A day after Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin admitted that his ministry had paid RM1.6 million to bring three K-pop groups to Malaysia for a youth concert last year, his predecessor is insisting that the money did come from sponsors.
Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, in direct contradiction to Khairy's statement, claimed the ministry had received RM20 million from domestic and foreign corporate sponsors for the event.
He said the money was banked into the National Sports Council's account by the sponsors, which the auditor-general's department had failed to take into account.
"The auditors only looked at the amount that came out of the ministry's account," he reportedly wrote in his Facebook posting, and called the department "culas" (not diligent).
"It was not taxpayers' money that was wasted as alleged by the opposition based on the summary contained in the auditor-general's report," Ahmad Shabery added.
The auditor-general's report revealed on Tuesday that RM1.6 million spent to bring in three South Korean pop groups to perform at the concert had come from the government’s coffers.
Yesterday, Khairy admitted that the ministry was forced to pay for the K-pop concert held during the World Youth Day celebration last year after the initial sponsors backed off.
Khairy also said the ministry has cancelled the K-pop concert for the 2013 Youth Day celebration.
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