Mohammad Said bin Yusof

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Yang Berhormat Datuk
 Mohammad Said bin Yusof
Mohammad Said bin Yusof
Member of Parliament
for Jasin, Melaka

Yang Berhormat Datuk Mohammad Said bin Yusof (commonly abbreviated Mohd Said Yusof) was a member of the Malaysian Parliament in the lower house of the Dewan Rakyat, representing the constituency of Jasin in the state of Melaka. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the leading party of the governing Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

He was dropped in the General Election in 2008.

Contents

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Illegal timber exports

In May 2006, a scandal arose over an MP who allegedly asked the Melaka Customs and Excise Department for special treatment in the handling of an illegal timber import shipment from Indonesia. After the New Straits Times publicised the issue, Parliamentary Leader of the Opposition Lim Kit Siang from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) moved to refer the issue to the Dewan Rakyat House Rights and Privileges Committee. After the motion failed, the Chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC), Shahrir Abdul Samad, announced his resignation as a matter of principle.

Shortly after, Said announced he was the MP implicated in the scandal. However, he said he had only requested leniency in the case concerned, as the shipment had been confiscated on the basis of a technicality. Although the diameter of the logs concerned exceeded the maximum limit of 152.4 centimetres, Said requested leniency on the behalf of one of his constituents, because the logs had been partially hollowed out. The Department rejected Said's request to simply compound the shipment. Said later told the press that although he felt the decision was right, some discretion should have been exercised in order to aid the Bumiputra entrepreneur whose interests were affected.[1]

On May 10, 2006, following an expose by the New Straits Times, Said admitted that the company he was trying to help in the log scandal was in fact his own company, Binyu Sof Enterprise.

[edit] "Bocor" remark

In a May 9, 2007 Parliament session, Mohd Said Yusof supported Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, who made sexist remarks referencing menstruation against Fong Poh Kuan, a female Batu Gajah MP from the Democratic Action Party. The incident occurred during a heated argument with Fong over ceiling leakages in the Parliament Houses, accumulating to both men stating the following in Malay:[2]

“ Mana ada bocor? Batu Gajah pun bocor tiap-tiap bulan juga.[2] (Where is the leak? Batu Gajah leaks every month too.) ”

Both Mohd Said and Bung Mokhtar's remarks led to an uproar among women's groups. Both MPs would later issue a "public apology" to women "who might have been offended" by their words during a meeting with Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil on May 18, 2007.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ "Ahli Parlimen mengaku temui Kastam", p. 1. (May 5, 2006). Berita Harian.
  2. ^ a b "Jasin MP denies making ‘bocor’ comment", The Star, 2008-05-16. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.