As vocal as he is, backbencher Badruddin Amiruddin (BN-Jerai) 'outdid' himself in the Dewan Rakyat this afternoon when he called opposition leader Lim Kit Siang "the damned, bloody stupid old man!"

They had become embroiled in heated debate over the Royal Police Commission, with Badruddin lambasting the commission for not acting in a professional manner when recommending improvements to the police force.

"Was it (the commission) professional? Its formation was done in hasty manner. The members received several memoranda but did not study the validity of the complaints lodged. They caused a drop in morale in the police force," he claimed.

"Their findings were incorrect. Does the ministry plan to review their recommendations so that the public does not look down on the police force?

The MP said this when the internal security ministry was winding up to related points raised during the debate on Budget 2006.

He said that, during his dialogues with police personnel, he had found out that they are now under much stress because the commission's report "did not portray the true picture".

"Weaknesses of the force shouldn't be made public... some of these complaints were isolated cases. Don't make accusations without proof. Smart people were put in the commission but they were not professional," Badruddin exclaimed.

'Like a parrot'

Responding, Deputy Internal Security Minister Chia Kwang Chye said the commission was an independent body tasked to receive public complaints and conduct interviews with relevant parties, and that it did not perform the role of an investigating commission.

Razali Ibrahim (BN-Muar) asked whether the government would implement the main recommendation - to set up a watchdog known as the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

Chia said the government needs more time to decide "because the IPCMC is a new concept... it may involve duplication of laws and possibly contradict the current laws". He also said five sub-committees have been set up to study the recommendations.

At this juncture, Lim interjected and described Badruddin's claims as "wild accusations" aimed at piling on pressure to reject the commission's 125 recommendations to improve the police force. He also criticised Chia's ministerial reply.

"That's useless, what's the point of the reply? I received the same reply during the June/July meeting. This is a parrot... you can't just repeat the same thing every time, this is a stupid reply... This is a waste of time (and of our) expectations," he said, amid pandemonium.

While Chia retorted that Lim was not being professional for using the words "stupid reply", Badruddin suddenly yelled: "(This is) like zoo... how many seats does DAP have now... the damned, bloody stupid old man!"

The deputy minister said his answer was the same because he was being consistent, unlike Lim "who always twists statements".

Chia claimed: "I hope (Lim) doesn't use underhanded and gangster tactics in making accusations."

Badruddin then shouted in Hokkien, a Chinese dialect: "Ah Pek (old man), sit down and keep quiet!"

The commotion came to an end when Chia proceeded to other topics in his winding-up speech.