The mouths of some politicians seem incapable of opening without having the most mind-boggling garbage come pouring out uncontrollably.
Malaysiakini reports: “Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu (above) has reportedly questioned national diver Pandelela Rinong for bringing up 'old stories' of her former coach’s alleged sexual misconduct."
According to a report by Free Malaysia Today, the minister wanted to know why she is bringing up the incident which happened “long ago”.”
I try my best not to flog dead horses, but there is just something about this guy.
He has the dubious honour of being the only menteri besar to have served consecutive terms under two completely different coalitions. This also means that both his governments collapsed due to betrayal - the first time, he essentially betrayed himself.
His subsequent appointment as special advisor to former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin for a grand total of 11 "magnificent" days (for which he was reportedly paid RM40,000 - ended with the collapse of the federal government.
I wouldn’t go so far as to accuse him as being the cause of the collapse, but the man does seem to carry collapse with him wherever he goes.
Having put his foot in his mouth various times over and over, this latest gaffe is one of his most excruciating yet.
I cannot possibly state any more empathetically: it is up to survivors of sexual harassment to speak up whenever they damn well please.
If they choose to speak up immediately, so be it. If they choose to speak up decades after the fact, so be it.
It is not in any way, shape, or form our place to judge them for their choices of when to speak up.
Every accusation and every accused of course has the right to a thorough, objective, and fair investigation of course; but under no circumstances should any of us immediately turn on the survivor and ask imbecilic questions like: “Why speak up now?” or “What were you wearing?”
These are dumb questions that reek of (and I really barely ever use this term) toxic masculinity.
Such questions reek of this attitude wherein similar-minded alpha males look to gang up and exercise their position of (another term I seldom use) privilege and power to protect the reprehensible behaviour of similar males.
Many women have already spoken about the many completely legitimate reasons for choosing not to speak up about the horrible experiences they have been through.
Simply put, the backlash they experience from speaking up - from the likes of Faizal for instance - is a painful deterrent that keeps many women from stepping forward.
Trapped between isolating secrecy and fear of backlash
This puts survivors in a painful dilemma - to speak up and invite severe backlash and accusations about their own integrity and "moral standards", or to stay silent and suffer the pain, the indignity, and the shame in crushing isolation and loneliness.
There are such survivors among my closest loved ones, and I have some little experience of how debilitatingly painful this darkness can be.
Faizal should take note that all over the world, the notion of “Why speak up now” has basically protected absolutely no one.
The most prominent example of course is Harvey Weinstein in 2017. Once the flood of accusations of sexual harassment against Weinstein started pouring out, they wouldn’t stop. Some accusations were about incidents that happened as far as the 1970s.
I’m sure there were idiots then who also asked: Why are they only speaking up now?
Regardless of these inane questions, Weinstein was tried, found guilty, and is now serving a prison sentence until at least 2039.
Another example was that of Kevin Spacey. In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually harassing him when Rapp was 14 in 1986.
Fifteen others soon came out alleging similar abuse.
Spacey’s career came to a screeching halt. His prominent and successful Netflix series House of Cards was rewritten such that his character suffered an unceremonious and abrupt death. Movies were reshot to edit him out.
Long story short, until justice is served, it doesn’t matter how long ago you did something wrong.
Bringing things to light
It’s dark and infuriating that Pandelela had to carry this secret with her for so long.
It’s dark and infuriating that Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam had to face such backlash for speaking up against rape culture in schools.
It’s dark and infuriating that rape "jokes" by people like Fauzi Nawawi are still a thing, where apologies are retracted and replaced by an aggressive lack of repentance.
The first two cases are particularly alarming as they involve men in authority abusing their power to create a toxic and dangerous environment for girls that are supposed to be under their care. We must ensure that such young women are protected, instead of being forced to be in such threatening situations.
Some still choose to laugh these off or decry some excessive sense of political correctness.
But Pandelela’s entire point was that these jokes have a way of becoming reality. And if we don’t speak out against them in the here and now, then we are just as responsible for the next crime.
Anyone who has survived rape or any kind of sexual harassment should never have to experience even more pain, shame, and suffering by being made to feel like they need to shut up, and hide in the shadows.
Instead, we need to create safe spaces for anyone who has suffered any crime or injustice to come out into the light, and to begin their journey of healing and recovery. It is our duty to protect that light, and to keep Malaysia safe for all of us. - Mkini
NATHANIEL TAN wanders the light and the dark.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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