Malaysia Airlines (MAS) coughing up RM1.55 million for three paintings, which has ignited an uproar , was today described as 'reasonable' by Backbenchers Club head Shahrir Samad.

He also termed the paintings, which certain quarters called a waste of money, as 'necessary decorations'.

"It is up to them (to purchase the paintings). To me, the paintings are necessary decorations, there is value to it. As an asset, it will depreciate so you have to sell it, that will make money," he told a press conference at the MAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

"I think the cost is reasonable. I am not an art lover but to me (the cost) is small, it's not so important, it's not going to determine whether MAS will become bankrupt or not, it's not a symptom of extravagance because it was purchased before MAS had problems," he added.

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Earlier, Shahrir and 10 other backbenchers held a three-hour long closed door meeting with MAS chairperson Munir Majid and executive director Tengku Azmil Zahruddin to discuss the controversy as well as the troubled airlines' turnaround plan.

Emotional calls

Commenting on the senators' demand for Munir to resign over the controversy and MAS' proposal to sell its office building, he said this was an 'emotional' reaction.

Instead of getting carried away, he called for a specific action plan to tackle the issue.

Shahrir also noted that MAS chief executive officer Idris Jala ( left ) had previously vowed to relinquish his post if he did not perform over the next two years.

The MP also suggested that MAS centralised its office at one location to cut operational cost.

At present, he said the national carrier had three offices in the Klang Valley: Sepang, Subang and Kuala Lumpur.

To a question on whether MAS' financial woes was related to abuse of power, Shahrir, without elaborating, said this question was raised during the meeting and he was satisfied with answer.

Make us proud

In a related development, a DAP delegation led by Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang also held a 90-minute closed-door meeting with the two senior MAS officers.

Speaking to reporters later, Lim commended the airlines managing director for making a 'good start' as he had gained the moral support of the employees to turn around the company.

Idris deserves full support from everyone, he said.

"MAS should be a national airline that all Malaysians are proud of, unlike now, where even its staff are embarrassed of it," he added.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader also revealed that Munir defended the eyebrow raising RM7,000 per day foreign consultancy due to the problems plaguing MAS at present.