YOURSAY ‘Hansard is a report of what is said in Parliament. Can it be expunged at whim?’

Wan Junaidi wants rape remarks out of Hansard

Appum: Let Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar be - whether he wants to apologise or not, it is now not important. The hurt and insult has been done.

We however do not agree to expunge the matter from the Hansard. Let it not be so easy for idiotic MPs to simply talk nonsense in Parliament and then remove these nonsensical speeches from the Hansard.

We want the statements recorded so that the future generations can see how inadequate our MPs from the ruling government can be.

Not Confused: Wan Junaidi wants his remarks expunged to save him further embarrassment. However, the Hansard is intended to be a record of the discussions and speeches made in Parliament.

It is not to be manipulated by self-serving sycophants like him. Instead, Wan Junaidi should resign and fade away into the history books as a failed Umno wannabe.

Shanandoah: Now the Hansard is in danger of abuse in the hands of the House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia. He cannot erase the remark made by the deputy home minister. He has to apologise of what he said. No two ways about it.

Lim Chong Leong: Now Umno can even change the recordings of the Hansard which is the supreme parliamentary recordings of the deeds of its members in the House.

Even if statements of MPs are retracted, the retraction is itself recorded and the original words are still there. We cannot expunge Hansard recordings as if the words were never spoken.

Ace: So next time, the opposition members can also simply say whatever they like in Parliament? And if they said something terribly wrong, they can just ask for it to be expunged from the Hansard? Is this a new convention started by the brilliant speaker?

Tan KS: Hansard is a verbatim report of what is said in Parliament. Can it be expunged at whim? Can we erase anything said in official capacity? This is a bad and sad precedence. Are we in the habit of tempering with minutes of meetings?

Daniel: The parliamentary opposition leader must now move a vote of no confidence against the speaker for inappropriate expunging of proper records of a statement made in the House.

Milosevic: Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi continues to misunderstand basic data analysis, and what kinds of valid statements can be inferred from the available facts. Indeed, school children are better informed.

At the minimum, the deputy minister needs to have data on both reported crimes and information from crime victimisation surveys.

Only by comparing the two can he make conclusions about people's propensity to report crime and the sensitivity of the various groups toward crime.

If he continually makes his remarks just from looking at reported crime, then he is a stubborn ignoramus.

With victimisation studies, it could turn out that Malay rape is even higher than reported. You need two data sets to analyse crime, and not go by ridiculous hunches, guesses, and racist biases.

Why is the current calibre of people in Umno so pathetic? No wonder they need to hide behind ‘bangsa’ (race), ‘agama’ (religion), and ‘agong’ (king), and elevate the emotional manipulation and nonsense of right-wing groups Perkasa and Isma to be the preferred way to think about politics.

Louis: Marrying a Chinese does not imply that you are not a racist. There are Umno leaders, product of mix marriages who are racists in and out. Wan Junaidi, you are no exception.

And how does your wife take your racist statement? Does she feel insulted? Or does she agree with the despicable statement? I won't be surprised if she agrees.

After all, we have a good example of a Chinese in Ridhuan Tee Abdullah who has forgotten his roots.

DarthVader: It doesn't matter if wife is a non-Muslim. As a minister, you should be more aware of your public statements.

Your words were taken out of context? No. It is as it is and reported by the media. It was you who said it. Ministers should be mindful of the words they chose to speak to the public.

Wrongful interpretation of statistic can be horrifying. It's not a walk in the park, minister.

Peacemaker: Wan Junaidi is a moral coward. He dare not stand by what he said and it is illegal to remove or expunge the records of Hansard. The correct remedy is a public apology to all Malaysians.

CHKS: The fact that you have a Chinese wife and yet you said these things further shows that you do not respect the non-Muslims (not just Chinese), and you do not respect your wife and her family.

Louis: Wan Junaidi, the speaker can remove the statement from the Hansard, but he cannot remove the racism in you.

Apologise to your wife the first. You have indeed insulted her with your remark.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .