Dewan Negara President Allegedly Breached Security Protocols At The KLIA VIP Lounge
The MIC politician also violated the mandatory dress code.
By Sadho Ram — 17 Nov 2018, 04:12 PM
S. A. Vigneswaran, Dewan Negara President, allegedly breached security protocols and violated the dress code while accessing the VIP lounge at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)
Vigneswaran is also the tenth President of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC).
According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who exposed the alleged security breach earlier today, the incident took place on the night of 14 November when the MIC president was stopped by officers at the VIP lanes for not adhering to a proper dress code
The politician violated the mandatory dress code when accessing the VIP lounge and also encroached on a security area without going through a proper security check.
He also rebuked on-duty staff who tried to explain the security protocol to him and refused to be body-searched, according to a CCTV recording released by authorities.
"It is an encroachment of security area and he had entered without a security pass," Loke told a press conference in Sepang today while showing the VIP security pass which every VIP accessing the lounge must wear, after being screened at the entry.
The Transport Minister said that the reason he is exposing the incident because a VVIP had demonstrated a bad example
"If I don't defend the staff here, then they might be worried to carry out their duties in future. I don't want to embarrass him, but because it has happened, I cannot cover up, I have to expose this incident," Loke was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.
"I want to urge Tan Sri Vigneswaran, as president of the Senate, to tender a public apology for what happened," he said, adding that the incident demands transparency and that it had nothing to do with Vigneswaran being an Opposition politician.
"I want to send a strong statement that everybody including VIPs and ministers, or top leaders must follow all the rules and regulations. Those who want to enter must have a tag. Without a tag, how can the security personnel know whether you are authorised or not? Nobody is excluded from going through a proper security check," Loke added.
In response to the allegations, the Dewan Negara President has denied that he breached any security protocols at KLIA VIP lounge
"This is cheap publicity by Loke. I tried contacting him to clear the matter. If I committed a crime, why wasn't I stopped or arrested," Vigneswaran was quoted as saying by The Star Online, soon after Loke's press conference on Saturday.
Denying that he was rude to airport personnel, the MIC President said that he merely asked to be shown the circular that VIPs were not allowed to wear sandals.
"I only wanted to see the exact circular. The circular noted that we should wear appropriate clothing. They should have stopped me If I had committed any wrongdoing," he said, adding that Loke to act as a minister.
