(Beep!) remark brings House down

A deputy minister’s pronunciation of a phrase in Tamil sounded uncomfortably close to an expletive, unleashing yet another slanging match between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat MPs.

The House descended further into chaos when N Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai, left ) shocked everyone by suddenly walking up to House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia to whisper the meaning of the expletive.

Visitors in the public gallery, who included such foreign dignitaries as Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) chairperson Hashim Abdul Halim and secretary-general Dr William F Shija, looked on as a shouting match ensued.

It all started when Deputy Higher Education Minister Idris Haron (right) berated Mohd Nasir Zakaria (PAS-Padang Terap) for raising “irrelevant questions” and told him repeatedly to sit down.

“Do you not understand? This is my floor! Padang Terap, do you understand? Sit down... If you do not understand, then I’ll say this: Ukkarengeh! ” said Idris, resorting to Tamil for ‘Please sit down.’

Gobalakrishnan, M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat), and M Manogaran (DAP-Teluk Intan) stood up to protest, arguing that Idris’ pronunciation sounded too much like an obscene word in Tamil.

“Speaker, he said a dirty word! The deputy minister must take it back!” said Gobalakrishnan.

Idris challenged Gobalakrishnan to state what the offensive word was: “Say it! Say it properly! Say it!”

Gobalakrishnan retorted: “I can say it, but this is not the place for such a word.”

He also told Idris to apologise to the House for the remark.

As shouting broke out between Pakatan and BN MPs, Kulasegaran (left) was heard telling the speaker: “Maybe he does not know how to pronounce the word. If he does not know, then he should not say it! It is a very offensive word!”

A bewildered Pandikar - at a loss as to what the fuss was all about - protested that he could not make a decision on Gobalakrishnan’s call for Idris to be disciplined.

“How can I decide what is the unparliamentary word is, if I myself do not understand?” said Pandikar, to cheers of approval from BN MPs.

The speaker proceeded to remind all MPs to refrain from conduct that is unbecoming of parliamentarians.

Direct approach

Just when it seemed as if the din would subside, Gobalakrishnan suddenly stood up. As MPs looked on appalled, he walked up to Pandikar, bowed before approaching him, and whispered something in his ear.

“ Biadap (Rude!)!” screamed BN Backbenchers Club deputy head Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan), while others shouted: “Take action against him!”

Bung shouted: “He must follow the rules! We have to teach those who do not know the rules!”

Idris followed suit, arguing that it was unprecedented for an MP to walk up directly to the House speaker in the chambers. “We have rules in this House for you to follow!”

An indignant Mohamad Aziz (BN-Sri Gading) pitched in: “The opposition MP has gone against the rules and done something that has never before happened in previous sessions.

“What he has done has greatly upset me and violated the sanctity of this House and he should be punished. The MP should be taught so that other MPs do not follow (his example).”

After about five minutes, and when order was restored, Pandikar noted the presence of Commonwealth parliamentary representatives in the gallery.

He also called attention to his frequent reminders for parliamentarians to abide by the rules of the Dewan Rakyat, in relation to behaviour and speech, but observed that MPs on both sides have not heeded this.

Pandikar said this applied to Gobalakrishnan’s act in approaching him directly in the House, as well as the use of foul language.

Gobalakrishan apologises

The matter was settled when Mohd Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), acting as chief whip for PKR, asked Gobalakrishnan to apologise to the House, which he immediately did.

Met later in the lobby, Gobalakrishnan claimed that Idris had deliberately used the expletive and further said that his own apology was not for having approached the speaker, but for the 20-minute delay he had caused in the proceedings.

“I’m very sure the speaker was happy that I told him that (meaning of the word),” Gobalakrishnan told reporters.

Idris similarly maintained he had not pronounced, nor had he intended to use any obscene word.

“I did not know the meaning of the (obscene) word until just now,” he said.

Asked who told him the meaning, Idris replied: “Padang Serai, lah! ”

And ' Ukkarengeh ', the word which brought down the House, apparently sounds similar to "Go 'f...' yourself".

Watch the 8-min video of N Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai) on the Beep! word .