Sarawak’s Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, announced today that the state government will work with the federal government to resolve the most recent policy regarding the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program.
He stated that in a circular released last month, the federal Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (Motac) decided to immediately revoke permits from all organizations in Sarawak and Sabah that are running the MM2H program.
Karim informed reporters on an inspection of the Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV), the site of the next Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), that “this policy has crippled the Sarawak and Sabah MM2H program.”
He argued that because the conditions in Sarawak and Sabah differ from those in the Malaysian Peninsula, Motac was wrong to enforce the policy on these two states.
For instance, in Sarawak, each candidate for the Sarawak-MM2H program only needs to deposit RM150,000 in a bank account; in Peninsular Malaysia, the minimum amount is RM1 million, according to him.
“That is the reason why, in the peninsula, applications for the MM2H program have decreased by 90% while in Sarawak, they have increased by over 90%. It is their error, not ours,” he continued.
He argued that if the peninsula’s low response to the MM2H program is due to Motac’s ongoing consideration of releasing a new policy, or to the fact that permits to run the program have not been extended or granted, then Sarawak and Sabah should not be covered.
Karim chastised Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, his federal colleague, for failing to bring up the issue with the two Borneo states.
Not simply Motac, who is in complete control and talks about everything and expects us to follow, is doing this.
“Motac has left me feeling let down. Given that the minister is from Sarawak, it is disgusting,” he remarked.
Karim reminded Tiong that when it comes to tourism, both Sarawak and Sabah have rights.
He declared that, as he does each month, he will still preside over meetings to approve applications for the Sarawak-MM2H program.
He stated that all of the policies on the Sarawak-MM2H program have been authorized by the state Cabinet. “We will not rock the boat, but we expect the federal government, through Motac, to be considerate about what are the policies that Sarawak has been implementing,” he added.
Karim stated, “This is the federal minister who pushes things away because he thinks he is bigger.”
