MP’s crime fears spark war of words in Parliament

A BN MP told Tian Chua to emigrate if he felt Malaysia was unsafe. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — An MP’s claim that women no longer felt safe in the country caused a war of words to break out between backbenchers and opposition MPs in the Dewan Rakyat last night.

Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah), when debating the Supplementary Supply Bill 2012 at the committee stage for the Home Ministry (KDN), claimed that women’s fears about their safety contradicted the statistics on crime reduction under the National Key Result Areas.

This led to Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan (BN-Kota Belud) to retort that this was only a perception and did not reflect the views of the majority of women.

He chided her for making sweeping statements and reminded her not to accuse the government of having failed to bring down the crime rate as the statistics did not lie.

Rahman’s reply caused Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) to defend Fong, although Deputy Speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told him not to interject.

Things only got worse with Datuk Dr Mohamed Shahrum Osman (BN-Lipis) joining the fray and asking Tian Chua to migrate to another country if the latter thought Malaysia was not a safe place.

The ruckus continued until Deputy Home Minister Datuk Abu Seman Yusop winded up debate, saying that Malaysia had been acknowledged as one of the safest countries in the world by international bodies.

The Bill seeking an additional allocation of RM13.8 billion for operating expenditure was passed by the Dewan. — Bernama