The government sent 5,782,000 Merdeka celebration invitations by SMS to members of the public via telecommunication service providers Celcom, Maxis, DiGi and U-mobile prior to independence day in late August, a deputy minister has revealed.
However, these millions of SMSes did not cost taxpayers a single sen as all were sponsored."The cost involved in the exercise was borne entirely by the service providers mentioned," Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Joseph Salang (left) told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Salang said this when winding up for the ministry during the policy stage of the Budget 2013 debate.
He said the sending of the SMSes was achieved through the good offices of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the body that regulates the telecommunications companies.
The matter was raised by MPs during the policy stage debate of the 2013 Supply Bill, which has been going on for the last two weeks.
On the Merdeka celebrations itself, Salang said, the ministry spent RM5.4 million in total.
The ministry organised the national Merdeka Day celebration at the Bukit Jalil stadium, to which members of the public were invited to attend via the SMSes.
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