Compiled by Tarrence Tan, Beh Yuen Hui and R. Aravinthan
THE auction of a Rolex watch belonging to the former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri (pic), recorded the highest bid of RM130,000 as of Monday night, according to Malay daily Sinar Harian.
Zulkifli had auctioned off his Rolex, a gift from Saudi Arabia Ruler King Salman bin Abdulaziz, with a reserve price of RM40,000 on Monday.
“The latest update at 9.31pm, Oct 30. The highest bid is RM130,000,” said Zulkifli in an Instagram post.
Zulkifli had previously said that proceeds from the bidding will be donated to Palestinians, who are currently affected by the ongoing war with Israel.
In the Instagram post, Zulkifli said he received the watch as a gift after he was invited to attend a meeting as part of Bank Negara’s Shariah Advisory Panel in February 2017.
> A group consisting of victims cheated by fraudulent haj and umrah packages is dismayed over alleged inaction by the authorities.
Umrah Victims Action Committee chairman Rusman Abu Samah, who represents over 200 victims cheated by the haj and umrah tour package company, said his group has exhausted various channels as they seek justice.
“The case has been pending for a long time, but there is still no resolution. The company owners are operating freely, even going on holidays abroad,” Rusman was quoted as saying by Harian Metro.
Rusman said the victims, who were mostly senior citizens and low-income individuals, had sold off their land, pledged assets, and even withdrawn their entire savings for the purposes of umrah.
Rusman also said some victims were even estranged from their families after being accused of swindling their relatives.
“This company is well-known and holds a haj pilgrim management licence from Tabung Haji.
“I, myself, lost RM41,000 for an umrah package. When I was due to travel, the company just gave us various unreasonable excuses,” said Rusman.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
