by M. Bakri Musa

Between the salacious reporting on and the holier-than-thou responses to the sexual escapade of former Health Minister Chua Soi Lek, three important points are overlooked. In a country where an intrusive government could as a law enforcement exercise barge into people’s bedrooms (consider the many khalwat raids), these points bear pondering.

One, what if she had not been a “personal friend” (presumably Chua also has “non-personal friends”) but a foreign intelligence agent, and he, somebody important like a Minister of Defense? Rest assured then that she would be very smooth and sophisticated; she would not let herself be blown to pieces or let the tape be released. It would be more valuable kept secret than exposed.

Two, what if my wife and I had stayed in that same room a few days immediately before, when those “technicians” were having their “practice” runs, or a few days later, when their voyeuristic lust is not yet fully satisfied? Those peeping toms could not blackmail us of course, but we would have felt violated nonetheless. The hotel would be liable, legally and morally, for the damages suffered by us just as surely as if the management had handed to known thugs duplicate keys to our room.

Last is the sense of perspective. In this escapade two people had great fun, with one subsequently paying dearly with his career. No one was killed, or potentially killed, assuming they engaged in “safe sex.” Yet the police expended considerable resources on the case. Meanwhile the recent brutal sex slaying of young Nurin Jazlin remains unsolved and forgotten.

An Old Reliable Tool

The use of pretty girls (and boys too!) to bring down the powerful is nothing new or particularly ingenious. Only the scene, theme actors (and actresses) vary. When such acts are exposed, the end results are equally predictable. Not always, however, much depends on the prevailing norms and the personalities.

The American Central Intelligence Agency had secret tapes of Sukarno cavorting with pretty blonds (yes, more than one at a time!) secretly taped presumably on one of his many trips to Washington, DC. In the 1960s when he was lurching far to the left, the CIA discretely let loose those tapes in the cinema halls of Jakarta.

The hope was that those pious Indonesians would be so repulsed as to start a revolution to topple him. Imagine the horror of the embassy folks when the crowd instead cheered their local stud. As one wag put it, “At least one of us got to screw them back, they have been doing it to us for centuries!”

President Kennedy’s fondness for pretty dames was well known and equally well tolerated if not catered to. Only when he strayed too far and shared his toys with the Mafia bosses were there dismays in the intelligence community.

To me the greatest threat to national security is not those sexual scandals that were exposed rather those that are still secret. They would then be a much more formidable weapon.

When Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman signed that defense treaty with Britain following Malaysia’s independence, was that his considered choice or one that was imposed upon him? As it turned out it was a fortuitous decision. It spared the nation from spending heavily on the military and instead used the funds on education.

It would however, been easy for Britain to impose that defense treaty. During his student days there, the Tunku acquired a widely acknowledged taste for fine scotch. Presumably he also acquired the taste for some other fine “things” the British had to offer.

Thus whether the Tunku’s avowedly pro Western stance was the result of his personal conviction or otherwise, we will never know.

A friend of mine was a fast rising political star in a neighboring country. On a visit to France, he suddenly discovered the exquisite taste for French wine and other equally “fine” offerings of Paris. His country’s leader quickly became aware of the potential danger and brusquely put an end to the young man’s political career.

The mark of a wise leader is how well he or she recognizes and thus avoids such a trap. In not demanding Chua’s immediate resignation, the Prime Minister failed to grasp the threat to the nation of Chua’s extracurricular adventures.

Lee Kuan Yew in his memoir wrote contemptuously of the many joget parties hosted by the Tunku where apparently hookers were readily available. I do not know whether Lee’s indignation arose out of his moral conviction or the fear that he and his boys could be put in potentially compromising situations. Anyway, he was wise to be wary.

Leaders like Sukarno and Kennedy were apparently immune to sexual scandals because everyone knew their weaknesses. When you see a gun enthusiast openly carrying a rifle, you know he is going to the shooting range for some target practice, and nobody would blink an eye. When you see a seemingly straitlaced guy like an Imam carrying a weapon, everyone’s eyebrows would be raised. You know he would be up to no good, perhaps looking to shoot some wild fowls, or worse, a chicken in a farmer’s barn.

Incendiary Racial Component

This being Malaysia, the racial element is never far. Already there are ugly racial stereotype comments and videos posted in blogs and on Youtube. Those would have been pardonable if they were funny; but they were not even that; they were simply crude.

Speculations were that Chua was set up by his many rivals within his party jealous or fearful of his trajectory rise. I wish for the sake of Malaysia that that were true. If this seems a perversion, consider the alternative, that is, this is the scheming of others within the Barisan coalition, specifically UMNO, fearful of his forceful defense of Chinese causes.

If this were so, then I would say that those UMNO operatives were not very smart in releasing the tapes. I would have kept the video absolutely secret, and then would support him on his leadership drive. When he reaches the top you would have full control of him. To put it in the vernacular, “you have him by the balls.”

This is not far fetched, or a case of my imagination running wild. Returning back to the Tunku, one of the inflammatory accusations leveled at him was that he was “too pro Chinese.” He was immune to sexual scandals, so the prevailing thinking then was that the rich Chinese were providing him the necessary cash for him to indulge his expensive hobbies.

Strong Offense As A Strong Defense

I commend Chua for coming clean so quickly and for maintaining his poise in his press conference. He even displayed a fine sense of humor in inviting the reporters (presumably the females only) to view the tapes with him! However, be careful what you ask for!

Chua needs to do more. He should hire the most skillful and vicious lawyer to sue the hotel for invasion of his privacy and breach of contract. When you rent a hotel room there is an implied contract that you are entitled to its private use. As those cameras were not portable, the managers should have known they were being installed and thus be liable. I am of course assuming that Chua paid for the room. If the room and its “services” were free (meaning, paid for by someone else) then you get what you pay for.

Even if Chua does not prevail at least he would have the satisfaction of forcing the management to spend money on its legal defense. It might also encourage others who where guests at the hotel, specifically those who had stayed in the same room, to join in the lawsuit.

Chua could not possibly be further damaged by more revelations no matter how kinky. When you have some mud on you, that would be dirt; when you are totally covered, that would be a mud bath, and could be therapeutic. Then it would be those who touched you who would be dirtied.

A vigorous offense is often the best defense. By suing, Chua could hopefully discourage future voyeuristic hotel operators from indulging their fantasies. That could only be good for our tourist industry. Who knows it might even discourage the government, especially its religious authorities, from snooping around.