MACC’s mistake, says Steven Sim on doubled assets number

Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports Steven Sim maintains that assets belonging to him and his spouse have not increased over the past year.

He called out MACC for making a mistake in showing that his assets had doubled since Oct 9, 2018, as of Oct 30, 2019.

“The information is incorrect and is a result of a mistake by the MACC on its asset declaration website.

“In the asset declaration (form) which I provided in Oct 2019, there were no changes in my income, or assets belonging to my wife and me compared to last year’s asset declaration exercise.

“Thank you MACC for correcting the mistake,” Sim said in a statement today.

A check on the MACC website revealed that the number has been amended to show Sim had RM329,000.00 in assets, the same as last year.

“Despite the mistake, which has now been corrected, I support the asset declaration policy and believe this step will ensure transparency. It will also help combat abuse of power and corruption among the people’s representatives,” the DAP Bukit Mertajam MP added.

Earlier today, Malaysiakini reported the changes in MP’s income and assets following the latest round of asset declarations.

The details of most ministers and deputy ministers remained unchanged except for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who reported a 31.82 percent jump in personal income to RM100,004.32 per month.

His personal assets, however, saw a 0.44 percent dip to RM32,217,131.71.

Assets belonging to Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her husband, Port Dickson MP Anwar Ibrahim, saw a 41.1 percent plunge to RM672,392.63.

Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Deputy Minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis’ personal assets increased by 133.31 percent to RM280,025.00 in the past year.

The MACC website did not include any reasons for the changes.

Previous income and asset declaration records were accessed through an archived version of the MACC website.

Malaysiakini has contacted Mahathir, Wan Azizah and Isnaraissah’s officers for comment.