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Malaysia opposition vows to support Anwar after mystery group shows alleged sex video of him

By Julia ZappeiThe Associated Press
22nd March 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s opposition pledged Tuesday to fight allegations that Anwar Ibrahim was filmed having sex with a prostitute, insisting its leader’s troubles won’t fracture his three-party alliance ahead of national elections expected within a year.

A sex video depicting a man believed to resemble Anwar was shown to several Malaysian journalists under mysterious circumstances Monday. It has not been publicly circulated, but opposition officials are scrambling to convince people that it is a plot hatched by the government.

Prime Minister Najib Razak denied authorities made the video, which marks the latest accusation of sexual misconduct confronting Anwar. He is currently on trial on charges he sodomized a 25-year-old male former aide and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Anwar’s top allies held a news conference Tuesday to voice their support for him, claiming the video was simply the latest effort to smear Anwar’s reputation.

“All Malaysians must express their outrage and condemnation that Malaysian politics have reached a new depth of character assassination,” said Lim Kit Siang, a veteran official in the Democratic Action Party. Continue reading “Malaysia opposition vows to support Anwar after mystery group shows alleged sex video of him”

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‘Interlok’ and Our Tragic Reality

by Kee Thuan Chye

I HAVEN’T read Interlok by Abdullah Hussain, but some of those who have, accuse it of racial stereotyping and derogating Chinese and Indian Malaysians while others say it is a novel that calls for inter-racial unity. The interpretations appear so poles apart that one might wonder if they are talking about the same novel.

I suppose how we read it would depend to a considerable extent on our racial background and predispositions. And these have been so coloured by the politicisation of race that has been at the centre of Malaysian life for so long that they will not be easy to shake off. Our biases die hard.

I’m always on the side of literary freedom. If a writer expresses a view that I am vehemently against, I would nonetheless defend his right to say it. At the same time, I would exercise my right to critique it. I believe this is the best approach to any discourse. Even if, in the process, people get offended.
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The prelude to the Battle for Putrajaya

By Thomas Lee

The dissolution of the 71-seat Sarawak legislative state assembly on Monday 21 March 2001 has set the stage for the introductory phrase of the Battle for Putrajaya.

The Sarawak state election is a foreshadow of the battle royale between the Barisan Nasional and its formidable foe Pakatan Rakyat in the impending 13th general election for the control of Putrajaya.

The Sarawak Barisan Nasional is not expected to have an easy time sailing through smoothly in the current state election, unlike almost all previous state elections when it literally had the monopoly of the Sarawakian support.

The alternative Pakatan Rakyat coalition is going all out to cash in on the current revolutionary fervor in Egypt and in almost the wholes region of the Middle East to sound a clarion call to the people of Malaysia for an electoral revolution to oust what it claims to be an oppressive and corrupt regime. And Sarawak will be the acid test on whether the momentum of the March 2008 tsunamic impact is gathering force or losing steam in its march to Putrajaya.
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