Well, that's not entirely true, based on this parliamentry reply by our current Prime Minister.
Money spent for renovation works
On Tuesday (21 September), PM Ismail Sabri revealed that between 2020 and 2021, the government has spent a little over RM1 million in renovation fees using three contractors.He was quoted by Malay Mail as saying that the sum of RM1,073,580 was spent on renovating and replacing old furnitures in offices belonging to ministers and their deputies under the Prime Minister's Departmnt.
"The offices belonging to ministers and deputy ministers underwent renovation works throughout 2020 and 2021 including the replacement of old furniture in accordance with regulations and qualifications based on the Guidelines and Regulations for Building Planning by the Standard and Cost Committee, Economic Planning Unit under the Prime Minister’s Department," Ismail Sabri said in a written reply to Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, who asked the PM to share, in detail, the expenditure.
Ismail Sabri said in the reply that two Cabinet ministers and two deputy ministers from two different portfolios under the Prime Minister’s Department were involved in the renovation works: the Parliament and Law portfolio, and the Sabah and Sarawak Affairs portfolio.
In a detailed breakdown, the Parliament and Law portfolio spent a total of RM470,000 to renovate the minister’s office (RM380,000 for renovation and RM90,000 to replace the furnitures). The deputy minister's office, meanwhile, racked up a bill of RM202,870 (RM192,870 for renovation with an additional furniture cost of RM10,000).
The Sabah and Sarawak Affairs portfolio, meanwhile, spent a total of RM400,710 for the renovation of both the offices belonging to the minister and deputy minister - RM145,977 for the renovation and RM254,733 for furnitures.
No detailed breakdown of the overall renovation costs or furniture purchases were provided, but man, more than RM350,000 for furnitures alone?
This means that the ministers and their deputies will have all the lumbar support they need to sit down for long meetings coming up with plans to help the rakyat, right?
Right?