Accused of not attending meetings, Sabah tourism minister says MM2H was never discussed in the first place
KOTA KINABALU, June 10 — Sabah’s Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew denied not attending the federal ministry’s meetings, which she said never discussed the Malaysia My Second Home(MM2H) issue.
Responding to Federal Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing’s claims that she had not attended meetings to discuss the matter, she said that she had always monitored the meeting minutes by representatives who said they had not discussed the MM2H subject.
In a statement today she said she had attended one of five meetings called by Motac on May 11, 2023.
“On occasion when I was not available, I sent representatives to attend other meetings called by Motac
“Out of the five meetings, the minister of Motac chaired only three while the other two meetings were chaired by Motac’s secretary-general and the deputy minister respectively.
“According to my ministry’s reports, none of the five meetings ever discussed the MM2H programme. We were never invited for any meeting to specifically discuss the programme,” Liew said.
She recalled meetings on November 6, November 14, and December 19 last year and January 16 this year where a representative from the state government was present.
Either her deputy, permanent secretary, a senior research officer, the principal assistant secretary or the permanent secretary attended the meetings.
Last Thursday, Liew had said the state was unhappy with Motac for suspending the MM2H licensing agents’ operations when Sabah was on the verge of launching its own state MM2H.
She said the state had appealed with Motac to reconsider the decision but alternatively would go ahead with its programme anyway.
The next day, Sarawak’s Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah also said that the state was considering doing the same with its own programme after Motac bulldozed the decision.
On Saturday, Tiong had called out Liew for not attending the meetings to discuss the matter.
Today, Liew reiterated that the state would proceed with the Sabah-MM2H programme, saying Sabah and Sarawak have a different policy and should not be lumped into the programme for Peninsular Malaysia.
“Motac’s arbitrary decision caught many stakeholders by surprise, particularly agents, purchasers, and potential investors, as well as the Sabah Cabinet. Furthermore, Motac has never discussed their decision with the Sabah government,” she said.
According to Liew, Motac’s arbitrary decision caught many stakeholders by surprise, particularly agents, purchasers, and potential investors, as well as the Sabah Cabinet.
On May 27, Motac issued a directive to all licensed agents handling the MM2H applications, including those in Sabah and Sarawak, to cease operations.
The state government wrote to Motac on May 28 to appeal the decision to suspend the operations of licensed agents, especially the Sabah agents, some of whom still hold valid licences approved and issued by Motac.
