KUALA LUMPUR: Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek yesterday advised those still unsatisfied with the explanation over the payment for the South Korean K-Pop performance at the 2012 Youth Day celebration to refer directly to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Ahmad Shabery, who was the youth and sports minister then, said he had explained the matter to the PAC, which also had three representatives from among opposition politicians.
“They asked me a lot of questions and I answered all of them. I volunteered to be questioned for several hours more. If they (the opposition) raise the matter again, blame the (opposition) representatives on the panel for not having satisfied themselves with the questioning,” he told reporters after opening the 2013 IEEE 11th Malaysia International Conference on Communications (MICC 2013), here.
Ahmad Shabery voluntarily met the PAC, which comprises government and opposition MPs, on Nov 21 to explain the payment of what was claimed to be an exorbitant RM1.6 million to the South Korean artistes by the youth and sports ministry then helmed by him.
PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said after the hearing that the committee found no evidence of misappropriation in the payment of the money to the South Korean performers.
Ahmad Shabery himself said after the hearing that the decision by the ministry to pay RM1.6 million to the K-Pop artistes to perform at the celebration had actually generated huge revenue for the country. — Bernama