“If this matter is brought to me, I will not approve it,” he said in a statement today.

He said National Art Gallery chairman Rashidi Hasbullah’s statement on the possibility of holding such an exhibition was his own opinion and not something the ministry had agreed to.

At a ceremony at klia2 on March 11, Rashidi reportedly proposed an art exhibition based on Doraemon comics in conjunction with VMY 2020, in view of the popularity of the Japanese animation series in the country.

Mohamaddin said he had never approved any promotion involving the Doraemon series.

“It is not part of our promotion at all.”

He said if he wanted to use animation characters for the VMY 2020 campaign, popular local comic characters would be more suitable than foreign ones.