Tiong lashes out at KJ over his GEG bill criticisms

PETALING JAYA: Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has lashed out at Khairy Jamaluddin over purported defects in the Generational Endgame (GEG) bill.

This came after Khairy accused several current ministers of deliberately delaying the bill, also known as the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023, in an Instagram post on Nov 14.

Tiong said the Bill, which Khairy was the chief architect of, was both 'unconstitutional' and 'unenforceable', claiming that the latter had failed to provide a solid foundation for the Bill to be passed during his time as health minister.

"Back then, he (Khairy) issued a statement that the B40 group was the majority group affected by smoking-related diseases such as cancer, heart and lung complications.

"But the truth is that many cancer patients do not have a history of smoking," he said in a Facebook post on Thursday (Nov 16).

Tiong also emphasised that other countries that had passed similar bills, like New Zealand, had found it difficult to enforce the law on their populations.

"If this unprepared matter is hastily implemented and eventually results in various weaknesses and criticisms, leading to massive public complaints, who should be blamed?" Tiong wrote.

He also questioned Khairy’s contributions during the latter’s time in the cabinet, claiming that the former health minister only attempted to boost his own personal image and popularity.

"Apart from trying to improve popularity and own image, what other contributions has he (Khairy) made to our country's health system?

"If there are none, he should not blame any ministers, including me, for failing to pass the Bill," he said.