PETALING JAYA, July 3 — Soon after Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin unleashed drivel in Parliament and told the AirAsia X chief to migrate, he was savaged by a furious public for his unbecoming behaviour in the august house.

The Kinabatangan MP was roasted for abusing his parliamentary privilege to attack a defenceless citizen in a childish manner.

Social media roared in disgust against Bung Mokhtar who had in the past upset certain quarters with uncalled for remarks.

The person in the centre of Bung’s latest rant, airline boss Datuk Azran Osman Rani, was not available for a response to the attack on him being the biggest news in Parliament yesterday.

Azran had taken issue with Utusan Malaysia for its incendiary headline “Apa lagi Cina mahu” which accompanied a recent article slamming the Chinese community for deserting the Barisan Nasional despite being given many concessions.

In Parliament, Bung Mokhtar described Azran as 'Melayu terlalu biadap' (too rude a Malay) and told him to leave the country for criticising the paper.

Many Malaysians wondered why an MP would waste time and raise the spat between a newspaper and an individual during the debate on the Royal Address.

They said politicians were too often asking people to migrate when debating an issue instead of articulating the matter intelligently.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia had warned Bung Mokhtar not to attack members of the public who were unable to defend themselves in the House.

“Don’t abuse your privilege as an elected representative to say things as you like. Please confine your debate on the issue,” Pandikar said.

Later, Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said Bung Mokhtar may have crossed the line. 

“While every citizen has the right (to speak), I felt Bung Mokhtar was a bit harsh and he needs to move forward.” 

Kluang MP Liew ChinTong said: “Those who shout the loudest get the attention and that explains Bung Mokhtar’s actions. No citizen should be asked to leave the country.”

Social media users came out guns blazing. Bung Mokhtar however remained defiant and continued ranting in cyberspace. His reply to Twitter user @yugan82 who said Bung Mokhtar was not doing his work in Parliament and that he should leave the country: “You can bark at the side of the road ... I don’t care. Get lost!”

Bung Mokhtar was a trendsetter yesterday — all for the wrong reasons.