Ex-Speaker says Bung was provoked into using foul language

 

Former Dewan Rakyat speaker Ariff Md Yusof said 56 MPs were unhappy that Bung Moktar Radin had been let off lightly despite using obscene language in Parliament.

PETALING JAYA: Former Dewan Rakyat speaker Ariff Md Yusof has described the use of obscene language by a Sabahan MP as being a “low point” in his tenure as speaker.

Recalling the incident in his memoirs “Parliament, Unexpected”, Ariff said he had to persuade Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin to offer a “full, open and sincere” apology for uttering the four-letter word.

Ariff said Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin was at fault for provoking Bung during the debate on the Sales Bill 2018. Mongin had asked Bung Moktar if he had gone to a casino. To this, Bung Moktar said: “What is this? You are rude. You don’t deserve to sit here.” He added: “Gangster. You want to fight? F*** you.”

Ariff said Bung had later apologised for using the expletive, though some considered the apology to be half-hearted. Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, then the housing and local government minister, informed him that 56 MPs were unhappy that Bung had been let off lightly.

Ariff said the MPs wrote a letter demanding that sterner action be taken or at least have Bung referred to the Rights and Privileges Committee.

“So I decided to persuade the Kinabatangan MP to offer a full, open and sincere apology before the House … and there the matter rested. “No other member profaned the chamber thereafter with the word,” he wrote. - FMT