Newbie Sulaiman fumbles with his words
The Sun (29/5/08): Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Abdul Taib gave a very bad first impression in Parliament today when he fumbled with his words to answer questions on the RM10 million being allocated for the State Tourism Action Council (MTPN).
At one point, he was even "helped" by another BN MP from Sarawak, Norah Abdul Rahman (BN-Tanjong Manis) who said she wanted to provide some information to Sulaiman on one of the issues raised.
This prompted Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) to quip: "You want to help out the new (deputy) minister, eh?"
Winding-up debates for the item under the Supplementary Supply Bill, Sulaiman was flooded with questions from the Opposition MPs on a point raised by Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said last week in which the MPs tried to refer her to the Committee of Privileges.
Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) said he was not satisfied with Azalina's clarification on signature tourism events being dropped in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states.
"The MTPN which is meant to promote tourism at state level is used by the ministry for political revenge," he said, adding he wanted the Dewan to record the explanation given by Azalina to him in the parliament lounge on May 20.
Sulaiman clarified the calendar events were not dropped as the minutes of a meeting dated March 26 quoted by Azmin has been cancelled and replaced by another dated April 1.
While seemingly stuttered in forming his sentences, he went on to say the ministry was willing to cooperate with PR states, therefore the accusations that it has neglected tourism in the five states were untrue.
"The ministry wants tourists to come to the whole of Malaysia, anywhere in the country. Previously, we had promoted Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi. At that time, we should have focused on enhancing (world's) knowledge about Malaysia.
"But, if we were to promote the whole country, it would be difficult for the foreign tourists to focus. So, we had focused on destinations which are easier to be promoted and highly beneficial to the country," he said.
Later, when he repeated his readiness to work together with all state governments, irrespective of the ruling party, Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman (PAS-Pengkalan Chepa) stood up to ask for an explanation on Azalina’s statement last week.
She had said the Kelantan state government had failed to pay MTPN officers three months salary in 2002 but Abdul Halim said the pay was the responsibility of the federal government.
To this, Sulaiman read out quickly a prepared statement on the chronology of events from the MoU signed between the ministry and Kelantan in February 2002, to set up the MTPN until Jan 2003 when Kelantan had to refund the RM2 million given following the cancellation of the MoU in Oct 2002.
He said the MoU was cancelled because the state government did not follow the right procedure in the appointment of MTPN chairman, and during this process, the MTPN staff were deprived of their three-month pay.
Abdul Halim who was Deputy Mentri Besar at that time said Kelantan did not agree with the chairman picked by the ministry as he was an Umno member and argued that the selection of chairman should be the prerogative of the state government.
At one point, he was even "helped" by another BN MP from Sarawak, Norah Abdul Rahman (BN-Tanjong Manis) who said she wanted to provide some information to Sulaiman on one of the issues raised.
This prompted Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) to quip: "You want to help out the new (deputy) minister, eh?"
Winding-up debates for the item under the Supplementary Supply Bill, Sulaiman was flooded with questions from the Opposition MPs on a point raised by Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said last week in which the MPs tried to refer her to the Committee of Privileges.
Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) said he was not satisfied with Azalina's clarification on signature tourism events being dropped in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states.
"The MTPN which is meant to promote tourism at state level is used by the ministry for political revenge," he said, adding he wanted the Dewan to record the explanation given by Azalina to him in the parliament lounge on May 20.
Sulaiman clarified the calendar events were not dropped as the minutes of a meeting dated March 26 quoted by Azmin has been cancelled and replaced by another dated April 1.
While seemingly stuttered in forming his sentences, he went on to say the ministry was willing to cooperate with PR states, therefore the accusations that it has neglected tourism in the five states were untrue.
"The ministry wants tourists to come to the whole of Malaysia, anywhere in the country. Previously, we had promoted Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi. At that time, we should have focused on enhancing (world's) knowledge about Malaysia.
"But, if we were to promote the whole country, it would be difficult for the foreign tourists to focus. So, we had focused on destinations which are easier to be promoted and highly beneficial to the country," he said.
Later, when he repeated his readiness to work together with all state governments, irrespective of the ruling party, Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman (PAS-Pengkalan Chepa) stood up to ask for an explanation on Azalina’s statement last week.
She had said the Kelantan state government had failed to pay MTPN officers three months salary in 2002 but Abdul Halim said the pay was the responsibility of the federal government.
To this, Sulaiman read out quickly a prepared statement on the chronology of events from the MoU signed between the ministry and Kelantan in February 2002, to set up the MTPN until Jan 2003 when Kelantan had to refund the RM2 million given following the cancellation of the MoU in Oct 2002.
He said the MoU was cancelled because the state government did not follow the right procedure in the appointment of MTPN chairman, and during this process, the MTPN staff were deprived of their three-month pay.
Abdul Halim who was Deputy Mentri Besar at that time said Kelantan did not agree with the chairman picked by the ministry as he was an Umno member and argued that the selection of chairman should be the prerogative of the state government.
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