However, they both agreed that the tour operator should be held responsible for the incident.
Sepanggar MP Azis Jamman said the matter would not have happened if the tour operator had explained the do’s and don’t’s when visiting a place of worship.
“The tourists might not know, maybe in their country it’s not wrong or offensive but here it’s different.
“They should have told the tourists how to behave and given strict instructions particularly when going to a mosque because that is a holy place.
“In my personal opinion, the fine is light but I think it should have gone to the tour operator. We can’t totally blame the tourists,” said the Parti Warisan Sabah youth chief to FMT.
Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin, however, said the fine was reasonable to serve as a reminder to the tourists about their misconduct.
But he agreed that the guide should have been held responsible over the incident.
“We should not blame all tourists just because of a single issue.
“We should practise inclusiveness even though the foreign tourists may not understand our local culture,” the Sabah DAP secretary said
He also urged the mosque management to reconsider the temporary ban it imposed on tourists.
The women — Zhang Na, 25, and Wang Han, 37 — admitted in front of Magistrate Cindy McJuce Balitus yesterday to committing indecent behaviour in a public place by dancing on the perimeter wall of the mosque at 4.30pm last Saturday.
They were fined RM25 or seven days’ jail. They paid the fine and flew back home to China on the same day.
The women were picked up after a police report was lodged following a nine-second video of them dancing on the concrete wall at the mosque went viral.
Azis called on tourism authorities to ensure tour operators were given adequate briefing as it would subsequently be the operators’ responsibility to keep a check on their guests.
He said it was right for the city mosque, which lies within his constituency, to impose a temporary ban, pointing out the management was serious in wanting to make sure there is no repeat of the incident.
“They are sending a message to tourism authorities that this is not tolerable. If everything is sorted out and people abide by the restrictions, I’m sure it will be no problem for them to lift the ban,” he added.
The city mosque banned, on a temporary basis, tourists and all express buses, Grab cars and taxis from coming to the iconic landmark, following the viral video.
Likas assemblyman Tan Lee Fatt said the government should put up signages particularly in Chinese, as there were many Chinese tourists in Sabah.
Sabah deputy chief minister Christina Liew had said previously said her ministry would speak to tourism operators on the issue and would also erect multilingual signposts informing tourists of proper behaviour.
Liew: Tourists won’t be charged for indecent dance at mosque
Sabah condemns ‘disrespectful’ dance by tourists near city mosque