BN candidate wants to bring pandas to Taiping Zoo

Neow Choo Seong, the BN candidate for the Taiping parliamentary seat, is offering his constituents a pair of giant pandas for their zoo.

The former diplomat, who is now an MCA politician, said his plan is first to push for Taiping to be made a sister city of a place in China by the time Malaysia and China celebrate their 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2024.

Neow (above) proposed that the celebration be held in Taiping.

On top of that, he promised to work on a plan to lease a pair of giant pandas for the Taiping Zoo in order for the zoo to attract more tourists.

"This should not come as a surprise. We have borrowed a pair of pandas before when Malaysia and China marked the 40th anniversary of our diplomatic ties," he told reporters in Taiping today, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Neow started his career with the Foreign Ministry in 2010. In 2016 he was the second secretary of the Malaysian Embassy in Venezuela.

His last posting was the head of the chancery in Washington DC.

During the Najib Abdul Razak administration in 2014, China loaned a pair of pandas to Malaysia under a 10-year deal.

In 2019, Putrajaya revealed that it was paying US$1 million per annum in rental for the pandas to the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

In addition, the insurance premium for the two pandas amounted to RM100,000 per annum.

Putrajaya also revealed that RM4.65 million was spent in 2018 to manage the Giant Panda Conservation Centre in Zoo Negara.

Other candidates vying for the Taiping constituency are Pakatan Harapan's Wong Kah Woh and Perikatan Nasional's See Tean Seng.

Wong is the incumbent Ipoh Timur MP and former Public Accounts Committee chairperson. See is the Perak Gerakan head.

Johor BN chief downplays sabotage concerns after big names dropped

YOURSAY | The rewards awaiting ‘Friends of BN’

MCA reaches agreement on seat exchange, to contest in Batu

MIC, MCA chiefs contradict over which party will contest Batu

Friends of BN to debut in GE15, MCA swoops up most Gerakan seats

Wee welcomes Malay opponent in Ayer Hitam, rues 'runaway' challenger

DAP’s ‘culture’ to switch candidates to different areas, ex-MCA president says