SIBU, Dec 2 — Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has hit back at Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor after the latter accused him of looking like a ‘pot-bellied deity’ during the Kedah State Legislative Assemblyman sitting two days ago.

Tiong said it was unbecoming for Muhammad Sanusi to utter such ‘insulting’ words which should not have come from the mouth of an MB.

"You must have lost your mind, having to utter such unpleasant words,” he said in a statement.

Without mincing his words, Tiong shot back at Muhammad Sanusi, asking what he had done to attract investment to Kedah and to develop Malaysia as a whole.

"As the MB of Kedah which borders Thailand, what have you done to promote Kedah? Instead, you choose to attack my appearance,” he said.

Tiong, who is Bintulu MP, hoped Muhammad Sanusi would stop the practices of extreme politics and instead embrace moderate politics.

"Malaysia is a pluralistic country inhabited by people from various races and religions and we need to respect each other’s faiths,” he said.

Muhammad Sanusi had accused Tiong for not doing enough to promote Kedah’s tourism when the latter accompanied Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the meeting with Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Nov 27 at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex in Sadao, Thailand.

The meeting was aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between Malaysia and Thailand in several fields such as agriculture, tourism, security, trade and business including the halal sector.

Tiong said the meeting was planned long ago and there was nothing sudden about it.

He explained that the main purpose of the meeting was to see the progress of the road alignment project that connects the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration CIQ Complex in Malaysia.

"It seems that Sanusi is holding a grudge against me and I do not see the reason why and what really is his problem with me being the tourism minister,” said Tiong, adding that as an MB, one should learn to respect each other. — Borneo Post