Kota Kinabalu: The recent action by Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing of entering the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) Immigration counters was unlawful, claimed Bersatu Vice-President Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.
“Although we understand that the Minister has a special pass to enter KLIA Terminal 1, his actions which are said to interfere with the Immigration officers from carrying out their duties and legal mandate to detain the foreign tourists, is an offence under Section 186 of the Penal Code which is to obstruct a civil servant from doing their job,” he said in a statement, Monday.
“The Minister’s action also violates section 56(1)(g) of the Immigration Act, which is to obstruct, either actively or passively, any immigration officer who is carrying out their duties.”
As such, he said, if it is true that the Minister has interfered with an immigration officers from carrying out their duties, then the Government needs to take action against the Minister.
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“Incidents like this would not happen if we respect the duties of public servants.
“A stern warning must be given to any party that tries to obstruct and interfere with the authorities’ duties.
“Civil servants only carry out their duties according to their responsibilities and functions.
“It is not appropriate for them to be obstructed or roughed up,” he said.
Tiong had issued a statement recently explaining that he was in the KLIA arrival hall on a working visit and had a valid pass.
Explaining what had happened, Tiong said the female tourist had been detained without being told why and that problems arose when the foreign tourist and Immigration officers had trouble communicating with each other.
Tiong claimed that the tourist was said to have complete documents, but their communication failure resulted in the Immigration authorities being unable to obtain the necessary documents.
In his statement, he also claimed to have been told that there were Immigration officers who allegedly asked for money to release detained foreign tourists, claiming that there were some who allegedly asked for up to RM3,000 to be released from detention, including for the flight ticket to return to the country of origin.
He claimed that an additional RM3,000 was sought if the tourist wanted to return to the country of origin immediately using a “special lane”, and RM12,000 was allegedly sought as the cost for visa processing.
Tiong later said he was grateful that his presence at the airport had now exposed the alleged existence of corruption among certain officers and alleged chronic abuse of powers at Malaysia’s entry points.
Following the issue, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said all Cabinet members have security passes enabling them to enter restricted areas at the KLIA.
Loke explained that security protocol breaches do not arise as ministers are allowed entry into such areas even though they are not scheduled for flight boarding.
Separately, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) also confirmed recently it had commenced an investigation into allegations of corruption against Immigration officers raised by Tiong.
Affirming the matter, Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki urged the public to refrain from speculation.
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