Hotel says PM paid for engagement party

Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur has clarified that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak paid the catering bill for his daughter's engagement party last June and not the federal government.

"The event was completed on the 17th of June and the full settlement of the said event was paid by the honourable prime minister on June 30 and not by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)," it said in an email.
Responding to a query from Malaysiakini, the hotel management  also confirmed that the banquet event order revealed by PKR is an authentic copy.

According to the document, the bill for catering came up to RM409,767, with the menu including lobster bisque and wagyu beef, for some 900 guests.

The hotel also said the order for an outside catering event at Seri Perdana, Putrajaya, had been received on June 2, 2011.

“Order number 14,511 was issued on 13th of June, 2011, for the said event,” it said.

In the billing section, the event marked was ‘OCS Dinner’ and ‘to be billed to the PM's office’, with the letter of undertaking to be issued by June 15, 2011.

Bernama had reported that Nooryana Najwa's engagement to Kazakh national Daniar Nazarbayev, both 23, had taken place at the PM's official residence, Seri Perdana, on June 17 last year.

The PMO has denied that it paid for the event, stating that the bill had been settled by Najib and his family.

'Give us proof, not just a statement'

Earlier today, PKR-linked NGO Jingga 13 visited the hotel to demand an answer as to whether the premier had personally paid for the party.

When contacted, Jingga 13 chief coordinator Fariz Musa said the group's memorandum to the hotel was accepted by food and beverages assistant director Zulkilfli Jaffar.

“We told them that we don't just want a statement. We asked that the hotel provides evidence to prove that the PM had paid the cost on his own,” he said.

If it was true that Najib had made the payment, Fariz added, then he must explain how he could afford forking out close to half a million ringgit for the party.

The NGO yesterday lodged a report on the matter with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Meanwhile, PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli, the person who revealed the banquet event order, remains unconvinced by Shangri-La Hotel's reply.

"I acknowledge Shangri-La's statement but that was given without proof. There are many issues relating to integrity of PM," Rafizi told Malaysiakini.

He said he would comment more on the matter during a press conference at the Parliament lobby tomorrow.