PARLIAMENT The Malaysian Parliament is better than the British House of Commons because of the facilities provided to enable "smooth debates", says Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim.

NONEShahidan (left), who is in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, told the Dewan Rakyat during Question Time this morning that the British Parliament "does not even have tables".

"When their minister answers, they just stand up and argue. There are no facilities to write and read properly," he said when answering a supplementary question from Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak).

Shahidan's quip drew laughter from the House, as he went on to say that the Malaysian Parliament was the best for providing the best facilities for debates.

Meanwhile, Shahidan also defended the government's move to hire foreign consultants for the National Education Blueprint (NEB), at a cost of RM20 million.

"Our own experts suggested that we get foreign experts. If we want our education system to be in line with international standards, we will have to listen to foreign opinions as well," Shahidan said.

He said that if "others" can refer to foreign countries as a point of reference for other practices, there is nothing wrong in the government hiring foreign expertise to improve the education system.