LANGKAWI MP Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah has openly apologised to Seputeh MP Teresa Kok over the sexist jibe he made last month in Dewan Rakyat.
Mohd Suhaimi also addressed the apology to Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul and all MPs who felt insulted by his remark.
“I would like to apologise for a mistake I made when debating the Budget 2024 bill on Oct 26,” Mohd Suhaimi said in Parliament this morning (Nov 8).
“This apology is addressed to the speaker and members of the House, who might find it insulting or hurt by what I had said.
“I would like to stress here that as the MP for this legendary island, Langkawi is very close to my heart and no one should ever ‘perlekehkan’ (make fun) or ‘persepsikan’ (create perception) the issues faced by its people,” the Kedah Bersatu chairman said.
Mohd Suhaimi’s apology was received with praises by government MPs, with some congratulating him for having a “jiwa besar” (big-hearted) while Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail said she accepted the Bersatu representative’s apology.
Later in the session, Bentong MP Young Syefura Othman thanked Mohd Suhaimi but suggested that he meet Kok personally later as the DAP leader was not in the Dewan Rakyat when Suhaimi apologised to which Johari agreed.
Mohd Suhaimi caused an uproar in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 26, when he invited a female colleague to visit Langkawi’s beaches wearing nothing.
He was responding to Kok, who had asked him if visitors to Langkawi beaches are allowed to wear shorts.
“I especially want to invite YB Seputeh (Kok) to come wearing nothing,” he said during the Dewan Rakyat session, to groans and laughter from other members of the house.
Mohd Suhaimi had been lambasted by Kedah UMNO information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, Kampar MP Chong Zhemin, former Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, former Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto, Bentong MP Young Syefura, and former Klang MP Charles Santiago ever since he made the remark.
This was not the first time Mohd Suhaimi had uttered a controversial remark in the Dewan Rakyat. Recall that in February, he reportedly had MPs on the edge of their seats with a tale of how a woman had invited him to her home and took off her blouse.
Mohd Suhami then claimed that the woman said she had lost one of her breasts after being attacked by her drug-addled son. He told the story while stressing the importance of combating drug addiction among youths.
Suhaimi won Langkawi with a majority 13,518 votes, against four other candidates including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. – Nov 9, 2023
