A REMARK by an Opposition MP that the sabda (words) of the Prime Minister are hukum (law)'' drew grunts from the House.
Mohamad Sabu (PAS Kuala Kedah) said government departments and agencies would only act when Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad issued a statement on a matter.
Only when the Prime Minister called for war against terrorists did the authorities start to act by monitoring mosques and the opposition's talks and minutes of meetings, he said when debating the motion of thanks on the Royal Address yesterday.
Mohamad, speaking on the drug problem, claimed that when there was no statement from the Prime Minister, there were no serious efforts to combat the menace.
Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN Kinabatangan) stood up to object to the PAS MPs use of the word sabda which he said was unsuitable and could only be used in reference to Prophet Muhammad.
Mohamad then suggested the word titah (command) to which an impatient Bung Mokhtar retorted that the word could only be used for Kings and Sultans.
Mohamad retracted the word when Deputy Speaker Datuk Lim Si Cheng intervened.
Amihamzah Ahmad (BN Lipis) then reminded Mohamad that his use of words to describe a fellow Muslim was improper and insensitive.
Earlier, Datuk Mohamad Aziz (BN Sri Gading) told Abdul Rahman Yusof (Keadilan Kemaman) to move to Thailand if he thought it was economically better than Malaysia.
In his debate, he had praised the Barisan Nasional government for its significant contributions to the countrys prosperity and stability.
Abdul Rahman cut in to say that South Korea and Thailand had performed better after they changed governments.
Mohamad then responded: If you think Thailand is better, please move there.
Chang See Ten (BN Gelang Patah) suggested that the Government reserve a plot of land to build Chinese and Tamil national-type schools in housing projects which exceeded a certain size.