It’s that time of year again, when we take stock of what had happened in the past 12 months, and hopefully be able to look forward to a better 12 months ahead.
Here in our beloved Malaysia, there are many things to be thankful for in the past 12 months. Despite the irritations and problems we face, we are still a peaceful country. We can still carry on making a living without too much fuss. And our food is still among the best in the world (so there, Singapore!)
But then, to get a more well-rounded picture of the year that was in our country, we can’t just look at the Good, we also have to look at the Bad and the Ugly. So we bring you what we think is the year’s Top Ten WTF Moments in Malaysian Politics.
#10. Malaysian Politicians’ Favourite Party Game: Truth or Dare!
A Google search of “DAP dares” lists 6 articles on page 1, all with headlines about DAP making a statement daring someone to do something or other in 2014!
DAP lady dares Hadi’s son-in-law to debate
DAP dares IGP to propose revival of IPCMC
DAP dares Nancy Shukri to speak out against A-G
Oppose Umno on Sedition Act, DAP dares MCA, Gerakan
Make MACC, public contract transparent, DAP dares govt
Quit BN, DAP dares SUPP, MCA and Gerakan
A Google search of “UMNO dares” lists ANOTHER 6 articles on page 1, with MORE dares made by politicians!
Tell Selangor to change no ‘Allah’ state law, Umno minister dares non-Muslims
Resign if I can prove my allegations, Umno man dares Guan Eng
Guan Eng dares Umno to prove illegal businesses thrive in Penang
Guan Eng dares Umno to sack those who caused ruckus at assembly
Debate 1MDB at assembly, Teresa Kok dares Umno
Oppose Umno on Sedition Act, DAP dares MCA, Gerakan
A Google search of “PAS dares” turns up 4 articles on page 1, with politicians daring each other too!
Show proof I was bought, Selangor PAS rep dares Hadi
PAS dares Barisan to call for assembly meet to prove it has majority
Show proof of oil royalty claims, DPM dares PAS
Fight like a man, PAS Kelantan info chief dares Umno
We could go on and on, but why don’t you join in the fun too! Just get a few friends or family members together, key in any politician’s name into google followed by the word “dare”. Take turns searching and see how many results you can each come up with!
The winner gets to have a good laugh at the schoolboy taunts our politicians are so fond of. Or maybe we should all be crying that we have children claiming to be our leaders.
#9. May 2014, The Terengganu Political Almost-Crisis
On May 11, UMNO suddenly announced that Ahmad Razif would take over from Ahmad Said as Terengganu MB. On May 12, Ahmad Razif was sworn in as the new MB. Hours later, Ahmad Said declared that he was quitting UMNO. This was quickly followed by 2 more UMNO State Assemblymen declaring themselves as “independents”. More were expected to follow.
Terengganu was facing a political crisis as BN had lost the majority in the State Assembly. But all’s well that ends well. Within 2 days, all the rebel UMNO reps were all smiles as they announced their return to the UMNO fold.
So what had sparked the almost-crisis? Apparently Ahmad Said was pissed that he couldn’t remain the MB until after his daughter got married. But Najib made it up to him in the end by glamming up the wedding ceremony with his presence.
Awww….
#8. February 2014, Teresa Kok Gets A Chicken Sacrifice
It all started with a Chinese New Year video that Teresa Kok starred in. The video entitled “Onederful Malaysia”, was a political satire that featured some sharp jibes on local issues.
(Watch at your own risk. People have been arrested over this video.)
Of course, this didn’t sit well with some people and the backlash came quickly. Government ministers, ruling party members and government supporters condemned Teresa Kok for allegedly insulting Islam, the Malays and the royal institution of Malaysia (although they never explained exactly how it was insulting).
(Source: The Star Online)
(For an outraged person, the fellow on the far right sure looks happy.)
Teresa Kok denied that the video was intended to insult anyone and it was all done in good fun. But detractors were having none of that. Several loud protests were held condemning Teresa Kok, the video and DAP. Dozens of police reports were made against her.
Perhaps the most grotesque protest came in the form of a dead chicken. The deceased bird was unceremoniously thrown on the steps leading to her service center and red paint was splashed on the walls. The foul deed was done in the darkness of night when no one was around, so no one knew who the culprit was.
(Source: FMT)
Netizens were outraged that an innocent animal’s life had been sacrificed. But there was no stopping the protests against Teresa Kok. The onslaught continued for weeks with senior politicians and ministers hurling accusations at her.
She was eventually charged for Sedition over the video but was let off after the Home Ministry admitted there was nothing wrong with the video.
(Even in death, the chicken – and Teresa Kok – could find no peace. Picture from Malaysiakini)
#7. May 2014, RSN Rayer Rubs UMNO The Wrong Way
(Source: rakyatnews.my)
During a debate in the Penang State Assembly, DAP’s RSN Rayer called some UMNO members “celaka“. He was apparently referring to three assemblymen who had alleged that DAP started the May 13 riots.
Despite a polite and reasonable rebuke by the State Opposition leader, Rayer refused to apologise for his rudeness. This caused a massive uproar. A rowdy protest was staged by Perkasa and several Penang UMNO members. They crashed through the state assembly gates and stormed into the state assembly hall, demanding an apology from Rayer under threat of physical harm.
Over in KL, the FT UMNO Youth held a protest outside DAP’s HQ, threatening to burn down the building. The protest turned a bit violent when a few youths tore down the DAP signboard. FT UMNO Youth chief Mohd Razlan Rafii also tore up a memorandum and threw it at a DAP MP.
Throughout the months of uproar, and despite having a cow head dumped at his house, Rayer steadfastly refused to apologise for his remarks, claiming he was channeling the spirit of Karpal Singh. (Seriously, this dude is comparing himself to the Tiger of Jelutong? Sheesh!)
And what was the political upside to all this? Your guess is as good as ours.
#6. April 2014, PAS Pays The Price For Hudud Bill
(Source: FMT)
In April, PAS suddenly declared its intent to table a Private Members Bill in Parliament to implement hudud law in Kelantan, much to the dismay of its Pakatan partners. With ties already strained by sharp disputes over the Kajang Move and the MB crisis, PAS’ unexpected announcement put its partners on the back move and scrambling to find a defensive political position.
Although it was not expected that the BN dominated House would approve a PAS sponsored Bill, BN’s Muslim MPs were caught in a bind – should they or shouldn’t they support PAS’ effort? This dilemma spilled over to all Muslim politicians. Ordinary Muslim folks were also caught up in the controversy. There seems to be no end in sight in the argument over “hudud or no hudud”?
Hudud has now become the most divisive political issue in Malaysia, not just among Pakatan parties, but also within the BN parties and even Malaysians of all races, whether they support BN or PR.
In their eagerness to score political brownie points, PAS has apparently chopped themselves in the foot!
#5. December 2014, Me: Hero, You: Bastard – Ibrahim Ali
(Source: MMO)
“I declare myself hero to Islam and Malays in Malaysia,” said Ibrahim at Perkasa’s 2014 annual convention. He also declared UMNO politicians as “bastards”.
‘Nuff said.
#4. July 2014, Minister Bans Feeding The Poor in KL
(Source: TMI)
On July 2, FT Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor declared that mobile kitchens that fed the poor and homeless in KL would be fined if they did not move out of the city center within the week. He also said that such NGOs could not operate within a 2km radius of the Lot 10 shopping centre, in the heart of the city’s Golden Triangle.
This pissed off Malaysians of all stripes who could not grasp the government’s concept that selfless charities should be slammed with legal action for doing some good for people living in shitty circumstances.
Despite many attempts over the next few weeks to explain and justify the ban, the policy – and the politicians who backed it – was soundly condemned. Ku Nan and his apologists were vilified and were eventually forced to back down.
The upside? Just months after telling soup kitchens to close down and calling the homeless “lazy”, Ku Nan tweeted that he was walking the streets of KL and talking to the homeless to understand their needs.
Awww….
#3. November 2014, Sedition Act Screeching U-turn
In the run-up to the General Elections in 2013, Najib repeatedly promised to repeal the Sedition Act and to replace it with a National Harmony Act. This was good news to many people and helped seal Najib’s reputation as a serious reformer.
However, after winning the elections, the promised laws to replace the Sedition Act never came about despite Najib’s insistence that it was DEFINITELY going to happen soon. In fact, in the year and a half after winning the elections, the number of people – activists, writers, politicians, academicians, and ordinary folks – who were investigated and charged under the Sedition Act spiked dramatically.
All illusions were finally shattered when Najib announced during the UMNO General Assembly in November 2014 that the Sedition Act would not only be retained, it will be amended to increase its already near-limitless scope of powers.
After making the shock announcement, Najib noted that, “The BN government, and UMNO, is one that fulfils its promises.” (Presumably, he said this with a straight face.)
#2. January 2014: PM Gets Fried Over Kangkung Statement
In a speech defending the government’s handling of the economy, Prime Minister Najib made a fateful complaint to his audience in Kemaman, Terengganu:
“People are complaining that the prices of vegetables keep going up. There are times when the prices will go up or down. Today, I read in the papers that the price of kangkung has come down. Why doesn’t the government get praised for it? This is not fair!”
Already grappling with spiralling costs of fuel, electricity, food, and essential goods, Malaysian netizens were quick to respond.
The world watched in awe as Malaysians created dozens of memes, Youtube MVs and other ridiculous parodies impaling the PM, which furiously ricocheted around social media, within just a couple of days. It became such hot news that it was picked up by the BBC, who published a piece called “Be careful what you say about spinach”.
(Videos of Najib’s infamous kangkung statement spread like fire at a napalm storage facility)
Najib tried to defend his statements amidst the merciless onslaught. But hell has no fury like enraged Malaysian netizens. The acidic ridicule being hurled at the hapless PM continued for weeks, and eventually spilled out of cyberspace into the real world. Kangkung-themed t-shirts, stickers, posters and other junk were being promoted. The Opposition even held kangkung-themed political protests, where bunches of the vegetable were fed to a giant caricature of the PM.
#1. March 2014, The “Kajang Move”
This is probably the Single Most Epic Mother Of All SNAFUs in Malaysian political history, completely eclipsing all other epic political SNAFUs – whether on the Barisan or Pakatan side.
In January 2014, PKR’s director of strategy announced the “Kajang Move”, a move to remove Khalid Ibrahim as the Selangor MB and install Anwar Ibrahim instead. In a blog post, Rafizi explained that although Khalid’s “sterling” performance had set the “gold standard” for government administration, Anwar was needed to fend off some (alleged) dastardly political machinations by UMNO.
For 2 months, Selangorians were sold on the idea that Anwar was the Chosen One to save Selangor from UMNO’s devilish plans (presumably, at this time, UMNO was chillin’ out as PKR exposed its devious blueprint to retake Selangor). The brilliant “Kajang Move” was designed to turn the tables on UMNO and launch Pakatan to Putrajaya (presumably, at this time, UMNO was taking copious notes of PKR’s very public plans for the Great Putrajaya Conquest)
And then, the Ringling Brothers came to town.
The opening act was The Greatest Sleight-Of-Hand Show In The World: In March, PKR’s Kajang rep suddenly resigned. Anwar denied that he would contest the seat and a few days later announced that he was the sole Pakatan candidate for the seat.
Then Anwar denied that he would be replacing Khalid as MB, even though Kajang Move was announced as a plan to replace Khalid with Anwar.
Shortly after that, Anwar affirms that he MIGHT be replacing Khalid. (wink, wink, eh!)
Then Anwar’s sodomy appeal was suddenly bumped up for mention at the Court of Appeal. A “guilty” verdict was quickly delivered and Anwar was fined RM5000, disqualifying him from contesting in Kajang. After some fretting and wringing of hands, Wan Azizah was quickly pushed forward as the replacement candidate for the Kajang by-election (who may or may not be the next MB).
As the move to kick Khalid out of office picked up steam in July, the 3-ring circus acts truly began.
(Source: FMT)
In the first ring was The Greatest (Non)Puppet Show In The World: Wan Azizah openly states that she does not want to be MB and was only taking the post on her husband’s instructions, while at the same time insisting that she was becoming MB on her own will but she was not interested in the post.
Wan Azizah’s anointing as the new MB-in-waiting drew criticisms that she would be Anwar’s “remote control” proxy. But she denied that she would be Anwar’s puppet, while in the same breath saying Anwar would absolutely be her “consultant and advisor”. (Somehow, this made absolute sense to a lot of people at the time.)
In the second ring was The Greatest Spinning Act In The World: A fierce anti-Khalid campaign was launched by his PKR colleagues. From being the “gold standard”, Khalid was now being attacked for (among other things) the Kidex Highway, the Selangor water deal, the Bible confiscation by JAIS, his RM66 million settlement with Bank Islam, and a controversial land deal involving Eco World. Underpinning all these allegations was the insinuation that massive corruption was involved on Khalid’s part.
DAP had also made the Great U-Turn with PKR. Tony Pua went from praising Khalid as “extremely honest and hardworking” to insinuating that Khalid was incompetent, or even corrupt. In 2013, Lim Guan Eng had declared unequivocal support for Khalid as MB for leading Pakatan to a landslide election victory. Barely a year later, the Penang CM was calling Khalid a selfish liar.
In the third ring was The Greatest Tug Of War In The World: The campaign to remove Khalid as MB really heated up in July. Between the months of July and September, a bitter tug of war over the MB post was held between Khalid and his PKR detractors. The people watched in dismay as the power struggle within PKR spilled over to involve other Pakatan parties. Many ugly accusations were hurled at Khalid and especially his supporters from PAS, straining the Pakatan ties to the maximum.
In the battle between Khalid and Wan Azizah for the MB post, too many things had happened and too many statements had been made during this period to be listed down here. Backstabbings, u-turns, wild speculations, character assassinations, backroom deals. Everything you loved about House of Cards was being played out in Selangor. But in the end, it all worked out well.
Because the closing act was The Greatest Switcheroo Act In The World: While everyone was busy spilling political blood, THIS guy was quietly making some backroom deals.
The upside? Azmin finally got the job he had always wanted.
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