My thoughts on Elizabeth Wong

Even though I don't live in Selangor, by all accounts, Elizabeth Wong is a great Yang Berkhidmat. Bukit Lanjan was very lucky to have someone like her as their YB.

And thus, the past week has been one hell of a shock! A lot has been written over the Net, thousands have commented, and I am simply aghast by comments made by Toyol, Syed Hamid and of course the numerous goons masquarading as normal people over the Net.

The facts were that the photos were taken without her permission whilst she was sleeping.

The facts were that I couldn't find a single nude photo or video of her in the Net. Personally, the photo I could find is one where it shows her wearing spectacles when she was sleeping -- my immediate thought was whether this is a fake, since one sees many "doctored" photos over the Net, that nothing surprises me anymore. And yet, I did not see anything offensive about Ms Wong at all, which makes me wonder whether there is such a photo, or not let alone a video.

However, I did find tons of videos at youtube - there were dozens with titles like Elizabeth Wong, Bogel, etc., but everyone that I clicked did not show anything offensive of Elizabeth Wong at all. Some were downright misleading, showing pictures of other women in compromising positions, but NOT Elizabeth Wong.

Which made me wonder - was there truly a photo/video, or did the Malay Mail/BN politicians merely claimed to have it in their hands in order to force Ms Wong to resign.

I am also surprised how Ms Wong can be quick to admit that it is her. A seasoned politician would have consulted her lawyers first before admitting. My only explanation is that she is young and green, and she is someone who tells the truth, hence, all the more reason why I feel Malaysians need more people like her, with energy and good character than someone like Toyol.

I am also extremely dissappointed that Elizabeth have had to resign her posts. In my opinion, she has done NOTHING wrong at all. She's clearly the victim, and it is very unfortunate that she had to resign for the party's interest. I can see the political benefit for her resigning (e.g. this should trigger a by-election, and the results of the by-election should send a very strong message at least to Toyol, Syed Hamid and everyone else connected with this gross invasion of privacy and malicious attack), but in a real developed country and society, she really shouldn't have needed to resign.

Let's be frank and ask ourselves - what WRONG did she really did?

Without seeing the photos, I can only ass-u-me what she did which is by most accounts, she slept in a sarong without underwear in her own bedroom, and apparently, there is strong suspicions that it could have been the ex-boyfriend who took some grainy photos of her in a rather compromising position.

If this is true, then, she shouldn't have resigned. The strange thing is the earliest press statement said she will continue to serve the constituency, but later on, one read in the press that she intends to resign, due to various pressures. Sadly, resigning only hand a temporary win to the perperators, and embolden them to continue this type of dirty politics, but I expect by-election should tell them loudly the Rakyat's wishes.

I kept asking myself why is it that Ms Wong needs to resign when she has done nothing wrong.

I scout around the Net, talked to various people, and it seems the strongest reason given is that the society cannot accept a political leader who has nude photos distributed in public domain.

And this has to be amongst the BIGGEST and STUPIDEST thing I have ever heard in my life.

First, I challenge any of the readers here to send me her nude photos, because I sure as hell cannot find one! Everyone that I spoke to haven't seen her nude photos. So, are we to ass-u-me that there are such nude photos?

Second, so what. So, what if there are nude photos of her. She's the victim! It was taken without her permission! It was a GROSS invasion of her privacy! Are our politicians so stupid to think that Rakyat cannot tell the difference? What is to stop BN with its vast riches and access to superior technology to spy on other PR politicians systematically in order to kill their political careers when the time suits them? Imagine offering RM $1 million to capture on picture or videos of PR politicians showering naked in their own bathrooms, or peeing in a public toilet, etc. (Or maybe BN already has a database and are just waiting for the opportune time - test it on the lower rungs first like Ms Wong, and if it works, then, escallate it to more senior ones like DSAI, Lim Kit Siang, Hadi Awang, etc.).

Thirdly, given the quality of our political leaders which starts from Abdullah, Najib and the rest, are we serious in expecting our children to look up to POLITICIANS for moral compass??? Seriously? I would never consider the idea of telling any of my children, nor those of my relatives and friends to use Abdullah, Najib or any of Malaysian's politicians as guidance. Perhaps Ghandi might be an exception, but never Malaysian politicians.

Fourthly, so what if Ms Wong is a single woman who engages in pre-marital sex? (Actually, I seriously wonder how on earth could an apparent claim of nude photos led one to conclude that she engages in pre-marital sex! For example, if this was in the court of law in a Western Country, the judge could NEVER conclude this on the basis of an apparent photo which cannot be produced in court!)

Anyway, so what if she engages in pre-marital sex? The truth is the majority of young Malaysians today engages in pre-marital sex. Ask anyone under the age of 40 who is married, and it is probably very rare for the couple to both be virgins when they get married. My rough guess is maybe only 10%-20%, i.e. the other 80%-90% or the majority are most likely NOT virgins on their wedding night!

If in doubt, do a confidential Merdeka Centre Poll and see if I'm right or not!

And also, not being a virgin at the time of marriage isn't against the law! And this is nothing to be ashamed about, because it is a fact of life!

Some prudish idiots claimed that religion does not promote pre-marital sex, and so, Ms Wong must resign! But the same religion does not condemn such persons indefinitely for life too. For example, talking about Buddhism, if a non-virgin were to go to the Temple and vows to become a monk/nun, the Temple will NOT reject him/her on the basis that he/she isn't a virgin! This is a fact of life. Buddhism does not condemn a person just because you are not a virgin when you get married! Which religion condemns a person to hell just because he/she is not a virgin at the time of marriage???

As for Christianity, well, just look at the Western Christian world and you will see that pre-marital sex is nothing surprising, but well accepted as part of real world. It is as natural as breathing, eating and drinking. Of course, the priest does not encourage it, with good reasons. And when one engages in any sexual activity, one must also respects others around them even in the Western World, but Ms Wong is not guilty of public sexual display. She is the victim, and the nude photos (if this exist) is not her idea nor her willing participation!

For BN / UMNO leaders - even if there's just one or two of them - to condemn Ms Wong and asking for her resignation is PURE and UTTER HYPOCRISY of the highest order! I am not a Muslim, but if this is what they demand because of Islam, then, I am sad to say that PAS is a lot more moderate than UMNO in this regard.

As parents, it is tough to tell our children why Ms Wong has to resign for something that she didn't actively nor intentionally do, but where it is obvious that she is a victim of a very unfortunate circumstance.

How will you explain to your kids? How will our teachers explain to our kids at school?

Another reason often advanced to support why she has to resign is that she was a poor judge of character in choosing her boyfriend.

Firstly, this isn't necessarily related to her work -- there are many leaders and professionals around the world who are divorced, married to psychopaths, etc. and yet are still very capable leaders and professionals. In other words, competency in the job and private life are 2 completely different things. And by all accounts, Ms Wong is a very competent YB.

Second, in which job interviews do employers ask you whether you are still a virgin or not? Did they ask you if you have had an affair before if you are married? If not, why should Ms Wong be asked to resign when she obviously has done nothing wrong in her capacity as a YB? Do anyone naively think Najib or his son does not engage in extra-marital affairs or pre-marital sex?

Thirdly, when one is in love, love does sometimes blind us to the weaknesses of our partners. Only time will open our eyes, and in Ms Wong's case, it appears that time did opened her eyes, and the ex-boyfriend is now rightly an ex-boyfriend. It is not wrong to be human and open ourselves to humanity, if we truly love someone, and Ms Wong's case appears to be a common one amongst lovers, where she trusted her boyfriend then. This is not a serious crime, and trusting our loved ones is one of the many things that makes us true human beings. Until they break our trust.

Are Malaysians not human beings too?

Anyway, this is a good article written by Brian Yap in the Malaysian Insider yesterday - http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/18285/84/

He mentioned about 3 characters - Hishamuddin, Michael Phelps and Obama. The key points are Michael Phelps and Obama both publicly admitted that they both have smoked marijuana before. This to me is probably more serious than Ms Wong's pre-marital sex. But this hasn't stopped Michael Phelps from being one if not the greatest swimmers the world has ever known. Nor has it stopped Obama from being the first Black President of the United States. And who are we - to require a higher standard of Ms Wong - than what the world asks from Michael Phelps and Obama?

....

Toyol *bang head on wall*
Syed Hamid *bang head on wall*

Needless to say, come next election, I trust we all know what to do ...