THE 15th Parliamentary Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reforms today held its first meeting on the commotion involving a Chinese national at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last month.

In a statement, the committee said the proceedings touched on the issue of handling “Not To Land” (NTL) processes and tourists who are issued NTL notices, public complaints on NTL processes and proposals to improve regulations as well as the existing system.

It said the proceedings, chaired by its chairman Leong Jee Keeng (Selayang-Pakatan Harapan), had called representatives from the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) and Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) to provide information.

However, Motac did not send any representative, including its minister, 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 police investigation.

The committee, however, said the proceedings would not touch on any criminal investigation conducted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission or the police, and therefore there would not be any overlapping investigation between the committee and the authorities.               

“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 will fixed later,” the committee said.

According to the statement, Matta representatives present to brief the committee consisted of its president Nigel Wong, former president Tan Kok Liang, general manager Maziah Mihat, special work exco Hamzah Rahmat and research and technology vice-president Mohd Hizzat Mohd Shah.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday and will be divided into two sessions comprising explanations from the Transport Ministry and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, followed by the Home Ministry and 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 24, 2023.