OPINION | The Strange Medical Condition Known as "Courtitis"

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OPINION | The Strange Medical Condition Known as "Courtitis"


10 Aug 2026 • 9:30 AM MYT

Fa Abdul
FA ABDUL is a former columnist of Malaysiakini & Free Malaysia Today (FMT)

(Image source: NST)


Former prime minister Ismail Sabri has been admitted to IJN after suffering an irregular heartbeat, just hours before he was due to appear in court.


First of all, I genuinely wish him a speedy recovery. Heart problems are serious, and if he really requires a pacemaker, I hope the procedure goes well.



That said, can we at least acknowledge that Malaysian politics has produced one of the most fascinating medical phenomena known to mankind?


There are people whose blood pressure rises during job interviews; there are people who get migraines before exams; and then there are Malaysian VIPs, whose bodies seem to develop extraordinary sensitivity to court dates.



This isn't even the first time.


Back in 2025, while under MACC investigation, Ismail Sabri was hospitalised after collapsing at home. His questioning was postponed more than once because of medical leave before he eventually returned to give his statement.


Now, on the very morning his charge was supposed to be read in court, his heart develops an irregular rhythm.


Again, I am not saying the illness isn't real.


I'm just saying the timing deserves its own Datukship.

(Image source: Malay Mail)


Personally, I understand. I also get irregular heartbeats whenever I feel guilty. Usually after my third slice of cheesecake. Or after I convince myself that one durian is "basically fruit", only to discover I've somehow eaten an entire basket. My smartwatch starts vibrating, and my heart asks, "Really? Another Black Thorn?"



The difference is my guilt is triggered by cholesterol.


Theirs always seems to coincide with legal proceedings.


Perhaps it's stress. Perhaps anyone facing criminal charges would experience anxiety. That's perfectly human.


But this keeps happening so consistently in Malaysian politics that our courts should probably install a cardiac unit next to the witness stand. Maybe every summons should come with complimentary ECG electrodes. Maybe judges should start proceedings with, "Are you ready to plead?" followed immediately by, "Or shall we call IJN first?"



Our politicians often tell us that nobody is above the law. The public would simply like reassurance that nobody is permanently below the ECG machine either.


Because every postponement chips away at something more valuable than a court schedule. It chips away at public confidence.


Justice isn't just about reaching the correct verdict. It's about convincing ordinary Malaysians that the process applies equally to everyone.


When ordinary Malaysians miss a court date, they worry about warrants. When powerful people miss one, the nation starts checking hospital admission records. Perhaps that's unfair.



Perhaps every illness is genuine. But public trust is built on patterns - and unfortunately, so is public scepticism.


Until then, I'll continue monitoring my own irregular heartbeat. Apparently, mine is also triggered by reading about powerful people and accountability in the same sentence.

 

From Podcast To Police Station: What Happened To Brian And Sam?

Brian Tan and Shamsul Saad were arrested after podcast excerpts circulated on TikTok allegedly triggered complaints over racial and religious sensitivities.

by Ikhwan Zulkaflee

August 10, 2026

In Brief

• Brian Tan and Shamsul Saad were arrested for allegedly raising racial and religious sensitivities in a podcast episode discussing UEC and tahfiz schools.
• A magistrate granted police two days remand, half their requested four days, while lawyer Siti Kasim condemned the arrests as intimidation tactics.

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Let’s Get It Podcast producer Brian Tan and The Gut Shot Podcast producer Shamsul Saad, better known as Sam, were arrested last Thursday for allegedly raising racial and religious sensitivities.

Brian and Shamsul allegedly made the remarks in the Let’s Get It podcast episode 141, where Shamsul made an appearance discussing among other things, the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and tahfiz schools.

The investigation began after snippets from the podcast episode were circulated on two TikTok accounts. Police subsequently received complaints claiming the content could potentially inflame racial and religious tensions.

Investigators are probing the case under several laws, including Sections 298, 504 and 505(c) of the Penal Code, Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, and relevant provisions of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

How It Started

Brian was arrested at his home at around 5pm on Thursday by police officers before being taken to the North Klang District Police Headquarters (IPD Klang Utara) for questioning.

Police later brought him back to his residence, where officers seized his laptop, mobile phone and other electronic devices for forensic analysis.

Shamsul subsequently went to IPD Klang Utara accompanied by his lawyer, Siti Kasim, and cooperated with investigators.

Both men were held overnight before being brought before the magistrate the next day.

Police Wanted Four Days

During Friday’s proceedings, police applied for a four-day remand, saying investigators needed additional time to record statements, examine the seized electronic devices, verify information from witnesses and gain access to encrypted materials linked to the case.

The defence opposed the application.

After hearing both sides, the magistrate granted police two days of remand, half the period requested.

The Reaction

Lawyer Siti Kasim, who appeared in a video with the two podcasters before they were remanded, questioned the basis for their arrests and asked who had ordered the action.

“In my view, this is a form of intimidation aimed at silencing people from speaking about issues that the authorities do not want the public to know,” Siti Kasim.

Siti said Shamsul had merely shared his and his family’s personal experiences during the podcast, including an incident involving his daughter being pressured to cover her hair.

The outspoken lawyer added that like-minded individuals would not back down in the face of what she described as such intimidation.

Meanwhile, Jelutong MP RSN Rayer has also questioned the decision to arrest the two podcasters, pointing to what he described as inconsistent enforcement against individuals accused of making racially and religiously sensitive remarks.

The DAP lawmaker cited preacher and retired academic Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, whom he claimed had repeatedly posted remarks on Facebook touching on racial and religious issues in Malaysia’s multiracial society without being arrested, despite several police reports allegedly being lodged against him.

Rayer questioned why police had yet to take action against Ridhuan Tee and why he was allowed to continue making such posts.

“How many police reports are needed before Ridhuan Tee is arrested?” Rayer was quoted as saying by The Sun.

Nurul Izzah's to step down from the deputy presidency?

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Nurul Izzah's to step down from the deputy presidency?


10 Aug 2026 • 11:00 AM MYT

FLK
Used to do a bit of work in corporate restructuring, corporate `undertaker

scoop


Nurul should, in the 1st place, reject plans to nominate her for the post of Deputy President in the contest for the Deputy President post in PKR in May 2025.


She should be honest and truthful to herself that she does not have the leadership nor the capability to lead the party either as Deputy President or the President if the President were to retired or step aside.



She should ask herself, honestly and sincerely whether she have the toughness, strict discipline, have the ability to use strict rules to keep order or push a policy through opposition, a toughness that won’t allow others to push and influence you or `play you’ around for their own objectives and have the ability to own up to your mistakes instead of shifting blame?



The above are just of the characteristic inherent in most leaders who aspire and ascend to become leaders of political parties, in Malaysia or anywhere else.


What was her apparent reason for stepping down?


Her desire to study.


Laughable.


After accepting the nomination more than a year ago to become the Deputy President of the anchor party for PH, does she mean she suddenly received an `ilham’ to study?


In which specific area?


A thesis on how to enhance the `Work from Home” concept?


Hopefully she did not confuse confidence with her perceived competence - the actual knowledge and skills needed to perform a leadership role.



Agreed that there is no single personality “type” most suited to good leadership.


In general, a leader is one who has deep and accurate insight into their personal foibles and has strategies to mitigate for those tendencies.


Nurul have a recurring pattern of behaviour under pressure.


She resigned as PKR vice-president and Penang state chief in Dec 2018, nearly 6 months after that historic day in May 2018 where PH, led by PKR formed the Federal government, citing a need to reflect on political developments following the 14th general election.



Explaining that decision publicly, she said despite them winning and formed the government, the promised reform agenda by Pakatan Harapan remained to be seen.


4 years later, she officially returned to an active leadership role as Vice-President in July 2022 and was elected as PKR Deputy President for the 2025–2028 term in May 2025.


She never explained why she changed her mind and decided to return to a leadership role as an appointed Vice President in July 2022.


Were the promised reform agenda she cited as remained to be seen in Dec 2018 undertaken and implemented in July 2022 thus she agreed to return as VP in July 2022?



Obviously no as PH only took over governing the country in Nov 2022.


So what prompted and convinced her that she is capable and ready to assume the leadership of the party when she consented to be nominated and contest for the post of Deputy President of PKR in May 2025?


Or she was so easily convinced by those syncophants around her by their impression management that she is ready and should step up to be official successor to the President of PKR?


This pattern of her, resigning when PH and PKR were reduced to size in the last 3 elections in Sabah, Johor and Negeri Sembilan and PH is on the brink of being replaced in the next GE, is damning and serves as an indictment of the failure of PMX.



It is also irresponsible of her to `walk away’ leaving her father, PMX, of people he can trust going into the next lap of his tenure as the PM of the Madani government.


Her departure at this critical juncture potentially opened up the avenue for more and additional syncophants to get themselves closer to PMX, something that PMX seems to gyrate to frequently of late.


Malaysia won’t miss her.


Who knows? Maybe she will make a career as a successful and sought after academic after her studying stint.

Has the Malaysian judiciary become absurd valuing a person’s reputation much higher than a person’s death?

Murray Hunter


Has the Malaysian judiciary become absurd valuing a person’s reputation much higher than a person’s death?


Murray Hunter
Aug 10, 2026






In Malaysia today, the courts regularly hand down defamation awards reaching RM500,000 or more, sometimes far higher in high-profile cases against defendants, including in matters that critics label Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). These sums compensate for injury to reputation, hurt feelings, or annoyance caused by words spoken or written.

Contrast that with the Kota Bharu High Court’s recent decision: a mother whose 12-year-old son died after falling through the rotten floor of a school bus was awarded just RM17,573. After six years of waiting, the court found the bus driver, owner, headmaster, education authorities and others liable. Claims for aggravated and exemplary damages were rejected. The figure reflects the strict limits under the Civil Law Act 1956, which prioritises quantifiable loss of dependency and a modest fixed sum for bereavement, leaving little room when the deceased is a child with no earnings.

The disparity is striking. A life extinguished by negligence is valued at a fraction, often 20 to 50 times less than the harm of defamatory statements. Reputation, it seems, commands far greater judicial protection than the irreversible loss of a human being.

This is not merely inconsistent; it borders on the farcical. A death is infinitely more serious than temporary embarrassment or bruised pride. When courts treat words as costing hundreds of thousands of ringgit while a child’s life is quantified in five figures, the system’s sense of proportion is called into question.

It is time for recalibration. Damages must better reflect the true gravity of loss of life. Reforms to the Civil Law Act’s restrictive framework for fatal accident claims, clearer limits or scrutiny on excessive defamation awards (especially potential SLAPPs), and a conscious judicial reordering of values are needed. Until then, the message remains troubling: in Malaysian courts, a person’s reputation can be worth far more than a person’s death.

 

Lepaskanlah Nurul Izzah

Lepaskanlah Nurul Izzah

3 days ago

Mohsin Abdullah

PKR perlu mula beri tumpuan untuk pulihkan keadaan dan fokus masa depan.

Nurul Izzah Anwar mahu berundur daripada jawatan timbalan presiden PKR. Ini didedahkan sendiri oleh Ketua Penerangan PKR Fahmi Fadzil menerusi kenyataan rasmi parti lewat petang semalam.

Tetapi menurut beliau, Majlis Pimpinan Pusat PKR memutuskan untuk ‘memberi cuti sementara’ kepada Nurul Izzah. Keputusan dibuat setelah majlis mendengar pandangan bekas Ahli Parlimen Permatang Pauh itu.

Tanya saya. Apa perlunya beri cuti kepada beliau yang mahu berundur? Benar PKR merasakan Nurul Izzah masih diperlukan dan tetap mampu beri sumbangan besar kepada parti.

Tetapi pada hemat saya apabila seseorang menzahir hasrat berundur ia membawa maksud sudah tidak larat atau tidak berminat terhadap jawatan dipegang.

Nurul Izzah tentu punya sebab dan alasannya. Maka menurut saya lepaskanlah beliau mencapai hasratnya. Yakni biarkan beliau berundur mesti pun berat hati PKR.

Malam tadi beliau umum melepaskan jawatan orang nombor dua parti itu selepas pertimbangan panjang bagi membolehkannya meneruskan pengajian lanjutan serta membuka langkah baharu dalam kehidupannya.

Apabila seseorang nyatakan hasrat berundur atau lebih tepat letak jawatan, the heart is no more with the job. Begitu jugalah Nurul Izzah. Mungkin beliau sudah tawar hati. Jadi hormatilah hasratnya.

Biarkan beliau berundur sepenuhnya daripada jawatan. Tidak perlu dipujuk rayu (atau ‘dipaksa?’) untuk stay dengan memberi cuti.

Pertanyaan saya balik daripada cuti adakah beliau akan kembali segar dan recharged untuk meneruskan pikul tanggung jawab sebagai timbalan presiden parti?

Mungkin. Lazimnya kita sendiri, apabila pulang daripada cuti kita akan rasa bersemangat semula rasa revigorated. Tetapi ada juga antara kita yang tidak begitu.

Jadi persoalannya adakah Nurul Izzah akan kembali cergas setelah bercuti? Cutinya menurut Fahmi ialah ‘sehingga satu tarikh yang akan diumumkan’.

Bagi saya hasrat Nurul Izzah untuk berundur tidak memeranjatkan. Setelah menewaskan Rafizi Ramli pada pemilihan parti Mei tahun lepas beliau agak menyepi. Mungkin kelesuan?

Sebagai timbalan presiden beliau juga menggalas jawatan pengarah pilihan raya PKR. Namun kemudian parti memutuskan untuk melantik Saifuddin Nasution Ismail untuk bersama Nurul Izzah memegang jawatan itu.

Sekarang jawatan pengarah pilihan raya PKR digalas sepenuhnya oleh Amirudin Shaari, antara naib presiden parti.

Walaupun saya kata hasrat Nurul Izzah tidak memeranjatkan, i can’t help but feel apa yang beliau dan parti lalui semasa pemilihan PKR tahun lalu telah seakan dipersia-siakan.

Umum tahu akibat pemilihan PKR tahun lalu terutama perebutan jawatan timbalan presiden, parti dilanda krisis dalaman. Muncul kem bersengketa dan bersaing sengit. Sehingga sekarang kesannya dirasai. PKR berpecah. Akibat itu juga lahir Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) yang diasaskan Rafizi Ramli.

Hence after all that Nurul Izzah mahu berundur dari jawatan yang ramai bertungkus-lumus memastikan beliau menang. Bukankah sia-sia sahaja semua itu kerana akhirnya sekarang beliau mahu undur?

Dan soal ‘timing’. Memang tidak ada the perfect timing untuk meluahkan hasrat undur. Tetapi she could not have chosen a worst time for PKR to announce her intention.

Hasrat beliau diumum ketika PKR berada pada kedudukan yang dikatakan terendah. Moral tidak tinggi. PH sendiri berdepan masalah. Berdepan juga kawan dalam kerajaan perpaduan yang berlagak musuh.

Cuti Nurul Izzah akan bermula selepas Kongres Nasional PKR 2026 bulan ini. Beliau akan merasmikan Kongres Wanita dan Angkatan Muda pada 14 Ogos ini.

Apa amanat akan beliau sampaikan? Apa nasihat dan kata-kata semangat yang boleh diberi berlatarbelakang hasrat beliau mahu undur? Meskipun ‘hanya undur’ daripada jawatan timbalan presiden bukan parti atau politik.

Bagi Pengarah Eksekutif Ilham Centre Hisomuudin Bakar, keputusan Nurul Izzah tepat. Selama menjadi timbalan presiden beliau tidak terampil. “Mungkin Nurul Izzah banyak membantu di belakang tabir tetapi masyarakat awam tidak merasainya.

“Sepatutnya beliau boleh berfungsi membantu kerajaan dengan lebih efektif, namun peluang disia-siakan,” kata Hisomuddin.

Sekarang kata Hisommudin PKR perlu cepat menyusun strategi sebagai persediaan menghadapi PRU16. A lot is at stake. Tak perlu hurai. Semua orang tahu.

* nota kaki

Dalam kenyataannya yang dikeluarkan malam tadi Nurul Izzah tidak menyebut apa-apa mengenai cuti, sebaliknya memberi gambaran sudah melepaskan jawatan.

When Hadi says Bersatu is out but Samsuri says it is in: Wawasan’s balancing act gets harder by the day — Phar Kim Beng

When Hadi says Bersatu is out but Samsuri says it is in: Wawasan’s balancing act gets harder by the day — Phar Kim Beng



Summary

• The article discusses the internal contradictions within the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition in Malaysia, particularly concerning Bersatu's status and political authority among its components, especially with PAS.
• While the PN chairman claims Bersatu remains part of the coalition, conflicting statements from PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang expose competing centers of authority.
• This results in challenges for Parti Wawasan Negara as it attempts to mediate among PN, BN, and PAS.
• The issues highlight the broader complexities facing these parties in maintaining effective and cohesive political strategies.

First Published: Monday, 10 Aug 2026 10:00 AM MYT


AUGUST 10 — The latest confusion over whether Bersatu remains inside Perikatan Nasional (PN) may appear to be another episode in Malaysia’s endlessly fluid coalition politics. It is more serious than that.

PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar’s clarification that Bersatu remains a component of PN exposes a fundamental problem of authority within the coalition: who actually decides what PN is?


This matters because PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has repeatedly spoken as though PAS’s political divorce from Bersatu can determine Bersatu’s status in PN.


Yet the distinction between PAS terminating its cooperation with Bersatu and PN formally removing Bersatu is crucial.


Indeed, Hadi himself acknowledged in June that although PAS had ended political cooperation with Bersatu, Bersatu remained a member of PN because the coalition had not formally expelled it.


Now the contradiction has become even harder to disguise.

If the chairman of PN says Bersatu remains a component while the president of PN’s largest party suggests otherwise, this is not merely semantic confusion. It reveals competing centres of political authority.


For Parti Wawasan Negara and its president, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, this creates an increasingly difficult balancing act.

Wawasan has positioned itself as a bridge — first within the fractured opposition and increasingly between PN and Barisan Nasional (BN).

Hamzah even coined the term “PBN” during the Negeri Sembilan election to describe the electoral understanding between PN and BN, arguing that what mattered was their common political purpose rather than the label itself.



Parti Wawasan Negara’s president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin



That formula worked electorally in Negeri Sembilan.

But what works in one election does not necessarily constitute a sustainable national architecture.

There are five reasons why Wawasan’s balancing role will become progressively harder.

This concern is valid as cooperation between BN and PN moves towards Malacca, potentially Perlis and eventually even the PAS heartlands of Kedah and elsewhere.

First, PN has an unresolved constitutional problem within itself.

Coalitions cannot operate indefinitely according to competing interpretations of membership.

If Bersatu has not formally withdrawn and has not been formally expelled, its status cannot simply depend on what one component president declares publicly.

Muhyiddin Yassin previously argued precisely this point: Bersatu helped establish PN and could not simply be expelled unilaterally by another component.

This creates what might be called a political cancellation culture inside PN: a component can be treated politically as though it has disappeared even when institutionally it has not.

For Wawasan, this is dangerous.

A bridge cannot be stable when nobody agrees where one side of the bridge begins.

Second, Wawasan increasingly occupies political territory once associated with Bersatu.

This is perhaps the most sensitive contradiction.

Wawasan has already been accepted as a PN component and participated directly in the Negeri Sembilan arrangement.

Yet Bersatu’s continued formal membership means PN potentially contains two political vehicles competing for substantially overlapping Malay constituencies, leadership networks and political space.

Hamzah himself emerged from Bersatu.

Thus, Wawasan cannot simply mediate between PAS and Bersatu as an entirely disinterested third party.

Its rise inevitably affects Bersatu’s political relevance.

The stronger Wawasan becomes inside PN, the more existential the question becomes for Bersatu: what exactly is Bersatu’s remaining function inside the coalition?

Third, the contradictions become much larger once BN enters the equation.

Negeri Sembilan offered favourable terrain for cooperation because both PN and BN had a powerful incentive to avoid splitting votes.

The arrangement was remarkably disciplined: BN contested 25 seats while PN fielded candidates in the remaining 11, which Hamzah himself described as a possible indication of a new political alignment.

But electoral arithmetic becomes more difficult when this model travels.

In Malacca, BN will naturally regard itself as the senior partner.

In Perlis and especially Kedah, PAS and PN have much stronger claims.

The central question then becomes unavoidable:

Who gives way to whom?

Every constituency surrendered to an ally is also a constituency in which a party sacrifices patronage, grassroots organisation, potential office and its future claim to political relevance.

Wawasan can negotiate compromises. It cannot abolish these structural interests.

Fourth, PAS and Umno ultimately compete for much of the same political market.

This is the paradox at the heart of any durable PN-BN arrangement.

PAS and Umno can cooperate against Pakatan Harapan. They can coordinate candidates.

They can share stages. They can even describe their cooperation through the language of Malay-Muslim unity.

But electoral cooperation does not erase political competition.

Both parties ultimately seek leadership of the Malay political centre of gravity.

Umno cannot indefinitely surrender Malay-majority constituencies to PAS without weakening its claim to be the principal Malay party within BN.

PAS, conversely, cannot accept permanent junior status when its organisational machinery and electoral strength give it reason to demand more.

The contradiction will become particularly acute if cooperation reaches Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

In such states, seat negotiations cease being merely tactical. They become questions of political survival.

Fifth, Hadi’s expansive interpretation of political authority makes Wawasan’s mediation harder, not easier.

This is where the Samsuri clarification matters most.

Samsuri is not merely another PAS leader. He is the chairman of PN.

If even the PN chairman must clarify the institutional position after statements by the PAS president, the coalition has a problem of political hierarchy.

Who has the final word — the chairman of PN, the PN Supreme Council, the presidents of the component parties, or Hadi as president of PAS?

Earlier tensions already demonstrated this difficulty. Reports in June described criticism from Bersatu figures that Hadi had effectively overridden collective PN decision-making on the opposition leadership.

This is precisely why Wawasan’s apparent success in bringing different forces together should not be confused with having resolved their contradictions.

Hamzah is an experienced political operator. Wawasan may indeed function as political adhesive between PAS, PN and BN.

The Negeri Sembilan experiment demonstrated that coordinated machinery and disciplined seat allocation can produce formidable electoral results.

Hamzah had already said during that campaign that successful cooperation could potentially be continued towards the general election.

But political glue works only when the objects being joined are structurally compatible.

At present, they are not.

PAS wants leadership of PN. Bersatu insists it remains inside PN. Wawasan is expanding into political terrain previously occupied by Bersatu.

BN wants to rebuild its own dominance. Umno cannot permanently concede the Malay heartlands to PAS.

And all of them must eventually negotiate constituencies, leadership positions and ultimately the question of who leads any future federal government.

The Samsuri-Hadi contradiction therefore says much more than whether Bersatu is technically inside or outside PN.

It exposes the deeper paradox of the emerging opposition architecture.

The further the BN-PN formula travels from Negeri Sembilan towards Malacca, Perlis, Kedah and ultimately GE16, the less sufficient electoral arithmetic will become.

Wawasan may be able to connect the competing parties.

It may even keep them sitting at the same table.

But unless PN first establishes who possesses institutional authority within its own coalition, Wawasan will increasingly be asked to reconcile the irreconcilable.

And no political bridge, however skilfully constructed, can indefinitely carry the weight of contradictions that the parties themselves refuse to resolve.