Global Courant
PETALING JAYA – A Malaysian minister who is reported to have caused a stir at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) said he had to step in to help a traveler from China who claimed she had been asked to pay several thousand ringgit. pay to be allowed entry into the country.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing also claimed that there was “a culture of corruption among some (immigration) officials, as well as chronic abuse of power at the country’s main gateway”, and called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to “enter KLIA full steam ahead to investigate what’s really happening at this key entry point,” New Straits Times reported.
The minister’s visit to KLIA’s Terminal 1 on Thursday went viral after news portal Bebas News reported that he entered the restricted zone without a permit to release a Chinese national.
Datuk Seri Tiong responded to the accusation on Friday, saying he decided to intervene after receiving a call for help from an employee at Malaysia’s Consulate General in Guangzhou.
He learned that the Chinese traveler arrived in Malaysia with her superior, a senior official of a TV station owned by the Chinese government, who came to do her PhD at a university in Shah Alam.
While the senior official was allowed entry, her personal assistant was told that there were discrepancies in her travel documents and that she would have to pay several thousand ringgit to enter the country. Both of their phones were confiscated.
“What powers do they have to confiscate their phones?” the minister asked, adding that the incident had caused “great embarrassment” to the women who were visiting Malaysia for the first time.
“I contacted the MACC and together with its officers we went to KLIA at 3 AM to investigate,” he said.
Immigration officials told Tiong that there was a misunderstanding between them and the travelers due to a language barrier.
Mr Tiong said the Immigration Department could have brought in translators employed by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad if the language barrier was the issue.
After intervention by the minister, the personal assistant was allowed to enter Malaysia with her superior.
“(The travelers) have recorded all conversations with airport officials and plan to expose their unpleasant experience when they return to China,” Tiong told The Star.
He added: “Thursday’s incident was the fifth time I have intervened in such matters. Claims that I did not have a pass to enter the arrival zone are also false as I do have one valid until next year.”
Mr Tiong said, “It is high time for the MACC to go full force into KLIA to investigate what is really happening in this important entry point”.
“I am grateful that my presence there has exposed an embarrassing situation for the country, where there is a culture of corruption among some officers and chronic abuse of power at the country’s main gateway,” the minister said.
