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Cabinet tomorrow should discipline Mahadzir Khir for his boorish and sexist conduct in Parliament and issue an ultimatum to all Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs to stop making double entrendres to insult women and women MPs on pain of three-month suspension from officeMedia Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Petaling Jaya, Tuesday): The Cabinet tomorrow should discipline the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Datuk Mahadzir Khir for his boorish and sexist conduct during question time in Parliament yesterday and tender a public apology for Mahadzir’s unacceptable parliamentary conduct in the exchange with DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok. Parliament has gone too far when despite repeated protests in the past three years against sexist, lewd and inappropriate remarks by Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs offensive and insensitive to women MPs in particular and women in general, another black mark in Malaysian parliamentary history was recorded yesterday with Mahadzir’s double entendre and sexual innuendos of “masuk” and “tarik”.
Mahadzir and other Barisan Nasional MPs may feel smug at their “little cleverness” in manipulating the double entendre, a word or phrase open to two interpretations with one usually risqué or indecent, but it does not reflect well on their political maturity in their utter lack of gender insensitivity in Parliament.
Malaysians would have thought that after the previous nation-wide furore over obnoxious double endendres of “Boleh masuk sikitkah” and “Beri masuk sikitlah”, women MPs in particular and Malaysians in general would be spared further boorish exhibition of such offensive sexual innuendos at least in the current session of Parliament.
As the present crop of Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs seem incapable of learning, the Cabinet should view with grave seriousness what happened in Parliament yesterday and issue an ultimatum to all Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs to stop making double entredres in Parliament to insult women and women MPs on pain of three-month suspension from office.
Silence or inaction on the Cabinet’s part with regard to the disgraceful episode in Parliament yesterday would be construed as an act of condoning double entendres and offensive and insensitive sexist conduct in Parliament, setting a bad example for the nation and people.
(12/11/2002) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman |