It looks like a top MCA man from Perak may be the next to follow in the footsteps of party president Chua Soi Lek and get embroiled in a ‘sex’ scandal.
Speculation is rife that the senior MCA divisional leader is the politician who allegedly molested a beautician on New Year’s Eve.
“I don’t know who, but the news has appeared in a few Chinese papers and it is creating a lot of public curiosity. I hope that the politician and the party he belongs to will issue a clarification,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
Najib himself leads the pack
The Malaysian political scene has always been 'hot' with sex scandals, but in recent years the mercury has hit unprecedented highs.
Apart from Prime Minister Najib Razak's alleged affair with murdered Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, there have also been shocking allegations made by top Umno bloggers that Information minister Rais Yatim had raped one of the maids who worked for him in 2007.
So far, in both cases, answers given by the men have failed to down public speculation and question marks still abound. Yet, Najib appears determined to defend Rais, and while there have been news reports that the maid has since withdrawn the rape accusations, few Malaysians really believed the incident did not happen.
As for the MCA, three years have passed since Soi Lek’s own sex DVD was circulated on You Tube, forcing him to resign both his parliamentary seat as well as his Health minister's post. But there is still unhappiness within the MCA about his adulterous fling and debate rages on as to whether he is fit to lead the party, which is struggling to regain the Chinese community’s respect.
“We should not rush to point the finger but a victim has come forward to complain and she has lodged a police report. Given the Umno-BN’s track record of covering up, it is not wrong for us to stand on the side of the underdog and help her get some justice if we can. Whether her accusations are true or not is for the police to investigate and we urge them to do this without fear or favour,” Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming told Malaysia Chronicle.
Attempts to tarnish beautician's reputation
Meanwhile, the beautician claims to have received several lewd and threatening text-messages on her hand phone. The messages were sent from different and unknown mobile numbers, asking her to have sex with them. Some of the messengers even threatened to rape her.
“She received the SMSes after lodging a police report. She then made a second police report over the SMSes. Some of the SMSes contained the 'F' word in English,” Malaysiakini reported her lawyer, Leong Cheok Keng, as saying.
According to the beautician, the politician had on December 31 groped her breasts at a club in Ipoh. Perhaps in retaliation to her lodging a police complaint, rumours aimed at tarnishing her reputation have been spread in the small town she lives in. These include that she was out to get “more money” from the politician.
“The police report clearly states that she was molested by a particular politician. Now the case is being investigated and the authorities will decide whether or not to charge the individual,” Leong said.
“My client w
ishes to state that she has not received even one sen from the politician. She reserves the right to take legal action against those who have defamed her. My client has been suffering from severe mental distress after the incident. Please stop doing more harm to this innocent victim.”
Time to insist on a tougher stand
Perak police chief Mohd Shukri Dahlan has confirmed the matter but declined to elaborate.
Civil society leaders say it is time for the government to clean up, but sadly for Malaysia that is much easier said than done. Indeed, throughout the country’s 53-year history, sexual harassment, misconduct and even attacks against women have been regarded as misdemeanours to be swept under the rug.
“The protection of women and children is the very sacred duty of any government. We must always endeavour to create a safe environment where there is also freedom and compassion. But we have been more relaxed than we should have been, especially in the past," Ramon Navaratnam (pic), past president of Transparency International, told Malaysia Chronicle.
"It is time for us to take a more mature and stronger view now. We must act against abuses of any kind towards any gender without any bias or pressure - be it political, racial, religious or otherwise."
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