The conspicuous absence of acting Women, Family and Community Development Minister Najib Abdul Razak for his ministry's winding up of the 2013 Budget debate caused a ruckus in the Dewan Rakyat today, with riled up women MPs from Pakatan Rakyat blasting Najib.
Starting the ball rolling, Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) stood up before Deputy Minister Heng Seai Kie could speak for the ministry, asking that the winding-up be put off until Najib could be present.
"Can we adjourn the speech until a convenient time, when the minister himself can be here?" the three-term MP asked.
Fong (left) explained that she pitied Heng, a senator who had to bear the brunt of the winding-up and the ministry's duties while the minister himself was not around.
Fong's retort caused Heng (right) to respond with her own invectives, complaining that she felt let down by the opposition MPs who seemed to disrespect her ability as a woman to deliver the ministry's winding-up speech.
"When other deputy ministers answer for their ministry, you said nothing. You only say this when I am delivering my speech," lamented the deputy minister.
Fong was joined by other women Pakatan MPs such as Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR-Ampang), Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) and Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAS-Kota Raja), who also stood to add their voice to call for the "missing" minister to reveal himself.
"Walks like a man, talks like a man"
Starting the ball rolling, Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) stood up before Deputy Minister Heng Seai Kie could speak for the ministry, asking that the winding-up be put off until Najib could be present."Can we adjourn the speech until a convenient time, when the minister himself can be here?" the three-term MP asked.
Fong (left) explained that she pitied Heng, a senator who had to bear the brunt of the winding-up and the ministry's duties while the minister himself was not around.
Fong's retort caused Heng (right) to respond with her own invectives, complaining that she felt let down by the opposition MPs who seemed to disrespect her ability as a woman to deliver the ministry's winding-up speech."When other deputy ministers answer for their ministry, you said nothing. You only say this when I am delivering my speech," lamented the deputy minister.
Fong was joined by other women Pakatan MPs such as Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR-Ampang), Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) and Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAS-Kota Raja), who also stood to add their voice to call for the "missing" minister to reveal himself.
"Walks like a man, talks like a man"
Joining the fray were several BN backbenchers such as Mohamad Aziz (BN-Seri Gading), Halimah Mohd Sadique (BN-Tenggara) and Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak).
Halimah told the deputy minister to ignore Pakatan's taunts about Najib's absence and just read her speech.
Tajuddin, meanwhile, took things personal when he mentioned a mainstream newspaper's description of Zuraida, who was described as "walks like a man and talks like a man".
His remark caused Pakatan MPs to bristle, asking for him to apologise and R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) to invoke standing orders to call for the speaker to ask Tajuddin to retract his remark.
Tajuddin (left), however, said that the remark was quoted from the mainstream newspaper's article in toto and so they should ask the paper to apologise instead, and not him.
To this, Chong Eng interjected that the writer of the article is not here but Tajuddin was the one who uttered the words and should apologise himself.
These outbursts caused Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee a lot of grief as he had to continuously urge both sides to sit down and observe parliamentary decorum.
Kiandee even had to stop Heng from responding to Tajuddin remarks, as the deputy minister tried to give her views about the Pasir Salak MPs "walk like a man and talk like a man” jibe.
Three times she started to respond amidst giggles and all three times Kiandee cut her off in mid-sentence, stating, “deputy minister, you don't have to reply."
The Pakatan fusillade against Najib's absence was met with retaliation from BN backbenchers who likewise dragged out the issue of PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (below) vacating her parliamentary seat for her husband, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Her action, they posited, was far more detrimental to the plight of women in Malaysia, specifically in politics.
Siti Zailah Mohd Yusof (PAS-Rantau Panjang) later returned the barb to the ruling coalition.
"If PKR is said as giving in to men when a women MP steps down to give way to her husband, then isn't Wanita Umno in the same boat when they have to make way for a man to become the women's minister?" she asked acidly.
Halimah told the deputy minister to ignore Pakatan's taunts about Najib's absence and just read her speech.
Tajuddin, meanwhile, took things personal when he mentioned a mainstream newspaper's description of Zuraida, who was described as "walks like a man and talks like a man".
His remark caused Pakatan MPs to bristle, asking for him to apologise and R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) to invoke standing orders to call for the speaker to ask Tajuddin to retract his remark.
Tajuddin (left), however, said that the remark was quoted from the mainstream newspaper's article in toto and so they should ask the paper to apologise instead, and not him.To this, Chong Eng interjected that the writer of the article is not here but Tajuddin was the one who uttered the words and should apologise himself.
These outbursts caused Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee a lot of grief as he had to continuously urge both sides to sit down and observe parliamentary decorum.
Kiandee even had to stop Heng from responding to Tajuddin remarks, as the deputy minister tried to give her views about the Pasir Salak MPs "walk like a man and talk like a man” jibe.
Three times she started to respond amidst giggles and all three times Kiandee cut her off in mid-sentence, stating, “deputy minister, you don't have to reply."
The Pakatan fusillade against Najib's absence was met with retaliation from BN backbenchers who likewise dragged out the issue of PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (below) vacating her parliamentary seat for her husband, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Her action, they posited, was far more detrimental to the plight of women in Malaysia, specifically in politics.Siti Zailah Mohd Yusof (PAS-Rantau Panjang) later returned the barb to the ruling coalition.
"If PKR is said as giving in to men when a women MP steps down to give way to her husband, then isn't Wanita Umno in the same boat when they have to make way for a man to become the women's minister?" she asked acidly.
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