Religious affairs minister says private jet trip to Saudi Arabia was ‘fully sponsored’ (Video)

Zulkifli Al-Bakri, in white, and his entourage arriving at Saudi Arabia on April 12, 2021. Photo: Zulkifli Al-Bakri/Facebook
Zulkifli Al-Bakri, in white, and his entourage arriving at Saudi Arabia on April 12, 2021. Photo: Zulkifli Al-Bakri/Facebook

Just a day after the prime minister revealed that Malaysia was going through financial difficulties, videos of the religious affairs minister jetting to Saudi Arabia for a frivolous meeting raised eyebrows online. 

Minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, 52, and his entourage of about a dozen people flew to Medina yesterday aboard an Airbus A319 for a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Faisal Salman, raising questions about who was paying for the trip. Zulkifli has since said that the journey was made possible by the Saudi Arabian government. 

“As I have mentioned before, all expenses of this [trip] is fully sponsored due to good diplomatic relations between both countries,” Zulkifli wrote online yesterday. He had also posted a video of himself alighting the plane at the Medina Airport. At the same time, what appeared to be a leaked video of his entourage inside the plane also circulated online. 

“He [Zulkifli] rides a luxury jet while we’re all here fighting about Ramadan bazaars which cannot open,” Twitter user @Zack_rockstar wrote online, including a clip showing the luxury interior of the jet that contained a queen-sized bed and plush seats. Muslims around the world began to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan today. 

Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday revealed that the country might not have much money left after committing RM600 billion (US$145 billion) to COVID-19 expenses. 

“What I am trying to say here is, we don’t have much money left. We don’t have as much money as before, because the most important thing for us is to ensure our livelihood; we should be able to manage ourselves better,” Muhyiddin told reporters at the pre-Vaisakhi celebration in Petaling Jaya.

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Comments

  1. One really wonders. One Plane with some 12 travelers has to cross over from Saudi A. to Malaysia, pick them up and bring them back sometime again ? Talk about “Global warming, carbon Footprint etc”. What happen to ZOOM online Video conference ? The whole affair is disgusting !

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