Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu has vehemently denied that he had used a government helicopter to get to Perlis for Aidilfitri with his family.
“Not true at all. I will not use government assets for myself and I was not even in Perlis. Everything is fake and a lie,” he said in his Twitter account @MSabu_Official.
A 27-second video was uploaded today by a Facebook user claiming that Mohamad, who is also Amanah president, had used a government helicopter together with his wife and family to celebrate Hari Raya in Jejawi, Perlis after gaining power to lead the country.
The clip, recorded from a distance, only shows a helicopter taking off from a field. Neither its passengers nor its pilot can be made out.
Meanwhile, a flight attendant has leapt to the defence of Mohamad, or better known as Mat Sabu.
She said the allegation was baseless, as many took pictures with the minister and his wife before he boarded a commercial flight.
“Poor abang Mat (Mohamad) and his wife, there is always some slander created by people.
“Many people took photos with him at the time,” she told Malaysiakini.
Reportedly, Mohamad boarded the commercial flight MH118 from Kuala Lumpur to Penang on the first day of Hari Raya.
Among those who posed for photographs with Mat Sabu were the flight’s captain and crew.
On a separate matter, Mat Sabu notes that his neighbours will now be spared all the hustle and bustle of his comings and goings as he is moving into government quarters.
“The old government quarters in Federal Hill, Kuala Lumpur, is “an old house that some people dubbed as Dracula house”, he said with a laugh.
Currently, he lives in a terrace house in Shah Alam.
Following his appointment as defence minister, he has to leave home early and return late at night. He now travels in the official car, with bodyguards and aides, and police outriders.
“Early in the morning, the outriders have to come to fetch me and the people around are definitely excited to live next to a minister as neighbours but another two, three months they probably will be uncomfortable with the sounds of the siren and so on,” he said in an interview with Bernama.
Related report: May 30, Mindef Denies Any Wrongdoing in Flying Mat Sabu on Military Plane.