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November 12, 2009 20:19 PM
Commotion Causes Dewan Rakyat To Be Adjourned For 10 Minutes
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- The Dewan Rakyat sitting Thursday was adjourned for 10 minutes after a commotion erupted over the words 'kera' (monkey) and 'anjing' (dog) uttered by Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Noh Omar.
The decision to adjourn the sitting was made by Speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar when the minister was winding up the 2010 Supply Bill at the policy level.
The commotion began when Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) were questioning Noh on why the signature of an Umno division head was needed in the application for the people's rice subsidy (Subur) as reported in a Chinese daily.
Dr Lo'Lo Mohd Ghazali (PAS-Titiwangsa) who raised the issue had wanted to know why Umno endorsement was needed for a government programme.
"I want to ask, is it Umno's money or the government's money? If it is government's money, it is the people's money, so why the need to get the signature from an Umno division head?" she asked.
Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP-Beruas) then interjected by holding up the application form and alleged that in Taiping, the Subur voucher would only be given to Umno members.
Noh then asked them to show him the form and said:
"The forms that we issued did not have this space (to be signed by Umno division head) and neither the forms that we advertised in the Malay newspapers. So, how come this Chinese daily got it? We will take action against the newspaper. We will sue them.
"If you don't believe me, you can go to our website and take a look at it. In this form (published by the newspaper), even the ministry's logo was missing. This is probably a sabotage by the DAP," he said.
Noh's allegation heated up the argument between him and the Opposition MPs to the point where he uttered the words "macam kera dalam sarkas...sama seperti anjing" (like a monkey in a circus...like dogs).
At this juncture, several Opposition MPs including Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS-Kuala Selangor), Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun (DAP-Jelutong), Khalid Abdul Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) and Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) stood up and slammed the remarks made by Noh, causing the situation to get out of control.
Noh then tried to explain that he was trying to quote a popular saying of "seperti anjing menyalak bukit' (like dogs barking at the hill) and not likened them to dogs.
The commotion lasted about 10 minutes before Dr Wan Junaidi adjourned the sitting.
Meanwhile, when met at the lobby, Noh said he was willing to retract the words if they were deemed insensitive by the language experts.
He also explained that the application form for Subur voucher issued by the ministry bore the ministry's logo and address and did not have a space for Umno division head's signature.
-- BERNAMA
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