The director-general of health was the subject of a row today in the Dewan Rakyat that ended with DAP’S Jelutong MP being thrown out of chambers.
RSN Rayer was kicked out by the speaker after he refused to sit down after standing up to defend Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah who was being denigrated by a Perikatan Nasional MP.
Tiong King Sing (GPS-Bintulu) was talking about the health official’s performance in relation to the Covid-19 epidemic and had suggested that Noor Hisham had failed as he had not been to the Sabah frontlines to boost morale.
Tiong demanded to know why Noor Hisham had not visited the state, asking if it was because he was afraid of dying.
“Every day he announces clusters. If it’s just an announcement, even the office boy can do this. Why does he not go to the ground? Like the Kota Kinabalu Hospital now it is in bad shape,” he said while debating the budget.

“He should go see and talk with the frontliners. Doctors, nurses are all working. They don’t seem afraid to die but the director-general is scared of dying. The DG and his deputy don’t want to go. Don’t just look for daily publicity,” Tiong said in the House.
“I hear he wants to be the WHO secretary-general. He’s not qualified, in my opinion,” Tiong said, referring to the World Health Organisation.
This triggered Rayer, who immediately demanded that Tiong retract the remark about the director-general being afraid of death.
“This is an attack on the frontline. He should retract it. I won’t allow him to attack the DG. The DG is a frontliner,” Rayer said to Deputy Speaker Azalina Othman.
Azalina told Rayer to sit down but he remained on his feet while Tiong refused to back down. After repeated calls for Rayer to sit down went unheeded, Azalina ordered him to get out.
Azalina told the house she could not do her job if the members refused to comply with the chair’s orders.
“How am I to deliver my ruling if you don’t sit down?” said the Pengerang MP.
Despite being asked by Rayer and later Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor) to withdraw the remark, Tiong said he was merely relaying the voices of the people and that he was not wrong to ask why Noor Hisham has not visited frontliners on the ground.

“The DG is also a frontliner. Bintulu is being rude,” Rayer said before being escorted out of the Dewan Rakyat.