Malaysians Say The Darndest Things!

‘Front Is OK, Back Also OK’ Minister Sued

April 19, 2008

Following the RM100 million dollar suit filed against Khairy Jamaluddin by Anwar Ibrahim for defamation over a homophobic joke, the next person who is being sued is Dr. Wee Ka Siong, the country’s Deputy Education Minister and also MCA Youth Sec-Gen (Btw, why do so many doctors choose to join BN? Aren’t they supposed to be intelligent beings? Sorry, I digressed).

The RM10 million dollar suit was filed after Wee Ka Siong refused to apologize to Anwar over his remarks, as reported by Malaysiakini:

Anwar filed the suit through his counsel Sankara Nair (photo) at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this afternoon and cited Deputy Education Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong as the defendant over the latter’s remark of which was made during the Machap by-election campaign in April last year.

“The whole false notion of sodomy (against Anwar) has to put to an end once and for all.”

“Anybody who unfairly tried to hold attempt to resurrect this vile and concocted falsity will have to face action in court,” the lawyer said when contacted later.

The suit, filed three days after Anwar’s five-year ban from active politics expired, is seen as his effort and readiness to make a comeback to the forefront of the political scene without the alleged sodomy claim continuing to haunt him.

Once heir apparent to ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar was sacked in 1998 and subsequently charged and convicted for sodomy and corruption in which he served a total of 15 years in jail for both offences.

The sodomy conviction was quashed in 2004 upon appeal to the Federal Court and he was freed. By then, he had already completed his six-year jail sentence for corruption.

So what did Wee Ka Siong say?

Wee, the Ayer Hitam MP then and MCA Youth secretary-general, had labelled Anwar as someone who “can say one thing then and something else now. For him, front is okay, back is also okay”.

He was reportedly to have made the remark while addressing several hundred supporters in a mixture of Mandarin and Hakka, a Chinese dialect.

Wee had subsequently told reporters that he was misconstrued and that his remark did not carry the connotation as alleged by Anwar.

Ah, poor Wee. The world misunderstands him. I am not sure how such a statement can be misconstrued, but he tried to explain it away anyway in another earlier report:

“It was taken out of context. There was no (such) connotation,” he told a press conference in Parliament lobby today. Also present was MCA Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai.

“I used a local dialect. I was referring to the difference (in him) between when he was in the government and since he has been out of power. He is too sensitive. These are baseless allegations.

“The words depan (front) and belakang (back) are very common, they can be found in the Kamus Dewan. There are no other connotations.

I guess Wee Ka Siong would rather face a judiciary friendly to the government than apologize to Anwar. Anyway, I am pretty sure if he said “For him, front is okay, back is also okay” in Mandarin or Hakka to a person tainted with a false sodomy conviction, there is no other way to construe it right?

And why is it when MCA politicians say something controversial, they always claim they are misquoted, or misunderstood, or plain taken out of context? Can this tactic be found in MCA’s “Handbook for Handling Press For The Savvy Politician”?

Wee Ka Siong said the darndest things! (And it looks like he has to pay for it).

You Might Find These Interesting

• What Did Khairy Say To Piss Off Anwar
• Mohd Saiful Bukhari Should Make His Blog Relevant
• Did Anwar Perform Sodomy? Some Video Confessions
• Stopping Anwar Ibrahim In Permatang Pauh: #2: The Saiful Bukhari Factor
• Anwar Ibrahim Charged (Quick Thoughts)

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