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Writer: Old tweet on NFC, Muhyiddin now haunts Kit Siang
Published:  Feb 14, 2018 11:51 AM
Updated: 4:32 AM
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An Utusan Malaysia writer has claimed that DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang's 2011 tweet on a critical look at then deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's link to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) affair is now making rounds on the internet.

The tweet had read: "Let Muhyiddin explain to PAC why the RM300 million NFC project he approved in 2006 has become such a mess and scandal".

It was accompanied by a link to Lim's blog which urged Muhyiddin, who is now Bersatu president, to explain why he approved the NFC project and the RM250 million soft loan when he was the agriculture minister in 2006.

The project was handed to a company owned by Mohamad Salleh Ismail, the husband of Umno Wanita head and then women's affairs minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (photo).

Utusan writer Azman Ibrahim said it was comical that Muhyiddin and Lim were now in the same opposition coalition.

"It reflects how Harapan, which is led by DAP, is facing a leadership crisis because they have leaders who are involved in various scandals and controversies, which remain unanswered till this day," Azman wrote.

The writer noted that Muhyiddin had, at the material time, urged the NFC to explain the matter on their own and also left his ministerial successor Noh Omar to handle the fallout.

"In this instance, Muhyiddin can be described by the Malay proverb 'Lempar batu sembunyi tangan', which describes someone who does something bad and pretends not to know about it," Azman said.

Although it has been six years since the NFC affair first made news, the media spotlight has again fallen on the defunct company following a recent court decision to jail two individuals who were instrumental in highlighting irregularities involving the project.

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli and bank staff Johari Mohamad were handed 30-month jail sentences over the disclosure of details related to NFC's bank accounts. 

NFC has been accused of abusing the government soft loan for non-core business activities, primarily in property investments.

The Sessions Court later acquitted Salleh of four charges involving RM49.7 million. His defamation suit against Rafizi was also successful, resulting in an RM200,000 award in damages. 

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