Bung Mokhtar Radin

DAILY EXPRESS NEWS
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Lewd gesture?
11 July, 2008
KINABATANGAN MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin shows the hand gesture in Parliament on Tuesday that landed him in the latest controversy.

He said that he merely slapped the back of his hand with the palm of the other.

The issue was again raised in Parliament, yesterday.

He gave the demonstration when asked about the "lewd gesture" he was seen making in the the Dewan Rakyat during a verbal spat with the opposition MPs, with each calling the other "bodoh" (stupid).

Viewers who saw the live telecast on RTM1 called up their MPs to complain.

Bung, who is no stranger to controversy, admitted he was roused to anger by the opposition camp, but denied he made a lewd gesture.

Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng said she did not notice the gesture in the Dewan but said she received a few calls from her constituents asking her why an MP who is BN Backbenchers Club Deputy Chairman, had behaved in such a manner.

Chow Kon Yeow (DAP-Tanjung) had earlier said that Bung did not know how to count as there were more opposition MPs than BN backbenchers in the Dewan at that time. This was following a protest by Bung over the mileage being given to the opposition as responses to their questions were being aired live over RTM.

Asked what he meant with his gesture, Bung Mokhtar said: "I was angry with him, I make like that (hand gesture again). He called me bodoh, I say you bodoh too."

When told that a lot of people who watched the incident on live television saw it as a lewd gesture, he said: "No, I don't know what is their interpretation but it was nothing for me."

The incident prompted Deputy Speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar to say that even with years of university education, the MPs still could not follow decorum.

"I have been around for a long time and see the culture changes, and we seem to be moving backwards. I wonder how we can achieve first world Parliament status this way," he added.