UPDATED UK chess champion Anya Sun Corke has issued a statement denying she ever met the 16-year-old son of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, conveying at the same time her sympathies to the boy "who was defamed by these baseless allegations".
Anya's international standing and her anger at being used by "scurrilous and unfounded rumours” spread by the Umno blogs are a slap in the face for Prime Minister Najib Razak's party, which is also Malaysia's ruling party.
"This is no laughing matter. Umno and Najib have once again brought shame to the country. They should not be allowed to continue ruling Malaysia," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.
Umno shames not only itself but Malaysia
Umno blogs including the one operated by Bukit Gelugor division chief Novandri Hasan had posted Anya's photo side-by-side with Guan Eng's 16-year-old son. They accused the boy of having molested Anya, and this was why he was being transferred out from the Heng Yee school in Penang to the St Xavier's. Their objective was to hurt and discredit Guan Eng, the DAP secretary-general who is hugely popular with the Penangites, and the main stumbling block to their regaining control of Penang.
“I have never met or even heard of any of the people involved. I have never been physically assaulted in any way. I have never been victimised in any way by this boy or his family," Anya said in her statement.
“The only way in which my ‘modesty was outraged’ has been by the publication of my picture in connection with these scurrilous and unfounded rumours.”
The 21-year-old chess grandmaster is currently an undergraduate at the at Wellesley College in the US. Anya is a Woman Grandmaster and among the top chess players from Hong Kong. She is currently playing for England and the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 Hong Kong National Champion (for men and women).
Anya also said in her statement that she has not visited Malaysia for 7 years, expressing shock, dismay and bafflement as to how her photo could be used in such a manner without her knowledge and consent.
“I would also like to express my sympathies to the boy who was defamed by these baseless allegations. Last but not least, I hope that members of the public and the Malaysian media will respect my privacy and refrain from making unsolicited contact with me and my family, college, chess federation, and any other affiliation,” she said.
What Anya does not know
Obviously Anya does not know about Malaysia's ruling party's predilection for sex.
It began in 1998, when former premier Mahathir Mohamad pressed internationally-condemned sodomy charges against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to stop his political rise. Despite the harm it did to the country and that it was apparent to all, the charges were fabricated by his camp, Mahathir persisted as his goal was not to benefit Malaysia or Umno but to jail and destroy Anwar.
Indeed, Mahathir's ruthless conduct revealed he only had one motive - to remain in political power.
The same happened again in 2008, when current prime minister Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor were accused of following Mahathir's bad example and rehashing his plot to 'hang' Anwar on the same sort of charges and for the same reason - political survival.
Revenge the final motivation
In the past three years, gutter politicking has intensified as other Umno warlords - knowing they are on the losing end - go all out to use sex to draw disgust for their political rivals. They ignore the public outcry or the fact that they may be attracting a bad name for themselves and the country.
Revenge and the wish to tar and destroy seems to be uppermost in their minds.
"There is no explanation, their behavior does not make any sense at all. The sodomy cases were terrible, the Datuk T sex scandal was beyond imagination and using Anya was plain stupid," said Jui Meng.
"All this is complete madness and it is dangerous because Umno is pushing the message that as long as the attacks are against PKR, DAP or PAS, it doesn't matter whether it is illegal or immoral. Just do it, that is their perverse thinking these days and it has reached a point where Malaysians should not tolerate it anymore. Desperate or not, Umno must take responsibility."
The point of no return
Indeed, many Umno leaders may have reached the point of no return. They have stubbornly persisted, with Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin the latest to justify the use of sex against Guan Eng's son.
The Oxford graduate with two young sons of his own could not differentiate why it was wrong to falsely tar a 16-year-old with a lifelong stigma of being a sex maniac via the use of fabricated pictures, compared with photos leaked onto the Internet but valid and untouched showing the young adult sons of several Umno Cabinet ministers lapping up the luxurious high life with their girlfriends.
Fortunately, not all Umno leaders agreed with Khairy.
“If it is not true, then police must take action against the bloggers. The party should also take action against Dr Novandri,” said Kinabatangan MP Bung Mokhtar Radin.
"Firstly, before you make allegations against anybody, check first. I would like to call upon all politicians, both from the Government and opposition – to leave the children out of politics,” said Umno Women's chief Shahrizat Jalil.
Perhaps it is time for the Umno Supreme Council to rein in their errant politicos, beginning with their president Najib Razak.
Since appointed the prime minister in April 2009, he has disgraced Malaysia on many fronts including his personal corruption and sex scandal, not to mention his high-handed bullying of a citizens march for free and fair elections that earned not only direct rebuke from the US and the UN Human Rights Commission, but also indirect criticism from Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
Malaysia Chronicle
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