S Korea overtook M'sia 'by being US proxy'
South Korea has only managed to overtake Malaysia in economic growth by being in cahoots with the US - as such, the opposition should not compare the two countries, said a BN parliamentarian.
South Korea has only managed to overtake Malaysia in economic growth by being in cahoots with the US - as such, the opposition should not compare the two countries, said a BN parliamentarian.
"The difference is that (South Korea) is a proxy country that is backed by the US military,” Abdul Rahman Dahlan (BN-Kota Belud,
left
) told the Dewan Rakyat this morning.
"The South Korean economy is being helped by the US ... it is given wide access to the US and European Union markets.”
Abdul Rahman had interjected to respond to Khalid Samad (PAS-Shah Alam), who attempted to deflate the BN chest-thumping on development by Bung Mokthar (BN-Kinabatangan).
"In the beginning, Singapore was equal to us, Taiwan was behind us, Japan was equal to us, and (South) Korea was behind us,” Khalid
(right)
said.
“That was 55 years ago, so how can Kinabatangan feel so proud of BN's achievements when all these countries have left us far behind?”
Abdul Rahman also said the comparisons were not on ‘apple to apple’ basis.
"To compare with Singapore does not make sense. Singapore is an island. If you want to compare, then compare it to the economy of the Klang Valley. Taiwan is also an island," he added.
‘Tamil schools being built’
During Question Time this morning, Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong revealed that there will be no obstacles in delivering six Tamil schools under Budget 2013.
M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) had alleged that this is merely an election promise that will not be fulfilled.
Wee replied: “I had expected that you would make baseless accusations. I can reveal to you the status of the six schools. We have even assigned names for the schools.”
He proceeded to spell out the location and size of land, the population of Indian Malaysian families in the area and the status of construction.
The schools are located in Taman Sentosa in Klang, PJS1 in Petaling Jaya, Bandar Mahkota Cheras in Cheras, Taman Keladi in Kedah, a Sime Darby-owned estate in Sungai Siput and in Bandar Seri Alam in Johor.
"I'm explaining one by one because it is not a gimmick. If this were a gimmick, then it would be impossible for me to provide the information," he said.
Shouting match
Wee went on to accuse the Selangor government of holding up approval of the SJK (C) Tun Tan Siew Sin by requiring that a RM2 million pedestrian bridge be built outside.
This led Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAS-Kota Raja) to register a protest.
"The school is in my area, so I know. I follow the meetings. The state government has never set any condition for a pedestrian bridge. This is not true. Everything has been solved and approved. It is now up to the minister to issue a permit," she said.
However, Wee insisted that his claim is "100 percent accurate".
He said his ministry has approved the permit, but that issuance of certificate of completion and compliance is in the hands of the relevant local council, which is under the state government.
This led to a shouting match before speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia intervened, saying: “The minister's information is from the government but Yang Berhormat (Siti Mariah) says it is wrong.
“Let time decide ... We have heard the arguments on both sides and they will be included in the Hansard.”
Related stories
'Women's minister Najib must solve Penan rape plight'
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.