By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Aug 27: Federal Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has urged the Royal Malaysian Customs Department to concentrate on cracking down on liquor smuggling instead of raiding ordinary people’s private collections at home, which he described as trivial and ineffective.
He said Customs recently “reminded” the public that having too much liquor at home might contravene the law, a statement which not only showed neglect of the real smuggling issue but also misled the public.
“This is merely a petty act that does not address the problem effectively. Under the Excise Act 1976, keeping hard liquor for personal use is not against the law.
“The law has already made this clear. Yet Customs chose to use the phrase ‘may contravene the law’, which confuses the public and shakes their confidence in existing laws,” he stressed in a statement today.
Tiong questioned whether Customs was implying that anyone with a large liquor collection at home is automatically committing an offence.
“To differentiate between collectors and traders, officers must look at other factors, such as whether someone frequently buys liquor in bulk for resale, not merely the number of bottles in their home.
“Otherwise, does it mean that every collector of shoes or designer toys also needs a licence? That logic does not make sense,” he said.
He also criticised the demand for people to keep liquor purchase receipts for seven years, saying it was unrealistic and unnecessary since bottles already carry tax-paid labels.
“If duty has been paid, why treat collectors as criminals? Shouldn’t the law be updated to reflect today’s realities?” he questioned.
Tiong further pointed out that many so-called “excessive collections” are actually family heirlooms or bulk purchases made to obtain better prices, without any intention of resale.
“Sharing or exchanging liquor with guests is part of our culture. Collecting liquor is a personal interest, not a crime.
“But Customs is acting like a little Napoleon, disturbing ordinary people and creating fear without solid grounds,” he said.
While acknowledging that a few may hoard liquor for illegal resale, Tiong stressed that Customs must act only with strong evidence, and focus its energy on tackling real smuggling cases.
“The true danger lies in smuggled liquor that has not paid tax and may be unsafe, even deadly.
“Why is it so difficult to catch smugglers, yet so easy to target ordinary collectors?” he asked.
He added that people expect Customs to solve the real problem by removing unsafe liquor from the market, not waste energy on small issues that only lead to frustration and resentment against the government. — DayakDaily
