The antics of some members of parliament who were at loggerheads over the question of who, between the sexes, use the services of bomoh (Malay medicine man) more, had lawmakers in the Dewan Rakyat in stitches.

Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) attracted attention when he claimed women were more inclined to use the services of bomoh to the extent that some were duped.

"From my observation, women like to see bomoh the most for numerous reasons. They will make a beeline for a bomoh when they encounter difficulties....this really happens," he said when interrupting a speech by Idris Haron (BN-Tangga Batu) who was debating on the Medicine (Amendment) Bill 2012, today.

The remark made Halimah Mohd Sadique (BN-Tenggara) stand up to rebut the claim, saying it was baseless.

"Has the Yang Berhormat made a study on this?" said Halimah. "I think while waiting for the prime minister to announce the date of the general election, many men are seeing bomoh ," she added, causing laugher in the House.

Reference - Harian Metro

In defence of his opinion, Bung Moktar said the claim was based on the many media reports linking women with the activities of bomoh.

"If the Yang Berhormat (Halimah) doesn't believe it, you can subscribe to Harian Metro which explores this problem a lot. I use it as reference," he said which again resulted in hilarity in the Dewan.

The difference in opinion between the two lawmakers was eased by Idris who said he could not take sides, but nevertheless took the opportunity to tease Bung Moktar.

"Has the Yang Berhormat from Kinabatangan fallen victim to a bomoh ? I feel you haven't, that's why you are always standing tall expressing your views here," he said.

However, all the MPs agreed that the government must create a tighter law to control the activities and services of bomoh to weed out those who cheated their clients.

They also urged the government to monitor the mushrooming of beauty centres offering health services including beauty operations of late.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting continues Monday.

- Bernama