KUALA LUMPUR – Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Datuk Awang Hashim, defended his action of schooling a journalist who asked questions in English.
Answering the question of the Rasah Member of Parliament (MP), Cha Kee Chin, he said that Bahasa Melayu is the national language and as a citizen, the language should be used in all sectors, unless, that person cannot speak the national language well, then, he or she may deliver the questions in English.
“It is good for me to answer this question. Bahasa Melayu is the national language. We need to use it in all sectors, with the exception to those who cannot understand Bahasa Malaysia, we can speak in English.
“If we are Malaysians, we need to be loyal to Malaysia and use Bahasa Malaysia as our national language as it is stated in the constitution,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
His action along with the Minister at Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), Datuk Idris Ahmad that was seen as bullying a journalist has attracted a lot of negative attention from the netizens and MPs from the opposition. Many slammed the duo for disrespecting the journalist and alleged that their respond during the interview was unprofessional, uncouth, racist and sexist.
Idris, who is also the Vice-President of PAS had briefly answered the question in the Parliament last Monday after he was perceived as schooling a reporter from a news portal who asked him about the statewide closure of lottery retail outlets in Kedah.
The journalist, Minderjeet Kaur raised the concerns of the people to the minister, if the gambling ban would be imposed on other states. Instead of answering her question, Idris asked if that journalist could accept if her husband was addicted to gambling.
Meanwhile, Awang confronted the reporter for asking the question in English and he questioned Minderjeet if she was a Malaysian. -MalaysiaGazette
