KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 (Bernama) -- Two government backbenchers Wednesday took to task the Youth and Sports Ministry over what they said were the presence of scantily clad sexy models in the Super GT Grand Prix held in Malaysia.

One of them, Datuk Hasni Mohamad (BN-Pontian), who had submitted a question on the matter in the Dewan Rakyat, asked how the ministry could have overlooked such a thing.

"How can such a thing be overlooked by the ministry because these girls were paraded not only in Kuala Lumpur but also nationwide?" he said when raising a supplementary question.

The other backbencher, Datuk Mohamad Aziz (BN-Sri Gading), asked why no action was taken in the matter when the country had pertinent legislation.

"We have the legislation and we say there will be enforcement but when someone violates the law we do not act, more so when the offender is a foreigner," he said, adding that the authorities were either afraid or embarrassed to be candid with offenders and thus remain silent.

"Eventually when questions are raised in Parliament, there will be answers. That's what has been happening then, now and (may be happening) forever," he said.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Youth and Sports Ministry S. Vigneswaran, when replying to the questions, said the models did not wear swim suits but were attired in hot pants.

He said the ministry was concerned and that the matter would be brought to the minister (Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said) for appropriate action.

Earlier, when replying to the original question from Hasni, Vigneswaran said the ministry required the organisers of international sports events in the country to adhere to conditions, and they were informed of these conditions at the time the approval was given.

The conditions included the need to ensure that the organisers and participants understood, respected and adhered to the local customs and abided by the principles of protocol to ensure that the nation's image was not undermined, he said.

He said adherence to these conditions was seen when Malaysia organised the Le Tour de Langkawi cycle race and the F1 2007 race, where the models wore the "baju kebaya" attire in their promotion of the two sports events.

-- BERNAMA