Insensitive Nga Kor Ming under fire for eyeing Malaysia as ASEAN’S K9 dog breeding hub, exporter

 

SUCH is the furore levelled at Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming who envisages Malaysia becoming the leading K9 detection dog breeding country in Southeast Asia through the development of the K9 Operations Centre under the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM)

Regardless of the DAP deputy chairman’s contention that such ambition is not far-fetched as JBPM has highly skilled officers and expertise in training detection dogs, the rightist fraternity view this as a “double jeopardy for Muslims” on the back of the Selangor pig farming row between the state’s ruler and Madani government.

This is especially so as the two-term Teluk Intan MP voiced optimism that apart from producing high-quality local detection dogs, Malaysia has the potential to make the country an exporter of K9s to neighbouring countries in the region.

“Previously, a trained detection dog was imported from Birmingham, UK at a cost of almost RM150,000 each,” justified Nga. “My vision is that one day we can export it back to the UK by making Malaysia the ASEAN K9 breeding centre.”

Given that pigs and dogs are often viewed with disgust by the majority of Malaysian Muslims, it is not surprising that brickbats were hurled at the Kelantan-born lawmaker who recently infuriated PAS backers with his free-flow use of Islamic phrases and donning of Baju Melayu and songkok in his Selamat Berpuasa greeting.

“After pigs, it’s now dogs when the country’s dairy sector and beef or goat meat is still being imported and the matter not properly addressed by the Madani government,” fumed one netizen.

“(Non-Muslims) Madani politicians in are no longer hiding … we can already guess why this is happening … the government is led by Malays who don’t even care to uplift their own race.”

The mostly opposition-slant commenters did have a gala time poulticing the matter with one insinuating that instead of breeding pedigree K9 detection dog, “there’s a need to breed more Malay lapdogs in DAP”.

Some even mocked that “since there is a ministry which looks after dogs, it’s high time for DAP to change its name to Dog Action Party or better still, DogAPig (Action Party)”.

Earlier, Nga who is also the DAP deputy chairman has welcomed a new ‘member’ into the Fire and Rescue Department’s (JBPM) K9 Tracker Dog Unit after its Labrador, Lottie, gave birth to a male puppy on March 18.

“I named this puppy ‘Brave’ in the hope that it will grow into a courageous and resilient four-legged hero in carrying out rescue duties,” he said when launching the World Firefighters’ Day Carnival 2026, themed Fire Brigade, the National Rescue Pillar in Johor Baharu yesterday (May 9).

To strengthen Malaysia’s K9 team, Nga further revealed that the Madani government has approved an allocation of RM2.4 mil to acquire 16 new detection dogs from the UK. Currently, JBPM only has 34 detection dogs and still needs 56 more to achieve optimal operational levels.

Religious sensitivity aside, the role and deeds of the K9 unit is well-documented as evident from four of the six K9 detection dogs involved in the search and rescue operation of the Batang Kali landslide incident in Dec 16, 2022 were awarded for their role with ribbons and medals of appreciation.

Senior Fire Officer II Chandran Raju had said 50% of the landslide victims who died during the tragedy at Father’s Organic Farm campsite were detected by the dogs, together with the cooperation of other agencies involved in the operation. – May 10, 2026