According to leaked documents (see attachment) posted on what appears to be a whistle-blower blog (http://peniupwisel2020.blogspot.com/2014/04/timbalan-perdana-menteri-membazir-lagi.html), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin appears to be enjoying a five-day golf holiday in Dubai at the expense of Malaysian taxpayers.
Special aircraft: Three hours of work in five days
The itinerary for Muhyiddin’s “working visit” to Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 8 to 12 April 2014, on the ostensible pretext of attending the Gulf Education and Training Exhibition (GETEX) 2014, reveals that the Deputy Prime Minister is travelling by “special aircraft.”
Staying at the five-star Shangri-La Hotel Dubai for the entire five-day trip, Muhyiddin’s duties at GETEX requires him to attend the official opening ceremony, officiate the Education Malaysia Pavilion, and take courtesy calls from the UAE Minister of Education and the Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development. Finally, he is scheduled to sign an MOU on higher education. All the above programmes are scheduled to occupy his time from 10am to 1pm on 9 April, from whence he would depart to the Montgomerie Golf Club, to be followed by a cruise dinner.
The remaining days in Dubai will be spent on “private programmes” and the occasional informal dinner with a few business figures and Malaysian diaspora. On the final day, he has another golf engagement.
In other words, Muhyiddin is spending five days in Dubai for only three hours’ worth of official education business, 10 hours on the golf course and two whole days on “private programmes.” Surely, there are many questions to be answered, especially if this trip is to be paid for by the public purse.
Is this what MOE’s budget is spent on?
The rakyat has the right to know who is footing the bill for this luxury trip, including the cost of the “special aircraft,” hotel stay at the five-star Shangri-La Dubai for the entire delegation, and other costs accrued that will be borne by the Government, including the Ministry of Education, Education Malaysia, Talentcorp (which is sponsoring the Malaysian diaspora dinner on 11 April) and the Prime Minister’s Department (where the DPM’s Office is parked under).
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has been allocated the largest budget amongst all ministries for 2014 (RM54 billion or 21 per cent of the Federal Budget), yet student outcomes have been the worst in recent times. Not only have Malaysian students fared badly in international assessments such as PISA (Programme for International Students Assessment) and TIMSS (Trends in International Math and Science Study), the MOE has also recently revealed that English proficiency has declined badly amongst our teachers and students, according to a report by Cambridge English.
While there is no doubt that education is a critical area to be focusing our resources on, the Government should be spending on real programmes that improve student outcomes and not on expensive leisure trips for the Deputy Prime Minister to play golf.
We also call upon the Auditor-General to investigate not only this trip to Dubai, but also any other trips Muhyiddin my have undertaken in recent times.
Steven Sim Chee Keong, Member of Parliament for Bukit Mertajam
Zairil Khir Johari, Member of Parliament for Bukit Bendera
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.