VETERAN journalist and blogger Datuk A. Kadir Jasin has done a favour for non-Malays ‘cyberspace cosmonauts’ by diving into the meaning of walaun and madanon – two words that are being brandished around so often on social media platforms.

Taking a cue from now expelled former UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin who had chided Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for calling each other names, Kadir explained that both walaun and madanon are coined words popularised by the Malay-based social media.

“They were created out of Arabic word walak which roughly means to be loyal or respectful … its usage was popularised by PAS leaders to cow members into accepting party’s edicts,” the national journalism laureate penned on his Facebook page.

“Madanon refers to the Madani philosophy with the non being the reference to Anwar’s pet name. Then there’s walanon which is directed at Anwar’s fanatical followers while PN’s followers are known as walaun.”

For context, Khairy who was the former health minister in his popular “Keluar Sekejap” podcast on Monday (March 4) had ticked off both Anwar and Muhyiddin who are in their 70s – and are grandfathers – against using derogatory language against each other. He told them to “grow up”.

This is where Kadir opined that Khairy could be “a bit too junior to know Anwar intimately”. Those who know the PM over a longer period know his penchant for using bombastic words, creating labels and coining slogans, according to the former editor-in-chief of mainstream New Straits Times.

“His (Anwar) expertise in this area is unsurprising. Being a graduate of the Malay Studies, an orator and literary lover, Anwar is good at playing with words,” asserted Kadir.

“He told me just before his release from prison (after being accorded royal pardon) in 2018 that while in jail, he re-read the complete collection of Shakespeare’s work. Thus, perhaps his occasional dramatics.”

But Kadir forewarned that although both Anwar and Muhyiddin may be seen as political rivals on the outside, “those who know the PM and Muhyiddin over a long period would know that they were – for a long time – good friends and collaborators”.

“In all that time, they had delivered brickbats and bouquets to each other,” observed Kadir. “I got to know Anwar personally in 1982 and Muhyiddin a few years earlier. We are all 76 having been born in 1947.” – March 7, 2024

Main pic credit: Agenda Daily

The post What’s behind “walaun” and “madanon”: When two grown-up 76sers embark on name-calling first appeared on Focus Malaysia.