THE age-old adage that a picture tells a thousand words holds true as political pundits attempt to predict what seemingly national interest matter four Pakatan Harapan (PH) top brass were conversing post what is learnt to be a PH leadership meeting in Seri Perdana recently.
The PH quartet comprised Prime Minister and PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Transport Minister/DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Digital Minister/DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo and Agriculture and Food Security Minister/Amanah president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu a.k.a. Mat Sabu.
With the conversation having coincided with DAP’s six-month ultimatum to PMX who is also the PKR president to undertake reform without specifically – or sternly spelt out the consequence of failure in so doing – speculations abound what the four core PH leaders were discussing about.
AI body language analytics
Interestingly, former Barisan Nasional (BN) strategic communication deputy director Datuk Eric See-To went to the extent of seeking ChatGPT’s assistance to do a body language analysis of the four gentlemen the static photo.
The loyalist of incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak who is now an opposition-slant political influencer shared the AI (artificial intelligence) findings as follows (his post has garnered 6.8K likes, 820 comments and 666 shares at the time of writing):
On the far left, Anwar is sitting in a defensive position. His body is not leaning forward, his hands are not dominant, his face is tense – the style of someone who “has to answer”, not the one giving the order.
In the middle, Anthony Loke is standing straight like a discipline teacher who has just caught a truant student. Shoulders forward, face hard, direct eye contact – this is the body language of someone who’s applying the pressure, not the one being pressured. In politics, whoever stands with sharp eye contact is the one who holds the momentum.
As for Gobind, he has his arms crossed, the style of someone who thinks, “OK, I’ll see who wins this round first.” He’s neutral but he’s clearly aware of the tension.
And Mat Sabu? He doesn’t want to get involved at all. His body bends backward while his face is lost in thought – like someone who suddenly sees a boss being rowdy and regrets sitting at the same table.
Of the four, Mat Sabu looks the most scared, the most likely to say, “Please don’t ask my opinion.”
Thus, below is the conclusion proffered by See-To who previously blogged with the moniker Lim Sian See:
Even though Anwar is the PM, this picture doesn’t show him in a dominant position at all.
The one who seems dominant is Anthony Loke.
The one who seems defensive is Anwar.
The one who seems cautious is Gobind.
Loke’s disrespectful gesture
Another Madani critic presumed that the individual who snapped the photo “must have been uncomfortable seeing the way the DAP leaders (Loke and Gobind) confronted Anwar”.
“One with his hand in his pocket, another with folded arms. Like the police interrogating a criminal,” chided Mohd Faisal in a FB post which has attracted 8.7K likes, 3.2K comments and 1.1K shares at the time of publication.
“This is a bad signal (gesture) when we confront a leader. Yes, we’ve many things which we disagree with Anwar but we shouldn’t act like that when we confront him. We should still accord him some degree of respect.
“Well, that’s the attitude of DAP, ladies and gentlemen … They’re the boss.” – Dec 11, 2025
