KUALA LUMPUR: There was no apology offered by a minister who was said to have a verbal confrontation with a female journalist recently.

       The matter was raised by V. Sivakumar (PH-Batu Gajah) when he asked Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Idris Ahmad to apologise over the incident involving the reporter and himself at an event on Sunday (Nov 14).

       “As an old friend of the minister, I wish to advise him over an incident which happened recently.

       "I saw a viral video on social media where the minister and the Deputy Human Resources Minister were confronting a female reporter, where the language used was a bit harsh.

       "Such a matter should be avoided because the reporter was merely carrying out her job and responsibility of wanting to know the reasons why the Kedah state government had closed all betting outlets.

       "What was wrong about her asking such a question?" Sivakumar stood up to ask Idris this when he was wrapping up his ministerial replies on Budget 2022 in Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Nov 15).

       Sivakumar claimed the decision by the Kedah state government was a strategy to gain votes during the upcoming Melaka state polls.

       "But the manner in which the minister used to overcome the issue by using harsh words is not good.

       "I ask the minister and the deputy minister to make an open apology to the reporter and her family," he added.

       A calm Idris merely gave a casual response to Sivakumar's advice.

       "Although the matter raised is not within the context of the current discussions, but for me, there was no element of any provocative nature at all.

       "That is all... thank you," Idris said before sitting down.

       On Sunday (Nov 14), Idris and Datuk Awang Hashim avoided questions posed by the reporter.

       The reporter wanted to know the rationale behind the immediate ban on betting outlets in Kedah which was announced by Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

       However, the two men avoided answering the reporter's question but began questioning her instead.

       Idris, who is PAS vice-president, reportedly asked the journalist if she could tolerate her husband being a gambler, when she asked him to comment on the ban.

       Awang meanwhile had persistently asked the journalist to use Bahasa Malaysia.