KOTA KINABALU: An employee of a Hong Kong-based private company that offered two million doses of the Sinovac vaccine to the Penang government said that it was a genuine offer.
Yong Chee Kong, 58, said it was unfair for a federal minister to label the offer made by him and Xintai Enterprise Development Ltd, an investment company, a “scam”.
According to Yong, his Hong Kong-based employer had told him to write to the Penang government to offer the vaccines after their letter to the Sabah government was rejected by the health ministry last January.
“That’s why I had to go to an opposition state,” he said, when contacted by FMT.
National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday called the offer of two million doses of the Sinovac vaccine to the Penang government a “scam” and “bogus”.
He was referring to an earlier claim made by Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow the day before.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Chow and former finance minister Lim Guan Eng revealed a letter stating the free offer of two million doses of the Sinovac vaccine that was made to the state.
During Khairy’s virtual press conference yesterday, he showed the letter which was submitted by Chow last February.
According to Khairy, he could find no evidence that either the alleged donor “Yong Chee Kong” nor the Hong Kong-based company that was mentioned in the letter, “Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd”, were real.
Countering Khairy’s claim, Yong said he never stated he was the owner of the company. He also claimed the company has a paid-up capital of HK$300 million.
“The minister also got the company’s name wrong. ‘Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd’ (the name mentioned by Khairy) and ‘Xintai Enterprise Development Ltd’ (the alleged actual name) are not the same and far off,” he said.
Yong added that as a result of his name being quoted by the minister he has now received unwanted attention from the public.
“This matter has been politicised and it’s unfair to me. My name came out and was associated with being a scammer,” he said, adding he is contemplating legal action.
“I feel I have been played, where do I put my face? I didn’t plan to be in the news or anything like that.
“But I am not worried (about being wrong) because my boss’ offer to donate the vaccines is genuine. It’s not a scam.”
He added the police have also contacted him over the matter and that he has an appointment with them tomorrow.
As for now, Yong, who claimed to have worked for Xintai for some 10 years, will wait for the reaction from the government before taking any further action.
He is also thinking of holding a press conference to clear his name but was told by his lawyers to put that plan on hold.
“I’m still thinking if I should hold the press conference because I can’t bear it (the vilification) but let’s see.” - FMT
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