Abdullah must not condone crude and abominable conduct of the two sexist BN MPs

Malaysians are relieved that rumours that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had fainted during a function in Teluk Batik, Lumut yesterday was untrue and in Abdullah’s own words, “I am fine, don’t worry”.

Malaysians do not want to see anything untoward happening to Abdullah and are glad that a series of tests carried out on him, including an ECG, declared him to be in good health after he had lost his balance during a presentation of keys for a housing project for the poor.

While Malaysians are relieved that there is nothing amiss with him physically and health-wise, they are also at the same time very disappointed that he is not providing the proper leadership when he could declare that he was satisfied with the performance of Barisan Nasional (BN) elected representatives, when public outrage at the crude, vulgar, derogatory and offensive remarks by the two sexist BN Members of Parliament, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan) are roiling the country.

Abdullah seems to be less than sensitive as he should be to the gross misconduct of the two sexist BN MPs, especially at a time when it is about to be transformed into an international issue with international women leaders preparing to demonstrate support and solidarity with DAP MP for Batu Gajah Fong Po Kuan and Malaysian women — the immediate targets and victims of the latest ‘male chauvinist” attacks by the two sexists BN MPs in Parliament last week.

I am very disappointed that at the meeting of BN elected representatives, including MPs and State Assembly members, yesterday the Prime Minister had missed the opportunity to give both the sexists BN MPs a public “dressing down” and make it clear that there is no room for “male chauvinists” and gender-insensitivity in his administration — whether Parliament and the various state legislatures, whether from the Barisan Nasional or Opposition.

Is Abdullah’s continued silence on the crude and sexist conduct of the Jasin and Kinabatangan MPs a public gesture that he finds nothing wrong or objectionable to their derogatory, sexist and offensive remarks directed against Po Kuan?

Abdullah must not condone the crude and abominable conduct of the two sexists BN MPs as it will bring disrepute to his premiership and Islam Hadhari as well as disappoint Malaysian women and Malaysians who expected his sense of justice and fair play as among his strongest armour.

Abdullah must speak up and redeem the grave injustice and disservice which the two sexist BN MPs had done to Parliament, Malaysian women and the Barisan Nasional.

In fact, the Cabinet on Wednesday should come out with a public apology to Parliament, Malaysian women and the nation for the disgraceful and disreputable conduct of the two sexist BN MPs, which have attracted a new round of negative international publicity for the country.

36 Replies to “Abdullah must not condone crude and abominable conduct of the two sexist BN MPs”

  1. Sharizat doing the right thing. Lets see the outcome of cabinet meeting.
    From Bernama:
    May 14, 2007 18:29 PM E-mail this news to a friend Printable version of this news

    Shahrizat Demands Action Against Statements That Demean Women

    KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama) — The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will take action to ensure that statements that insult or belittle women will not be repeated in parliament.

    “I feel hurt at what happened and I want concrete steps taken to ensure that similar incidents do not recur.

    ” I will raise the matter at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the steps to be taken,” Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said after launching the International Nurses Day 2007 celebrations, here today.

    “I will seek the opinions of Cabinet ministers to review and amend the rules on use of proper language in parliament.

    “This has been happening many times and must not be taken lightly. More importantly, we want action.”

    Shahrizat said it was up to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz to take the necessary action against MPs who uttered such words.

    “It will be honourable if an apology is made,” she added.

    On Wednesday, Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) and Datuk Mohd Said Yusuf (BN-Jasin) were reported to have made uncalled for remarks by linking the leak in the ceiling at the parliament building to Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah).

    Bung Moktar was reported to have said: “Where is the leak… even in Batu Gajah there is a leak every month,” as Fong was protesting the decision of Deputy Speaker of Parliament Datuk Lim Si Cheng not to discuss the leak at the parliament building.

    Bung Moktar’s statement was taken to refer to women’s monthly menstruation.

    — BERNAMA

  2. dear Uncle Kit,

    sorry to say, aab wont lift a finger [deleted] an apology for the degrading remarks. the reasons being:
    1) FPK is from DAP
    2) Those offended are malaysians
    3) He doesnt even give [deleted] on international events such as the inter-religious dialog, wat more this is bodoh-land’s internal issue
    4) Those who said those degrading remarks are from the same gang

    unless it becomes too big to handle, dont expect any apology.
    Just a thought, since aab is kind enough to give himself bad publicity for the cancellation of the inter-religious dialog, why not ride on the band wagon of this publicity to also publicize all that is wrong with bn and their bunch of gangsters. i am sure many well educated people in the world will be intersted in bodoh-land now (for the wrong reasons)

  3. Shahrizat, nasi sudah jadi bubor. Why so brave now when you could have chided your colleagues in Parliament then? Where were you and your other female BN colleagues on those days?

    The two MPs should be asked by the Cabinet to voluntarily apologise to Fong, all female MPs and to Parliament. These two MPs see themselves as heroes which they are not, and they should suffer some punishment.

    For Pak Lah to say he is satisfied with all BN MPs and Assemblymen’s performance is most disheartening but then what can the powerless, weak, haven’t-got-a-clue, bumbling PM say or do?

  4. Shahrizat, o sharizat. Why are you so brave now, days, days after the fact?

    Why were you and your female BN colleagues so quiet in Parliament those fateful days? Why did you all not chide your Male Chauvinistic Khinzirs (MCK) then?

    Will you impress on Cabinet to order, yes order, those two MCKs to make a voluntary apology in Parliament to Ms Fong, all female MPs, the Parliament and to all women in general? Those two MCKs see themselves as “heroes” and should not be allowed to get away with it. Are you and your female colleagues brave enough to bring their egos down a bit?

  5. Let’s call a spade a spade! A pig in any other guise is still a swine!

    Bung Mokhtar Radin of Kinabatangan is such a damned disgrace to his Kinabatangans, a ugly stain on the face of Sabah and an intolerable blemish on the august Malaysian Parliament.

    Said Yusof is such a monkey in and out of Parliament. MPs like him leaves the unfortunate, unmistakable impression that Malaysians still swing from tree to tree and have manners equialent to urinating by the roadside in full public view!

    Damn them and their ilk for their political pariahship and for attracting attention to themselves when all forms of sane and inteleectual discourse eludes their warped peanut-sized brains.

    If this is the quality of BN MPs, who needs political representation!

    This is why Malaysians, poooooor, poooooor Malaysians – if you have any self-respect left and enough brains at all to tell the difference – it’s long way past the midnight hour to tell BN MPs to pack their bags and send them home to their cocoons and to tend to the fowls in their backyards.

    Unfortunately, these political pariahs have also so enriched themselves at the people’s expense, they will all retire to their ‘Zakarian’ palaces.

    Don’t talk to me about BN MPs. They are bloody anathema to me and should rightly be Malaysia’s bete noire!

  6. I wonder how does the Kinabatangan & Jasin MPs would feel if I made some comments about their mother’s or female family member’s menstruation cycle ?

    Is it not funny in this beloved country of ours, where a Backbencher President is made to suffer for supporting a just cause but 2 lowly MPs are made invincible by a simple silence of the Top Boss ?

    … or does being unrepentant-insensible-chauvinistic is actually ‘towing the party line’ ?

  7. Dear Kit,

    Audrey, a young professional on the move and an enraged one at that, unsurprisingly, given the current issues, asked me to relay this sentiment, which I’m sure many share :-

    “ ….. The issue is not about votes – which is so typical of a shallow and politically-motivated response – but about the minimum amount of respect that one human being accords to another. The question of votes only comes in when you begin to do a second-level analysis and wonder if you want to be voting for an MP, and a party that is unapologetically chauvinist, or at the very least condones this kind of wholly disgraceful behaviour.

    …… I came back to Malaysia with a view to seeing growth (and not just in taller buildings and Formula One racetracks, much as I am proud of them), progress, and a country that justified all my boasts to my friends overseas. But as a Malaysia-lover, I am prepared to emigrate at any time starting today. Isn’t that sad? And I know of several other young people like myself, extremely bright, exceptionally talented, and (nearly, for I’m still a daydream believer) irretrievably disappointed.”

  8. DPM Naguib effectively said on NTV7 8 o’clock news that we have to accept these BN MPs sexist remarks as a form of humour.

    Anybody who calls such sexist horsing-around, monkeying about and playing the goat “humour”………..well, you must send your bloody brains to the laundry for a massive cleaning!

  9. Where were the Barisan women MPs during the call for the motion to be moved against the two sexists MPs? Why the delayed call for condemnation? I am sad that our PM was insensitive and blind to the remarks. “Saya tak tau…” Now, we have these two goons just NOT refusing to apologise but also justifying that what was said was not what was meant. How incredulous! Who do they take us for trying to explain the blatant sexist remarks away. PM should have taken the opportunity at the BNBBC retreat to censure the 2 MPs and send a stern warning to the others.
    I hope we will continue to demand an apology from the 2 sexist MPs!

  10. Those who are silent are those who consent to the act.
    I remember someone said this before.

    “Silent Majority support BN”

    PM silent on this issue equal to consent to the act of MCP?

  11. To the two stubborn,unrepentant MCPs: As long as you refuse to apologise and admit your shameful behaviour,you should be prepared to face the wrath of all sensible beings regardless of race and gender.Be brave to own up and say sorry.Looks as u two nincompoops have to be coaxed as if u r kids.Damn malulah.

  12. If Abdullah play dead and refused to reprimand the two sexist MPs, then it is confirmed that parliament is not the place where leaders of the rakyat meet to settle the country’s problems. It never was anyway.

  13. The 2 BN scums are right in not offering any apologies for they know very well that even after they had done so the rakyat will not vote for them the next GE. So it is better to hv their ego stuck to their hide now.

  14. to smeagroo:

    padan muka? r u sure? it seems to me like they are getting rewarded with a holiday for their remarks.

    from the link:
    He was answering a supplementary question from Gooi Hoe Hin, who suggested the ministry hold a courtesy course for “some parliamentarians”.

    “Our courtesy campaign has been ruined. Pak Lah’s programme to build a first class human capital has been ruined as well.

    courtesy course = rakyat paid trip to some holiday spot. most probably to some nudist beach and at the end of the day, say that they should refrain from it.

    next, he is using the chance to promote bodohwi and his courtesy campaign.

    so it seems like they are getting some publicity to promote themselves while even the names of those two idiots are not mentioned which means that they are hoping that the people in their constituencies do not hear about such an issue which in turn gets those two idiots re-elected.
    standard bn ploy.

  15. Something not so right here. It’s like someone/s planning some form of ‘pit falls’ to get AAB down. Look at the recent events around, so much to be true. Guess, AAB did not acquired the ‘right’ kungfu from TDM to manage the packs ‘effectively’

  16. AAB at this point,

    ” aiya, takpe lar. Benda tu bukannye ape. Lain kali jangan. yang orang lain cakap besar-besar dekat internet … biarkan. Kan saya sudah cakap kita mahu free press (kan saya bagus). I sudah pening sekarang, singapore mesti settle dulu, DrM mahukan jambatan juga so I mesti buat sesuatu. Tengoklah kita nanti. “

  17. ahkok,

    my padan muka to them means they are getting loads of publicity and pressure form different groups and organisations. Good for them. At least each day when they wake up their wivs will be able to remind them that. Dear, wake up. BUnch of ladies are looking for you.

  18. More protest and outrage against the sexist remarks by the 2 BN MPs. DAP lead by Lim Guan Eng and others submitted a memo to the Deputy Premier and Najib’s reply:
    “Up to Parliament to decide; I don’t want to pass judgment. They said it…. not to be taken seriously. take it with a sense of humour,… but people are making a BIG MEAL out of this issue”. Watch the video Clip – Sack the 2 BN Sexist MPs” (1m 37s) on the Protest, Najib’s reply and Datuk Wong Kam Hoong, Deputy Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister dressing down of the 2 BN MPs in the Dewan Negara and pictures of Actual Parliament water leakages and other details at:
    http://powerpresent.blogspot.com/2007/05/more-pics-leakages-in-parliament-furor.html

  19. Nazri did not see anything wrong with the remarks. Shahrir thinks its overblown. And now, Najib feels that it’s ok as it’s not meant to be taken seriously. See the pattern there? Ingrained, deep seated attitudes like that are not easy to change. And the hardest thing to change is a mindset or a mentality. A mentality that is totally out of synch with the rest of the population save for a proportion of the Malay male community.

  20. It was just not what they said, it was the manner it was said that was disgusting. The gestures and animation displayed while making the remarks made it sickening. Perhaps at that moment, his peanut brain “forgot” that he has/had a mother, wife/(wives?), sister(s) and adughter(s) who are women as well. How ashamed they would be!

  21. As stated earlier, AAB too weak even to laid a single finger on his men. How to expect we fellow MALAYSIANS to respect him with this regards.

    Najib just added kerosene into fire. DPM another joker, his is out of his dream to be future PM. BN gone case with these kind of leaderships on board. BN= cronies, corrupt, racist, bodoh. BN should be SACK!

    – fellow Malaysian

  22. YB Lim, you should know very well by now that AAB is too weak to take any action against his men. He is the weakest PM I have ever come to know in any country in this world. Everyone in his cabinet can climb onto his head at anytime and anywhere they like. Guess what, he even let them S**T up there while they were on top of his head.

  23. “….a country that justified all my boasts to my friends overseas. But as a Malaysia-lover, I am prepared to emigrate at any time starting today…” one named Audrey as quoted by Peters.

    Then perhaps you should not boast to your friends. I for one find little to boast about.

    As for emigrating, that is a choice best left to the individual. And do not say you’re too patriotic to want to consider emigrating. It has little do do with patriotism. If you decided to stay it does not mean you’re more patriotic either.

    “Patriotism” is a state of mind. You can be anywhere and yet be patriotic to the country of your birth.

  24. AAB’s women are not there anymore. He cannot seek assistance from SIL. MU have to come, otherwise SIL will be very MAD. NA is expecting soon. Where to find good answer???
    NTR’s RM is busy with her ‘assistant’ role to 1st Lady. She also demanding NTR to explained on the AS ‘s case which kept secret until ‘bocor’. NTR are behaving much ‘loving’ now (no choice lo). His PM chance also ‘dented’ by his own acts.(never thought that these will come back to him in these manner).
    So, both men are having a tough time at ‘home’.
    4th floor boys have to be more careful to draft ‘acceptable’ statements to ‘cool off’ the sparks.
    Next, we will have the No.1 man himself to remind MPs about the rules and seek everyone to ‘dropped’ all these and make use of the time to debate more important issues.

  25. There was a female commented that the 2 MPs were typical Malay chauvinist. Then, came the term MMCP – Malay Male Chauvinist Pig. Now, I am sure many will take offense. Sabar dik … lets look at the situation in a civil manner and evaluate the backgrounds of this claims. Also it is good to be objective if there is any improvements needed for the good of Malaysia.

    1. Do Malays by tradition and custom plays women on a lower ground than men?

    2. Do Malays by tradition find it funnier to raise gender insensitive jokes?

    Since this is a topic of male treatment towards female, let us talk about tne comment about “typical Malay chauvinists”. The question is do Malays put women on equal grounds with men.

    1. Are there women leaders in the mosque/surau?

    2. Why do women cover their heads? What does that symbolise? Does it symbolise a lower position?

    3. And if that is ingrained in Malay culture, what are Malay male response towards this culture especially in growing feminism trend throughout the world? If it is based on a culture and tradition, at least it takes modern minds to break out of this tradition and give women the equal grounds they deserve.

    Maybe the female blogger made the remark about “typical Malay chauvinists” from experience. Let us hear from other bloggers.

    ARE MALAY MALE MORE CHAUVINIST THAN OTHER RACES? This may seem like a racist discussion but how can we improve Malaysia if we do not think, discuss and share our opinions so that others may hear the opinions and buck up and make Malaysia a better place.

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