In Malaysia, very few politicians who stand up for their principles
Most Malaysian politicians fail the first test of being like Karpal Singh (pic) – standing up for his principles.
In the wake of some incendiary statements by Datuk Zulkifli Noordin and the Langkawi MP Datuk Nawawi Ahmad following the death of the veteran opposition stalwart, ordinary Malaysians, several lawmakers and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin have come out to voice disgust at the callous and disgusting statements.
But most of the other politicians and national leaders have chosen to remain silent. And these are the same people who say they respected Karpal and wanted to emulate him.
Well, here is some news for you: Karpal did not choose his battles. It was either right or wrong.
And if he felt it was wrong, he would bellow at the top of his voice, not worrying if the outburst caused him to lose some brownie points.
Notwithstanding his party's alliance with PAS, the former DAP national chairman voiced his opposition to Malaysia being an Islamic state.
He also had no qualms hauling up Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 2009, saying the PKR de facto leader was unfit to be Pakatan Rakyat's boss if he condoned party hopping.
Are there any more out there like Karpal, whom the respected regional columnist Karim Raslan, had described yesterday as, "Blistering in attack, he was the kind of man who called a spade a spade and then proceeded to hit an adversary over the head with the same spade".
Perhaps a few in the opposition camp, and fewer in the Barisan Nasional (BN) side. In several chat groups, several BN leaders had privately expressed misgivings and horror at Zulkifli's remarks.
But none of them expressed their thoughts publicly.
Except Khairy, who told him directly to shut up on Twitter.
The thing is, Zulkifli is a daily reminder of what is wrong with Malaysia. A man who believes he can say and get away with anything because nothing is ever done to keep him in his place – the fringe of society.
He is also a daily reminder of what a judge of character Datuk Seri Najib Razak is. After all, the prime minister has courted him and even gave him a coveted parliamentary seat to contest in Election 2013.
In his Twitter exchange with Khairy, Zulkifli dismisses the sports minister as Tun Abdullah Badawi's son-in-law and adds that he only backs Najib. The PM does keep strange company.
Two ministers did come out today to criticise those who had attacked Karpal after his death, with one of them, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, saying the BN MP and Zulkifli were wrong to exploit the DAP veteran leader's death for political mileage.
Not many else. Just this few politicians, who like Karpal, believe in standing up for their principles.
Maybe there are a few more like Karpal out there, men of principles who will call a spade a spade. But there are many more like Zulkifli and Nawawi out there too – taking advantage of the situation for their own ends.
And then there is the rest, the ones who mutter and grumble privately but will not make a stand like the late Karpal had done in nearly five decades of public service. – April 18, 2014.
