Bungalow blow up: Time to call a spade a spade
Malaysians should stop and smell the roses along Jalan Pinhorn and accept that the stink of corruption can infiltrate any party or individual
Fa Abdul, Free Malaysia Today
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” said Juliet to Romeo in one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, Romeo and Juliet (Act II, Scene II).
I have faith in the Bard of Avon’s famous phrase – I believe that what matters is what something is, not what it is called – and so a rose would smell lovely no matter what name you give it. Likewise, garbage would stink no matter what moniker it goes by.
Recently, I had a very interesting conversation with a group of people over the Penang Chief Minister’s alleged corruption over his purchase of a house. Most of them voiced total, unreserved support for Lim Guan Eng – even though, when prodded further, I found that their knowledge of the case was limited to what they had seen and read in various news media.
“Why go after Guan Eng when the authorities have no b**ls to go after Najib?” cried one. “The house deal in Jalan Pinhorn is nothing compared to the allegations against the Prime Minister!” thundered another. All in all, their protestations sounded no different from the countless comments I’ve read on social media by supporters of the beleaguered CM.
This is my ‘takeaway’ from the reaction of many Malaysians to the Penang CM’s bungalow controversy: people are a lot more forgiving of members of the Opposition who find themselves embroiled in scandals than members of the government.
