The asset declaration by the menteri besar and exco members of the Selangor government last week was criticised by many quarters as too brief and not transparent enough.

This has sparked off discussion on how asset declaration of elected representatives should be implemented.

In fact, the BN government leaders have been practicing asset declaration of cabinet members since 1990s which requires them to reveal their complete financial details.

However, the reports were never made public.

A former BN minister who requested anonymity told Malaysiakini that all ministers, deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries were requested to declare their assets to the prime minister.

“The declaration forms were sent to the chief secretary together with a statutory declaration before they were handed to the premier,” he said in a phone interview recently.

However, the declaration did not include their financial status before they were appointed into office.

Declare to PM

So what had the BN ministers declared?

tan yee kew Former parliamentary secretary Tan Yee Kew disclosed more details of the asset declaration form when approached by Malaysiakini.

According to her, all BN leaders have to declare their assets to the prime minister when they took office and the declarations are updated every two years.

Tan was parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of International Trade and Industries from 2004 to 2008. She joined PKR last year and is now Selangor PKR publicity chief and national supreme council member.

According to Tan, the first part of the declaration form is the income and expenditure details of the person and spouse including salary, incentives, rent earned from properties and commercial license, interest, share dividend, housing and car loan, income tax, credit card loan and insurance.

The second part is the details on properties and it is divided into several sections including land, house and building, car, interest in private company, share, bank account, cash and other forms of properties.

For the land, house, building and car declaration, it does not only require information of the official, but also the spouse, children and nominees.

For interest in private company, they need to list out all company shares held by themselves, their spouse, family members and nominees. Other shareholders in those companies and their relationship with the official are also required.

The bank accounts and cash details cover the spouse, children and nominees as well.

Under the 'other properties' section, one has to declare jewelry cost more than RM10,000 and their overseas trips in the past three years, stating the purpose and whether they were sponsored or self-financed.

Pak Lah's declaration promise

tang see hang At the state government level, former BN Selangor state exco Tang See Hang revealed that it was compulsory for all exco members to report their assets to the menteri besar and Anti-corruption Agency (ACA, now known as Malaysia Anti-corruption Commission, MACC). However, it was only done once every term.

He pointed that the information includes all shares, lands, income, houses, and savings both in local and foreign banks and other investments. These details also include their parents, siblings, and children.

“Besides that, the exco members also need to declare assets before they were sworn in for comparison,” he said.

Although there was an established format of asset declaration by the BN government, the financial status of their public officials was never revealed to the public.

In fact, after BN was hit by its worst general election result in last March, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quick to announce that all ministers and deputy ministers must declare their asset to the public twice in every five years, including their spouse and family members.

He even directed ACA to prepare the declaration forms. Unfortunately, as his tenure enters its final lap, there is no sign that the declaration would take place.

Part 1: S'gor cabinet's asset declaration 'laughable'