KUALA LUMPUR – The Dewan Rakyat had a baffling moment today when Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Rahim (Baling-BN) trumpeted about his elephant encounter where he spoke to the animal in Tamil, causing a commotion in the august House.
Calling it illogical, R.S.N. Rayer (Jelutong-PH) called out the Umno lawmaker, accusing the latter of insulting the Tamil language.
The ruckus started when Azeez was debating the Wildlife Conservation Act’s amendment in Parliament.
He proceeded to share a story on his experience with a three-tonne elephant.
Azeez explained that the elephant, which he had named Awang Bukit Hijau, came out of the jungle with a leg injury to a village in Kedah.
He went on to mention that the elephant understood three languages – Thai, Burmese and Tamil – adding that this was because it probably had had encounters with humans who spoke those languages.
The Baling MP then said that he told the elephant in Tamil: “Thank you for coming here, you came from the jungle to our village. Because you came here it’s a problem for you and the people here.”
After that, Azeez said, he fed the elephant by hand and managed to relocate the creature to Terengganu along with officials from the Wildlife and National Parks Department.
However, Rayer did not see the happy ending of the story and took umbrage.
“Speaker, I would like to request that Baling stop insulting the Tamil language,” he said.
“For him to say that he can talk to an elephant in Tamil is something that is illogical.”
Azeez, however, did not agree with Rayer and shouted: “Please do not disturb me!”
He then went to explain that he was merely sharing his experience.
Azeez’s encounter with Awang the elephant is available on his Facebook page through a video posted on August 25. – The Vibes, October 26, 2021
