Muhyiddin: Claims that aide received bribes will be investigated

(The Star) – Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said claims that one of his aides has been receiving bribes will be investigated by his office.

“I will look into this. Whatever that is said to be linked to me, I will look into. Until then, I will not comment further on it,” he told reporters at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) campus in Puncak Alam here Tuesday.

Muhyiddin was commenting on a blogger’s allegation that the aide has received more than RM100,000 in monthly kickbacks, adding that he was not aware of any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, earlier, Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said the country has created about 16,000 graduates in the life-science industry and aimed to achieve 70% lecturers with doctrates, to cater for the nation’s biotechnology development.

He said the sector should be given emphasis, adding that it would surely bring the nation to greater heights.

“This sector will definitely be among the country’s main sources of income,” he said at a function to launch UiTM’s success in mapping the Malay ethnic genome.

This was achieved by a group of UiTM researchers in collaboration with BioNexus Partners (BNP), placing Malaysia on par with other developed countries.

BiotechCorp is the lead development agency for the biotech industry and has facilitated the development of about 207 BioNexus-status companies in Malaysia, with total approved investment of more than RM2.1bil.