OCT 15 — The thin red line between facts and context can be quite disastrous when crossed.
Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal was once called a lanun (pirate) on the main stage at the Umno general assembly because of his Bajau ancestral line in Sabah where he comes from.
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and, at one time, Tan Sri Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, also came in for all kinds of remarks about their blood ties in Umno meetings.
My own regular private exchanges with an ex-Member of Parliament, a Chinese Malaysian who was with an opposition party, could also feature as a classic example of fact against context. Fact that the remarks were indeed made. Context?
I would call him a "Cinabeng always kiasu" and he would retort with a "Melayu balik kampung tanam jagung" line. The banter sometimes would stretch even further with other unprintable "insults."
But if someone were to record these exchanges and play it back on tape to a different audience, there could be trouble. All the lines above repeated elsewhere minus the clatter of the gallery and the mood of the occasion, could spark enough angst to start a war -- Shafie a pirate, Hishamuddin called a savage anak Turki or Kadir labelled a mamak tongkang.
Repeat them a thousand times on Twitter and Facebook and post them in the blogs, there you have it. The comments alone would relentlessly be cold-blooded. The special effects would be even greater on matters related to race and government blunders.
Probably that could have happened to the sizzling quotes from Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at a security briefing for community leaders in Malacca last week.
He reportedly touched on hot current issues and blazed the audience on many things boiling in the political and legal fronts -- among other things about police shooting criminals, about him supposedly giving veiled support to the Malay mafia group from the Tiga Line gang and also the fact that he had also pointed out to Perlis Umno leader Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed as being honchos of Tiga Line.
Probably everything became virtually lost in translation when the context got mangled.
I say "probably" because I was not there when he spoke. But based on many other cases, there exists this distinct possibility of contortion and slant simply because tough-talking Zahid is certainly not the most popular guy among some circles. And here's a chance to do him in.
Zahid himself came out to clarify through Malay daily Sinar Harian on Saturday, saying he had been quoted out of context and requested that his remarks at the Malacca event be published in full.
But the damage is done even though Nur Jazlan, who was in the audience, also said the whole message had been garbled.
The Johor Umno leader said Zahid spoke for almost an hour, and what was reported on the online news portals was only a fraction of it.
“Let me be very clear. I was at the briefing. The environment was very relaxed and we were all like in a family,” he told Malay Mail Online.
“Yes, Ahmad Zaid did point to some of the members in the crowd and said that this person is leader of Gang X and this leader of Gang XX ... but it was all just for the fun of it ... we were among friends and he was joking."
The whole episode is a little like what Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has to wade through sometimes.
Earlier this year for instance, Anwar had been highlighted in some blogs as having mocked two senior PAS leaders over the "Allah" issue.
He was shown in a video blurting out that PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat no longer understands Islam and that PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang "doesn’t know too. He just follows.”
All of Anwar's horses and all his men scrambled profusely to clarify the context the statement was made.
This brings me to popular British television comedy in the 1980s Yes Minister in which Prime Minister Jim Hacker and cabinet secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby were always engaged in stinging exchanges about politics and government.
The series became a hit when it was resurrected in drama theatres in London some time ago and the lead actor, when asked if he had ever dreamed of being the Prime Minister, said, “It’s an impossible job. I have deep sympathy for them. You have to really watch what you say because anything you say could be taken out of context in this media age.”
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
