By G. Krishnan
Are you keeping track of the slippers being flung so far in the slipper spat that has ensued? I have to admit, a few more of these slippers and I might just lose track of who is partaking in it – not to mention the ‘quality’ of the slipper being flung, by whom, and in which direction!
Mahathir’s most recent confession that the hits he took to his image from the slippers hurled at him from several within Umno itself must surely be one of the unequivocal highlights of this slipper fight. I can only imagine the sheer embarrassment – not to mention utter shock – this must come to those Umno cronies after they apparently flexed their muscles and primed themselves to fling Sukumaran and the MIC with their own political slippers.
Of course this retort by Mahathir about Umno having done more to insult him than Sukumaran’s now famous ‘slipper garland’ comment triggered so many me images and phrases in my mind: Umno hypocrisy, the pot calling the kettle black, blowback, getting burnt, self-inflicted wound, and a stunt that backfired are but just some of the things that came to mind.
In case you’re wondering – yes, I was smiling as I read what Mahathir had to say about the insults by Umno’s lackeys against him. Of course, among other things, this raises the obvious question: where was Mukhriz and his cronies when his father was being insulted by his fellow Umno comrades? Was something else more of a priority to Mukhriz than defending his father when those Umno lackeys were belittling his father? Did he think that the slippers those Umno people were hurling at his daddy did not have soles? Well, according to daddy, sounds like those slippers not only had soles, they were made from some robust leather since they were much more painful for daddy. Perhaps something else was thicker than blood back then, eh Mukhriz? Hmm…. I wonder what it could have been?
Seems as if Mukhriz still has lots of growing up to do, and perhaps daddy can remind him that those who live in a glass house should not throw slippers. But then again, it may not be a bad idea if daddy also took this advise to heart.
Parenthetically, a strange thing happened – somehow I couldn’t find any big splash about Mahathir’s swipe at his Umno comrades’ insults against him in Utusan Malaysia. I wonder why that is. Hmm….