ZAM SAYS MUHYIDDIN IS SAMPAH

Now you know why Zam is no longer the Umno Information Chief and Malaysia’s Information Minister. And this is the same man who triggered a diplomatic crisis and almost started a war with Indonesia when he also called the Indonesian President something that I am not at liberty to repeat here lest I become persona non grata in that Republic.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Zainuddin Maidin a.k.a. Zam said that those who support Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak are sampah.Sampah means waste but depending on how you use the word it can also mean rubbish, trash, reject (such as in sampah masyarakat), scum, etc. Zam also said that those who support Najib are has-beens and expired politicians, people who are no longer relevant.

Tun Ghafar Baba once referred to himself as a Qur’an buruk or old Qur’an. Ghafar explained that aQur’an buruk is a Qur’an that is faded, torn and tattered and can no longer be read. However, out of respect, you cannot throw a Qur’an buruk into a dustbin so you just place it on the shelf to rot away and no one would bother to touch it any longer.

I suppose calling someone a Qur’an buruk is better than saying that that person is sampah, which is not a very polite thing to do for someone who was once a cabinet minister.

Zam is actually a very colourful person. In November 2007, Aljazeera interviewed him live on TV and asked him about the brutality against the Bersih participants when His Majesty the Agong had already agreed to the delegation to hand a petition to the palace.

Zam denied the allegation and said that no such thing happened and then Aljazeera showed him clips of the Bersih participants being shot with tear gas and water cannons and dozens being assaulted and arrested.

Zam was taken aback because his lie had been exposed live on TV and he blamed the protesters for the episode. Malaysia has erections every five years so if the people are not happy then they should just show their unhappiness in the ballot box, said Zam. Zam repeated a few times that Malaysia is a democratic country because it has erections every five years.

Zam probably got confused between elections and erections but since this was a live interview there was nothing much he could do to censor his foot-in-the-mouth statement.

Anyway, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is yet to respond to this insult. It could be that Muhyiddin does not support Najib so he feels that Zam’s insult does not refer to him since Zam said those who support Najib are sampah. On the other hand, if Muhyiddin does support Najib then Zam’s insult is also meant for him. In that case Muhyiddin had better take Zam to task for this insult because people might interpret his silence as meaning that he agrees with Zam.

So Muhyiddin, are you sampah or are you not sampah? If you support Najib then you are sampah but if you do not support Najib then you are not sampah. The ball is now at your feet, Muhyiddin, to tell us what you are: sampah or not sampah.

Najib said two weeks ago that His Royal Highness the Sultan of Pahang supports him. Therefore maybe Zam meant that His Royal Highness is sampah for supporting Najib. I suppose calling HRH the Sultan of Pahang sampah is not as bad as calling HRH the Sultan of Terengganu natang (animal).

Malaysia is a democratic country, said Zam, and the proof that Malaysia is a democratic country is because Malaysia holds erections every five years. However, while Malaysia may be a democratic country for holding erections every five years, democracy does not mean you also have a right to support whomsoever you wish to support.

Malaysia’s democracy merely means the country holds erections every five years. But this democracy does not include the freedom to support whoever you want to support. Under Malaysia’s democratic system you can only support whomsoever Zam says you can support.

Zam is giving a whole new meaning to the concept of democracy. You have freedom to speak whatever I allow you to speak. You have freedom to support whoever I allow you to support. In fact, you have freedom to do anything I say you can do as long as you do not do what I do not allow you to do.

That is Zam for you, the man who just four months before the 2008 general election said that the Internet and the social media is not relevant and is no threat to Umno and Barisan Nasional and four months after the election sheepishly admitted that he underestimated the influence of the Internet and the social media and that was why they got whacked good and proper in the election.

Now you know why Zam is no longer the Umno Information Chief and Malaysia’s Information Minister. And this is the same man who triggered a diplomatic crisis and almost started a war with Indonesia when he also called the Indonesian President something that I am not at liberty to repeat here lest I becomepersona non grata in that Republic.