Dinner controversy being exploited: NUBE KL

comments     Claudia Theophilus     Published     Updated

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In a new twist to the annual dinner controversy, the Kuala Lumpur branch of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) is blaming certain selfish people out for personal gain and the media for the current discontent among its members.

In a letter addressed to all members, branch secretary A Prathiba Raj attempted to explain the Dec 29 annual dinner fiasco which has catapulted the 14,000-member branch into a controversy.

He appealed to members not to get disillusioned by what you hear and read in the papers.

There are people claiming a lot of things and these people are sending out poison-pen letters to further their personal ambitions. These people are very selfish because they are damaging and destroying an already fragile union, read the three-page letter obtained by malaysiakini today.

The letter was dated Feb 7, one day after the national exco meeting where 14 out of 24 members voted against investigating into the annual dinner scandal.

Prathiba Raj also blamed the media for sensationalising NUBE-related news to increase circulation.

They are not bothered about the trouble this union faces. We need to be wise. Unity is and has been the strength of this union.

Do not let selfish people ruin this union to further their goals, he said.

Admitting disunity which he also attributed to the 10 percent levy implemented in early 2001, Prathiba Raj nevertheless appealed to members not to let banks take advantage of the problems plaguing the NUBE.

Poor ticket sales

Last week, he was quoted as saying that the branch will meet its members to explain the RM97,000-plus losses incurred when ticket sales, totalling about RM22,000 from 400 tickets, failed to make up for the whopping RM120,000 bill.

The event, held at the posh Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel Convention Centre, boasted an eight-course dinner and expensive entertainment.

Prathiba Raj also explained that due to the slow ticket sales, branch chairperson Toh Seng Hock had successfully pleaded and requested the hotel to reduce the sitting capacity to 1,000 from the initial booking for 1,500 guests.

The sale of tickets was hampered by many poison-pen letters that were circulating. Although the ticket sales were not encouraging, we had to go on with the dinner as many tickets were sold and the booking fees paid.

Had we decided to cancel the dinner, the booking fee would have actually been forfeited by the hotel and that would have been an actual waste of members money, he said.

Maintain tradition

Explaining further, he said the decision to hold the dinner there was to maintain the tradition of the KL branch as well as to cater to the large membership and dignitaries, which included Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

However, both had replied they were busy on that day and could not attend the dinner.

Prathiba Raj also insisted that in the past, the KL branch had spent much more to organise dinners annually than what was spent by the present secretariat which had not used the RM100,000 budget approved at the triennial general meeting three years ago.

However, disbelieving branch members are convinced that the KL branch had written this letter to avoid meeting members themselves because they would have been unable to face the queries from angry and frustrated members.

They are afraid to meet us because we have facts and figures. They cannot get away with it this time. They must be held accountable, said one member from HSBC bank, claiming that the letter was only sent to selected branch members.



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