Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has given tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing a “stern warning” following the controversy sparked by the serving of alcohol at a dinner in conjunction with Tourism Malaysia’s Global Travel Meet.
Anwar said the government’s policy was clear, whereby alcohol is not permitted at official government functions.
“Even though the explanation was that it (the serving of alcohol) happened after the official event ended, it was still inappropriate,” he told Bernama.
“On behalf of the government, I will remind the Cabinet and all government agencies not to be negligent in such matters.”
Bersatu MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin posted a video on Facebook last Saturday, asking why alcoholic beverages had been served at a government event. She said this breached cultural and constitutional norms.
Tiong, however, denied that alcohol had been served at a government-hosted gala dinner, saying it was organised by private sector partners to celebrate Malaysia’s first global travel event of its kind.
He said Tourism Malaysia merely used the dinner as a platform to launch the Visit Malaysia 2026 events calendar.
However, he later admitted that Tourism Malaysia was initially the organiser and that private sector players saw an opportunity to secure substantial business deals and took over the organisation of the dinner.
Deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he would raise Umno‘s objection to the serving of alcohol at the upcoming Cabinet meeting.
