KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said today told RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) to leave the Lower House after he refused to take his seat and accept her ruling.
This followed a heated exchange between Rayer and Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (GPS-Bintulu).
Rayer was outraged when Tiong said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah "is afraid to die" for not coming down personally to Sabah to monitor the Covid-19 situation there.
The DAP member demanded Tiong withdraw his remark but the latter refused, sparking a war of words between the MPs.
After minutes of shouting, Azalina asked Rayer to take his seat as she wanted to make a ruling on the remarks made by Tiong about Dr Noor Hisham.
"How am I going to make a ruling if you are standing up? Sit down! Jelutong, sit down!" Azalina said repeatedly while attempting to make her ruling on Tiong's remark.
After her multiple requests went unheeded, Azalina ordered the sergeant-at-arms to escort Rayer out of the Dewan Rakyat.
Tiong had questioned Dr Noor Hisham's efforts in battling the pandemic, saying the globally-known doctor has not visited frontliners on the ground in Sabah.
He had said the Health Ministry had a weakness and "a human error", claiming that frontliners on the ground were unhappy with Dr Noor Hisham for not visiting them during the current outbreak.
"There's an announcement about new clusters every day. So why not just lock down those places? Do (swab) tests on those from the beginning... from the village or taman level, before the virus spreads.
"Don't let them (infected people) walk around because now the whole state needs to be locked down.
"What is the DG doing announcing news every day? An office boy could read the (statement). Why won't he visit hospitals and talk to the doctors and nurses?
"Don't simply send frontliners to the ground as if they are not afraid to die but the DG is afraid to die. Even the deputy DG hasn't. Don't just look for daily publicity," he had said.
Despite being asked by Rayer and later Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor) to withdraw the remark, Tiong said he was merely relaying the voices of the people and that he was not wrong to ask why Dr Noor Hisham had not visited frontliners on the ground.
"The DG is also a frontliner. Bintulu is being rude," Rayer said before being escorted out of the Dewan Rakyat.
At a press conference later in the parliament building, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (BN-Arau) criticised some opposition members whom he said were harping on the remark made by Tiong.
"He (Tiong) did not have such intent, but the opposition took advantage of the remark, calling for him to retract it. It was simple language spoken by Tiong, who is a Sarawakian.
"He was emphasising that it was a serious matter and asked for the DG to go to the ground and look at the situation himself," he said.
Shahidan also questioned the now-ousted PH government which he said did not take pre-emptive measures in February including closing the country's borders after Covid-19 cases in China began growing rapidly.