COMMENT The sultan has put his foot down. With a selection of choice words, he trampolines those who choose to fix their gaze on the flesh instead of flashes of sporting brilliance.

 

In a letter commending her accomplishments, His Highness tells Farah Ann Abdul Hadi not to heed the views of those with contracted cerebrums.

 

It was an amazing feat indeed, for Farah had romped home with a slew of glittering medals from the recent SEA Games and none should spit on her parade.

 

But it seems the celebrated national gymnast is now facing stiff competition - from politicians and heads of government agencies.

 

This week, the floor belonged to Mara chairperson Annuar Musa ( photo ).

 

On Tuesday, the Australian media reported that Mara had acquired an apartment building in Melbourne far above the market value.

 

Annuar started his routine with a cartwheel - “We can’t say yes or no” .

 

At a press conference the next day, Annuar was asked if the prime minister had approved the deal before it was sealed, and the latter replied in the affirmative, adding that it was procedural.

 

But when the news was published , the Mara boss executed a ‘back-to-back tumbling’, claiming that his words were misreported.

 

For the uninitiated, a ‘back-to-back tumbling’ is when a gymnast performs a tumbling pass from one corner of the mat to the other, rebounds, and performs another tumbling pass in the other direction without stopping.

 

Soon after, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak joined the floor routine with a “twisted” tweet .

          

Malaysiakini uploaded an audio recording of Annuar’s press conference to prove otherwise, but the narrative continued.

 

Yesterday, Annuar performed a somersault, claiming that Najib did not approve the deal and Mara was apparently forced to appeal his decision.

 

Defective bulbs

 

Politicians often find solace in their ‘twisted’ excuses when the heat is turned up a notch or two or when a subordinate dishes out more than what is deemed fit for public consumption.

 

Granted, the media does sometimes ‘spin’ to add spice to the news. But organisations which adhere to journalistic ethics would ensure that these are kept within the parameters of context.

 

Politicians, on the other hand, are twisters extraordinaire, whose contortionist skills would put any gymnast to shame.

                                                                                   

For example, Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Mohd Raslan Rafi scored a 9.99 for his floor exercise routine on the lightbulb issue.

 

It so happened that when Malaysiakini attended a breaking of fast function with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim at PWTC, which houses the Umno headquarters, it noticed that while the portraits of other Umno leaders were lit up, Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s image was shrouded in darkness.

 

So a lighthearted article was published given that Mahathir is now attempting to dim Najib’s political career.

 

But Raslan, despite photographs of the unlit Mahathir image having gone viral on social media, remained adamant that it did not happen.

 

Following this, Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor enlisted the Jews, CIA and Christians to bolster his claim of an international conspiracy.

 

In other words, lurking in the dark corners of PWTC are CIA and Mossad operatives masquerading as journalists on a top secret espionage mission to detect faulty bulbs.

 

Given such verbal gymnastics, locating defective bulbs in the political circle is not an arduous task.

 

 

RK ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.