Gov. RM1.5m a year

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21, 2008) : The Federal Territories Ministry revealed that Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Abdul Hakim Borhan spent about RM1.5 million in travelling expenses and allowances for 11 overseas trips since he took office last year.
In a written reply for Tan Kok Wai (DAP-Cheras), FT Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique said as the mayor, Abdul Hakim had seven and four overseas trips in 2007 and 2008 respectively upon the invitation of mayors of other cities, especially in Asia, to attend official functions.
Zulhasnan said the trips were required for the mayor to observe the best practices to improve City Hall's delivery service system.
Places that Abdul Hakim visited:

Travelling expenses # Allowance
Tokyo paid by Tokyo Metropolitan Govt RM12,309.46
Perth RM199,526 RM16,822.56
Dubai RM 45,171 RM22,214.12
Istanbul RM219,225 RM13,608.03
Stockholm, Helsinki, London RM240,625 RM23,202.70
South Korea, Japan RM166,134 RM13,433.80
Manila RM 25,297 RM 3,405.53
Shanghai RM 43,586 RM 3,903.71
Canada, UK, Germany RM370,315 RM19,873.50
Beijing RM 19,318.04 RM 4,717.50

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21, 2008) : Buttocks became the subject of a "hot" debate between Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lajim Ukim and opposition MPs during a question-and-answer session.
A shouting match started when Lajim told the House there was no way the Pakatan Rakyat could build an airport as the Barisan Nasional had spent billions on building airports and that the Kota Kinabalu airport alone had cost RM1.5 billion.
Answering a supplementary question from Datuk Mohd Sirat Abu (BN-Bukit Katil), Lajim said the government would consider extending the runway of the Batu Berendam airport in Malacca by 400m to enable AirAsia's airbuses to land as the construction cost would only be RM40 million.
Suddenly, N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai ) quipped "… with half of the amount for corruption" and Lajim, apparently provoked, retorted: "So there was no corruption during (Opposition Leader Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim's time?"
When Deputy Speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Jaafar tried to explain that Lajim was referring to Anwar when he was the Finance Minister and advised the duo to abide by Article 36(6) of the Standing Orders that no MP shall launch personal attacks against another, Lajim worsened the situation by shouting: "Masuk dari buntut (Enter via the buttocks)."
Khalid Abdul Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) joined the fray and asked Junaidi for a ruling on whether the word "buntut" can be used in the House.
"Lajim must withdraw his statement if the word is considered unparliamentary," Gobalakrishnan shouted and asked Lajim to retract his words.
Lajim explained that the word can be interpreted as buttocks or "a person who only knows to follow the leaders" and that he had no intention to attack Anwar.
Junaidi , however, insisted Lajim retracted his statement and the shouting match ended after the latter withdrew his statement.