PPR Resident Who Flew Business Class Claims She Didn't Know Her Flat Was For The Poor
She is now planning to sue those who exposed her business class trip to Sri Lanka.
By Sadho Ram — 09 Mar 2019, 03:35 PM
This is Khalidah Nazir Ahmad, a 63-year-old resident of Penang's low-cost Taman Manggis people's housing project (PPR). Khalidah is one of several tenants who was evicted from their flats this week.
She has been one of the most vocal tenants fighting the eviction
The 63-year-old freelance tour guide has enjoyed a rental of just RM124 a month for years, but the state found out her family have moved up in life.
"This is unfair to us as we were given this unit when they offered a replacement for demolishing our home in Kampung Sungai Pinang at Balik Pulau back then.
"Now that we have stayed here for more than 12 years, they want to evict us," she was quoted saying by The Star Online during the eviction on 7 March.
However, she has also found herself fighting people on the Internet, after it was revealed that she is a Business Class traveller on MAS
Khalidah travelled on the business class during a trip to Sri Lanka in 2014, while staying at the low-cost PPR flats in Taman Manggis on a monthly rental of RM124.
Photos of Khalidah with her husband flying business class have gone viral, with a photo of her air ticket showing she is a frequent flyer, with entitlement to business class.
Khalidah had uploaded the pictures on her Facebook account. Here's a screenshot of the air ticket that has since gone viral.
The business class air ticket on MAS could cost at least RM3,500.
When questioned about it, Khalidah Nazir, while admitting that she travelled overseas on business class flights with her husband, claimed that she was upgraded to business class because of her brother, who had transferred his mileage points to her
She said that people should "mind their own business" and that whatever was spread was her "personal business" and nothing to do with anyone else.
"It is my personal business these people are spreading online, they are spreading lies about me. In Islam, if they do not apologise, they will have to answer God in the afterlife," Khalidah was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today (FMT) yesterday.
Extremely upset that the Facebook post of her taking the MAS flight with her husband being viral, Khalidah now plans to take legal action against those who exposed her business class trip
"I do not want to comment about it anymore. I have spoken to a lawyer to look into the matter. The Facebook posting is my personal business, isn't it stupid to ask me about it?" Khalidah was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini on 8 March.
While she is trying to dodge questions about her business class trip, a photo of her luxuriously decorated PPR flat has also gone viral:
She argues that the issue of her income does not apply in her case and that she cannot be evicted because the unit she was living in was "compensation" for when she and her family were relocated 13 years ago due to redevelopment.
"I didn't apply for a PPR unit in Taman Manggis, I got it as compensation," she claimed.
She claimed that she never knew the homes were for the poor
"I was one of the pioneer tenants when the flats were completed 13 years ago. When I was offered the unit, they never asked if I was rich or poor.
"I have been paying the rental up to date," she said, adding that she was working as a freelance tour guide previously but is now unemployed.
A PPR flat costs RM124 to rent and are offered to those with a household income below RM1,500, or hardcore poor and even then only on a five-year lease.