Gutter politics! Showing pornography on social media or leaking it to news outlets, is a favourite tool that has been used time and again to bring down political opponents in Malaysia.
Gutter politics is also a distraction that serves to take our (and our MPs) attention from more important issues, like rising prices, the economy, the homeless, the environment, the divisions in society and rising crime.
Sex sells in Malaysia
Its use shows that its originators lack imagination. They know that in conservative Malaysia, sex sells.
We may not be able to hold hands in public, but we go wild-eyed over a bit of sleaze on social media.
We censor and blank out images of scantily clad women in books and magazines, but parents have no idea, nor have any control over what their children view on the internet.
We may be known throughout the world as a prudish nation, but our sense of values has been thrown out of proportion.
We do not allow sex education in our schools, because many parents and teachers claim that the information will encourage free sex.
We chastise our women for dressing in skimpy clothing, but on the east coast, which is run along conservative lines, the internet viewing of hard-core porn is the highest in Malaysia.
We treat our children like pampered pooches and yet some of us say nothing when children are married to men, who are old enough to be their grandfathers.
We have successfully passed a bill to lower the voting age to 18, but if one were to reflect on the state of politics in Malaysia, the MPS who use gutter politics are politically immature.
Politicians lust for power
These politicians lust for power and do not mind that they damage the reputations of other people, cause harm to the families of those involved and hurt innocent people, like the wife and children of the person concerned.
The only purpose of gutter politics is to make people question the character of the victim, and consider his suitability for the role he plays in public life. They are defamatory and at the press of a button, the video clip paints the person in a different light. Few will even remember the person’s good points, his achievements or his public service. That is the sole intention of gutter politics, to mislead and misinform voters by painting an inaccurate picture.
Whoever uploaded the video had only one thing in mind; to end the political career of the person in question. He is aware that gutter politics works. In Malaysia, one can rape one’s maid, rape a young child and gang-rape teenagers and probably get away with a rap on the knuckles.
There have been many reports of sexual harassment by those in public office, those who should protect us, like policemen, teachers, senior politicians and those who should know better, like the ulama.
The only sex act that works to bring a politician down
The one sex act that appears to work, to destroy a politician, is buggery. For some reason, that sexual act is more abhorrent than any of the other sexual crimes.
In 2009, Anwar Ibrahim, was charged in the High Court for sodomising his former aide. Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azalan, in 2008. He was again tried in 2010 and 2011 and acquitted in January 2012. However, in March 2014, his acquittal was overturned by the Court of Appeal and he was jailed for five years, after the Federal Court upheld the guilty verdict.
Anwar knows the long protracted battle connected with these convictions. Most people would probably think that what happens between two consenting adults in the bedroom should be between them and not a topic for public consumption or discussion; but this is Malaysia.
So, when will Malaysians change their mindset and demand that our politicians prevent sleaze from dominating our politics and the procedures of parliament?
The IGP has already said that investigating the emergence of this sex video has wasted a lot of police time, and resources. The services of the police are best used to fight crime, and they should not used for political point scoring or settling old, or current, scores.
When will politicians grow up and stop using gutter politics?
They have all let the rakyat down. Our faith and trust in them has hit rock bottom.
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