The wise warn that if a person finds himself going deeper into a hole, he should cease digging. And it would be wise for our home minister, who is now somewhere close to the earth's core, to heed this advice and put down the shovel.
Then again, the dictionary's definition of the term "wise" makes it an impossible task for even the most accomplished of writers to use the word in the same sentence with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a positive sense.
And his recent verbal tirade against aMalaysiakinijournalist lends credence to this.
The incident also served as a stark reminder of how important ministerial portfolios are being entrusted to the hands of those who happen to be the human equivalent of a dodo bird. No offence to the memory of the extinct flightless creature over the unflattering comparison.
The minister's nostrils flared when the journalist quizzed him on the scores of firearms that the police had somehow lost, as detailed in the Auditor-General 2012 report no less.
Flustered, Zahid turned the spotlight on the journalist, accusing him of working for a news portal that has perfected the art of spinning reports to paint the government in a negative light.
Quite the contrary: it is cerebrum-fused ministers like Zahid who spin the government's reputation to the point of incurable dizziness with their antics, ushering the ruling coalition closer to the grave of deceased political empires.
Who's the master of spin?
The Auditor-General's Report 2012 revealed that the police had lost firearms, handcuffs and vehicles in the period under audit. Soon after this, the police chief saw his credibility drown when he offered a leaky hypothesis that the weapons could have fallen into the sea.
With common sense being bludgeoned and mutilated to death, does Zahid really think that Malaysiakini needs to swim the extra mile to supposedly further spin an episode that has already spun out of the peripheries of logic?
Then again, the dictionary's definition of the term "wise" makes it an impossible task for even the most accomplished of writers to use the word in the same sentence with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a positive sense.
And his recent verbal tirade against aMalaysiakinijournalist lends credence to this. The incident also served as a stark reminder of how important ministerial portfolios are being entrusted to the hands of those who happen to be the human equivalent of a dodo bird. No offence to the memory of the extinct flightless creature over the unflattering comparison.
The minister's nostrils flared when the journalist quizzed him on the scores of firearms that the police had somehow lost, as detailed in the Auditor-General 2012 report no less.
Flustered, Zahid turned the spotlight on the journalist, accusing him of working for a news portal that has perfected the art of spinning reports to paint the government in a negative light.
Quite the contrary: it is cerebrum-fused ministers like Zahid who spin the government's reputation to the point of incurable dizziness with their antics, ushering the ruling coalition closer to the grave of deceased political empires.
Who's the master of spin?
The Auditor-General's Report 2012 revealed that the police had lost firearms, handcuffs and vehicles in the period under audit. Soon after this, the police chief saw his credibility drown when he offered a leaky hypothesis that the weapons could have fallen into the sea.
With common sense being bludgeoned and mutilated to death, does Zahid really think that Malaysiakini needs to swim the extra mile to supposedly further spin an episode that has already spun out of the peripheries of logic?
In countries where accountability is practised, heads would have rolled over the auditor-general's revelations. But then again, this is Malaysia, the land with a prime minister who believes in endless possibilities.
Furthermore logic has never been one of Zahid's strongest points, as exemplified by his diametrically-opposed-from-sterling contribution to the recent high-profile debate over the ashes of a former communist leader.
In that exchange with MCA, he defended the government's decision to allow the remains of two Muslim terrorists to be buried here because unlike Chin Peng, the pair did not kill Malaysians.
This justification had even left MCA, which often defends the indefensible, with jaws agape in horror.
Then again, perhaps Zahid in this latest fiasco was attempting to turn the tables on Malaysiakini's reporter in a calculated move to sidestep the issue of missing firearms.
Anticipating that the matter would be raised and aware that there was nothing he could do but appear foolish should he attempt to cover it up, the minister decided to train the missing guns on the journalist instead.
No laughing matter
On the same note, it was also disheartening to see other journalists giggling in the background when Zahid unleashed his salvo.
These journalists failed to understand that the joke was on them and their profession. Instead of baring their teeth in delight, they should have sank their fangs into the minister for the insult.
Trained in news organisations propped by political paymasters, these journalists it seems have been reduced to becoming stenographers, whose main task is to record and regurgitate the statements of government demagogues without scrutinising the contents or holding politicians accountable.
As for Zahid, he should remember that he is a minister in a government that has only 47 percent percent popular voter support.
Perhaps the 51 percent who voted against BN have concluded that the so-called spin generated by news portals is far more convincing than the tasteless twists that come from Zahid and Co.
Furthermore logic has never been one of Zahid's strongest points, as exemplified by his diametrically-opposed-from-sterling contribution to the recent high-profile debate over the ashes of a former communist leader.
In that exchange with MCA, he defended the government's decision to allow the remains of two Muslim terrorists to be buried here because unlike Chin Peng, the pair did not kill Malaysians. This justification had even left MCA, which often defends the indefensible, with jaws agape in horror.
Then again, perhaps Zahid in this latest fiasco was attempting to turn the tables on Malaysiakini's reporter in a calculated move to sidestep the issue of missing firearms.
Anticipating that the matter would be raised and aware that there was nothing he could do but appear foolish should he attempt to cover it up, the minister decided to train the missing guns on the journalist instead.
No laughing matter
On the same note, it was also disheartening to see other journalists giggling in the background when Zahid unleashed his salvo.
These journalists failed to understand that the joke was on them and their profession. Instead of baring their teeth in delight, they should have sank their fangs into the minister for the insult.
Trained in news organisations propped by political paymasters, these journalists it seems have been reduced to becoming stenographers, whose main task is to record and regurgitate the statements of government demagogues without scrutinising the contents or holding politicians accountable.
As for Zahid, he should remember that he is a minister in a government that has only 47 percent percent popular voter support.
Perhaps the 51 percent who voted against BN have concluded that the so-called spin generated by news portals is far more convincing than the tasteless twists that come from Zahid and Co.
RK ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.
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