Vigneswaran denies he breached KLIA security protocol by wearing sandals in VIP area

SEPANG: Dewan Negara president Tan Sri S. A. Vigneswaran has denied breaching security protocols when he wore sandals into the VIP area of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

"This is cheap publicity by Loke. I tried contacting him to clear the matter.

"If I committed a crime, why wasn't I stopped or arrested?" he asked.

Earlier, Transport Minister Anthony Loke told Vigneswaran to apologise for breaching security protocols and violating the dress code while using VIP lanes at KLIA.

The incident took place at 10.14pm on Nov 14 when Vigneswaran, who was seen wearing sandals, was stopped by officers stationed at the VIP lanes for not adhering to the dress code.

Security footage of the incident released by authorities showed that Vigneswaran did not stop and proceeded downstairs to the VIP lobby area before heading to the departure gates.

Loke said Vigneswaran had violated the dress code and encroached into a secure area without going through a proper security check.

Vigneswaran said that this was the first time his daughter was flying to Britain.

He explained that he was wearing sandals as he had a small wound on his leg and added that he did not use any of the VIP rooms and proceeded to send off his daughter at the departure gates.

Vigneswaran also denied being rude to airport personnel, saying that he merely asked to be shown the circular which states that VIPs are not allowed to wear sandals.

"The fact is I only wanted to see the exact circular. The circular noted that we should wear appropriate clothing.

"They should have stopped me if I had committed any wrongdoing," he said.

Vigneswaran, who is also the MIC president, told Loke to stop acting like he was still an opposition member and the issue could have been settled if they had communicated with one another.