KOTA KINABALU – In another twist to the ongoing Sinovac “donation scam”, two houses were found to have the same lot numbers in a letter allegedly sent by Yong Chee Kong to the Penang government offering to donate two million doses of the vaccine.
A check by The Vibes found that the two properties have the same lot numbers but different house numbers, and are about 100m apart.
The units are in Taman Sinar Baru, a Chinese-majority residential area. One of the units is a terrace house while the other is a semi-detached property.
While both houses appear occupied, no one answered the door.
A 40-year-old woman living next to the terrace house said it is occupied by the landlord’s daughter and her family.
“They are probably out working,” said the woman, requesting anonymity.
She said she doesn’t know her neighbours well and refused to give out their names, citing security concerns.
When asked whether the owner is Yong, she refused to confirm, but did say the house was recently renovated.
Meanwhile, a man living next door to the semi-detached unit also refused to confirm whether Yong is his neighbour, saying only that the owner is a businessman.
The man added that he saw the family leave the house this morning and that his neighbour has several cars.
Taman Sinar Baru is less than 1km away from Queen Elizabeth II Hospital and about five minutes’ drive from the city centre.
The letter that has been widely shared contains Yong’s alleged home address.
Yesterday, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had dismissed the donation offer as bogus.
Responding to claims by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng yesterday, Khairy confirmed that his ministry received a copy of the letter from Hong Kong-based Xintai Development Enterprise managing director Yong Chee Kong, from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, to Chow on February 1.
“The letter requesting approval for the purchase of the Sinovac vaccine was investigated by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) with the vaccine producers themselves.
“At the time, Sinovac was not yet approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.
“Despite this, we investigated the contents of the letter with the producers, Sinovac Biotech, and confirmed that no such transaction had taken place with the person or the company as contained in the letter,” he had told a press conference.
Among the contents of the letter, he said, it is stated that Yong will give a donation in the form of two million vaccine doses to the Penang government.
However, the probe conducted with Sinovac revealed that no such transaction had taken place, he said.
Khairy had also confirmed that another letter was sent to him from the same individual on February 9 for the same offer of two million vaccine doses for East Malaysia.
“The offer is not right at all. This is a fake offer, a bogus offer. Look at the letter, it has no letterhead on it.
“Nobody knows who this Yong Chee Kong is, this person who uses the address Lot 22, Lorong Kenawai 5, Taman Sinar Baru, Jalan Damai in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
“This company, Xintai Development, is said to be registered in Hong Kong, but checks of company records in Hong Kong showed that it does not exist.”
He said the Penang government should not have politicised the issue by accusing Putrajaya of blocking its attempt to procure Covid-19 vaccines.
“I am willing to be proven wrong if the Penang government is able to prove that this is not bogus, and I will approve it immediately should that be the case.
“If the offer still stands, I will make it possible for it to happen.”
Khairy’s remarks come after Lim rapped the federal government for rejecting the two million vaccine doses purportedly offered.
Prior to that, Chow said Penang had, in February, been offered a donation of two million doses from a private firm as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.
However, the state government’s application to accept the doses, made via a letter to the Health Ministry secretary-general, was rejected on March 12, on the grounds that Putrajaya has already implemented the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. – The Vibes, May 20, 2021
