vox populi small thumbnail 'Let him who has not sinned cast the first stone. Let the private or personal matters remain such; unless of course if the elected person is drunk and cannot do his/her job.'

 

Khairy: Am I drinking in the photo?

Nil: It was good for PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim to admit his misdeed [if it can be called that] as a youth. I am sure he knows the consequences of his confession. It shows clearly that he can be transparent, and that is what he will be in office.

Come on, guys, share a bit of your youth activities! A few drinks does not make a person morally bad as along as others are not harmed. Nor does telling a few white lies, nor having lustful thoughts. These are all part of growing up.

Being a hypocrite is far worse.

Maslina: Stop these personal attacks, lah . If we don't want to judge Zaid by his drinking habits, then don't judge anyone by their alleged drinking habits also. Don't dumb down the public interest agenda please.

Lahore san: The point is, as a Muslim, you're not even supposed to frequent places where liquor is served. Not only can you not drink, you're even supposed to remove yourself from the company if liquor is served. What more walk into a pub or disco or whatever (which is why as a rule, syariah-compliant investments avoid hotel counters).

This requirement/condition will not change. Some Muslims will. I just thought we should get that in perspective before we confuse others. No, for a Muslim, cool doesn't even make it to the discussion list.

KJ John: I agree with Khairy that it is the "unimaginative media people" who make this a public issue and sensationalise it. Let him who has not sinned cast the first stone. Let the private or personal matters remain such; unless of course if the elected person is drunk and cannot do his/her job.

Corruption in Malaysia amongst politicians is a more serious concern; why is the media not concerned to research this issue? For instance, why not ask both candidates to speak about corruption and ask their stand on it and how they have fought against it.

Louis: The Malay saying that if you point a finger at a person, there are four pointing at you. This is very apt for most of those Umno leaders. Who among them, Khairy, Najib Razak, Hishammuddin Hussein and the rest dare swear that they never drank alcohol at all in his lifetime?

At least Zaid is frank and brave enough to own up. Zaid did not claim to be a saint but a mere mortal who sinned and repented. But Umno leaders, always portray themselves to be spotlessly clean - but are they really clean?

Farid Yahya: Let's put it this way lah . Would any of you not vote for a politician because he drinks? Does it matter to you that he drinks, even if he is most articulate, fair, intelligent and sincere? Is it such a big deal? Why are both sides persisting on this mudslinging match?

Wait, wait... hold your horses. So Zaid admits to drinking, and you all are okay with it and feel it just to attack BN/Umno for bringing the alcohol issue up. But in the photo, KJ doesn't actually drink, and you're all over him like shingles?

WandererAUS: "There is no smoke without a fire." KJ, no wonder you were playing the good bloke in this campaign. They say, "Don't spit skywards, it will fall back to your face!"

DPM chides Pakatan for questioning key institutions

KSN: Muhyiddin Yassin does not know that the judiciary has been destroyed and that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the police force, the Election Commission, the Attorney-General's Chambers and all the other institutions that are supposed to be bipartisan are at the beck and call of the government/Umno.

The ordinary man in the street seems to know all this and more.

SKT: Nobody is questioning the role of the institutions enshrined in the constitution. In fact, what everyone's asking is why the current BN government has ignored the constitution and treats these institutions as if they are their component parties.

Yuvan: It is not a question of how long these institutions - the police, the judiciary, MACC, etc, have been around. The question asked by Pakatan Rakyat is how credible are these institutions today? Are these institutions really independent and transparent? Under the BN government administration, are these institutions able to perform without fear or favour?

Coming to the '1Malaysia' concept, I do not think that Pakatan is threatened by all the hype and propaganda. The truth is, a number of Umno leaders do not care to acknowledge 1Malaysia, as they are the ones who feel threatened by it. They have hurt the non-Malays with all their irresponsible statements and gimmicks.

The DPM need not accuse Pakatan politicians of deriding 1Malaysia. Umno politicians themselves have a made a mockery of 1Malaysia, and they will continue to do so for the simple reason that they do not believe in it.

Doc: The function of the opposition parties is to keep the ruling government in check, and most importantly to prevent abuse of power. This is what the current opposition party is doing, keeping BN/Umno in check.

Umno has been in power for far to long that they feel the police, the judiciary, the MACC and other economic institutions have to report to them and to do their bidding.

In a democratic country, the above institutions are there to serve and protect the citizens of the country. Unfortunately in Malaysia which practices authoritarian rule, these institutions now serve Umno.

I would like to advise Muhyiddin to spend some time looking up on the principles of democracy.

JBSS: The solution is to put in place drastic reforms to correct the shortcomings of these public institutions that have been abused, misused and manipulated to serve the selfish, corrupt and racist agenda of the Umno regime. DPM, you only know how to play the blame game.

Patrick: It's actually kind of funny how anything can jeopardise the political and social stability of the country. You'd think that we've just come out of the Japanese occupation with bandits running loose and workers striking at every place of work or something.

Defensive Wee coy on defection rumour

Ferdtan: It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that this Wee Choo Keong is waiting for the right moment to jump for the best effect and, of course, the best benefits. If you are not jumping, then just deny it. That you didn't is for obvious reasons.

SusahKes: "Wee then launched an offensive against the new media, which he labelled as "irresponsible."

This is the first sign of a potential katak - attack the new media. Don't believe me? Take a look at the king of kataks .

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