Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew refuted claims that she was absent from meetings with Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing.
In a statement, Liew (above) clarified that while she had joined one of the five meetings scheduled, her representatives attended the rest.
“I attended the meeting chaired by Tiong on May 11 last year in Putrajaya.
“We were never invited for any specific meeting to discuss the programme,” she said.
Based on the reports Liew received, she claimed that none of the meetings discussed the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme but did not divulge details on what they were about.
Liew said this following Tiong's claims that the former never showed up to discuss the application for Sabah’s MM2H programme and that she criticised the programme's management.
Elaborating on the matter, Liew explained that the other meetings, held in November and December of 2023 and January 2024, were attended by either her deputy permanent secretary I, Sabah Tourism Board senior research officer or her ministry’s principal assistant secretary and permanent secretary.
She added that Tiong only chaired three of the five meetings - with the others chaired by his deputy Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan or the ministry’s secretary-general.
Different policies
With the programme receiving approval from the Sabah cabinet last year, Liew emphasised that Tiong should not lump Sabah and Sarawak together with the programme in the peninsula, as the two regions have different policies.
“We concur with Sarawak’s Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah that Sabah and Sarawak have their own conditions for the programme.
“Therefore, Sabah will proceed accordingly,” she added.
According to a report by MalayMail, one difference between the federal MM2H and Sarawak’s version is the fixed deposit requirement, with the state calling for RM150,000 and the federal government calling for RM1 million.
On June 7, Liew announced that Sabah would launch its own MM2H programme as there was no contradiction with national policy after the federal ministry suspended the operations of all licensed agents handling it on May 27 without further notice.
Tiong then retaliated, accusing Liew of failing to understand the entire policy and oblivious to crucial matters.
He argued that since Putrajaya had dedicated time to drafting the policy for the MM2H programme, Liew should meet with the ministry to understand the situation.
According to the government's official website, the programme was created to allow non-Malaysians to retire and live in Malaysia for an extended period. - Mkini
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