After being shown around the Pusat Anak Permata Negara by an aide to prime minister's spouse Rosmah Mansor to allay allegations against the early education initiative, a DAP assemblyperson extended a similar invite to the aide to explain allegations of corruption in the DAP-ruled state.

DAP assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin visited the Permata centre today after Rosmah' aide Rizal Mansor invited her to peruse Permata's books to show that it is making use of federal funds for the good of the country's children and that the funds were not being taken off for other uses.

Her counter-invite to Rizal was issued at a press conference after the visit and a closed-door briefing by Rizal, Permata official Siti Azizah Sheikh Abod and adivser Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahbudin.

"We can invite him to Penang to hold a dialogue session, like this one today, and we can give our explanation," said Yeo, the assemblyperson for Damansara Utama.

Other than Yeo, the briefing was also attended by DAP Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh, Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming, and Wanita MCA chief Heng Seai Kie.

Prior to this, Yeo was invited by Rizal to tour the centre operated by Permata, the early education initiative headed by Rosmah.

Yeo had wanted to see the organisation's books and how the federal funds it was allocated were spent.

Same goals

At the press conference, Yeo expressed her thanks to Permata and Rizal for the meeting and explanations.

Yeo said that while they had differences in opinions, they still shared the same goals with Permata.

"It is about the good of the children. We just want to float a different view. But we just want what is good for the rakyat.

"But we do hold different opinions on policy and administrative matters," she said, adding that the agency should be under the relevant ministry, instead of being lumped under the Prime Minister's Department.

Other than that, Yeo also hoped that Permata's accounts would be open for public scrutiny, to allay the negative perceptions against it.

In response to Yeo's request, Siti Azizah said that Yayasan Permata will send over a copy of its audited accounts after an audit by accountancy firm Ernst & Young, to the DAP assemblyperson next week.

However the Permata official said that they can only hand her a copy of the audit report for Yayasan Permata, as she will have to write to the auditor-general if she wants a copy of the audit report for Permata as a whole.