The power of sex in Malaysian politics

In devil-worship, sex rituals and sex orgies are the norm while in the realm of orthodox religion, marriage sanctifies sex.

For good or for evil, sex is a powerful tool indeed. Therefore, in the political arena, sex can be used and will be used to topple one's enemies.

Sex scandals can destroy a politician's career because according to public perception, a politician must be morally upright as he is upheld as a leader and a role model. Thus, if he has a sex scandal, he is considered immoral and must resign from his post with immediate effect.

Profumo and Monica Lewinsky

Over the years, there have been a number of famous political sex scandals around the world, for instance, the Profumo affair at the height of the Cold War in the early 60s.

It was in Britain in 1963 when John Profumo the Secretary of State for War had an affair with Christine Keeler, who was said to be the mistress of an alleged Russian spy. When the affair came to light, he was questioned about it in Parliament but he lied. He was later found out and was subsequently forced to resigned.

The Prime Minister at that time, Harold Macmillan also resigned a few months later due to ill health, perhaps hastened by the cloud of scandal caused by what is now widely known as the Profumo affair.

Across the Atlantic, in the late 1990s there was another affair which also grabbed the world's headlines in all the newspapers. This was known as Monica-gate, named after Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern who was reported to have had an extra-marital affair with United States President Bill Clinton of the Democratic Party.

Subsequently, there was an investigation resulting in the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives.

However, President Clinton was acquitted on all impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in a 21-day Senate Trial. Although he remained largely unscathed, his image took a beating and after that the Presidency returned to the hands of the Republicans.

More recently though, as recent as this month actually, a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2011, Anthony David Weiner had to resign on June 16, 2011 after it came to light that he had sent sexually explicit photographs of himself to several women via social media and text messages before and during his marriage although at first he denied doing so.

MIC's Vijandran

Here in Malaysia, in the late 1980s, there was the case of the Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, DP Vijandran who had been featured in several pornographic video tapes.

In January 1989, about a month after the news had made headlines in the local papers, the Attorney-General at that time, Abu Talib Othman had ordered the police to destroy 11 video tapes and 4 envelopes containing photographs and negatives belonging to Vijandran - and with Vijandran's consent. This caused an outcry among members of the public who accused the government of wanting to cover-up evidence pertaining to the whole matter.

It has been argued in legal circles that the Attorney-General had overstepped the boundaries of his authority when he ordered the evidence to be destroyed but no action was taken against him.

Also, there was the fact that the content of these tapes were pornographic. As no one has denied that, many members of the public queried why the owner was not charged for being in possession of pornographic material.

Vijandran then went on long leave and subsequently faded into political obscurity.

MCA's Chua Soi Lek

Closer to recent times, it was MCA president Chua Soi Lek who was caught in the web of political sex scandal after he was secretly filmed having sex on DVD. He was the Health Minister at that time. Right bang on New Year's Day, January 1, 2008, Chua admitted that he was the 'man in the tape'.

Prior to that, someone had circulated the DVDs of him in Johor. These tapes showed him having sex with a young woman whom he described as a 'personal friend'. It is widely believed that someone had installed wireless hidden cameras in the hotel suite that he booked for the sexual liaison.

On 2nd January 2008 at a press conference, he formally announced his resignation from all posts, i.e. MP of Labis, Minister of Health and vice-resident of MCA. Chua blamed his political enemies for engineering his downfall via the sex DVDs.

However, in the second half of 2008 he returned to active politics by winning the Batu Pahat division chairman's post uncontested. In March 2010, he returned to mainstream politics by contesting and winning the MCA presidency in a 3-cornered fight against Ong Tee Keat and Ong Ka Ting.

This was certainly a high point in Chua's political career but it also marked a low point in the morality of MCA politics. While MCA members and many Malaysians rightly agreed Cha deserved a second chance as he had behaved honorably by admitting it was him and resigning to take responsibility, he did not follow through on the moral path.

If he had done so, it would have been difficult for his enemies to attack him based on the DVD, but Chua went from bad to worse. He began to unsavory political tactics, such as religious bigotry against the Islamist PAS and many of his calls to the Chinese community smacked of chauvinism and even racsim.

Therefore, when enemies both within and outside MCA, referred to his tainted past, it was only too easy for public favour to turn against him. Chua did not cherish or sufficiently value the second political life he was given and he now stands on the verge of being kicked out into the cold once more.

Favourite weapon of the UMNO elite

Sex as a tool is indeed a powerful weapon enabling one's enemies to be toppled.

In 1998, the whole world was shocked by Malaysia's Sodomy I saga. The then Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim was put on trial and convicted on what were manifestly trumped-up charges of sodomy and corruption.

Anwar was in prison for six years until 2004 when he was acquitted of the sodomy charges. Many believed that the trial was a sham, fabricated by ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad to stop Anwar's phenomenal rise and prevent him from becoming prime minister.

In the ongoing Sodomy II trial, there are many similarities with the first. In both cases, the complainants were found out to have lied by Anwar's team of top-notch lawyers and in both instances the trials were still allowed to go on. In both cases, the Attorney-General and the trial judge were the villains of the piece as it was obvious that they were acting according to script.

Otherwise, both cases would have been thrown out and Anwar discharged without his defence being called. To his supporters, Sodomy I and II were engineered by dark, invisible forces hellbent on stopping Anwar from coming to power.

Datuk T and Mat Sabu

Apart from the sodomy cases which Anwar has attributed to Mahathir's doing as well as to Prime Minister Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor, a sex video tape was revealed in a most incredible manner in late March this year.

This time, 3 UMNO members with links to the highest echelon in the party confessed to screening a tape that featured a man resembling Anwar having sex with a female prostitute. From male to female, and that, according to pundits indicates the length and breadth Anwar's enemies are willing to traverse in order to stop him.

This sex video is still being distributed via snail mail and it is amazing that the Datuk T Trio who showed the tape to a group of journalists have yet to be charged in a court of law for illegally displaying pornography in public.

Anwar's enemies are still dragging on the sex video issue in the hope of tarnishing his image further before the general election is held, widely expected to be within months.

Besides Anwar, the latest victim of sex ploys is none other than the newly-minted deputy president of PAS, Mohamad Sabu. The story of his so-called sex scandal is being circulated via CDs. In the mid 1990s, Mat Sabu was caught for committing khalwat (close proximity), but was fully acquitted by the Kota Bharu Syariah or Islamic Court in 1995.

Altantuya and Ziana Zain

But it is in UMNO itself, that the great majority of these sexual imbroglios have occurred. However, being the ruling party, it has managed to prevent the 'shit from hitting the fan', so to speak.

Back in the 60, one of the first Cabinet ministers forced to resign after he was caught with his mistress came from UMNO. Former premier Abdullah Badawi is also known to like draping his arms and hands around the ladies he meets. And there were many more in his Cabinet who were guilty of much worse.

A high-flying mentri besar was even charged for raping an underage girl and recently a Cabinet minister was accused of raping his maid.

In the 90s, none other than PM Najib himself was allegedly caught in a hotel room with sex-bomb starlet Ziana Zain. Photos were taken and the UMNO grapevine has it that these are still in the hands of a former Negri Sembilan chief minister.

More recently, Najib was accused of having an affair with Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu. So sordid was this affair that there were even references to anal sex and most tragically, the 28-year old and allegedly pregnant Altantuya ended up murdered in Malaysia in 2006. She was shot in the head and blown up with military C4 explosives by two former former bodyguards of Najib's and wife Rosmah's.

In 2011, sex will remain the highlight of the Malaysian political scene, not only in Kuala Lumpur but elsewhere in the world too.

This is not surprising as 2011 is the year of the Rabbit and the Rabbit is the symbol of the sex and reproductive organs in Chinese astrology.

- Malaysia Chronicle