MP urges hotel to disclose tourism gala dinner's letter of undertaking

Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin has urged Sunway Hotel, the venue provider for the Global Travel Meet gala dinner, to disclose who had formally undertaken the event - Tourism Malaysia or three industry associations.

This follows insistence from three tourism associations that industry players had sponsored the function where free-flow alcohol was served, sparking outcries from both sides of the political divide.

“I’m asking Sunway Hotel, as the venue provider and a listed group bound by corporate governance, to disclose whether the letter of undertaking came from Tourism Malaysia or from these three associations.

“If it came from the three co-hosts, that means they have no basis to make any claims from Tourism Malaysia.

“We will monitor if there are any payments involved, whether from the GSSP (tourism sector support grant) or the Gamelan grant,” said Mas Ermieyati during a press conference in Parliament.

In a joint statement yesterday, the Malaysian Indian Travel & Tours Association, Malaysian Inbound Chinese Association, and Malaysia My Second Home Consultants Association urged an end to “misleading” remarks on the gala dinner.

They backed Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing's defence that the event had been taken over and funded by industry players, as opposed to a government function where alcohol is not permitted to be served.

They also rejected criticism that the minister’s explanation was to dodge accountability.

‘Who paid for it?’

Mas Ermieyati also pointed out today that despite the associations confirming their role as co-hosts of the dinner, none were credited during the event or on various promotional materials that only featured Tourism Malaysia's logo.

"I must say, I’m quite astonished, 'impressed' even, by this minister, because he somehow managed to get three associations to pay for the food, drinks, and free-flow alcohol.

"I’ve done the math. The dinner at Sunway Resort cost RM260 per person. With over 600 people attending, imagine how big the bill was - and that’s not even counting the alcohol, which I was told cost more than RM80,000.

"So, who paid for it? Were the industry players really the ones footing the bill?" she asked.

The former deputy tourism minister went on to double down on calls for Tiong's removal, as well as for the MACC and National Audit Department to launch a probe into Tourism Malaysia's spending.

Tiong, in his initial response, had welcomed critics to check the billings from the event to prove that no taxpayers' funds were used for the gala dinner.

Subsequently, the Bintulu MP said the gala dinner was originally organised as a part of Tourism Malaysia's Global Travel Meet, but at the last minute was "taken over" by industry players after the weekend event generated over RM400 million.

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