Former tourism minister Ng Yen Yen and her delegations spent over RM4 million on overseas trips during her tenure from May 2009 to January 2013, Parliament was told today.

Ng, who recently came under fire in Parliament for her appointment as new chair of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), was often accused of overspending the Tourism Ministry's budget in her tenure.

dapsy egm 160110 loke siew fook anthony Her travels were listed in a written parliamentary reply by Tourism and Culture Minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz to Seremban DAP MP Loke Siew Fook ( left ) which showed that she had made 34 trips, with China being her most frequently visited destination.

Ng was tourism minister for less than four years.

The list showed that Ng's two most expensive trips were with her delegations to Europe.

In her maiden voyage from May 13-25, 2009, to Amsterdam and Paris, they spent a total of RM382,430.

Almost a year later, she spent RM491,987 on a week's trip to London, Munich, Germany and Italy.

The record also showed that Ng made 10 trips to places all over China.

In defending Ng's jump into Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board, Nazri had said that Ng was a useful asset in selling Malaysia to big spending Chinese tourists.

Ng's appointment had courted controversy as MCA had rejected cabinet appointments after its poor performance in the 13th general elections.

Ng is a vice president in the MCA.

According to Nazri, Malaysia currently receives only 1.5 million of China's 400 million tourists and needs to get more.