Deputy minister defends New Zealand trip to see family

Updated 3 years ago · Published on 1 Mar 2021 11:45AM · 7 Comments

Deputy Federal Territories Minister Edmund Santhara says he will sue the Batu MP for defamation over allegations that he had re-entered the country to attend Federal Territories Day. – Facebook pic, March 1, 2021.

THE deputy Federal Territories minister said today he was granted 55 days’ leave, including unpaid leave, to visit his family in New Zealand.

Edmund Santhara applied for leave through Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa on December 3 and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin approved it on December 18.

“The reason is to visit my children in New Zealand, especially my son who is studying law.

“Also, as a responsible father, I need to see my nine-year-old son after almost a year of not seeing each other. 

“In addition, I also need to visit my wife who has health problems,” he posted on Facebook today. 

Edmund was responding to reports claiming that he has been in New Zealand for the last three months while drawing an MP’s salary.

Former prime minister Najib Razak had questioned the Segamat MP’s absence, saying it would invite public anger if not explained.

“If this is true and it is not well-explained or handled, this issue will invite great outrage towards the government.

“At a time when regular folks cannot cross districts or states, an elected representative paid as a Parliament member and a deputy minister can travel to and fro to a foreign country and be with his family for almost three months?”

Last Saturday, Batu MP P. Prabakaran also questioned Santhara’s whereabouts.

This follows a report by whistle-blower website Sarawak Report that Edmund has been in Auckland since December.

Edmund said he had complied with the Immigration Department’s procedure to apply for permission to leave the country (MyTravelPass) online. 

“My MyTravelPass application was submitted to the Immigration Department on October 30 and received the approval on November 2.

“After ensuring that each procedure was followed and all approvals were obtained, on December 23, after attending a meeting, I went abroad and underwent quarantine in New Zealand from December 24 to January 9.”

The Segamat lawmaker said unpaid leave that exceeds his leave entitlement was also approved.

He also denies leaving the country during MCO 2.0.

“I also did not go out and re-enter Malaysia as stated by Prabakaran on Facebook that I had returned to attend Federal Territories Day.

“I thank former prime minister (Najib) for his political maturity and for kindly asking for an explanation on the issue and did not continue to make accusations as the Batu MP did in his statement that defamed me.” – March 1, 2021.

Sign up or sign in here to comment.

Comments

  • Still you are a member of Parliament that needs to be in Malaysia to handle local issues. If you cannot commit your time for Malaysians, the honorable thing to do is resign.. Regardless whether you took unpaid leave or not.

    Posted 3 years ago by Against Corruption · Reply

  • YB Santhara, proceed with the court proceedings against the Batu MP. Let the court decide whos the real culprit..

    Posted 3 years ago by SYED ABDULLAH BIN MOHAMED · Reply

  • This is the arrogance displayed by a government leader who also happens to be a multi-millionaire and is threatening to sue a person who merely highlighted his absence! Please resign and devote all your attention to your family. No one will complain and no one will miss you here.

    Posted 3 years ago by Simple Sulaiman · Reply

  • Reasons given are not good enough!!!

    Posted 3 years ago by Dr. Sharifah Munirah Alatas · Reply

  • Reasons are not good enough. Granted 55 days of leave, and approved by the PM, inclusive of UNPAID leave. All this is immaterial. As a public figure, he should communicate with the public BEFORE this extended escapade. By all means, get permission to go abroad for such a long period of time, to BE A GOOD FATHER, or ATTENTIVE HUSBANDwe all love a good story. But, BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT IT. Why wait till it was raised by the Sarawak Report or splashed all over social media before explaining?

    Bottom line, this has everything to do with honesty and transparency. If one has something to hide, one obfuscates the truth. So? The rakyat isnt silly putty to be manipulated!

    Posted 3 years ago by Dr. Sharifah Munirah Alatas · Reply

  • We all have children overseas. We all want to spend time with our family who lives away too. As long as we are working for somebody and receiving a salary we cannot abandon our job and go away for 55 days. Unless one is very ill there is no way a company will grant someone 55 days leave paid or unpaid for family reunion purpose. Today there is zoom and whatsapp and video call etc. Santara can communicate w them via these tools. It sounds like a lousy flimsy excuse to us.

    Posted 3 years ago by Elyse Gim · Reply

  • Honor and reputation are in scarce supply for someone who has previously betrayed and backstabbed the voters who voted him in on the basis of his false promises.
    When one has no reputation nor honor to start with, there is no further case for defamation.
    Stand for election again, and see if you will even have a deposit left to collect.
    Does this man dare to resign to face the voters wrath?

    Posted 3 years ago by Arul Inthirarajah · Reply