FAMILY issues were cited as a reason by former Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon for the failure to register with TalentCorp’s Returning Expert Programme (REP).

Dr Ting was disqualified as a member of the Sarawak state assembly last Friday over his Australian citizenship. He said yesterday he did not complete the final REP registration process with Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad because of “side issues”.

The REP facilitates the return of Malaysian professionals working abroad through several incentives.

Ting said: “The incentives of REP are certainly attractive to some. For me, the residential status for my spouse was important.”

He had earlier told The Malaysian Insight that getting permanent residency for his Taiwanese wife was a problem as the application could take up to 10 years.

However, Dr Ting said he was made to understand that under TalentCorp’s REP, the process could be shortened by five years but the family decided to concentrate on the children’s education.

Because of that, Dr Ting’s wife decided to remain in Australia and look after them while he returned home alone.

Three of his children are pursuing their tertiary education while the fourth in the final year of high school.

“My wife is looking after our university and high-school children then and so we are not able to take the final stage of registering ourselves with REP,” he said yesterday, referring to TalentCorp’s statement that he had failed to qualify for the REP as he did not show proof that he had returned home and secured employment in order to be issued his Surat Akuan Tarikh Kembali (an acknowledgement letter that he had returned to Malaysia).

Ting also said the online registration “was a hassle”. The medical doctor said what was important, however, was he was eligible for the REP and the TalentCorp statement was a distraction from the main issue, which was “the assault on democracy”.

TalentCorp chief executive officer Shareen Shariza Abdul Ghani said yesterday although Dr Ting applied for the REP in May 2014 and was granted a conditional approval in September 2014, he also “failed to fulfil other conditions as specified by the REP Committee”.

“TalentCorp’s records showed that he was not a returnee under the REP,” Shareen said.

She said all REP applications from medical professionals are to be first tabled for consideration by the Joint Working Committee – Healthcare Talent (JWC-HT), a committee which includes personnel from the Health Ministry, the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), National Specialist Register (NSR) and several co-opted members.

“The JWC-HT’s role is to review the academic qualifications and work experience of applicants to determine their eligibility under the REP. It then sends its recommendations to the REP Committee.”

She said in the case of Dr Ting, his conditional approval required him to provide a letter of employment as a medical officer in rural areas and his registration with the MMC.

Dr Ting said he is licensed to practice in Malaysia and has a Malaysian Medical Council-issued licence.

He was disqualified as an assemblyman as he had and breached Article 17 (1)(g) of the Sarawak Constitution which bars Sarawakians who have taken the citizenship of another country to ever become a state lawmaker. – May 16, 2017.