Chong: Uggah’s reply raises serious questions over Falcon 8X lease

3
ADUN for Padungan Chong Chieng Jen raises serious questions over the US$71.77 million Falcon 8X lease by Hornbill Skyways, including the absence of a tender process and concerns over governance and transparency.
ADUN for Padungan Chong Chieng Jen raises serious questions over the US$71.77 million Falcon 8X lease by Hornbill Skyways, including the absence of a tender process and concerns over governance and transparency.

Kuching: The Sarawak Minister for Finance II Douglas Uggah’s reply on the leasing of the Falcon 8X by Hornbill Skyways Sdn Bhd on 21 October 2026 in Sarawak DUN has confirmed the truth of the facts stated by me in DUN on 14.10.2026 about the leasing of the private jet at such high costs of US$71.77 million by Hornbill Skyways without any tender process and that at the end of the lease term, ownership of the private jet remains with the lessor, Cempaka Helicopter Corporation Sdn Bhd.

The manner in which he tried to downplay the issue made me more certain that the true reason for my suspension from DUN sitting was because of the private jet leasing issue that I raised and that the GPS Government wants to avoid face-to-face direct questioning by me in DUN when Douglas Uggah is doing his winding up.

Douglas Uggah claimed that the appointment of Cempaka Helicopter Corporation Sdn Bhd as the lessor of the private jet was “made in accordance with Hornbill Skyways’ established procurement, governance and due diligence processes”.

If this were true, all the more Sarawakians ought to be concerned about the so-called standard of “procurement, governance and due diligence processes” of not only Hornbill Skyways but also the GPS Government itself.

I now post 3 direct questions to Douglas for him to answer on the matter.

Question 1: What procurement, governance and due diligence processes have Hornbill Skyways conducted, given that the RM300 million lease deal was offered and accepted within 2 weeks and without any tender?

  • On 11.1.2023, Cempaka issued the letter of proposal for the leasing of the Falcon 8X to Hornbill.
  • On 16.1.2023, Hornbill held a Board of Directors meeting and decided to do away with the tender and to accept the proposal as per Cempaka’s letter.
  • On 19.1.2023, Hornbill paid a US$2.5 million deposit for the dry lease of the private jet.
  • On 25.1.2023, Hornbill issued the letter of award to Cempaka, thereby closing the deal.
  • On 2.5.2023, the lease agreement for US$71.77 million was formally signed, and an upfront payment of US$35.88 million had already been made.

Question 2: Why was there no simple price comparison or evaluation study conducted before the lease agreement involving RM300 million?

  • In fact, Dassault Aviation has a sales office in Kuala Lumpur, which, if Hornbill Skyways bothered to make an enquiry, will find out that the listing sale price for a unit of pre-owned 2016 year made (or even 2018 year made) Dassault Falcon 8X would easily be in the region of US$40 million.
  • It makes no sense that one would pay US$71.77 million to rent with an initial upfront payment of US$35.88 million and, at the end of the 5-year rental period, still have no ownership of the plane, while with an outright payment of US$40 million, one can buy and own the plane.
  • Bearing in mind that, under a dry lease term, the lessee, Hornbill Skyways, will still have to pay for additional maintenance costs.

Question 3: Will Douglas tell us ordinary Sarawakians, who actually hold the controlling shares in Cempaka Helicopter Corporation Sdn Bhd at the time when the Lease Agreement was entered into?

  • Douglas claimed that Cempaka is an associate company of AIROD, which has extensive experience in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, and thus the choice to appoint Cempaka.
  • However, AIROD is only a minority shareholder, holding 30% of Cempaka, while the remaining 70% is held by a company called Swift International Group Sdn Bhd.
  • Between 28.03.2023 to 29.11.2024, one Mr. X, who has a very strong political connection to Sarawak GPS, became the shareholder owning 70% share in this Swift International Group Sdn Bhd. Thus, this Mr. X holds the controlling share in Cempaka.
  • The same Mr. X was also a director of Cempaka for the period between 25.2.2022 to 03.07.2024
  • Will Douglas Uggah tell us who this Mr. X is?

These are 3 pertinent questions that Douglas Uggah must answer in detail, as the amount involved is public funds and is huge. The GPS may have the brute majority in DUN Sarawak to suspend me from attending the DUN sitting, but it has no right to hide the truth from ordinary Sarawakians.

Chong Chieng Jen
ADUN for Padungan
22 October 2026

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR