Two opposition MPs who criticised Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's "luxurious" trip to Dubai said the rebuttal from the latter's office still left many questions unanswered.

 

The duo asked why Muhyiddin's office did not explain the need for a 17-person delegation for the five-day trip last week, which appeared to include a lot of non-essential personnel.

 

"Not only is it extravagant to send 17 people, it is even more shocking to note than out of the 17, seven of them are security personnel (six bodyguards and one aide-de-camp).

 

"The rest are made up of personal aides such as four special officers, two political secretaries, a press secretary and a private secretary," Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari ( left ) and Bukit Mertajam MP Sim Chee Keong ( right ) said in a joint statement yesterday.

 

Zairil and Sim pointed out that there were no Education Ministry officers involved in the trip, despite Putrajaya claiming that the trip involved education industry exhibitions.

 

Last Wednesday, Zairil and Sim revealed a leaked document showing that Muhyiddin's trip was filled with "private" engagements, "informal" dinners and two trips to the golf course.

 

Following this, the deputy prime minister's office claimed that the document was merely a draft and listed out the trade talks, business meetings and governmental meetings which Muhyiddin was to attend.

 

How much did it cost taxpayers?

 

Among others, the DPM's office also claimed that the golfing excursions and dinners were sponsored by businesses.

 

Meanwhile, Zairil and Sim also questioned what Malaysia would gain from the trip in trade and education.

 

"In terms of education, what is the purpose of establishing bilateral relations when most gulf countries performed even worse than Malaysia in the recent Programme for International Students Assessments (Pisa) 2013 report ?

 

"While Malaysia ranked a lowly 52nd out of 65 countries, Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan and Qatar ranked 61st and 63rd, while UAE managed to edge Malaysia out by ranking 48th.

"Should we not be establishing education ties with high-performing states such as Shanghai (China), Hong Kong, Finland or Canada instead?" they asked

 

Zairil and Sim said Putrajaya should be forthcoming on the total cost borne by taxpayers, which includes events sponsored by government agencies such as TalentCorp, Education Malaysia, Tourism Malaysia and others.

 

"(This includes cost) for travel by 'special aircraft', lodging at the five-star Shangri-La Dubai and other costs incurred," they said.