PARLIAMENT | A verbal altercation ensued in the Dewan Rakyat this morning when Teo Nie Ching (Harapan-Kulai) argued with Wan Saiful Wan Jan (PN-Tasek Gelugor) over the issue of non-Muslims drinking alcohol.
It started when Wan Saiful (above, right) questioned the manner Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing had addressed criticism against him for drinking in public.
According to Wan Saiful, Tiong had allegedly incited racial and religious divide in his response to the matter in the Dewan Rakyat last week.
"I want to ask if you would agree with the people out there saying that the government practises double standards when it comes to 3R (religion, race, royalty) cases.
"When people speak about the right to help the Indian and the Chinese, it's good, but when people speak about Malay rights, suddenly it becomes 3R (issue). This has created a misconception of the government's impartiality.
"At the same time, there are also ministers, for example, who incite racial and religious divides when we criticise them about drinking alcohol in public.
"This is why the government has been seen as unfair," he said during a supplementary question to the deputy communications and digital minister.
It was understood that Wan Saiful was referring to Tiong's debate speech in the Dewan Rakyat last week, where he censured another PN MP for making an issue of him consuming alcoholic beverages.
To this, Teo responded by challenging Wan Saiful to point out which rule in the government prohibits non-Muslim ministers and deputy ministers from drinking.
"If you think that a non-Muslim drinking alcohol is against ethics, (if that is the case) I believe the chief secretary to the government would have advised the relevant minister (against it).
"Maybe you can help me, show me which part of the (government) ethical guidelines that say a non-Muslim minister or deputy minister is not allowed to drink," she said.
No double standards
Teo also disagreed with Wan Saiful's suggestion that the government had been practising double standards in handling 3R cases.
Wan Saiful later told Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Ramli Mohd Noor that he wanted to cite Teo under Standing Order 36(6) for allegedly imputing improper motives against him.
According to the Bersatu leader, Teo had implied that he was questioning the right of non-Muslims to drink alcohol.
"I didn't even touch on the right of non-Muslims to drink alcohol. But her comments implied that I was.
"What I said was that the minister, as a leader, should have shown good example to the rakyat instead of bad behaviour," he said. - Mkini
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