Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/234051
(Ram Anand Jun
26, 2013)
The Election Commission (EC) has
said that there were "no chemicals" in its indelible ink that was
used for the 13th general election.
In a parliamentary written answer to
Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut) today, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Shahidan Kassim said that all the chemicals in the ink were replaced by food
colouring.
"No chemicals were used in the
ink, they were instead replaced with food colouring ingredients which were
approved," the short answer read to a question as to why the ink did not
last seven days as initially promised.
"The durability of the ink is
subject to the efforts taken to wipe off the ink by individuals," the
reply said. It also said that a test conducted on EC officials and media
personnel on May 2 "proved" that the ink worked the way it was
supposed to. The EC has previously said that silver nitrate was used in the ink
and was supposed to last seven days. However, many individuals have complained
of being able to easily wash off the indelible ink within hours of being
applied.
Lim later laughed at the
parliamentary reply in his Twitter account, noting that the indelible ink
was now "edible" based on the reply. One netizen who was bemused by
the reply later tweeted in response, cheekily asking if the ink was "finger
licking good".
Supplier’s identity secret for
‘security reasons’
Meanwhile in a separate reply to
another DAP MP, Anthony Loke (DAP - Rasah), Shahidan stated that the cost for
the use of indelible ink during the May 5 polls was RM6.9million. Reading
“Other additional costs consist of
transport cost, packaging and storage, about RM200,000, making the total costs
RM7.1 million,” Shahidan said in the written reply. He added that at this time,
there is no plan to reveal information on the indelible ink supplier to the
public for “security reasons”.
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Tests show that ink used in GE was
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