DIRECTOR-GENERAL of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today said that he does not fear death and accepts it whenever and wherever it happens.

“We as Muslims, we accept death wherever it happens, not just when we are on duty,” he said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

He was commenting on Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing’s criticisms against him uttered in Parliament earlier today.

Tiong, delivering a message from Sabah front-liners, said that “the director-general of health was afraid to die” because he had never visited areas severely affected by Covid-19 in Sabah.

Tiong demanded to know why Noor Hisham had not visited the state, asking if it was because he was afraid of dying.

“Every day he announces clusters. If it’s just an announcement even the office boy can do this. Why does he not go to the ground? Like the Kota Kinabalu Hospital now, it is in bad shape.

“He should go see and talk with the frontliners. Doctors, nurses are all working. They don’t seem afraid to die but the director-general is scared of dying. The D-G and his deputy don’t want to go,” Tiong said while debating Budget 2021 in Parliament. 

To this, Noor Hisham said that he had visited Sabah in late August and that his deputy Dr Chong Chee Keong and the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on Public Health Dr Jemilah Mahmood also recently visited the state to check on how they are managing the Covid-19 situation. 

“Towards the end of August, I went there to look into their preparation as Sabah was gearing up for the state election.

“My deputy Chong together with Jemilah were also there two weeks ago to monitor the management of the Covid-19 and other related issues that arose in the state,” he said.

The Sabah state election took place on September 26.

Noor Hisham said that although there can be disagreement over certain issues, their main aim is to break the Covid-19 chain of infection.

“We surely can have disagreement but what we are doing is to break the Covid-19 chain so that we can save our country from spikes in cases and death rates,” he said. 

Tiong has refused to retract his remarks. – November 11, 2020.