LAUGH AWAY – DO YOU THINK ‘BOSS CLOWN’ NAJIB & ‘PET DOG’ SHAFEE CARE? SURELY MALAYSIA CRAVES RIDICULE – WHEN COURTS CAN ACCEPT SUCH BLATANT EXCUSES, SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE IS WRONG

PETALING JAYA: Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s reason for postponing a legal hearing because of a wrist injury inflicted on him by his dog caused much bemusement among Malaysians on social media.

Facebook user KLoy Ho found the cited reason hilarious, and ventured a guess as to its breed: “The pet dog must be a Tibetan Mastiff.”

This particular breed is known to be exceptionally ferocious, brave and loyal.

Their size is enormous and males can reach a height up to 80cm and weigh up to 80kg.

On Twitter, lawyer Syahredzan Johan‏ was thankful that he did not own a dog and his wrist was not at risk.

“Of course, if I owned a dog the first thing they would say is ‘loyar liberal DAP bela anjing (liberal DAP lawyer owns dog)’,” he added.

Twitter user @Khai237 said he thought this kind of excuse was “used by kids”.

“But now I know that is (sic) not,” he added.

“Haha exactly the same excuse I said to my lecturer last Friday for my course work…. Shhh,” he joked, adding an emoji with its finger held to its lips to signify silence.

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman quoted a tweet on the issue, stating: “Why I am more of a cat person” accompanied by an emoji with its face scrunched up in laughter.

Local satire and fiction site @tapirtimes also chimed in, tweeting: “BREAKING: Appeals Court Receives Photo of Lawyer Shafee’s Pet Dog”, accompanied by a picture of what appears to be a Cairn Terrier dog in a martial arts uniform.

A hearing on the appeal filed by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak relating to his criminal charges involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds had been postponed to Friday (March 15) due to said injury suffered by Shafee.

Muhammad Shafee told a three-man panel at the Court of Appeal that he could not continue with his submission for the day as he recently fractured his left wrist.

“My pet dog jumped on me. I am now in pain and I need to seek immediate medical attention later through an X-ray scan,” he said on Tuesday (March 12).

The Court of Appeal was scheduled to hear four appeals by Najib related to his SRC International case.

THE STAR