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KOTA KINABALU: Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing raised some valid points in his now-infamous speech attacking the chief health officer in Dewan Rakyat recently, SAPP chairman Yong Teck Lee said today.
He said that Tiong’s statements should be taken positively rather than being defamed.
Speaking does not mean that people do not support, or appreciate, the sacrifices and hard work of health and safety leaders, Yong said. Tiong’s comments showed that more people are openly expressing the growing frustration the rakyat feels.
“At times, statements from the higher ups do not match the harsh reality on the ground,” Yong said. “Since front-line leaders cannot speak, they hope that politicians, like their elected representatives, can speak for them.”
Tiong has received a barrage of criticism since his speech on Wednesday, when he questioned whether the director general of health, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, was afraid of dying from Covid-19 for avoiding activities on the ground in Sabah.
Yong said that “sometimes people are puzzled by the repeated assurances from the chief health officer.” Noor Hisham had ensured that medical facilities, personal protective equipment and manpower were sufficient, which contradicted the views of those on the ground, who instead said that medical services were overloaded.
Yong said another issue raised by Tiong concerned the ashes of a woman who was raped and murdered in Taiwan. He said Tiong was upset that the Health Ministry had initially insisted on quarantining her family upon her return from Taiwan, even though they tested negative for Covid-19 there.
Yong said authorities must handle these situations with care.
Failure to do so could result in another physical protest like Lahad Datu’s last week, he said, when hundreds of residents demonstrated at the police barrier against the continued blockade in their area.
Yong said the chaos was only averted when security authorities were forced to announce the lifting of the lockdown, which, according to him, “was insisted by the medical authority against the views of security and local administrators.”
