Pakatan’s sexy 10

The smart are virile but the dumb and dirty are the ones obssesed with sex 24/7.

COMMENT

Sex is one topic that can override all other issues, even corruption. Therefore, Barisan Nasional has chosen to attack Pakatan Rakyat leaders using this issue.

Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali (both from PKR) had to deal with these issues and now DAP’s Lim Guan Eng is having to fend off these sex scandal attacks.

BN’s pre-occupation with sex shows that BN is fixated with it. With this sort of mind, can they run the nation efficiently and in a clean manner? It is thus not a surprise that the Malaysian political scene must be the most sexed-up political scene in the whole, wide world.

Be that as it may, while BN has sex, Pakatan Rakyat is sexy.

Following this columnist’s previous article on the Pakatan Rakyat “shadow cabinet” on June 23, here is the list of Pakatan’s 10 sexiest politicians and the reason why they are on the list:

1. Anwar Ibrahim (PKR MP, Permatang Pauh)

2. Rafizi Ramli (PKR strategist)

3. Baru Bian (PKR state assemblyman, Ba Ke’la’lan in Sarawak)

4. Fuziah Salleh (PKR MP, Kuantan)

5. N Surendran (PKR Vice-President)

6. Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS MP, Kuala Selangor)

7. Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS MP, Bukit Gantang)

8. Tony Pua (DAP MP, Petaling Jaya Utara)

9. M Manogaran (DAP MP, Teluk Intan)

10. Dr Michael Jeyakumar (Parti Sosialis Malaysia MP, Sg Siput)

The common factor prevalent in all the above politicians is intelligence, guts and having a particular speciality in their cause. Being intelligent is sexy. Intelligence is the new sexy.

As none of them had experienced helming the nation at the top level, save for Anwar as deputy prime minister and finance minister, we can only judge them by their words and their deeds.

Top on the list is Anwar Ibrahim himself. He gets to be in the list for saying that petrol price will be reduced the very next day if he becomes prime minister. Now this is sexy indeed and this columnist is expecting the price of RON95 to be reduced from the current RM1.90 to RM1.40 if indeed he becomes the prime minister. This is a reasonable demand considering the fact that one of Malaysia’s natural resources is petroleum.

During his tenure as finance minister, the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and banks’ fixed deposit rates were quite good. Now the banks’ ordinary fixed deposit rates are chicken feed. For those who have little money, the bank is just a safe-box.

The rest

No 2 on the list is Rafizi Ramli, he of the Feedlot fame. He gets into the list by virtue of his sexy exposé on the cattle-condo caper and the Ampang-LRT saga.

No 3 is Baru Bian who has fought for the Native Customary Rights issue for a long time. He is the Lone Ranger of Sarawak who has been doing his work quietly for the good of his people.

Next at No 4 is Fuziah Salleh, best known for her fight against Lynas although she has now taken a backseat to let the non-governmental organisations head the struggle.

No 5 is N Surendran, the PKR vice-president who is actively fighting for citizenship for Indians still having permanent resident status. He has recently received an acid threat.

Next at No 6 is Dzulkefly Ahmad. This Islamic Democrat is an erudite intellectual and represents the new face of PAS today. He has written lengthy pieces on economic issues which resemble some academic treatise.

He is the only MP in Parliament whom BN MPs dare not scold “Duduklah, bodoh” (Sit down, stupid) when he stands up to speak. Most probably they fail to understand what he is saying as they are way below his intellectual level.

At No 7 is Nizar Jamaluddin, the former Perak Menteri Besar. He put up a gutsy fight to prevent the downfall of Perak and to this day is still popular with Perakians. During his short tenure, the Pakatan state government gave many land titles to those who have been waiting for it for donkey’s years. He is one of those responsible for creating the most united Paktan team among all the states in Malaysia.

No 8 goes to Tony Pua. He is the economics wizard in Pakatan. He easily put MCA’s Labis MP, Chua Tee Yong, in place in regard to the Talam Corporation issue wherein the junior Chua only succeeded in exposing his own oversight in the principles of accounting due to his inability to understand the principle of “round-tripping”.

Next at No 9 is M Manogaran, the DAP MP for Teluk Intan, who is always at the forefront in regard to Indian issues and will be contesting a KL seat in the coming 13th general election.

To round off the list at No 10 is Dr Michael Jeyakumar of PSM for his courage and those of his party members and volunteers in organising the Bersih 2.0 roadshow last year. They were detained under the Emergency Ordinance and became known as the EO6. Subsequently, they were freed after much hue and cry from civil society.

Stupid is not sexy

Perhaps this list will again generate much debate – too many from one party, uneven racial balance, etc. But this is just a small sample to highlight a little of the Pakatan politicians’ expertise.

There is no reason to get all worked up over it unlike a local television station which had a forum whereby the Pakatan “shadow cabinet” was severely criticised by pro-BN panellists.

This columnist finds the forum laughable because BN’s insecurity is showing to the extent that they even feel threatened by “shadows”.

However, pertaining to the list above, this columnist is sure that there is no one in the BN camp who can match up to those named in the list.

While BN is obsessed with sex 24/7, their ideas are not sexy at all. Ditto for their strategy which is nothing but fluff.

The system is all screwed up and therefore we need a clean and intelligent government to chart the course of this nation. Moreover, stupid is not sexy.

Selena Tay is a FMT columnist.