KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 (Sin Chew Daily) — The government has been urged to review the existing applications of the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program as the program has been temporarily suspended.

Malaysian My Second Home Consultants Association (MM2HCA) president Lim Kok Sai said many applicants had received letters informing them that their applications were rejected.

Lim said the government should consider reviewing the applications made prior to its decision to suspend the program.

He said the government suspended MM2H on July 2 but the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Seri Hajah Nancy Shukri only made the announcement on August 4.

"MM2H operators have submitted close to 3,000 applications for the first half of this year and the fourth quarter of last year. The government should review the applications made earlier and not to reject them all," he said.

Lim estimated that the government might lose up to RM776 million in revenue for suspending MM2H.

He said the association had been trying to discuss the matter with the minister but had yet to receive a positive reply from her.

"We request the government to review those applications which have been submitted," he said.

Lim said applicants from China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan made up more than half of the applications.

In line with the preventive measures adopted to curb COVID-19, the Malaysian government has temporarily banned foreigners from entering the country. 

Nancy announced that MM2H program was temporarily suspended to carry out assessment and review of the program with the relevant departments.

Since May 25, the ministry has rejected about 90% or 1,000 MM2H applications without providing an explanation.

The government approved 5,610 applications in 2018, with at least RM4.4 billion brought into the country.