Tiong should be removed as Malaysia’s special envoy to China for this faux pax in Parliament making personal, malicious and cowardly attack on Noor Hisham and insinuating that the Health DG wanted to be WHO Secretary-General

There is no other dignified option than for the Malaysia’s Special Envoy to China and MP for Bintulu, Tiong King Sing, to apologise in Parliament on Monday for his very personal, malicious and cowardly attack on the Health Director-General Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah on Wednesday.

I agree with the Cuepacs President, Adnan Mat that Tiong had made an outrageous attack on Noor Hisham and had belittled the sacrifices of the civil servants who had been working tirelessly to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

In fact, the statement by the Deputy Health Minister Datuk Noor Azmi Ghazali last night that it was irresponsible and unreasonable to condemn the credibility and sacrifices of Noor Hisham in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic in the country had accentuated the mysterious role of the Health Minister, Dr. Adham Baba in this rumpus.

When a Health Minister cannot even come to the defence of his Health director-general, what is the use of the Health Minister?

I have said that Tiong’s attack on Noor Hisham was malicious and cowardly, for he should have known as a five-term Member of Parliament since 1999 that it was the Health Minster and not the Health Director-General who is responsible to Parliament for everything that happens in the Health Ministry. Why attack the Health Director-General but spare the Health Minister, unless there is politicking involved.

Tiong is clearly very jealous and envious of Noor Hisham’s “daily news conference”. Is he speaking for himself or for somebody else?

Furthermore, why spare the Prime Minister who is finally responsible for the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, as he is the Chairman of the National Security Council dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is noteworthy that Tiong had the full support of UMNO in his attack on Noor Hisham.

Tiong was being very mean and personal when he insinuated that Noor Hisham wanted to be the World Health Organisation’s secretary-general.

In the first place, I would regard it as a special honour to Malaysia if a Malaysian like Noor Hisham is appointed as WHO secretary-general. Clearly, there are petty-minded people who think otherwise.

It is Tiong King Sing who should be removed as Malaysia’s special envoy to China for this faux pax in Parliament on Wednesday, which was not only an attack on Noor Hisham but on all the frontliners in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this connection, I share the sentiments of the Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who questioned the Health Ministry’s priorities after it launched a frontliner appreciation campaign that involved lighting up parts of Putrajaya.

While the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in healthcare infrastructure across the country, to the extent that medical personnel in Sabah had to use their personal vehicles as ambulances for patients from flooded rural areas, it is dubious how struggling frontliners in Sabah would feel appreciated by the ministry’s blue lighting-up campaign in Putrajaya.