KOTA KINABALU: The mysterious donor – Yong Chee Kong – has claimed that the Penang government came forward to take up his offer to donate two million doses of Sinovac vaccine.
The man claimed the DAP-led state government had helped him draft a letter offering the donation.
He said the offer was initially made to the Sabah government but it was turned down.
“Sabah turned it down and told me that Sinovac was yet to be approved (at that time) by the government. I then offered it to the opposition Penang state government to see if they were keen.
“And they were. They helped me draft the letter to submit to the Chief Minister, ” he said.
Yong further said the Hong Kong-based company, Xintai Enterprise Development Ltd, was wrongly named in the letter which called it Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd.
Yong, claiming he is an investment businessman based in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, insisted his offer to the Penang government was not a scam.
The Sabahan claimed the matter was being politicised.
“It is a genuine offer by my boss’ company based in Hong Kong, ” said Yong, who did not want to reveal the identity of his “boss”.
Yong, who is not prepared to meet the media in person until he has consulted with lawyers, claimed his boss’ company Xintai Enterprise Development Ltd was prepared to supply the Sinovac Biotech-manufactured vaccine but not a cash donation.
Asked why the letter was not written on official letterhead, Yong said he was doing it in his personal capacity for his Hong Kong employer, who is keen to donate the vaccine.“It was not from me, I was just helping and facilitating to get it done at a personal level for my Hong Kong boss, ” he added.
Yong said he would appear at a media conference when the time was right.
Based on the address on the offer letter to the Penang government, The Star found an elderly woman living at the house.
The woman did not deny Yong lived there but asked reporters to find him at 1-Borneo Shopping Mall.
The telephone number of Yong was obtained later from other sources.
On Wednesday, Khairy Jamaluddin, who is in charge of the national immunisation programme, said the vaccine offer by a private company was a scam.
He said an investigation with Sinovac China revealed no proof or documents from Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd.
by 
