Man behind vaccine donation offer 'in contact' with KJ's office
• UPDATED 11.10PM | Added mention of a report where Yong supposedly accused Khairy of getting his company's name wrong.
A day after being dismissed as a scam, the businessperson behind an offer to donate two million Covid-19 vaccine doses is supposedly in touch with National Covid-19 Immunisation Program Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's office.
Relating the exchange through his official Twitter handle, Khairy said his officer is in contact with a person "claiming to be Yong Chee Kong".
The minister maintained he would be happy to facilitate Yong's offer to donate vaccines, but...
- UPDATED 11.10PM | Added mention of a report where Yong supposedly accused Khairy of getting his company's name wrong.
A day after being dismissed as a scam, the businessperson behind an offer to donate two million Covid-19 vaccine doses is supposedly in touch with National Covid-19 Immunisation Program Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's office.
Relating the exchange through his official Twitter handle, Khairy said his officer is in contact with a person "claiming to be Yong Chee Kong".
The minister maintained he would be happy to facilitate Yong's offer to donate vaccines, but the man has refused to prove the offer is genuine.
"She (Khairy's officer) asked him (person claiming to be Yong) if he had proof of the donation so we can facilitate it (e.g. order from Sinovac). He said no. He said he has money in an account in Hong Kong.
"She then told him he can either show proof of the donation or make an official donation to the government of Malaysia which we will pass to the Penang government, not for him to pay to any company, which he refused.
"As I said yesterday, I am happy to facilitate the donation if Mr Yong can prove he can procure the vaccines or make an official contribution to the government," Khairy said on Twitter.
The minister was responding to a news report today, which quoted a man identifying himself as Yong who claimed his vaccine offer to Penang was genuine.
This came following Khairy's press conference yesterday claiming that the offer was a sham and the company behind it does not exist. This prompted Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow to urge the person behind the offer to clear the air.
The author of a letter offering two million Sinovac vaccine doses to Penang identified himself in the letter as Yong Chee Kong.
"I am a Malaysian citizen and is a managing director at Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd based in Hong Kong," the letter read.
Malaysiakini's own checks on Hong Kong's companies registry also found that the company does not exist.
Instead, there are two companies with similar names, but neither of them listed Yong as a director.
According to Malay Mail's report today, however, Yong said there was no link to the firm as he was acting in his personal capacity to donate the vaccines and never wanted exposure.
"This is now a political issue. It’s not fair to me. We only wanted to donate the vaccines, not give cash," he was quoted as saying.
"I had reached out to the Sabah government via the chief minister but when they didn’t respond, Penang approached me and said since Sabah has rejected the offer, why not offer it to the opposition?” he reportedly said in a phone interview.
Yong reportedly said the letter bearing his signature was written by the Penang DAP to be presented as a formal offer.
It was supposed to carry the company's address but unfortunately carried his personal address in Kota Kinabalu instead.
"I didn’t write the letter. This is something my boss in Hong Kong wanted. It shouldn’t be my address,” he said.
He also claimed the name of the company as mentioned in the letter is inaccurate and said the firm operates in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.
Yong reportedly said he would only donate vaccines that he procured himself.
"But they want me to pay to a company in Kuala Lumpur. I don’t want that. I know the costs," he said.
Meanwhile, Free Malaysia Today quoted Yong accusing Khairy of getting the name wrong.
“The minister also got the company’s name wrong. ‘Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd’ (the name mentioned by Khairy) and ‘Xintai Enterprise Development Ltd’ (the alleged actual name) are not the same and far off,” he was quoted as saying.
Malaysiakini own checks found that the company does exist and does have a HK$300 million paid-up capital, as Yong reportedly claimed in the Free Malaysia Today report.
However, the Hong Kong companies registry only lists He Qianying as its director.
Yong said he was consulting his lawyer as to whether to call for a press conference and clarify matters following the minister’s revelation.
"I’m still thinking about it. Of course, I want to clear my name," he was quoted as saying.
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