Parliament Members Called Out For Not Wearing Masks During Dewan Rakyat Meeting

The Covid-19 virus is still considerably freshly lingering around and could come back stronger at any moment, which is why we’ve all been advised to keep wearing face masks and maintain social distancing.

But, many Malaysians are already finding it hard to adhere to the simple SOPs set in place, and why should they, especially if politicians (who are supposed to be role models and representations of the community) don’t take the rules seriously.

During today’s (16th July) Dewan Rakyat session, Tuan Khoo Poay Tiong (PH – Kota Melaka) brought up the issue of face masks, in which he reminded the floor that face masks should be worn as according to standards of procedures unless when they are speaking, but instead of being met with sounds of agreement, he was asked to move along.

You can watch the video here:

After Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun introduced Tuan Khoo Poay Tiong at minute 24:04, he immediately highlights the lack of face masks being worn in the room.

“Datuk Speaker, I’m taking off my face mask before I speak. Datuk Speaker, according to the SOPs, we are supposed to be constantly wearing face masks while we are present in the parliamentary hall,” he said before Datuk Azhar requested that he ask his question instead.

“Datuk Speaker, we are all supposed to be wearing face masks, only when we are speaking are we supposed to take off our masks. I hope that this SOP is followed as this parliamentary meeting is live and the people watching would question why we are not following the SOPs during parliament,” he went on despite being interrupted by Dato’ Seri Tiong King Sing (GPS – Bintulu) who said, “You yourself are not wearing a face mask but are making noise.”

Tuan Khoo Poay Tiong then went on to explain again that masks can be taken off while speaking to which Datuk Azhar responded by saying that they were short of time and requested for him to move onto his question for the floor.

If Tuan Khoo is right in the sense where there are SOPs set in place requiring parliament members to where masks while present in the hall, then all the members should adhere to the rules accordingly instead of brushing it off.

After all, coming from a position of power, politicians should practice what they preach and lead the people by example.

We genuinely hope that the parliament clarifies on whether masks should be worn within their halls.

What do you think about this? Let us know in the comment section. 

Also read: Why Are Politicians Who Give Racist Remarks Still Being Allowed To Represent Malaysians?