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Anwar conspiracy: Uphill battle for gov't

I refer to the Malaysiakini report Gov't demands US stop 'interfering' .

Like many Malaysians, the US believes Anwar Ibrahim has not been fairly treated.

The 'black eye' incident shamed the nation and won Anwar much sympathy, especially when it was facetiously suggested by Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Anwar had inflicted it upon himself. It was adding insult to injury and hurt Mahathir's image perhaps more than Anwar's eye.

So US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice's concerns for Malaysia to abide by the rule of law and be transparent are not unfounded. The US despite a change of administration has been consistently critical of what they probably view as a victimisation of Anwar in a political conspiracy.

While Anwar could be on trial again, many feel the Barisan government is the one on trial now.

The Barisan government's involvement in the Saiful and Balasubramaniam cases leave much to be desired. It is not the function of the administration to influence police cases. Police matters should not be directed by politicians. Even PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has waded in and made unhelpful comments.

The police are proud of their ‘royal’ tag but do they deserve it? Have they lived up to their name? Have their actions been noble? I think we know the answer. They must prove they are not mere political pawns but enforcers of the law without fear or favour.

There should be no politicisation of police cases if justice is to be served. With a cloud over the state of the judiciary and there being no remedial action after the royal commission into the Lingam video scandal, the public can be excused for feeling distrustful of judges who are close to the government.

While wanting the US to butt out, it seems rather odd that the foreign minister should conduct a briefing on Anwar's sodomy case to foreign embassies on what is fundamentally a domestic issue. Did it conduct a similar briefing on the Altantuya case?

After all this would be more in the national interest as a future prime minister has been implicated and its seriousness has resulted in a criminal charge against the one who made the public allegation.

The number of excellent online letters explaining how DNA works and shortcomings in police procedures again expose the weakness of the case. To many it seems the police are trying to build up a case of straws. Either they are incompetent or those who believe in conspiracy may be right. Whatever the truth, it looks like another controversy.

The need for foreign DNA experts is laughable. They may as well bring in a foreign police team. It may not be such a wild idea as the independence of the police investigations is in doubt.

If the government claims innocence of any involvement in the cases they should stand back and let the police do their job and not be seen to be interfering. Then they are less likely to be accused of the diabolical plot to destroy Anwar's political plans through another conspiracy.

As the jigsaw pieces together, it appears the government will have an uphill battle in convincing the public. Even to outside observers it smells fishy and the US Secretary of State would not make such serious comments if she didn't think so.

As to PAS Youth's objections to the Inul Darastita concert , after watching some of the YouTube clips, I think she is a talented singer with some very sexually provocative dance moves that some people could find offensive. Some of her gyrations seem gratuitous.

But much of her dancing, if you could call it that, is innocuous. Like many young talented and good-looking performers, sadly a good voice is not enough and the temptation to win popularity through sexually titillating presentations is hard to resist.

I think there is a place for modesty among performers especially in a country like Malaysia. We should celebrate our sexuality in a proper way but obscenity is a different matter. It is easy to be desensitised and accept lewd behaviour as the norm. One man's taste may be another's offence but some things are clearly objectionable, and I would include some of this popular singer's gyrations.

Perhaps banning her concert entirely may seem harsh. All that is needed is for her not to include the objectionable dance moves in her performance. She needs to convince her audience that she can actually dance without the raunchy moves and frankly I think she'd win more fans.

Let the show go on but keep the sexy bits for the bedroom. Then no one will be offended. And public morality is all about offensiveness and not every one who is offended is a prude, not that being one is wrong. Let's keep the music and dancing flowing but with propriety.

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