KUALA LUMPUR – The 15th Parliamentary Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reforms yesterday held its first proceeding on the commotion involving a Chinese national at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at the end of June.
In a statement, the committee said the proceeding touched on the issue of handling not-to-land (NTL) processes, tourists who were issued NTL notices, public complaints on NTL processes and proposals to improve regulations as well as the existing system.
According to the committee, the proceeding chaired by its chairman Leong Jee Keeng (Selayang-PH) had called representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) as well as the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) to provide information.
However, Motac did not send any representative including its minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing who had prior commitment apart from being advised by his lawyer that any statement issued would be inappropriate as the case is still under investigation by the Royal Malaysia Police.
The committee however stressed that the proceeding would not touch on any criminal investigation conducted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) or the police, and therefore there would not be any overlapping investigation between the committee and MACC or the police.
“It is a requirement for Motac to attend to give its statement to the committee on issues relating to the handling process of NTL as well as problems for tourists issued with NTL at the meeting which would fixed later,” the committee said.
According to the statement, Matta representatives present to brief the committee consisted of its president Nigel Wong, former president Datuk Tan Kok Liang, general manager Maziah Mihat, special work executive councillor Datuk Hamzah Rahmat, and research and technology vice-president Mohd Hizzat Mohd Shah.
The next proceeding is scheduled for this Wednesday and will be divided into two sessions comprising explanations from the Transport Ministry and Malaysia Airports Holding, followed by the Home Ministry and the Immigration Department.
On June 29, there was a commotion at KLIA involving a minister allegedly trying to “rescue" a Chinese woman who was denied entry into the country upon arrival at the airport. – Bernama, July 25, 2023
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