KUCHING, Nov 14 — DAP’s Pending assemblyman Violet Yong was fined the maximum RM2,000 for contempt of the Sarawak State Assembly over a Facebook post that allegedly disparaged Speaker Datuk Amar Asfia Awang Nassar. 

Deputy Speaker Datuk Gerawat Gala imposed the fine under Section 44(1) of the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance 2007 after 62 state assemblymen from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) supported a motion tabled by Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh.

Eight assemblymen from Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposed.

Yong had posted "Charged Exp. T.02 Sarawak DUN Speaker emoluments for year 2019 is RM5,947,000.00” on her Facebook account yesterday.

When tabling the motion, Wong said Yong’s posting was misleading and a deliberate attempt to tarnish both the Speaker and his office to promote her political agenda.

He said the post falsely implied that the entire sum was for the Speaker, which was not the case.

"She should have checked with my office before she made the wild allegation that the Speaker’s salary amounts to RM5.947 million on her Facebook account,” he said.

He said the post drew many adverse comments about the Speaker from other Facebook users.

Wong explained that the sum was for the salaries and allowances of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker as well as the constituent, telephone, and housing allowances of all state assemblymen including Yong.

"If you check your payslip, you will see RM5,000 allowances being paid into your pocket from emoluments T.02 in Command Paper 9,” he told her.

Wong also asked Yong to tender an unconditional apology to the Speaker and the House, which she refused to do by insisting she did nothing wrong.

She said the blame should be on the people who drew up the state’s Budget 2019.

Yong held on to her denial by saying both she and the state government should each pay half the fine.

The state minister said he would consider the proposal on the conditions that Yong admitted her mistake and showed remorse.