Speaker: ‘Unthinkable’ for budget office to single out Padungan rep over pagination error

(Clock wise from top left) Asfia, Chong and Uggah in a heated exchange over budget pagination error issue in DUNS Sitting on Oct 14, 2026.

By Karen Bong

KUCHING, Oct 14: Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUNS) Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar today rejected Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen’s suggestion over a pagination error in the Sarawak Budget 2027 document, saying it was “unthinkable, unimaginable, and beyond any figment of imagination” that the State Financial Secretary and his office would deliberately commit such an error to single out Chong from the other assembly members.

Delivering his ruling during today’s DUNS sitting, Asfia said the State Financial Secretary and his office upheld the highest standards of integrity and professionalism, adding that the alleged error had been checked and verified by the DUNS Secretary.

He said the issue concerned the physical arrangement of pages in the sole copy reportedly received by Chong and did not affect the accuracy, completeness or integrity of the establishment figures contained in the budget document.

Citing a response from the State Financial Secretary’s Office, Asfia said 100 copies of the document had been printed and distributed, with verification confirming that the copies examined were correctly ordered and contained identical establishment information.

“It is therefore most unusual that only a single copy was reported to exhibit a pagination irregularity, while all other copies distributed to the Honourable Members were correctly paginated,” the office said.

The office explained that the document had been prepared under strict quality-control procedures, including automated page sequencing, manual verification, proofreading and checks on page order before binding and distribution.

It stressed that the pagination issue involved no omission, alteration or inconsistency in the approved establishment data or figures contained in the master document.

Following the matter being raised, the office re-examined the other copies and found them complete and correctly ordered.

“While we regret the inconvenience, it must be stressed that this pagination issue in one isolated copy does not reflect the overall quality of the budget documents, nor does it affect the substance of the budget itself,” it said.

Asfia also took issue with Chong’s remarks during yesterday’s sitting, when the Padungan assemblyman questioned whether the pagination error should undermine confidence in the budget’s detailed figures.

According to the unedited Hansard dated Oct 13, Chong had said: “And more importantly, if such basic pagination of the document that can be such a serious error, what confidence do we have in the more detailed figures in the documentary budget?”

Asfia described the remark as “uncalled for and mischievous”, citing Standing Order 22(12), under which a member who deliberately misleads the Assembly is deemed to be out of order or in contempt.

Chong stood up to object to the Speaker’s ruling, but Asfia maintained his position.

Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas had also questioned the alleged error, saying he had a copy of the document and had found no problem with it.

“I have a copy of the book here. There’s no problem. How can that document to you … but the others are all in order and correct?” Uggah said before tabling the Supplementary Supply (2026) Bill, 2026.

Asfia subsequently reiterated that his ruling was final, maintaining that the pagination irregularity reported in Chong’s copy did not affect the integrity of the approved budget figures or the substance of the budget document. — DayakDaily