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Friday December 4, 2009
Karpal fails in his bid to discredit a feisty Dr Ng
Reports by LEE YUK PENG, TEH ENG HOCK and YUEN MEIKENG
A feisty Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen warded off the efforts of Karpal Singh (DAP – Bukit Gelu-gor) to discredit her when he questioned whether she had been a permanent resident of any other country.
Dr Ng was elaborating on the progress of the homestay programme for the Tourism Ministry at the committee stage of the Budget when Karpal asked where her home was and if she was a permanent resident in any other country, to which she replied no.
He proceeded by asking her if she held permanent resident status in the past, to which she replied that she did between 1990 and 1993, but added that she currently did not hold such status.
The Dewan Rakyat grew noisier with incessant chatter causing confusion apparently with the words “home” and bohong (lie).
“Retract saying I lied!” a furious Dr Ng said as she pointed her index finger at Karpal, leading him to deny that he said she had lied.
“You said I lied! If you dare, admit it that you said I lied and retract your words,” she said.
“Speaker, the minister is a gangster,” Karpal told Deputy Speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
“To deal with you, it needs a gangster!” Dr Ng hit back.
Dr Wan Junaidi then intervened to calm down the situation, but barely five minutes later, Nga Kor Ming (DAP – Taiping) stood up with another provocative question.
“To the minister, who is beautiful but fierce like a gangster...” he said, and was greeted by objections from the Barisan Nasional backbenchers.
“This had been admitted by the minister herself. It did not come from me. Why are you all making so much noise?” said Nga.
He then proceeded to ask her if it was necessary for her to go “vacationing” overseas every month with her husband when Malaysia was keen to have its own tourism product and not copy those of other countries.
“My husband rarely follows me overseas. And I go out to promote (the country), not for a vacation. Retract that (allegation),” she said. No retraction was made by either Karpal or Nga.
