Parliament rejects one-minute silence over Then's death
PARLIAMENT The Dewan Rakyat expressed sympathy with the family of Malaysian hostage Bernard Then who was kidnapped and beheaded by terrorist group Abu Sayyaf .
However, the House, refused to observe a one-minute silence over Then's death.
PARLIAMENT The Dewan Rakyat expressed sympathy with the family of Malaysian hostage Bernard Then who was kidnapped and beheaded by terrorist group Abu Sayyaf .
However, the House, refused to observe a one-minute silence over Then's death.
Explaining the rationale behind this move, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee said, "It has become a tradition for the House to observe a moment of silence over the death of the state of head and lawmaker."
"However, I expressed sympathy to the family of late Bernard Then, who was reportedly killed in the southern Philippines," he said.
He was replying to Stephen Wong (DAP-Sandakan) who made the request when the House's sitting commenced this morning.
Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut) asked why the House treated this differently, since it had observed a moment of silence over the victims of the Ranau earthquake in June.
Said Ronald: "We allowed (this) when the leaders and lawmakers asked for it. We expressed condolences and sympathy to the family members."
There were three occasions when the House had observed a one-minute silence - the MH370 and MH17 tragedies and the Ranau earthquake.
Bernard Then, 39, an engineer, was abducted together with Thien Nyuk Fun, the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant manager, in Sandakan on May 15.
He was beheaded just hours after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak landed in Manila for the two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
The beheading came just a week after Abu Sayyaf released Thien.
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