‘Kepala bapak’ a common term in BM’
JELUTONG member of parliament R.S.N. Rayer defended his use of the term kepala bapak in referring to the previous government’s efforts to help the police force yesterday.
Speaking to reporters in the Parliament, Rayer said he used the term to convey the meaning of “nonsense”, and he did not mean to be rude. He said it was not wrong to use the term kepala bapak, pointing out that it was used in Tan Sri P. Ramlee’s movie Pendekar Bujang Lapok.
Rayer reiterated what he had said earlier in the house that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (BN-Pekan) had also used the same term in the Dewan Rakyat in the past. “From what I understand, the term kepala bapak is commonly used in Bahasa Melayu. In Pendekar Bujang Lapok, kepala bapak kau means ‘nonsense’. So, I don’t consider the term as rude.
“If it was rude, (why did) Pekan (Najib) use it in the past?”
Rayer was responding to a statement from Umno Youth executive council member Shahrul Nasrun Kamaruddin, who had said using the term was rude and lacking in manners. Shahrul had said the term was a provocation that reflected the attitude of certain Pakatan Harapan MPs. He also said the term should not be used as Dewan Rakyat was a place where people’s problems were addressed.
Earlier, Rayer had used the term when talking about the previous government’s efforts to help the police force and policemen. He complained about the deplorable state of the police stations and barracks in his constituency.
“BN claims to have looked after the policemen in the country... kepala bapak dia,” Rayer said. This drew a rebuke from Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (BN-Padang Terap), who said in the three weeks that the house had been in session, he had noticed that Rayer was fond of using rude words.