The fart-ology of it all
Scene 1:
A politician farted loudly while making a pre-election campaign speech. Unabashed, he smiled and even giggled, and the news media subsequently reported his audience roared with laughter.
He was said to have quipped: “I had a hearty breakfast, a blessing of Allah swt who allowed me to be born in this wonderful country of plenty. But I must tell my dearest wife to cut down on the beans.”
Again, the news reported the reaction of the crowd as favourable, with the applause deafening.
Scene 2:
A politician farted loudly while making a pre-election campaign speech. Embarrassed, he smiled and even giggled, and the news media subsequently reported his audience roared with disgust.
He was said to have quipped: “I had a hearty breakfast, a blessing of Allah swt who allowed me to have such a wonderful wife who prepared the great meal for me, but I must tell my dearest one to cut down on the beans.”
Again, the news reported the reaction of the crowd was of total disgust, with the booing deafening.
Yes, of course they were from opposite side of the fence, and the news media reporting on the two incidents was known to be highly partisan. Irrespective of the actual reaction of each crowd, the one-sided and highly biased reporting was already determined, to boost the picture of the former and demonize the latter. It’s politics at its dirtiest.
Last year, DAP ADUN M Manoharan called for a redesign of the Malaysian flag because it looks too much like the flag of the USA. In fact, Manoharan was very careful in his proposal not to undo the crucial core of our flag, stating “The jalur (stripes) need to be changed. The red and white is causing a lot of confusion. I think the star, crescent and royal yellow should be maintained.”
Despite his harmless (in fact constructive) proposal, low brow Muhyiddin Yassin jumped on him and condemned the ADUN for showing disrespect to (what Muhyiddin termed as) our ‘national heritage’.
Australian flag |
one of proposed new Aus flags showing only the Southern Cross (stars), minus the British Union Jack in the canton |
… that by poor Karpal Singh who is now facing sedition trial for quoting a right, ironically made available by Dr Mahathir’s constitutional amendment in 1993.
What’s good for the goose is, unfortunately in Malaysia, certainly not for the gander.
So today we see Nurul Izzah caught offside by her very innocent naive statement about freedom to follow a religion, undoubtedly addressed more to non-Muslims more than anyone. But regardless of the exact words she had said or her intended target audience, it’s a wonderful ‘heaven-sent-come’ opportunity for UMNO to excoriate her, and accuse her of apostasy.
And like a Bulldog holding on to a piece of bone in its mouth, UMNO won’t let go (at least for a while).
I’m afraid she’s on her own because daddy has been remarkably silent on her naive slip-up. But she’ll survive.