By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 7: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has issued a stern warning to Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Dato Seri Tiong King Sing following the issue of alcoholic beverages being served at a dinner organised in conjunction with Tourism Malaysia’s Global Travel Meet.
According to Bernama, the prime minister also issued the warning to Tiong’s ministry, as well as to the Cabinet and Putrajaya’s machinery against negligence when it comes to the prohibition of serving alcohol at government events.
On Satuday (Oct 4), Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin posted a video on Facebook questioning the serving of alcoholic beverages at a government event, which she claimed breached cultural and constitutional norms.
In response, Tiong said that the dinner was a private industry initiative, not a government function.
In a Facebook post, he explained that Tourism Malaysia was only responsible for organising the Global Travel Meet, and the dinner was organised by private sector partners to celebrate Malaysia’s first global travel event of its kind.
He explained that while Tourism Malaysia was initially the organiser, he said private sector players saw an opportunity to secure substantial business deals and took over the organisation of the dinner.
Chiming in, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he would raise UMNO’s objection to the serving of alcohol at a Cabinet meeting. — DayakDaily
