It was piece of paper, not wood - Sanusi defends 'playful swat'

Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has defended his act of swatting a youth with a piece of paper.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, he said the incident on Saturday was just a joking way to reprimand the student for being tardy.

“I lepuk (swatted) her with a piece of paper (a letter), not a piece of wood. I was just joking around with youths, that is how us kampung folk fool around.

“The youth wanted to enter polytechnic the next day (Sunday), but only gave a letter asking for aid on that day (Saturday), so she got swatted.

“But she was still given RM650 to buy things for her to start off in polytechnic,” he said.

In a video of the incident, Sanusi is seen hitting the youth on the top of her head with a single folded piece of paper, before everyone breaks into laughter.

He then poses for a photograph with the woman, handing her a different piece of paper.

Sanusi was in Kampung Budi, Pokok Sena, Kedah on Saturday to hand out cash aid and necessities to 60 hardcore poor villagers.

Muda deputy president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz criticised the menteri besar’s actions, saying it was disrespectful and a bad example by a top leader.

Muda deputy president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz

The Perikatan Nasional leader however, said it was unfair to judge how Kedahans behaved by using “Kuala Lumpur standards”.

“Tell them (critics) to ask the youth and her mother, do they feel like what (the critics) are saying?

“If you measure how Kedahans joke around with a KL ruler, of course it won’t be straight,” he said. - Mkini