Wee Choo Keong, Wangsa Maju independent MP, has taken on the garb of a crusader to wage war against "unscrupulous" companies from which consumers must be protected.

Aiming his gun at Malaysiakini, he said that it has become a "propaganda machine", after taking pot shots at budget airline AirAsia.

vk lingam hearing wee choo keong pc thirunama 180108 sternDebating the amendments to the Consumer Protection Act 1999 on Wednesday, Wee (left) said consumer protection was inadequate and enforcement lax.

"I am concerned that when a company is wound up, what protection they (the consumers) get from the ministry (Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs)? This is not a mere RM10,000 (or) RM20,000.

"The amount is likely to be several hundred million ringgit. At that time, I'm afraid the government must do a bailout, using public funds," said Wee, hitting out at AirAsia's policy of encouraging early purchase of tickets.

"This is not a government-linked company. Another such company is Malaysiakini. The news portal publishes various lies (fitnah), so it is a mouthpiece of certain parties," he said.

According to the Dewan Rakyat Hansard, Wee had scrutinised "special offers" such as Malaysiakini's "RM300 for three years" news subscription package.

No hanky-panky

"Say for a year it is RM100, so for three years it would be RM300. Now, if it is a special offer, maybe it will be half, RM150. The offer is not special. I dare say these companies are facing financial difficulties. If not, they will not come out with special offers.

"There were no special offers before... maybe the membership has fallen or public confidence has dropped. People are losing confidence in Malaysiakini.

He asked the government take measures to "protect, defend users' rights", saying it was a serious matter.

To ensure that there is no hanky-panky in the deals offered, there should be legislation in place for the ministry to demand that firms declare their accounts and state whether they were going "bankrupt or are low in funds".

"This is important. We must take action before they have problems. Who does not have a problem? And to whom will this problem be communicated?"

NONEGiving a example, he said Malaysiakini's subscription fee was equivalent to "deposit taking... because the product sold does not exist yet".

"(They sell in) advance... maybe in a month, six months or even in a year before they go bankrupt... secondly, for Malaysiakini, we know that they publish all kinds of lies. It is twisted and the credibility of their sources is questionable."

Wee demanded that the ministry takes action or tables new amendments so that companies making special offers have to apply for permission in advance.

Editor's note: Malaysiakini's three-year subscription is RM450, based on the annual subscription of RM150. Malaysiakini's 388 promotion, which expires on June 30, is RM388 for a three-year subscription - a savings of RM62.