COMMENT Yong Kheng Chien is right in saying the Malaysia Gao Feng Lion and Dragon Dance Athletic Association which he founded is apolitical, but the truth is far from just “cheap politicking”.

I am not a politician, but I can see that most people’s disgust was already boiling over, so when they saw that the lion seemingly did not perform for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor, they were gleeful in sending out the video clip and making it viral.

No one bothered whether it was because the lion was in fact, peeling pomelo and mandarin oranges, as I mentioned in my earlier article. Yet, for MCA to again jump onto the bandwagon to pull a fast one on the opposition - talking about “cheap politics” - clearly shows that the politicians are oblivious of the people’s sentiments.

MCA should focus on the people’s sentiments and analyse why such a small matter had gone viral on social media, instead of trying to gain some brownie points by urging the opposition to desist from politicking. The proverbial saying goes, “Like the crab teaching others how to walk straight”.

I do not have to mention that to save embarrassment, no one, including Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang and his party president Mah Siew Keong, cared to even explain the lion dance to Najib; instead, they apparently walked away before the lion could even serve the pomelo and the oranges.

If I were Yong, I would also feel disgusted. But, my point is not about whether the lion was peeling the citrus fruits or not.

I quote from one reader, Kingfisher, who wrote: “The lion dancers have perhaps left an indelible impression on those who are prejudiced to perceive unfavourably, that while you may have the power and authority, you shall not have our deference.”

Someone added: “It just goes to show how low the esteemed office of the PM is perceived/held nowadays by many ordinary Malaysians.”

In short, what I tried to point out in my article was that the people’s sentiments were not in favour of the leadership of Najib, especially since the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal was exposed and Malaysians are now having to bear with the escalating cost of living.

This was my observation, my reading into the latest political development, and I think I did everyone some justice, yet some readers expressed their disappointment that I would stoop so low as to “lend some comments on this twit”.

I put it here that the whole incident could have been avoided if Mah had taken the trouble to urge Najib to tarry a little longer, but he did not. Therefore, whatever explanation that Tan has to offer no longer holds water and the reason why the video clip went viral (like many others) is because people are unhappy with the current leadership.

Barely 24 hours after my article was out, we read that the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) has ordered Coutts & Co Ltd to surrender 6.5 million francs (RM29.1 million) in illegal profits from transactions linked to 1MDB.

“Coutts seriously breached money-laundering regulations by failing to carry out adequate background checks into business relationships and transactions associated with 1MDB,” the article read.

Finma has also confirmed the transaction of US$700 million highlighted in the civil suit filed by the US Department of Justice, which implicated Penang-born Jho Low. Low is currently a person of interest in Singapore, yet Najib has done nothing to investigate Low.

Judging from the sentiments of the people, which also explains why Seputeh parliamentarian Teresa Kok’s ‘Tangkap Ayam’ Chinese New Year video received over 100,000 hits within just one day after it was launched, most people believe that the Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) is, in fact, Najib himself.

I would give Najib the benefit of the doubt since he has denied that the money was ever used for his personal benefits, but Tony Pua has argued otherwise when he pointed out that Najib contradicted his own words when he claimed he did not know about another RM41 million from SRC International that went into his private accounts.