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The Madness of Putin Versus the Craziness of Zahid and Najib: Watching the Battle for Johor Over Social Media With An Eye On The War in Ukraine.
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright March 2022.
Watching the Battle for Johor Over Social Media With An Eye On The War in Ukraine
The battle for Johor competed for my attention with the real war in Ukraine.
European press described Putin as a “mad man” wanting to recapture what he claimed was a former territory of the USSR.
Zahid as president of UMNO along with his predecessor, Najib obsessed with regaining control of the southern state, the birthplace of the party went charging like mad bulls tantalising a buffet (“hidangan”) of promises to the not so gullible Johorians.
The madness displayed by these leaders were repugnant. Putin was reportedly annoyed with the slow progress of his army in taking over Ukraine during the initial stages.
Zahid and Najib on the other hand went charging in Johor taking on the leadership role to campaign for Barisan Nasional dressed in BN blues. But Putin had yet to be seen in uniform leading his army into Ukraine. However, for the moment he was left raving mad alone in the Kremlin.
Zahid and Najib were playing to the gallery after being discredited in the courts. They were mad not wanting to be made irrelevant. While Zahid has yet to enter his defence after being proven that there was a prima facie case against him with 47 charges, Najib had been convicted by two courts and now awaiting final appeal.
Amid this madness a lion dance troupe turned into BN’s dark blue somewhere in Johor; a ridiculous practice hitherto unheard of amongst the Chinese community who preferred bright colours of red and yellow to usher in good fortunes for the new year.
As if that was not enough another group of UMNO youth, clad in BN outfits were caught dancing and singing to the tune of “Ya Ali Baba” a song composed and sung by the late P. Ramlee.
Perhaps that was an appropriate and timely way to celebrate the occasion. It symbolised their obsession like thieves in the fable of Ali Baba to recapture the crown jewel of UMNO, often referred to as the Fixed Deposit state of the party. There they were, Ali madly dancing away (we’re not sure with or without the Babas) abandoning all SOPs.
Their madness raised ire among Malays on social media who objected to their dancing in close quarters while mosque-goers were forced to keep their social distance. What a shame for those aspiring to lead a state full of Muslims, they said!
However, Putin left in the Kremlin was yet to sing and dance.
Meanwhile, on a video that went viral, Najib was seen being welcomed by a long line of “supporters” (were they paid?), with a voice on the loudspeaker shouting out repeatedly, “Malu Apa Boss Ku”.
They should be embarrassed for continuing to support Najib who had lied to them when he said 1MDB debt was not a responsibility of the government. This resulted in netizens mocking Najib and calling upon voters in Johor not to support BN or UMNO.
How we wished voters there could respond like Ukrainians did when dismissing the call by Russians to surrender by telling them to “F#@& off”.
In the background at one of the rallies, we saw one man wearing a T-shirt “Kami Mahu Bantuan Bukan Banduan” (we won’t help not a convict).
Zunar’s cartoons, too, found their way into social media mocking Najib along with similar themes. In the US, the clip mentioned Najib was labelled as a Klepto, to our courts he’s a national embarrassment yet to the “dumb” he’s still “my boss”!. In another clip, Zunar featured him with red lips proud to own up to international scandals that he had created.
UMNO with its Barisan partners are contesting all 56 seats in the upcoming state elections, with 70 per cent of its candidates making their first debut. Zahid said they were supposed to be “game-changers”. But in all likelihood, the game he was planning to change was to return to power to avoid having to go to jail.
Zahid also said that the candidates were selected based on “winnability, acceptability and likeability”. But unfortunately, as soon as he announced a few were immediately discredited as corrupt.
However, Najib was not the only one mocked on social media. The leader of Pejuang too was criticised when he went looking for support from the group that he once labelled as lazy.
Similarly, someone unearthed a newspaper clipping in 2019 where Daim was quoted as saying “Anwar was not the right candidate for PM because he would mess up the country”.
That left me wondering what Daim would say about Putin attacking Ukraine. How much more messed up would it be once the Russian army was through with that country?
However, one thing was sure Putin, Zahid and Najib were all driven into a corner. Putin by the whole world while the last two were already discredited awaiting judgment.
That reminds me of a story about Putin which applies to all three. According to a report, Putin while growing up in an apartment in Leningrad liked to chase rats. One day, he spotted a huge one and drove it into a corner. Suddenly, it threw itself at him, leaping onto Putin’s head in its bid to escape. That incident taught him a lesson he carried throughout his adult life. He said, “You should never drive anyone into a corner”.
His war in Ukraine is the culmination of that paranoia of being driven into a corner. So, similarly, wonder no more about Zahid and Najib charging headlong into Johor because they too were left with no option when driven into a corner but to fight back!
Enjoy the show!
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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