Sarawak party demands ‘proper, personal’ apology to Dr Noor Hisham from Bintulu MP after tirade

KUCHING, Nov 16 — Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) today said Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing was not sincere in his apology to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah over the former’s “afraid to die” remark uttered in Parliament last week.

The PSB secretariat in a statement today said the Tiong only apologised for overstepping the mark during the debate on the federal Budget 2021, but did not do so to the director-general.

“In our opinion, that is a poor excuse for an apology because he did not apologise directly for the hurt and damage he tried to cause to Dr Noor Hisham’s reputation,” the party said.

It said Dr Noor Hisham is a hero to all Malaysians for his work in fighting the Covid -19 pandemic in Malaysia.

“Compare the Malaysian pandemic situation to the rest of the world like Europe, the United States or even Singapore, we must realise that we are where we are in large part due to Dr Noor Hisham’s leadership of the Ministry of Health. 

“We maintain our call for Tiong to give a proper, personal apology if he is really sorry for what he uttered,” PSB said. 

In a statement yesterday, Tiong issued an apology for suggesting Dr Noor Hisham was “afraid to die” because of his purported absence from Bintulu.

The Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president said he never intended to belittle the efforts of public health officials, including Dr Noor Hisham, in fighting Covid-19 

He said to ensure a smooth Dewan Rakyat session, and in the interest of national harmony, he apologises if he had overstepped his boundaries during the Budget 2021 debate.

Tiong claimed in Parliament on November 11 that Dr Noor Hisham rarely visited Bintulu when Covid-19 was raging in Sarawak and asked if the reason for his absence was because of the doctor takut mati — Malay for “afraid to die”.

The government lawmaker’s remarks drew condemnation from the Opposition and resulted in the ejection of two DAP MPs, RSN Rayer and Lim Lip Eng from Parliament over the next two days.

Tiong later said he “did not intend to maliciously target” Dr Noor Hisham.