A Politician's Right to Privacy

The latest controversy to hit the Malaysian political circus is the exposure of nude images of a certain female politician in Selangor. The photos/video purportedly taken by an estranged ex beau, showed the lady in compromised positions. As a result, the politician concerned has offered her resignation as an elected rep thus cruelly bringing her fledgling political career to an abrupt end. 

Now, my take on this is simple: the lady had to resign simply because she was single and cohabitating with another man in the land of Malaysia. Had she been married, trust me, this act would backfire spectacularly on the perpetrators as no Malaysian would tolerate the invasion of privacy where a married couple is concerned. 

Whilst cohabitating or having a live-in boyfriend/girlfriend is an almost universally accepted practice in many (especially Western) countries, the practice is frowned upon by a large section of Malaysian society (especially by orthodox  members of the Malay Muslim population). 

Hence, considering the upcoming by-elections faced by the PR in 2 Malay majority constituencies, this act was done to undermine the PR and make them look bad.

The bottomline is this, if you are an elected rep of PR, should your lifestyle/practices not conform with what is generally accepted by Malaysian society, please guard it with extreme caution. Any exposure can potentially cost you your political career. Sad, but true.