Why I defend AAB?

In my previous posting Sinister attack on AAB re Monsoon Cup dinner I lamented that AAB has beem unjustifiably attacked for an innocent platonic gesture at a dinner held in conjunction with the Monsoon Cup.

The picture showed him standing behind a seated Michelle Yeoh, in open view of humdreds if not thousands of diners, probably saying (a plausible guess-timate) “Apa khabar, Datuk Michelle?” or greetings to that effect.

Just flash bck to what one reader said of me (words to this effect) “Every day I get to read KTemoc and RPK attacking AAB.” Now, that’s my political credentials so quite frankly I find it ironical and amusing yet determined to defend AAB on this issue, because some readers are adamant that AAB has committed a grave act that’s haram (not kosher).

As I said, KTemoc is not into that sort of game where I blast politicians on every innocent reflexive gestures they make, like picking his/her nose.

Additionally I believe AAB as the PM for all Malaysians, meaning all races (not that his performance in this field thus far has been encouraging), shoud be encouraged to interact with non-Muslims without behaving like the late Ayatollah Khomeini, Rabbi Ovidia of the Shas Party of Israel, the Mufti of Perak or even Nik Aziz of PAS.

Incidentally, for Pak Haji Nik, rather than allow his party to impose draconian dress laws that penalised women, Pak Haji should look into the issue of Kelantanese being the nation’s top surfers of pornographic websites. That’s where the male lusts lie, with the males’ ... whatever.

There is a time and place for demonstration of religious piety, though religious piety should always be in one’s heart – not the difference between ‘demonstrations of' versus ‘innate’ or sincere religious piety?

I may not be a Muslim but as a Malaysian I have a right to comment on Malaysian matters. Let me say this, regardless of whatever religion one follows, one should apply the higher teachings of the religion, like compassion, love, justice, care, welfare, charity, etc rather than focusing on peripheral issues like what the CCTV operator of the Penang Council did, zooming in on Melissa Darylene Chow’s thighs for a solid 15 minutes, instead of keeping his attention on the general security of the room.

That’s what this case of AAB’s innocent or even fatherly gesture has been spinned into. It's sinister and repulsive. It's like President Bush's people fabricating the terrible lie that a married John McCain had an illicit child from an amorous tryst with an African American when the truth has been McCain adopting a Bangla Deshi girl.

Who are the parties who want to inflate this issue into a Ben Hur-ish scandal? Are their motives of Islamic piety? Or, just grubby politics, misusing and indeed abusing the noble aspects of the religion for their personal benefits?