Busted! Gov't paid RM1.6mil for K-Pop show

Contrary prior denials, the Youth and Sports Ministry did in fact pay for a K-Pop show held last year. 

It had stumped up RM1.6 million to bring in three groups for the National Youth Day celebrations, according to the Auditor-General’s Report 2012.

The ministry was reprimanded for 'excessive' and 'imprudent' spending amounting to RM3 million on this and eight other programmes to mark the same occasion.

Three K-pop groups - U-Kiss, Teen-Top dan Dal*shabet - were brought in by Stadium First Sdn Bhd for the show.

The ministry's secretary-general Mohid Mohamed reportedly told Bernama last year that the cost of bringing in the performers was borne through sponsorship.

A total of RM1.11 million was spent on promotion and publicity for the event, which the auditor-general describes as being too high.

Other expenses similarly classified were two separate payments of RM50,000 to 50 bloggers for promotion and publicity. It is uncertain whether these groups comprised the same bloggers.

In addition, three bloggers were paid a total of RM7,500 as daily allowance for five days’ coverage of the event.

Spending on 'non-prudent' items included RM33,500 for a promotional dinner at a Petaling Jaya hotel; and RM42,466 for hi-tea and lodging of journalists at Hotel Marriot in Putrajaya.

Another RM48,300 was spent on a 'working visit' to Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara in Jitra, then to Songkhla, Phuket and Krabi in Thailand.

The trip involved 21 personnel  from the National Youth Day secretariat as well as senior officers.

The auditor-general also complains about the manner in which the ministry had spent RM42,500 to purchase robot signboards.

‘Rakan Muda cards wasted’

The report contains stern criticism of the Rakan Muda membership cards managed by the Youth and Sports Department between 2008 and 2010, with RM3.32 million having been spent for one million cards.

However, of these cards, 250,000 gold and platinum cards were not taken up. Of the 750,000 normal membership cards, only 27,823 were issued during this period.

The facility could not be fully utilised as terminals for the members to access the benefits were damaged, resulting in the cards not being read.

The programme was discontinued in July last year as a result of these and other problems.

“In the auditor-general's view, this membership programme resulted in a major loss for the government. The department should investigate this and take appropriate action against the persons concerned,” states the report.

Msiakini