“What hidden agenda? I brought them to see the Prime Minister (Najib Razak),” he said when met by reporters at the prize-giving ceremony of the 10th Sarawak Amateur Masters Open Golf Championship 2017 at Sarawak Golf Club here today.

Masing, who is Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president, said one-third of the delegates who flew to Kuala Lumpur using the military aircraft were people from Kanowit who fought the communists in the 1970s.

He said it was a show of appreciation from the military to those who had helped in fighting the communists in Ngemah.

“That is the least the military can do as payback time to these people who fought the communists during the communist threat,” he added.

Thus, Masing slammed the opposition for criticising the visit, adding that “these were the people who were ungrateful to those who had fought to protect the state”.

He said the prime minister himself was grateful for their visit and even hosted a luncheon for them at Sri Perdana.

“Sri Perdana is a place where the prime minister entertains heads of state of foreign countries. This shows that the prime minister is very grateful for their sacrifices in defending the country from the communist threat,” added Masing.

Masing said during the visit, they asked the prime minister to bring more development to their areas, in particular to build more roads.