Malaysian deputy minister Muhammad Bakhtiar bin Wan Chik recently announced on 30th October that they are panning and soon to organize an exhibition of Pharaonic antiquities next year on the occasion of “Visit Malaysia 2020”.
On the contrary, Federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said he does not know of any plan by the ministry to exhibit Egyptian pharaoh's tomb and artifacts from Ramses II and Tutankhamun.
Mohamaddin Ketapi after soft-launching VM2020 said “This matter has never been discussed by the Cabinet for its approval or discussed at the ministry level. You’ve got to ask the deputy minister about the plan,”.
Mohamaddin said before making any official announcements, he should be consulted first if the announcement was meant for publicity’s purpose, which is in accordance with the regulations approved by the ministry.
He added “The person who has been approved by the Cabinet to speak on behalf of the ministry is the minister, not the deputy minister or officials. They can only speak after getting the approval and authorization from the minister,”
On hearing that funds would be collected to bring the tomb and artifacts Egypt to Malaysia, he said “ I don’t know how funds are to be raised, either it is from the public or other sources”
He said bringing the tombs and artifacts to Malaysia would require hundreds of millions of ringgit worth of insurance coverage. He also said any move to bring the tombs and artifacts to Malaysia must be discussed by the top level of both Malaysian and Egyptian governments, not at the ministerial level.
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