That’s one way to win an argument.
During a debate in Parliament’s Dewan Rakyat today, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister shut down a question from an opposition lawmaker by declaring that traders who raise their retail prices unscrupulously did not believe in God.
“YB Kepong asked if raising prices of goods is in the hands of God. God has never told anyone to raise prices or reduce it,” Hamzah said, referring to Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw’s question if the recent rise in the prices of goods in the country was “in the hands of God”.
“It’s those who don’t believe in God [who] are the ones who always raise prices. Those who believe in God will follow ethical ways and not simply raise prices,” The Malay Mail Online‘s Kamles Kumar quotes Hamzah as saying.
Tan, a DAP politician, might have asked the question to imply that rising retail prices were a by-product of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced by Putrajaya last April – an effect on consumers the government assured was not going to happen.
However, Hamzah was in full vehement mode as he recounted the debate outside of Parliament later in the day.
“(Tan’s) question might be because he is unsure whether to believe in God or the otherwise,” Hamzah later said.
He added that the opposition lawmaker’s question was “not very funny”.
Putrajaya remains in denial that the GST has been at least partly responsible for rising prices across the board, instead pointing its collective finger at unethical – and, we guess, godless heathen – traders for the hikes at the checkout counter.
