Integrated Strategic Communications (ISC) insisted that it had both conceived and produced the campaign for the past 12 years and earned 40 awards for its effectiveness, despite a recent claim by former Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir that the initiative had been his.
The agency also warned that its lawyers and nearly all participants involved during its live presentation of “Malaysia, Truly Asia” to Tourism Malaysia in June 21, 1999, were prepared to testify under oath that it was ISC that had started the campaign.
“It was the ISC agency group which conceived and produced the campaign and no one else, and [ISC] will undertake a worldwide suit against those falsely claiming otherwise,” the agency said in a statement today.
It also continued to challenge Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen with its graft allegations, claiming this time that the Tourism Minister was fully aware of the “ambiguities and irregularities” involved in a recent contract tender, which it had originally been bidding for.
The agency had, however, withdrawn its bid on January 26 this year, claiming the process was fraught with dubious practices.
ISC founder and chief executive officer Austen Zecha claimed that Ng had called on the agency yesterday to reveal all complainants on the matter but rubbished the request as a “grandiose offer” and an exercise in “redundancy, if not futility”.
“The Tourism Minister fully knew what ambiguity or irregularities were involved in the recent tender process from which the ISC agency group withdrew in January, well before the decision on the five eventual winners was made in February,” he said in the statement.
Another ISC spokesperson said that Ng’s offer was similar to urging the “offending party” to investigate its own offences.
“Hello, is anyone home?” the spokesperson said in the statement.
The spokesperson added that Ng’s purported attempt at “smoke-screening” was ineffective as the minister’s statements were only printed in one newspaper that is owned by her political party.
Ng is the vice-president of MCA, the second largest component party in the ruling Barisan Nasional, which also owns leading English daily, The Star newspaper.
“And one can only wonder at the pathetic intelligence of those who seem to be trying their best at ‘spin-controlling’ this sad issue for both the current ‘administration’ of Tourism Malaysia, or the Ministry, and the newspaper owned by the Minister’s political party.
“Whoever or whatever group it is needs to start by learning to have a full and thorough grasp of all the facts, the dates and their chronology, and the history of our country’s tourism body before even trying to cover-up the recent misdeeds and questionable tracks,” the spokesperson said.
Instead of deflecting the accusations made against her, Zecha said Ng should come clean on the numerous allegations raised by the ISC since it withdrew its tender.
Among others, he reminded, the ISC had urged the ministry to explain why the agency had only been allowed to bill Tourism Malaysia RM3 million for work done in the past two years when its contract was worth RM18 million each year.
At the same time, Zecha accused the ministry of undertaking more direct bookings in Europe without explaining itself or revealing the benefactors of such an action.
“There has been no explanation to-date on why this was done or who authourised that and who benefitted from the standard commissions which would have gone to an agency duly registered with our Treasury,” he said.
Zecha also questioned the charge against Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg for allegedly misappropriating RM888,000 for a project in Dubai in August last year.
The charge, he alleged, had been made barely three hours after the closing of all tender submissions for the RM381 million three-year advertising and promotions contract that ISC was attempting to renew at the time.
Zecha continued that this blocked Mirza from exercising his responsibility of chairing Tourism Malaysia’s agency selection panel, which he said was according to the customary criteria for both the bidding agencies’ qualifications and the shortlisted ones’ live presentations.
“And, pray tell, who in the Treasury told the ministry not to bother with such professionally called for ‘live’ presentations, as the minister recently stated?” he asked.
Zecha had recently alleged that both he and his deputy were jointly approached on January 19 to “offer the client” (the ministry) a 50 per cent “rebate” or an annual share of the firm’s income from the account.
In exchange, he said, ISC would then renew another three-year Tourism Malaysia contract for the Europe, North America and Oceania tender.
“This essentially led ISC to decide to withdraw its tender on Wednesday, January 26,” Zecha had said last week.