Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari and Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim have struck out at the government’s funding of Deputy Minister Muhyddin Yassin’s work visit to Dubai, asking if the extravagance was paid with taxpayer ringgit.

Muhyddin Yassin, in his trip to United Arab Emirates under the pretext of official duties, allegedly spent only 3 hours of his time there at work while the rest of his 5 days were dedicated to golfing and “private programmes” as revealed by a local whistle-blower blog peniupwisel2020.blogspot.com.

“The rakyat has the right to know who is footing the bill for this luxury trip, including the cost of the “special aircraft,” hotel stay at the five-star Shangri-La Dubai for the entire delegation, and other costs accrued that will be borne by the Government, including the Ministry of Education, Education Malaysia, Talentcorp and the Prime Minister’s Department,” say the MPs.

The blog has now also revealed the list of the entire delegation accompanying the Deputy Prime Minister  which totals 17 people comprising the Deputy Prime Minister and his wife, one private secretary, one press secretary, two political secretaries, four special officers, one aide-de-camp and six bodyguards.

“Not only is it shocking that 17 people are sent to Dubai for five days and put up at a five-star hotel at public expense for what is essentially only half a day’s worth of official work, but from the list it also appears that the entire delegation is made up exclusively of staffers and aides from Muhyiddin’s own office, with no ministry officials accompanying,” the MPs added.

The Bukit Bendera and Bukit Mertajam MPs requested the national audit agency to audit all the trips made by the Deputy Prime Minister, demanding an explanation from the government for the misuse of public funds. -The Rocket