Son's violent act takes centre stage at Dewan Rakyat today

Relaying his experience, Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah (PN-Langkawi) said that he was once visited by a single mother who lost one breast following a violent act by her son, who was involved in drug abuse.

Even more heartbreaking, Mohd Suhaimi, who is also the deputy president of the Drug Prevention Association of Malaysia (Pemadam), said that the woman did not dare to go to the hospital for treatment, and only used coffee powder to treat her wounds as she was afraid that, by going to the hospital, her son's actions would be discovered by the police.

"Her son had asked her for money several times but she refused to give it. Angered, he went to the kitchen and took a knife, snatched his mother's necklace and slashed her left breast as he was high on drugs," he said.

Mohd Suhaimi, a first-time elected representative, expressed hope that the government takes the issue of drug addiction seriously, and implements more effective measures to address it.

Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (PH-Muar) interrupted by saying that the government needs to change its strategy and approach through treatment, especially in non-serious cases.

"Especially soft drugs, wouldn't it be better if we don't place them in prison, but let experts and doctors treat them so that the recovery process is better, similar to what Portugal does," he said.

In a separate development, Syahredzan Johan (PH-Bangi) proposed that the Election Commission (EC) review the parliamentary constituencies which have a large number of voters, so that the re-delineation of electoral boundaries can be carried out.

Citing the Bangi parliamentary constituency, which has a large number of registered voters at 300,000 as an example, Syahredzan said that the size of the 'mega' parliamentary constituency has an impact on the value of a voter's vote.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting resumes Monday (Feb 20).

-- BERNAMA