Lim Kit Siang

Gutter politics – utterly disgusting

By P Ramakrishnan Aliran President | 20 October 2011

Resorting to utter gutter politics is akin to swimming in the cesspool without a care. That’s how those faceless pro-Umno bloggers who spun a lie regarding an innocent son to get at the father came across – filthy and smelly.

Not to be out-done, the Umno Youth chief gets into the act with his silly comments. He comes across as no better than the half-baked politicians who are incapable of being logical.

What is disturbing and worrying is the fact that these so-called know-all cheap politicians had picked a fight with a 16-year old teenager who is not capable of defending himself or explaining himself. This is their crude and cowardly way of waging a political battle to disgrace and denigrate the Chief Minister of Penang.

Why can’t these vile politicians take on adversaries who are their equal and prove to the world that they are men of substance?

To traumatise a teenager with blatant lies is doing irreparable damage to someone who is just growing up. This is the period that a teenager can be easily crushed and shaken psychologically to the extent that he may lose all his self-confidence and may not even recover from this trauma.

He may be forced to withdraw into a shell and become an introvert. Worse, he may even view society as an unreasonable, uncaring one hell of a big bully and turn into an anti- social individual. The possibilities are tremendous – all because certain unethical politicians chose to be unscrupulous in wanting to grab power.

It has now been established by the school concerned – SMK Heng Ee – that this boy had not molested any girl in his former school. It has also been established that he was a school prefect and a good student who had elected to be transferred to another school of his choice after completing his PMR. According to his father, he did not want to have a crew-cut as was required by his former school but wanted to keep longer hair. This is understandable and that was the reason for the transfer.

The girl who was alleged to be the victim of sexual molestation was never a student of Heng Ee School. She was never a citizen of Malaysia. She is presently a third-year student at a liberal arts college in the United States.

Yet the perpetrators of this heinous crime had resorted to posting her picture and linking Lim Guan Eng’s son to a criminal activity that never took place. It is these unscrupulous politicians who are a danger to our way of life. They are the scum of our society.

Don’t they have bigger matters to worry about concerning the state of our nation? Shouldn’t they train their sights instead on bigger issues like the looming economic problems arising from the economic meltdown in Europe? Shouldn’t they be concerned about the rapid breakdown of our national unity? Shouldn’t they worry about the religious conflict that is threatening to wreck this nation?

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, also the President of Umno Baru, cannot turn a deaf ear to this unforgiveable episode. Does the Prime Minister of Malaysia approve of such dastardly conduct that demeans an individual unjustly. Does he, as Umno Baru President, condone this despicable act that brings shame to his party? Is his sullen silence due to the fact that he no longer shares the values espoused by the original Umno, which had existed for 42 years before it was destroyed, paving the way for Umno Baru to be established in 1988?

Let’s not forget that it was Umno’s lawyer who argued for Umno to be declared an illegal society. He wouldn’t have done that without the proper advice and mandate from the then president of Umno who happened to be Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In both his capacities – as Prime Minister and President of Umno Baru – Najib owes an explanation to this nation.