“Bocor” scandal not ended – Mohd Said and Bung Mohtar must apologise in Parliament

The answer by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz yesterday that the Cabinet regards the “bocor” scandal involving Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mohtar Radin (Kinabatangan) as settled is completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable.

In a written reply to my question, Nazri said:

“The government has reminded everyone, especially members of parliament, and those in high positions to always be mindful and responsible in their actions.

“We hope the issue will serve as an example to all. We regret that the episode happened but we regard this matter as closed.”

It is no use the government expressing “regret” for the episode when the two culprits, Mohd Said and Bung Moktar are openly defiant and unrepentant as evident from their fake apologies, on six grounds:

Firstly, Both of them refused to make a personal apology to Fong Po Kuan (MP for Batu Gajah), the target of their crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks which women groups have described as “sexual harassment in Parliament”.

Secondly, there was no remorse or contrition in making the apology, even to Malaysian women. Both tendered their apology “if women were offended” — implying that there was nothing wrong with their remarks but with women if they were offended!

Thirdly, they justified their sexist and male-chauvinist attacks at Po Kuan on the ground that they were necessary to defend the government during debates.

Fourthly, the above statement was as good as a declaration that they would have no hesitation in repeating their crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks in similar circumstances in future if they deem it necessary to defend the Barisan Nasional and the Government.

Fifthly, both had lied when they claimed that they had been “provoked” to make the crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive attacks on Po Kuan. The video footage of this disgraceful parliamentary conduct is up on YouTube, Google and many blogs. On YouTube alone, which received a four-and-a-half star rating, it was viewed more than 61,551 times.

All can see that when Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar made the crude, derogatory, sexist and gender-offensive remarks, neither Po Kuan nor any DAP MP was out to insult them or was making “unfounded, baseless claims”, as they were legitimately trying to raise in the House the scandal of Parliament leaking again after a RM90 million renovation less than two years ago!

Both Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar made the sexist attacks on Po Kuan when there was no provocation — when totally unprovoked! If both of them could tell such a bare-faced lie when the video footage is available for all to see, how could anyone believe in any of their claims and statements?

Sixthly, they had added insult to injury in humiliating Malaysian women when Mohd Said alleged that “the incident was manipulated by the opposition who pictured it (the incident) negatively, and made it look different from what really happened in the Dewan Rakyat” while Bung Mokhtar said the incident was blown out of proportion by DAP by highlighting it in the media and dragging along the women’s organizations in the country.

For the Cabinet under these circumstances to maintain that the “fake apologies” of Mohd Said and Bung Mohtar are adequate and that the parliamentary scandal of the sexist and gender-offensive episode is “closed” is a contempt of Parliament — as Nazri and Cabinet Ministers seem to have forgotten that Parliament under our Constitution and system of government is a higher institution than Cabinet and not the other way round!

As the sexist scandal happened in Parliament, it must be “settled” in Parliament with proper remedy and not in Cabinet or Barisan Nasional.

The civil society, in a public forum in Kuala Lumpur in May, unanimously agreed that Mohd Said and Bung Mohtar had been guilty of sexual harassment of Po Kuan and had brought shame and dishonour to Parliament, Malaysian women and the nation’s reputation internationally.

They agreed that the suitable penalty for the duo is the following five-point punishment:

1. Six-month suspension as MP.

2. Six-month community service with women groups.

3. Donation of the their entire parliamentary allowance during suspension to women groups.

4. Full apology to Fong Po Kuan and Malaysian women.

5. If no full apology, the six-month suspension and community service to be extended to 12 months.

The sexist conduct of the Jasin and Kinabatangan MPs in the “bocor” scandal is certainly not closed, and I call on all MPs, including from Barisan Nasional, to take a stand to demand that proper punishment should be meted out to the two for their gross breach of privilege and unrepentant attitudes to date.

For a start, Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar Radin must apologise in Parliament both to Po Kuan and Parliament for the crude, sexist and gender-offensive remarks in the “bocor” scandal as Parliament is higher and not lower than the Cabinet.

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51 Replies to ““Bocor” scandal not ended – Mohd Said and Bung Mohtar must apologise in Parliament”

  1. BN management style is always the same:
    (1) create problems
    (2) point fingers at others
    (3) continue their pointless debate
    (4) hope for time flies faster so the public will forget the problems
    (5) create more problems

    problems continue….. endless problems being created….

  2. YB, make sure the news goes to the women folk in Kinabatangan and Jasin. Womenfolk make a sizeable voting block, but many tend to be ignorant of whats going on in the country. Make sure all of you who read these blogs inform your wives, friends, mothers, sisters etc so they vote wisely next time. If they have not registered to vote, get them to register.

    Make sure both of these clowns are voted out in the next GE.

  3. YB,

    As per Article 48 of our constitution, a person who holds an offfice of profit is not qualified to be an MP. So does Jasin not admit that he holds an office of profit? Remember his close-one-eye incident? Does’nt tis mean he is unfit to act as MP as it is clear that he has conflicts!

    Article number: 48
    48.
    • (1) Subject to the provisions of this Article, a person is disqualified for being a member of either House of Parliament if –
    o (a) he is and has been found or declared to be of unsound mind; or
    o (b) he is an undischarged bankrupt; or
    o (c) he holds an office of profit; or
    o (d) having been nominated for election to either House of Parliament or to the Legislative Assembly of a State, or having acted as election agent to a person so nominated, he has failed to lodge any return of election expenses required by law within the time and in the manner so required; or
    o (e) he has been convicted of an offence by a court of law in the Federation (or, before Malaysia Day, in the territories comprised in the State of Sabah or Sarawak or in Singapore) and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than two thousand ringgit and has not received a free pardon; or
    o (f) he has voluntarily acquired citizenship of, or exercised rights of citizenship in, any country outside the Federation or has made a
    declaration of allegiance to any country outside the Federation.

  4. Another article from our constitution
    Article number: 52
    52.
    • (1) If a member of either House of Parliament is without the leave of the House absent from every sitting of the House for a period of six months the House may declare his seat vacant.
    • (2) A member of either House of Parliament who has been granted leave of absence from the sittings of the House of which he is a member shall not, for the duration of such leave, participate in any manner in the affairs and business of
    that House.

    So can we declare Kepala Batas vacant? or any other seats that have been absent for 6 months?

  5. “The video footage of this disgraceful parliamentary conduct is up on YouTube, Google and many blogs. On YouTube alone, which received a four-and-a-half star rating, it was viewed more than 61,551 times.”

    especially when GE is coming soon, it would be good if more footage is uploaded. These are the people who were voted into office – for the people who voted them into office to see how their votes were squandered.

  6. I agree that it has not ended until a full and remorseful apology is tendered by both MPs to BY Fong Po Kuan. They should express their sincerity by accepting the 5-point punishment as spelt out at the public forum. Please do not let this incident fade away as they hope to wish it away. Continue to press on for the shame they have brought on the august House.

  7. These two bums must apologise and must be made to repent.Their arrogant behaviour speaks volumes about the poor quality of a certain type of MPs in the Parliament.People like YB LKS should steadfastly pursue the matter until justice is done to the aggrieved party YB Fong Poh Kuan.The two kurangajar patut diajar sampai mereka tahu ‘bagaimana menghormati kaum wanita’?

  8. let it go, Kit. It’s getting stale already. We will remember this, just like we remember the AP scandal, the crooked bridge scandal, the close-one-eye scandal, the Zakaria Mansion scandal.

    Let it go.

  9. # Godfather Says:
    June 20th, 2007 at 19: 00.31

    “let it go, Kit. It’s getting stale already. We will remember this, just like we remember the AP scandal, the crooked bridge scandal, the close-one-eye scandal, the Zakaria Mansion scandal.

    Let it go.”

    It’s good that Uncle Lim has the tenacity of a bulldog!!
    Let it go? No way. Malaysians have very short memory (Godfather may be the exception)- the longer Uncle Lim reminds the public about this incident (and others), the better to have it seared into the memory of our forgetful electorate. The best way to remember something is to have it repeated at every opportunity.
    As I have said before, incidents of this type are becoming far too common because of the simple reason that the public is, in addition to having a short memory, very forgiving.
    The reason the crime situation is getting worse is that criminals get away with their crimes all too often and too easily.
    Just imagine, only about thirty-five percent of serious crimes are solved and the police are congratulating themselves.
    To a criminal, getting away with crimes sixty-five percent of the time is a very good bet, so it acts as an incentive to continue.
    Uncle Lim, continue whacking them!

  10. No. What Godfather was referring to is the ‘bocor’ issue. He is right. It is getting to be a bit stale. There are more serious issues than the sexist remarks of two government MPs.

    The sky rocketing crime rate is one such issue – like you said.

  11. The latest condemnation of the bocor issue came from the European Ambassador to malaysia, Mr Therry Rommel. You can read his posting in Malaysiakini today. That is what observers feel about the whole issue……consider close?..Not quite…

  12. enough had been said and done
    nothing much we can do now except to zap our energy going after this #%$&ing 2 Datuk Bocor. every religion says they will be punished for thier sins, am sure muslims subscribe to this too.
    It’s now trivial compared to much more important stuffs that’s confronting us, like the downgrading to tier 3 by the US in human trakficking and macro economic issues.
    In Singapore’s headlines they are talking about Dengue at near epidemic levels and the whole govt machinery is in thier highest alet to prevent this catastrophy.
    Is Malaysia immuned to this ???
    i believe strongly that this is due to non existing statistical information on the gravity of the situation.
    Aren’t this or others more pressing for us to harness and focus our energy into rather than continuously harping on these 2 bocor datuks.
    Leave it to Allah to pass judgement and punish them as they deem fit. and appropriate.

  13. I love youtube – UNMO cannot pull wool over Malaysian public eyes as the camera will never lie – maybe that is one of the reasons we will never have live telly cast of the MALAYSIAN Lower house. I just hope that Malaysian are longer fooled by Govt Bull**** artist

  14. It is digracefull and digusting to observe the shameful behaviour of these mps who have verbally demeaned a member of parliment and women in Malaysia by using degratory remarks that are both vulgar and of utter debasedness. Such men do not desrve respect from the rakyaat and their failure to apologize for their shameful outburst is a sign that the barisan nasional indirectly supports and condones such vioalation against Malaysian women and society at large. I sincerely hope this forum and others will continue to excert continued pressure on these shameless thugs in parlimentary clothing. As a Malaysian I would like to express my digust of such continued abuse against women in this elected office.

  15. Uncle Kit,

    This is out of topic but I do not know where to post this.

    This is another flip-flop decision by the Finance Ministry.
    I am a unit trust investor using my EPF funds to invest into unit trust. In year 2005, Finance Ministry allowed 30% of unit trust assets to be invested overseas. This year, 2007, the percentage was increased to 50%.

    Therefore, in 2005, I began to withdraw my EPF to invest into funds that invest overseas. It has been making quite a good profit so far. A few months back, I was told by the unit trust companies that I could no longer invest into NEW overseas funds because EPF (under the Finance Ministry) do not give their approval anymore. Therefore, I continued to invest into the EXISTING overseas funds which has been approved earlier until yesterday.

    Yesterday, I was told that EPF now no longer allowed investment into ALL overseas fund. What is the rational of this directive? On one hand Finance Ministry allowed 50% of the unit trust assets into overseas and another hand, EPF said 0%!

    EPF money is my OWN money! It is not Government’s money. Flexibility to invest anywhere should be my decision, not the EPF Board. The risk is also my own, not the EPF Board.

    Sometimes when the Malaysian market is sleeping, I have no choice but to invest overseas. Why does the EPF want to stop me?

    Uncle Kit, I hope you can bring this up with the Finance Ministry (who is in charge of EPF) why the flip-flop decision?

  16. This is an issue whether having committed the transgression of making sexist remarks in parliament at a fellow member of parliament “the punishment meted out so far fits the crime”. It is an issue of proportionality of response, whether it has been adequate. When dealing with the ruling party equally concerned with its public image and damage control, it is never measured in absolute but relative terms.

    In absolute terms, the “punishment” is not sufficient for lack of genuine contrition and admission of wrongdoing : otherwise Fong Po Kuan would be apologized to. To apologise to all women, with her being mentioned, is to respond to expedience of damage control of political fall out over the incidence.

    But when dealing with the ruling party, one has to evaluate the matter on “relative” terms, and from standpoint of what is relative, much as already been achieved by YB by way of seizing the high moral ground in escalating the “bochor” issue to the level where:-

    · the government had come down from its high pedestal to use the offices of Sharizat to get the duo to apologise to all Malaysian women (albeit MP Fong Po Kuan excepted), when before they would not have even considered doing so; and
    · the outrage of civil society, women groups and even international groupings like ASEAN Members of Parliament and the MPs and State Legislators attending the GlobalPOWER (Partnership of Women Elected/Appointed Representatives) 2007 Conference in Washington May 7 – 11, 2007 has already been galvanized;
    · “the government has reminded everyone, especially members of parliament, and those in high positions to always be mindful and responsible in their actions;
    · even public becoming mindful, as when yesterday a letter was sent by one Poovarni Rajagopal to NST June 14 page 27 complaining about Dee Jay in radio broadcast suggesting Jessica Alba (if she should act as “Captain Jack Sparrow” as in Pirates of the Caribbean) should be called Captain Jack S…….in an obvious reference to oral sex”.

    “Let it go, Kit. It’s getting stale already” advised Godfather, a position endorsed by Undergrad2.

    I am sure they are well-wishers. They feel that Kit has taken the matter as far as it could go. They don’t wish him to press the matter further, in the process appearing petty, thereby losing the high moral ground achieved so far. For it is true that expecting more by way of five-point punishment being accepted by the government is, like what Lucia said, “a day when elephants can fly!”

    I am sure that Kit is also aware of this. He is an old hand in this game.

    It however cannot be said that he “is not letting go” just because of the response in this thread made in turn to respond to what Nazri Aziz stated of the government’s position, treating the issue as closed.

    It is a statement necessary to be made by Kit to correct the record of the government’s seemingly finality of judgment on the mattert. For what Nazri said, might be the best of what the government could say, but it was manifestly incorrect for him to say (1) that the apology was sufficient when the direct party offended – Po Kuan was not apologized to – and that (2) the incident had not damaged the country’s international reputation, when it had as evinced by ASEAN Members of Parliament and the MPs and State Legislators attending the GlobalPOWER (Partnership of Women Elected/Appointed Representatives)’ condemning the duo’s sexist statement and the wide reportage given to it by international media – though perhaps not as severely as the Altantuya Shaariibuu and Lina Joy’s cases!

  17. Jeffrey,

    Democracy is about encouraging diversity of opinions. The more the better.

    Godfather and I are not the only who feel that we should move on. Alvin is another.

    The issue concerning the keris is another. It is so divisive that one asks if the DAP should keep revisiting the incident. Malay votes are needed to win the general elections – even though they may be protest votes.

  18. I agree he should move on. All I am saying is that Kit has already moved on – he has not really been dwelling of late over this bochor issue – but the latest statement made by Kit (which does not suggest he has not moved on) is necessary to counter what Nazri said that appears to be the final word on the matter from the government…

  19. Every time the BN MPs committed some transgressions and the PM or DPM says the matter is closed and the matter is closed.
    What does such a statement say about the BN.
    It says that the BN treats the opposition as transparent. It is in effect giving license to their MPs to do what they want; they can do no wrong.
    I am sure that Uncle Lim has more then enough capacity and capability to handle this matter IN ADDITION to all current issues that arise.
    That’s called multi-tasking!

  20. Dear Mr. Lim,

    I wrote the following in respond to your article…
    http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2007/06/16/lina-joy-case-and-cancelled-building-bridges-conference-to-feature-on-1st-day-of-parliament/
    …but somehow did not post it then. Maybe I didn’t want to jump the gun. Maybe I thought you know better. Maybe I felt that you just want to ask for the sake of asking…

    I post it here now, maybe it could help.

    *****

    [quote]• To ask the Prime Minister whether the Cabinet’s misjudgment and mishandling of sexism in Parliament on May 9, 2007 had caused great damage to the good name of Malaysia internationally and what lesson the Cabinet has learnt from it.[/quote]

    Possible Answer: They have apologized and Parliament members have been advised to behave properly when in session…

    Alternatively ask: WHAT are the measures that the Cabinet is going to take to prevent misjudgment and mishandling of sexism in Parliament, WHEN and HOW will they be implemented.

  21. Here’s more

    *****

    [quote]• To ask the Prime Minister why public confidence in government ability to ensure low-crime Malaysia has reached a new low despite earlier favourable public responses to Royal Police Commission Report and to report on implementation of commission’s 125 recommendations, in particular on IPCMC.[/quote]Possible answer: No, the public confidence in the government to ensure low-crime Malaysia has never been higher. The recommendations are being implemented…

    Alternatively: To ask the Prime Minister HOW the government is going to restore public confidence in the government’s ability to ensure low-crime Malaysia, WHEN and HOW such measures will be implemented; To ask WHAT the progress is for each and every of the 125 Royal Police Commission Report recommendations implementation, in particular IPCMC and WHEN will they be implemented.

    [quote]• To ask the Minister of Health on the investigation on why the ambulances at Kepala Batas Hospital had run out of petrol which caused the death of 31-year-old Yusnita Abas on 13th October 2006 and a report on deaths caused by unsatisfactory ambulance services in the past year and the remedial actions taken.[/quote]The investigation is still in progress…

    Alternatively: To ask the Minister of Health when will the investigation be completed and revealed.

    [quote]• To ask the Prime Minister on whether the government is willing to set up a Royal Commission to investigate the May 13 incident and declassify all official documents in order to reveal the truth as a way to promote racial understanding and enhance racial integration in conjunction with the 50th Merdeka Anniversary.[/quote]No, such Royal Commision is not necessary, the truth has always been out there…

  22. You bring up all the issues, publicize them, milk them for all the publicity that is worth, they look you in the eye and say “so what?”. So you rant and rave about the unfairness of it all, and still they say “so what?”

    So we all go away and carry the big stick behind our backs. When they don’t have the two-thirds majority at the next GE, they won’t say “so what?”.

  23. If the keris and bocor issues will influence the Malays’ votes, then the country future is not good and nothing much is going to change from the decades of damaging politics of race and religion.

    Assuming they are properly and fully informed, as most Malays are very political, they should have the courage to do the right thing for the country and her ordinary people…..not the party or leader/s.

  24. Parti Keadilan can win 40 Parliamentary seats? In Antartica, maybe…
    http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/beritankom.php?itemid=5619

    “…kemungkinan besar pilihanraya pada 22 Ogos ini, namun terbaru seorang lagi sumber klpos.com memberitahu bahawa Kedutaan Amerika Syarikat melalui pegawai politiknya yakin pilihanraya umum ke 12 dijadualkan pada bulan November ini…..Menurut Azmin, mesyuarat Ahad lalu telah mengesahkan senarai 40 kawasan Parlimen di Semenanjung Malaysia yang diklasifikasikan sebagai “boleh menang” – yang akan ditandingi oleh PKR kali ini….”

  25. Which countries were regarded as the most advanced countries in Asia in the 60s ?

    Burma and the Philippines.

    Where are they now ? Why have they regressed into what they are today ? Simple – the people allowed themselves to regress. Could it happen to Bolehland ? You bet. In a one-person-one-vote system, the majority’s ambitions reflect the ambitions of the nation. 10 years from now, when the non-Malay population dwindles to below 20 pct, and when the dominant majority decides that it is OK to look inwards and that ambition is a dirty word, Bolehland will be left behind.

    UMNO is able to survive by giving crumbs to the average Malay because the average Malay is contented with it. The average Malay doesn’t really care if thousands of APs are issued every year and the revenues go into the pockets of a few elite. The average Malay doesn’t care if MPs belittle women the way Jasin and Kinabatangan did recently. The average Malay doesn’t care if a councillor like Zakaria Mat Deros builds a mansion on state land. The average Malay doesn’t care if monopolies such as medicine labelling and liquor labelling are created for the benefit of a few rich Malays.

    But the average Malay will treat the DAP like the most racist party in Bolehland for wanting to terminate the NEP.

  26. I dont think this is trivial at all

    what they said exposes their rotten character , their rotten character exposes the rotten character of the party, the rotten character of the party exposes the rotten character of the government, after all the party and government condoned their behaviour by their absurb defence and silence.

    do you think a rotten government could solve people’s problems?

    in a way it’s we who put these two baboons in the parliament,should’nt we put them back to zoo?

    If we let them go, it will definitely happen again. (Most probably it’s happening now).They must pay for their misdeeds.

    It’s true there are many ‘big’ problems facing us now and there will be more three months down the road. But at the heart of all these problems is a government ill-prepared to solve them. To scrutinize their every move is the best we can do until the time our leader can act partially when it comes to errant MPs.

    as it is now, our government is our biggest problem.

  27. you have to excuse these two; they are just being themselves. if you haven’t been taught proper manners in the home, this is how you behave. you believe in your heart that you have done nothing wrong.

  28. It is not enough if more police officers are to be send down to patrol the streets of JB. We want to see the criminals and rapist apprehended and punished for their crimes, or else all talks from the cabinet are just empty promises. When the public took the laws into their own hands the police should not blame us as we needs to protect ourselves and we will. The public will make the cabinet sorry for their ignorance. I promise.

  29. I call for all the rape and robbery victims to stand out and make protest to cabinet for mishandling of the police force, hence jeopardise our safety and livelihood. I hope the press can support this initiative. The people of Johor Bahru must call for IGP Musa Hassan resignation. The matter cannot be put to rest until concrete plans to combat crimes is proven to be successful, with or without the police force.

  30. Abolition of NEP is not significant now considering the consequences it has created.

    The enormous damage had already been done through the ineffective implementation, gross abused of the policies to accumulate wealth, widening gap between rich and poor, unfair policies creating unnecessary frustration, hurt and anger to people who felt cheated of a fair opportunity, creating unhealthy divisions and more.

  31. Brother Kit, we had been in this country for so long. We had seen the rising sun during the British era though they have their own weaknesses and flaws and now we are seeing the sunset as we have leaders who only wants to looks good, feels good and imagine “semua OK”.
    You may have you reason/reasons to ask them to apologize but in this bolehland or Bodohland, it is easier to reason out with the apes than with them. These are blind followers who cannot reason out things but will do (or not do) what the leaders of the same color tell them. They just have the brains of an ape.

  32. dawsheng Says:
    June 21st, 2007 at 14: 25.12

    “It is not enough if more police officers are to be send down to patrol the streets of JB. We want to see the criminals and rapist apprehended and punished for their crimes, or else all talks from the cabinet are just empty promises. When the public took the laws into their own hands the police should not blame us as we needs to protect ourselves and we will. The public will make the cabinet sorry for their ignorance.”

    This could be just another whitewash.
    The government has cotton on to the fact that the public is easily appeased. Just make some promises and everybody will think that it has changed for the better.
    Some time ago, it was announced that even senior police officers will have to patrol the streets in tourist areas. What happened to that now? Has anyone seen such officers around anymore?
    The simple fact is that even policemen are in short supply, what more senior ones?
    I hope that Malaysians will use their common sense to decide on such matters.
    Many moons ago, the government said that
    it wanted to recruit SIXTY THOUSAND more policemen.
    What happened? How many have they recruited? Or is that just another piece of propaganda?
    Also, think about it. If it has to recruit so many new policemen, it means that the government must have been ignoring the staffing of the police for years, if not decades! Is it surprising that we are facing a security problem of epic proportions now?
    What confidence have you, as a voter, in this BN government.

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