Pollie Poo in Permatang Pauh

(3) Until the Permatang Pauh by-election takes place on 26 August I’ll share with you one or more Penang Hokkien words, both for my personal improvement as well as to be prepared in case Arif Shah and Anwar have a kongsamkok debate in Penang Hokkien ;-)

These are genuine tulin (not tu larn) Hokkien words peculiar to Penang Island.

Nor t’au chua = literally ‘double headed snake’ = a treacherous person.

Cheah nooi pnooi = literally ‘eat soft rice’ = pimp or pimping.

Boe larm p’ah (sometimes pronounced as 'boe larn p'ah) = literally [sorry, censored, as sweeties and children may be around] but a former Penang political leader was thus described. ;-)

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Permatang Pauh, as sweetie Joceline Tan of Star Online translated it, is the plain of mangoes.

But I think ‘permatang’ means the rising grounds between rice fields. Whatever, where rice is concerned, farmers need fertilizer. Here’s some, as headlined by Malaysiakini:

PM: Don't politicise DNA bill, where Malaysiakini reported PM AAB urging ‘… all parties not to politicise the DNA Bill 2008 which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.’

He dismissed the accusation that the bill was submitted with an ulterior motive, namely to fix the de facto PKR leader who’s facing a sodomy charge.

AAB said that the DNA Bill has been planned by the government for a long time, and it was just a coincidence that Anwar Ibrahim’s case requires DNA sampling – wakakaka.

Meanwhile, in Malaysiakini’s 'I voiced it, but I don't support it' Gerakan Party’s Wanita chief Tan Lian Hoe denied that she had urged her party to leave the BN coalition because of Umno’s racial politics.

A day after she was reported by the media for making that ‘daring’ call, she explained that she was merely voicing out the concerns of the grassroots but did not support the call made by the Perak Gerakan delegates during a conference on Sunday – wakakaka.

OK, now a word from a leader of the party that promotes political reforms, known in Malay as reformasi, as well as ketuanan rakyat or supremacy of the people (‘s voice).

Bloke told us in Malaysiakini that If Anwar wins, 13 Sabah MPs will cross over.

Well done, Jeffrey Kittingan – but is it reformasi or deformasi? Ketuanan rakyat? wakakaka.

And Professor Bridget Welsh writing for Malaysiakini asked Who can PAS trust?

In discussing PAS’ dilemma with regards to Anwar Ibrahim, she said the Islamic party’s leaders and members have been regularly asking themselves whether they should trust Anwar to lead, considering his (Anwar’s) leadership style, record in government, character and Islamic credentials.

Well ... there's always kaytee - wakakaka.

Then the Star Online reported that Anwar responded to Ezam’s accusation that he, as former DPM, had practised ‘cronyism’, by challenging Ezam to Name my ‘cronies’.

I heard from an unreliable source ;-) that Dr M was attempting to ring Ezam to suggest using his (Dr M's) 1998 list where the former PM exposed Anwar’s relatives and close colleagues who had benefited from the former DPM’s largesse. wakakaka.

We are informed by Wikipedia that “…The Youth wing of UMNO, headed by Anwar's associate, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, gave notice that it would initiate a debate on ‘cronyism and nepotism’. The response was swift, as Mahathir issued lists of cronies who had benefited from government share allocations and privatizations."

"To the chagrin of Anwar and his allies, several of them were on the list, including Anwar and Zahid …” wakakaka

Aiyo, cheen chnea ch'au loh - hell of a stench - wakakaka!