seven months and includes the cost of contests and advertising on Google and Facebook.

“The opposition just goes around saying it’s for Facebook. They are twisting the issue. The Facebook pages do not cost a single sen. This is a social media advertising, promotions and branding campaign and also data collection,” Yen Yen told reporters on Wednesday.

But her deputy James Dawos Mamit had told Parliament the day before that each Facebook page cost RM293,072.

Mamit said that the RM1.8 million included costs for designing, flash programming and coding, testing and debugging, uploading and launching the application, system server deployment and campaign management.

If the sites were Facebook fan sites then there is no need for most of the above. Testing and debugging, uploading and launching of application and system server deployment are negligible since these are processes done by Facebook itself.

So the amount may account for the non-Facebook sites that the ministry had commissioned for.

Until and unless the Tourism Minister releases the details of jobs commissioned and completed, we will never know how cost was allocated for work done on these websites.

Mystery firm

Web development costing is hard to quantify in dollars and cents. Thus, one can only wonder if the ministry was aware of the amount of money Impact Creations Sdn Bhd would have spent on developing the sites mentioned in Parliament.

Impact Creations is a mysterious company. A Google search for using the company name turns up little reference to it and no reference to even a company website. For an advertising company engaged to promote Malaysia on the Internet scene, to not have a company website is telling.

Yen Yen’s answer in Parliament in March 2011, when queried about the awarding of the contract to Impact Creations, mentioned that the companies were selected based on technical and financial capabilities in fulfilling the scope of the projects.

Yet, if Impact Creation Sdn Bhd is qualified, then why is there no corporate website for the company and no company annual reports since this would be expected of a company awarded a RM30 million contract by the Tourism Ministry.

Impact Creation may well be a RM2 company, set up in response to the ministry tender. A vague link, linking Ng Yen Yen to Impact Creation can be found in the association of Yen Yen’s friend, Juni Ewe with Impact Creation.

Juni Ewe is Managing Director of Impact Challenger Sdn Bhd, and by her own admission is a consultant to Impact Creation Sdn Bhd.

In her defence on the ministries awarding the RM30 million contract to Impact Creations, Yen Yen repeatedly mention that the tender process had been open. This is merely a diversion so people do not ask the right questions.

Was Impact Creation capable of doing the task given to them? Who are Impact Creation? We know close to nothing of Impact Creation except the names of the owners - Hamidah Yussof and Siti Alwiyah Jally. What previous experience does Impact Creation have in the field of advertising and promoting events for the tourism sector?

Yes, Yen Yen has a lot to answer because the whole deal has that familar BN stink. - Malaysia Chronicle

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.