After doing 'Rosmah', Afdlin joins UMNO

Few could recall the fastest about-turn in recent Malaysian history, other than the 'in-and-out' double-defection by UMNO's Bota state assemblyman in Perak in 2009, when he announced that he was joining PKR only to return to UMNO's folds within a week.

In Malaysia, such antics are not confined to politicians alone. In fact, the task is better left to the experts who actually do pranks for a living.

This was the case with actor-comedian Afdlin Shauki, who several days ago brought volleys of laughter from the audience during the 'Maharaja Lawak Mega' finals, a competition of live comedy sketches, aired live on Astro's Warna channel.

Using the stage name 'Datin Maimon', there was not much imagination needed for spectators to guess who Afdlin had in mind, when he appeared sporting a wig and impersonating a certain wife of a very, very important person.

In his portrayal of the fictitious Datin Maimon, Afdlin, who together with actor Harun Salim Bachik formed the 'Boboi' comic duo, left the audience in stitches by talking about a diamond ring, expensive handbags, poco-poco and aerobic dance and an Umrah trip - all of which had been ingredients of either news reports or allegations involving the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor.

The duo, regarded as the country's top comedians, however surprised fans when they ended up as second best at the competition.

A video clip of the duo's sketch on the internet has also become viral, with one site recording over 300,000 views within five days.

But yesterday, in what is being seen by many as compensating for their rather mean portrayal of Rosmah, Afdlin and Harun announced that they were joining UMNO, and poured praises on Najib Razak.

While speculations about the reason for their joining UMNO are inevitable, both quickly attempted to deny any theory that their decision was a recipe for survival in Malaysia's politics-ridden show business industry.

“I am still like before, a comedian, a director and a singer even though I have become an UMNO member,” said Afdlin, 40, who had earlier performed alongside controversial rapper Namewee to encourage voter registration in a public service ad music video, which was never approved for broadcast due to reservations about Pakatan Rakyat leaders being featured.

As for Harun, he appealed to fans not to judge them.

"I hope this will not be politicised," he said, with a tinge of irony.

"If we are accused of joining UMNO to earn more money, it's totally wrong," he added.

His advice, however, made more sense:

"Everything is determined by God not because of UMNO," said the 52-year old Harun, as quoted by Bernama.

-Harakahdaily

This is the video referred to: