WHY have the posters of Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor – the next-in-line Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) – and Perak ruler Sultan Nazrin Shah being circulated widely amid news reports of PAS lawmaker Dr Siti Mastura Muhammad being called up by the cops?
This was over a brouhaha in parliament recently over her claims that retired DAP supremo Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, former Singapore premier Lee Kwan Yew and Malayan Communist Party (MCP) founder Chin Peng are cousins.
Why is there a video also being circulated widely of a woman apparently speaking with a Thai accent explaining that her PhD stands for “Pass High-school with Difficulties.”
All four items – posters of two Malay rulers, a news article and video making fun of the acronym PhD – which have gone viral reflect what is close to the heart of the Chinese community.
The video is apparently taking a jibe at Dr Siti Mastura who tried to link a few DAP leaders with the late Chin Peng, chairman of the now defunct MCP. This has irked DAP leaders who have lodged several police reports against Siti Mastura (pic below).
Even jibes like ‘Kepala Terbatas’ (literally someone with limited brain capacity) have been used to describe the controversial MP but such thing was never heard of when Tun Abdullah Badawi was MP for eight terms between 1978 and 2013.
Why Sultan Ibrahim and Sultan Nazrin?
The posters of both Sultan Ibrahim and Sultan Nazrin represent the hopes of the Chinese community that when Sultan Ibrahim is installed in January next year as Malaysia’s new King, there will be at least five years of reprieve. As for Sultan Nazrin Shah, he has also been elected as the Deputy YDPA.
Both rulers – alongside Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah – have often garnered great respect of the Chinese community for their reprimands of rabble-rousers who continue to harp on the 3R (race, religion and royalty).
Interestingly, this time it is not Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s (PMX) poster. Perhaps, there is something that PMX can learn from here about the Chinese community who have supported him since 2008.
In a recent podcast interview on Keluar Sekejap podcast hosted by former UMNO leaders Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan, Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim a.k.a. TMJ is quoted by TheStar saying that his father will “be a ‘no-nonsense Agong’ – he is strict but very understanding.”
The Chinese community is generally hopeful that any rascally behaviours by politicians seeking to score brownie points will finally find someone strict enough to ensure that justice is meted out.
There is a saying by the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia that “when the head is rotten, it affects the whole body”. This is why the Chinese community have high hopes that there will finally be actions taken against those who are persistently playing on racial sentiments.
The Chinese have long been made the punching bag for both UMNO and now PAS politics. Although both PAS president Tan Sri Hadi Awang and former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad were investigated for sedition in August this year, both leaders have yet to be charged in court.
The community which upholds the legendary Justice Bao highly will be delighted to see actions being taken against Siti Mastura.
The Three Siti’s
Dr Siti Mastura’s uncouth remarks about Singapore premier, the late Kuan Yew also differentiates her from the other two Siti’s – Singaporean interfaith champion Siti Noor Mastura and Malaysian activist Siti Kasim.
In a country where majority Singaporeans are Chinese, Siti Noor Mastura was picked to receive The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year award for 2018 for her efforts “to promote a better understanding of the role that faith groups can play in an increasingly complex and divided world”.
Adakah Siti Kasim dan Siti Mastura sepupu.?? tanyer takan tak boleh?? pic.twitter.com/bQKCvjlVyJ
— BULETIN RMS (@RajaMohdShahrim) November 8, 2023
Contrasting the two, while PAS supporters would inevitably choose to support Siti Mastura, most Chinese would prefer Siti Kasim for her boldness to speak up against errant politicians.
All the jibes and DAP’s call for Siti Mastura to be investigated by the police for criminal defamation certainly does not have anything to do with one’s race. The reason is because if financial fugitive Low Taek Jho (or Jho Low) is arrested and brought home to face justice, the Chinese will be the first to praise the police for their efficiency.
In the past, Jho Low who referred himself as Fei Loh (Cantonese for ‘fat boy’) to banker Joanna Yu Ging Ping in a chat on social media may also be poked fun at by his fellow Chinese using his Cantonese nickname. – Nov 14, 2023
