Patient advocacy group Positive Malaysian Treatment Access & Advocacy Group (MTAAG+) today said it could not hire people to attend protests, amid allegations of corruption.

The group's director Edward Low said the money was provided to protesters at the anti-Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) rally on Saturday would not even cover a day's cost of living in the city.

He clarified it was RM20 per person, and not RM30 as said by Malaysian Aids Council consultant Fifa Rahman, who came to Low's defence yesterday.

“We could not afford to hire people to come to the protest. The RM20 is nothing to ask people to come out,” Low told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

He said the money was paid to about 100 of the group's members, almost all of whom are patients suffering from hepatitis C or are HIV positive.

It is meant to pay for their food, water, and transport after the protest.

Low said that if the payments amounted to corruption or are meant for “hiring” them to attend the protest, the payments would not have been made in the open.

He added that the money was not distributed to everyone who attended, but instead the group had made records of the recipients' names, IC number, and signature.

MTAAG+ was among the various groups that protested against the TPPA at Padang Merbok and Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

The group is concerned that the agreement's provisions on intellectual property would delay the introduction of generic medicines, hence driving up the cost of healthcare.

A video of Low handing out the money has been circulated online since yesterday, including by BN’s Facebook page ‘Friends of BN’.

Really sad that public health advocates are being attacked as corrupt for providing subsistence costs for #TPP rally...

Posted by Fifa Rahman on Sunday, January 24, 2016

“Bribery practised by those who are purportedly fighting for transparency, integrity and against corruption.

“Payment is being distributed to those who attended the rally,” read the video caption posted on the Facebook group 'Friends of BN'.

Malaysian Aids Council consultant Fifa earlier said the funds came from a grant MTAAG+ received for public health advocacy.

The TPPA will be debated in Parliament tomorrow, and is expected to be signed in New Zealand in February if it is approved.

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