Uh oh, and the plot thickens!
Malaysian Rural and Regional Development Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who previously denied consuming turtle eggs at a restaurant in Sandakan, has come under fire once again.
Previously, when pictures from the said dinner first surfaced, Ismail Sabri vehemently denied it when asked.
We quote
Of course not. I wasn’t sure there were turtle eggs there because no one ate it, maybe because I didn’t eat any I haven’t eaten any turtle eggs in a long time. The doctor doesn’t allow me to because of my high cholesterol. Turtle eggs are among the things I am prohibited from eating, including cow brains.
He even went on to add that he only ate fish.
Turtles became protected under the Sabah Wildlife Enactment 1997 and thus, it’s an offence to harvest, sell or consume turtle eggs in the state. Those convicted are liable to a fine of RM50,000 or to 5 years’ imprisonment or both.
But alas, despite Ismail Sabri’s denial, more pictures from the dinner where the turtle eggs were served has been published online.
Danau Girang Field Centre, a research and training facility in Sabah, uploaded 4 pictures of the minister eating at the controversial dinner in Sandakan, Sabah in August on its Facebook page last night.
“Looking at the four pictures below downloaded from Walai Penyu Resort Libaran FB page and shared by “Deadturtle Sabah”, it seems that the turtle eggs were actually consumed by the same people who said they did not,” said Danau Girang Field Centre in their caption.
The pictures show a small plate of turtle eggs in front of Ismail Sabri while on his own plate sits an egg that is broken in half. Which leads us to believe that he did consume turtle eggs during the dinner after all.
In response to the above pictures, Ismail Sabri had nothing substantial to say in his defence but, “I will get in touch with my lawyer to look into this.”
What can we say? A picture does speak a thousand words. What more a few “hard cold evidence” ones.
Source: malaysiakini.
