Malaysia acting up again

[aelf]

Or has it never stopped?

Malaysian politician offers to quit over nude photos

A prominent Malaysian opposition politician tearfully offered her resignation Tuesday after photos of her in the nude were circulated to the media.

Elizabeth Wong, one of Malaysia's top human rights activists, blamed government "gutter politics" for the release of the images, which reportedly show her sleeping in her bedroom.

Newspaper reports have speculated that the images may have been taken by a former boyfriend.

"I wish to state that I am not ashamed of my sexuality as a woman and a single person. I have broken no laws. I stand by the fundamental principle in a democracy that everyone has a right to privacy," she told a press conference.

The photographs, which are circulating via mobile phone but have not yet been published in the media, have caused a political storm in Malaysia, which is a conservative and predominantly Muslim country.

"I believe that these attacks will continue with greater intensity," Wong said, adding that Barisan Nasional and the ruling party UMNO would "continue to manipulate the situation."

"Accordingly I have decided to make a stand in the interests of the party and its struggle for the people," she said, as a group of supporters holding flowers and banners yelled their support.

Wong, a bespectacled 37-year-old who is not married, is a well-known member of the multiracial Keadilan party led by Anwar Ibrahim, who helms the three-member Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance.

She has won support from both sides of the political divide, including from women in the Barisan Nasional coalition and the Pakatan Rakyat.

But there have also been calls for her to quit her seat in the Selangor state assembly, which the opposition won for the first time in general elections a year ago.

"She is a single person. How can she allow a man into her room when they are not married? What's the status of the relationship," said Mohamad Khir Toyo, the former Barisan Nasional chief minister of Selangor.

Keadilan officials said on condition of anonymity that the party feared other more compromising pictures may emerge unless Wong stands down.

However, Anwar did not immediately accept Wong's resignation, saying the state lawmaker had been asked to take a break and that the matter would be considered later.

"We asked her to rethink her options," he told reporters at parliament. "I am angry. I am personally disgusted with this kind of gutter politics by UMNO."

But he said he did not think this was the end of Wong's career.

"I don't believe so. She is a tough lady," he said.

Link

Seriously, the politics there is disgusting. Now they are going to whip up conservative Malay outrage at the fact that a woman politician was photographed sleeping naked, probably without her knowledge.

And since when do conservative Muslim ideas apply to her? What she does with her boyfriend is her business, since she's not Muslim and not liable to be arrested by the religious police.

To be fair, this kind of stuff probably happens elsewhere too. But I guess with all the hoo-ha about sharia right now, this is quite relevant. I think people can have sharia law or whatever if they want, but they must not apply it to members of other communities and they must not forget this, even when making non-legal judgments.

This is also an indication of the sorry state of democracy there. Notice that she is an opposition politician and human rights activist. Double trouble where the government is concerned. And the ruling party has been playing racial politics since the beginning, and they are not afraid to use dirty tactics to play up racial elements either to give themselves an advantage or to destroy opposition. Goes to show that just because some country is overtly democratic doesn't mean it really is that democratic. Malaysia is a virtual apartheid.

 

[Camikaze]

That's just ridiculous.

 

[Winner]

This is also an indication of the sorry state of democracy there. Notice that she is an opposition politician and human rights activist. Double trouble where the government is concerned. And the ruling party has been playing racial politics since the beginning, and they are not afraid to use dirty tactics to play up racial elements either to give themselves an advantage or to destroy opposition. Goes to show that just because some country is overtly democratic doesn't mean it really is that democratic. Malaysia is a virtual apartheid.

100% agreed.

 

[Munch]

Wow, for shame.

 

[amadeus]

If I was a Chinese Malaysian, I think I'd pack up my bags and head for Singapore.

 

[hossam]

pics?

tenchars.

 

[aelf]

pics?

You don't want to see it.

 

[Mise]

That's quite sickening

If this is happening to a prominent politician, I can only imagine what is happening to normal women trying to carry on their everyday lives.

 

[general_kill]

If I was a Chinese Malaysian, I think I'd pack up my bags and head for Singapore.

Yea, that seems like a great idea. I really cannot believe that happened, I mean can you imagine Republicans posting nude pictures of Hilary to bring her down?

Singapore rocks though, it's like a beacon of light over there. I'd love to visit it one day.

 

[Mise]

*cough* There were reported nudes of Sarah Palin but they turned out to be fake *cough*

 

[Yeekim]

The photographs, which are circulating via mobile phone but have not yet been published in the media, have caused a political storm in Malaysia, which is a conservative and predominantly Muslim country.

We get it, Pannonius, you hate M... oh wait...

 

[aelf]

Singapore rocks though, it's like a beacon of light over there. I'd love to visit it one day.

Beacon of light of what, though?

 

[ThERat]

ey, sorry, we got no more space, Singapore full already....and it's btw no beacon of light...of course compared to Malaysia it might be...

 

[aelf]

ey, sorry, we got no more space, Singapore full already....and it's btw no beacon of light...of course compared to Malaysia it might be...

Yeah, getting unbearably full. I wonder how the government is going to deal with the challenge of infrastructure being increasingly unable to support the population. Maybe the new train lines will help.

 

[Arwon]

Malaysia is a... quirky country, but I'm not sure this is a Muslim specific thing in this part of the world. Would this really go down that differently with an opposition politician in Singapore? By all accounts it's also a pretty conservative and puritanical place.

 

[aelf]

Malaysia is a... quirky country, but I'm not sure this is a Muslim specific thing in this part of the world. Would this really go down that differently with an opposition politician in Singapore? By all accounts it's also a pretty conservative and puritanical place.

Perhaps. But it won't acquire the mob mentality dimension that colours such a situation in Malaysia. In the latter, there will be... violent passions generated by this as it buys into the racial and religious politics. There'll be sentiments about Chinese pigs and immoral heathens, who are there to take away Malay special rights and erode the country's morality, blah blah. All these might not be spoken out loud or so clearly, but the undertone is there.

 

[Arwon]

Yeah. Those AA laws are a bit out of date, they've done their job and they're causing trouble now.

Just wanted to be clear that this ain't a OMG MUSLIMS thing, though, since that's what Yeekim was on about. Many non-Islamic Asian cultures are similarly conservative and puritanical over sex.

 

[Ramius75]

ey, sorry, we got no more space, Singapore full already....and it's btw no beacon of light...of course compared to Malaysia it might be...

no, i welcome anyone who wants to migrate to singapore except fundamentalist.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Yeah. It's a very enlightened country, and Singapore is a shining beacon of hypocritical reactionary justice:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_Drugs_Act_(Singapore)

The Misuse of Drugs Act is a national drug control law classifying substances into three categories, Classes A, B, and C. Section 44 provides that "The Minister may, by an order published in the Gazette" add, remove, or transfer drugs among the classes. The statute's penal provisions are draconian by most nations' standards, providing for long terms of imprisonment, caning, and capital punishment. The law creates a presumption of trafficking for certain threshold amounts, e.g. 30 grams of cannabis. It also creates a presumption that a person possesses drugs if he possesses the keys to a premises containing the drugs, and that "Any person found in or escaping from any place or premises which is proved or presumed to be used for the purpose of smoking or administering a controlled drug shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been smoking or administering a controlled drug in that place or premises." Thus, it is dangerous to even be in the company of drug users. The law also allows officers to search premises and individuals, without a search warrant, if he "reasonably suspects that there is to be found a controlled drug or article liable to seizure". Moreover, Section 31 allows officers to demand urinalysis of suspected drug offenders.

So, for me at least, the surprise factor in this story is zero.

 

[Fayadi]

Which is why Singaporean teenagers are less exposed to drugs than American teenagers or other nation's teenagers?


Even though this policy is not perfect. It is yielding results. Care to elaborate what are the better alternative?

Illegal drugs are harmful to the society. It destroy people's life.

Drug-trafficker, are like terrorists. They don't play by the rules and are very good at concealing their activities. Conventional law method is not enough to severely cripple their activities. If the policy is achieving results, I am not sure how you would highlight it as bad.