‘Joker’ Sanusi slammed over remarks on Covid-19 deaths

 

Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has come under criticism again, this time for joking when asked a serious question about the number of Covid-19 deaths in the state.

PETALING JAYA: Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has put his foot in his mouth again, this time over a “joke” he made in a press conference during a serious question about the increasing number of Covid-19 deaths.

Kedah has been seeing a spike in the number of cases, with 1371 cases and 22 deaths today, with several hospitals in the state forced to place bodies in shipping containers.

In the video that has gone viral, Sanusi had been asked by a reporter whether there were enough containers to store the Covid-19 dead in the state.

Laughingly, he said: “There are enough containers for dead bodies. Anyone who wants to enter, give your names.”

Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman took the PAS man to task for his unsavoury remarks in a Twitter post, criticising Sanusi for being insensitive and uncouth.

“What’s the problem with this Kedah menteri besar who can’t stop speaking without manners? If you’ve failed to take care of the people, don’t try to be rude!” said the former youth and sports minister.

Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh also said she was disappointed in his remarks and the standards of the Jeneri assemblyman, while lawyer Syahredzan Johan slammed the menteri besar’s “joke”, pointing out that some 160 people lost their lives throughout the country today.

Netizens also joined the chorus of criticism against Sanusi today, with some even calling for his resignation.

Twitter user @adandinz said he felt “secondhand embarrassment” every time he saw him, adding that he did not know if Sanusi was “crazy or stupid”.

Meanwhile, @zikrizameri said Sanusi had no empathy whatsoever, adding that he did not recognise the PAS man as the Kedah menteri besar.

“As a Kedahan, I am embarrassed. It is such bad luck to have a menteri besar like this,” said Twitter user @mdanialsurani.

Sanusi is known for his crass remarks. Once when asked about the demolition of a shrine outside the Alor Setar railway station, he said: “Why? Do you want to take home (the debris from the temple)?

Last September, he laughed at a woman’s request for food aid while manning the disaster operations control centre hotline when Kota Setar was placed under EMCO. His aide later said it was a mere misunderstanding, as Sanusi had laughed because the woman had not known it was the menteri besar on the line.

In another incident when he was photographed at a test drive of a Ford Raptor, breaking MCO rules, he told the woman who took the photograph that he would buy her a better mobile phone so she could take more beneficial photos. - FMT