KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin must take a stand on Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing’s derogatory remarks about Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in Parliament, Lim Guan Eng said today.
The DAP secretary-general said Tiong’s “takut mati” — Malay for afraid to die — remark made against Dr Noor Hisham cannot be ignored if the government were serious in its fight against Covid-19.
“Tiong’s remarks cannot simply be overlooked because he represents the Malaysian government as the special envoy of the prime minister to China.
“The prime minister must state who is right and wrong,” Lim said in a statement.
He said Muhyiddin should tell Tiong to substantiate his allegation at the very least as the latter’s remarks were an attack against the Health director-general’s character and were contemptible.
Lim said failure to chide Tiong would suggest Muhyiddin lacked strength as a leader and diminish his fragile support in the Dewan Rakyat, as well as public confidence in his government’s ability to tackle the pandemic.
“How can the public then have confidence that Muhyiddin is serious about battling Covid-19 when he appears to place priority on his political survival as prime minister?” asked Lim, who is Bagan MP.
Tiong claimed in Parliament last Wednesday that Dr Noor Hisham rarely visited Bintulu when Covid-19 was raging in Sarawak and asked if the reason for his absence was because the doctor was “afraid to die”.
Bintulu was among the hot spots for the virus outbreak in Sarawak.
The government lawmaker’s remarks drew condemnation from the Opposition and resulted in the ejection of two DAP MPs, RSN Rayer and Lim Lip Eng over the next two days.
Tiong, who is Progressive Democratic Party president, later said he “did not intend to maliciously target” Dr Noor Hisham.
