Of Elizabeth Wong And Questionable Morality

All it takes is for me to be away for a short while before things start brewing in Malaysia.

All it takes is for me to be without an internet connection - at least a secure one without someone on a remote location checking on what I'm browsing online. (It *is* a high-security office, after all).

But I've got round to it - just barely managing to get my head round the story of Elizabeth Wong Keat Ping.

From a personal perspective, it is a very sad story of betrayal - of the highest order. I guess that's what happens when Friday The 13th comes right before Valentine's Day.

I don't know what kind of lover would take intimate pictures of a woman while she is asleep and send it to the press in a horrifying attempt to taint her name. Perhaps there is legitimate reason why he is an EX-boyfriend, and not a current one.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.

But there's always more to it than just that. I'm Malaysian-born and have lived there for most of my life, but I forget what Malaysia is like.

I forget that moral values in Malaysia revolve around what goes on in a private bedroom behind closed doors.

It has been my personal observation that the more prudish one is, the more likely one is to make fraudulent claims (insurance, office overtime etc), solicit bribes and indulge in corruption.

In my book, these are the lowest of moral values (apart from rape and murder) because they negatively and adversely affect other people by taking away from them what is rightfully theirs.

Elizabeth Wong resigned from all her political posts because she was deemed to have "questionable morality".

That has me quite befuddled indeed.

Which part was questionable? That she wasn't like the rest of our politicians?

That she didn't try to smuggle huge amounts of money out to Australia? That she didn't blow up a Mongolian model? That she wasn't committing adultery with "a close friend"? That she wasn't corrupted?

What exactly was questionable?

That she wasn't gay? For some reason I'd always suspected she was - perhaps because she reminds me of a cross between Melissa Etheridge and Ellen DeGeneres. If she was indeed getting frisky with Mr I-Take-Photos-While-You-Sleep, she's evidently straight.

Even if she was in fact, gay, I'd wonder which woman it was that got lucky. If she applies the same determination and dedication to a relationship as she does to her job (and her resume really is quite impressive), what more could you ask for?

So again, which part was questionable?

That she wasn't known to be into say, group sex?

If that has you shocked, allow me to inform you that it is not an alien concept to many Malaysians. Trust me, I know - I've actually been invited before. Since you're a snoopy busy-body and are now curious - I declined the offer. :)

I was hardly surprised, though. Malaysia is a sexually repressed nation, and all other nations like that harbour people who are unable to express themselves adequately and resort to what the mainstream would term as 'deviant'.

That being said, if such an act is consensual between adults, I really can't think of how it affects me or my loved ones in the same way our mainstream politicians' corrupted, self-serving actions have.

So for the last time, what about her was questionable?

That she wasn't a paedophile or prone to engaging in bestiality - both of which are acts I unreservedly abhor?

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that she sounds like a poster girl for clean politics. Someone was looking for dirt on the woman and all they could come up with was, that she presumably goes to bed with a man.

But wait. She's no more in politics.

And I can understand why - she's too clean.

York Minster Cathedral

If you've never heard of the York Minster before, this should get you started.

I'd originally planned on visiting York, but not the cathedral, because I'm not particularly a culture vulture.

And it did cost a whopping £9.50 per entry, and that is - based on the current exchange rate - about RM49.40 which is quite a bit to see an old building.

But somehow, I had this gut feeling that it would be well worth it, and it was.


It is a vast and immense building...


...with a lot of stained glass - something that someone long ago took great pains to create. Something that someone today takes great pains to restore.

They even have apprenticeships dedicated to restoring this entire piece of architecture.


They still have their regular services.

Exploring More Of England

And this is York.


I don't recall having learned this much about the Romans, Vikings, Saxons, and everyone else who invaded England - or York to be specific.


This is the view from the top of the York Minster tower, one of the most awesome pieces of architecture I've seen.

Squirrelly Request

One thing about the squirrels in England is that they are really friendly.

Technically, this little fellow isn't British. He's a foreigner (though I bet he doesn't have a passport or a legitimate visa) - the American grey - and he has the reputation of being more aggressive and hardy than the native red squirrel.

He came begging for nuts and wasn't the least bit timid about approaching us. And he sure knew how to turn on the charm.

We didn't have any nuts for him. But next time, we will.

Leap Frogging Across The State Of Perak

"The country is in turmoil," says my mother in one of her emails to me.

Now some of you may know that I am not currently in Malaysia, and haven't been for a while due to work requirements.

But I have been keeping up with the latest news from this blooming country. Even if I hadn't, there are so many friends sending me snippets of news.

So this latest fiasco of frogging about has not escaped me at all.

I would hardly describe the country as being in turmoil. I can't think of a better time to expose the sorry behaviour of politicians - both from (or should I say, formerly) Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional.

And I wouldn't be the first to remind you that all this leap-frogging was started by none other than the Pakatan Rakyat leader, Anwar Ibrahim.

If the people really wanted to make a change in this country, the polls are the place for it.

I still think Malaysia is not ready for liberation. The minds of the general Malaysian public are still in shackles, and thus so will be their political situation.

It's tough to explain. Malaysians have recently started speaking out due to a wave of "boldness" which emerged from the internet, but it is not out of principle, but more from a sense of being wronged.

Now if their rights are not personally being infringed, they really don't care.

But all is not lost.

I think Najib, in his own blundering way, has actually evoked a deeper need within Malaysians to unite at all costs against a common enemy. Alas, but UMNO is still blinded by their selfish ambitions to realise they will one day be totally annihilated.

That wouldn't be a bad thing.