KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 – Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing today strongly protested Covid-19 booster vaccine mandates and the proposed smoking prohibition for the next generation.
The PDP president and government backbencher from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) said he completely disagreed with the government’s move to remove people’s fully vaccinated status on MySejahtera — for senior citizens aged 60 years and older and adult Sinovac primer vaccine recipients — if they do not get a Covid-19 booster shot by March 31.
Tiong urged the Ministry of Health (MOH) to educate and to persuade people to take their Covid-19 vaccine booster instead of “threatening” them.
“I do not agree with blanking out the MySejahtera status for anyone who does not take a booster jab,” Tiong said while debating the motion of thanks on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat today.
“I ask MOH to consider why people do not want to take a booster. They must be able to convince them. Don’t make threats. If the people threaten us later on, then we’ll be in trouble. I have seen people saying on social media that they will bury politicians in the general election.”
The Sarawakian lawmaker expressed distrust towards health authorities on Covid-19 vaccine side effects, claiming that MOH would always categorise cases of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) as complications from underlying conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes.
Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto, when interjecting Tiong, similarly highlighted cases of patients who were advised by their physicians against taking a Covid-19 booster vaccine.
“These are legitimate cases where the doctor says they cannot take a booster. On March 31, will their vaccination status on receiving the first and second dose be eliminated?”
Tiong agreed with Kasthuri, saying that people who cannot take the coronavirus booster vaccine for medical reasons should not be subject to vaccine mandates.
He claimed that two of his friends suffered severe adverse reactions to the Covid-19 booster vaccine, but MOH reportedly attributed their condition to “complications”.
“Will the Health Minister bear these? Or the Health director-general? What do they bear?”
Tiong also slammed Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s proposal to outlaw cigarettes, tobacco, and vape products to anyone born after 2005.
He pointed out that the Education Ministry could educate school children about the dangers of smoking.
“People say ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ (Malaysian Family),” said Tiong, referring to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s tagline. “This is not ‘Keluarga Malaysia’; this is ‘Ugutan Malaysia’ (Malaysian Threats).”
Khairy told the press earlier today that his proposed Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill needed further stakeholder engagement, including with the tobacco and vape industries, and that he would present the legislation at the Dewan Rakyat special select committee on health first. Hence, the Bill could be tabled only in the next Parliament meeting.
