COMMENT In just a few words, Zunar explains it all.

Over the phone, I ask the 53-year-old political cartoonist why his latest book, ‘Sapuman - Man of Steal’ has become a national threat, he answers: “Ours is a land of cartoons.”

All the characters in the cartoon land, he says, are cartoons characters. “Only cartoon characters are afraid of cartoons,” he quips. “Look at Tom and Jerry. Jerry is afraid of Tom. If they were real people, they should not be afraid of cartoons.”

Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, who is fondly known by his fans as Zunar, shot to fame since he entered the arena of political cartoons after joining the reformasi when former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was sacked in 1998.

His fan club on Facebook has over 94,000 fans. His cartoons have been featured prominently in Malaysiakini, but there is nothing like having his collection of cartoons in a book form so that future generations of Malaysians can still enjoy it.

I am of the opinion that his cartoons may help future generations of Malaysians to learn our history as they portray vividly the real political situation in the country.

According to Zunar, the present government under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is simply suffering from ‘cartoonophobia.’ “They have become threatened by the cartoons that we produce,” he says. “Only cartoon characters are afraid of the cartoon that they are in.”

Najib is the son of the second prime minister, Abdul Razak Hussein. “In the past, his father was rightly afraid of Communist threats, because they were real threats. But, now the son is so afraid of cartoons. Why?” he asks.

Ability to accept criticisms a virtue

In fact, he put it very well in a page where he caricatures a ‘KTN’ officer (whoever is meant here should feel the heat) strangling a cartoonist, while the other cartoon character keeps blaring away.

Under the caption, ‘Tun Can, Cartoon Cannot’, it clearly depicts his own situation compared with that of another major critic of the 1MDB, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Everyone knows that while Dr Mahathir has been slamming 1MDB, yet after over a month, the former prime minister has still not been called by the Royal Malaysian Police to make a statement.

In the eyes of Zunar ( photo ), Dr Mahathir is apparently ‘immune’ to any prosecution, whereas he himself has been slapped with nine charges under the Sedition Act 1946. All because of some cartoon characters that clearly struck some nerves.

It used to be a virtue for political leaders to live lives beyond reproach. They becoming the ultimate statesmen when they retire. When criticised, they would humbly accept the criticisms with open arms to see how they could improve even further.

Former Mr Opposition Dr Tan Chee Khoon was held in great esteem in the days of the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Petra Al-Haj and Najib’s own father, Razak. When Mr Opposition criticised the government, sometimes harshly, he was never thrown into jail using the Sedition Act 1946, or what have you!

But today, leaders are living in glass houses. Since the advent of the Internet, their lives have become exposed to the world, but when their glasses are hit, they blame others for damaging their reputation.

Although they like to pose as the ‘Man of Steel’, in reality Zunar’s description is more apt. They have become ‘Men of Steal’. You have to read the entire book to really find out why he calls it ‘Sapuman - the Man of Steal’.

As I browsed through the pages, I am reminded of one truth. If the glass can be broken even by a little pebble like Zunar, the ego of these politicians must be so easily bruised that they need apple-polishers to constantly console their ego.

Zunar again scored in the way he presented the concept in one of the pages of his book, depicting his Sapuman character being given Very Important Person (VIP) treatment by his ‘Mr Yes’ men - one polishing his shoes, the other fanning him, while a third man tickled his ears with words that he wanted to hear.

A fourth character was seen in the background holding the Eraser 1Malaysia, trying to remove the words ‘Skandal 1MDB.’

In reality, is this not already in the public domain? So, what is the big deal of pressing nine charges against Zunar the cartoonist? Anyone care to provide me with a good explanation?

(For a good read this weekend, you can pick up a copy of Zunar’s latest book, ‘Sapuman, the Man of Steal’ by ordering online via www.zunar.my . It is priced at RM26 which is only a drop in the ocean of RM2.6 billion.)

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.