Tiong lashes out at KJ over his GEG bill criticisms

PETALING JAYA: The Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, has criticized Khairy Jamaluddin for alleged defects in the Generational Endgame (GEG) bill. This came after Khairy accused several current ministers of intentionally stalling the bill, also known as the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023, in a Nov 14 Instagram post.

Tiong stated that the Bill, which Khairy was the main architect of, was both ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘unenforceable’. He claimed that Khairy failed to lay a firm 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 highlighted that other countries with similar bills, such as New Zealand, found it challenging 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 his time in the cabinet, alleging that the former health minister only sought to enhance 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.