Don’t politicize nude scandal

It looks as though our country is not lacking in excitement. One exciting episode seems to come after another in rapid succession. The current nude picture scandal of Selangor State Assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong is an unfortunate incident that the state and the nation in general can ill afford at this time of economic uncertainties. Regrettably what should be a private and personal issue has become a national scandal that is threatening the political stability.

There are two aspects to this scandal; firstly it relates to the morality of Elizabeth and secondly the morality of the person responsible for obtaining the photos without her consent and circulating them to the public.

There is no doubt that our wakil rakyat should have a high moral integrity as they should be role models for the younger generations. However as normal humans they too have the weaknesses of any individual and whatever mistakes of the past should not be used to gauge their present status as the people’s representatives. They should be judged by what they do now not what they have done in the past which may not reflect their true character now being in public office.

However if Elizabeth or anyone holding public office is discovered, beyond doubt, to be morally unfit to be a leader there is no reason why she should not be asked to relinquish the post to safeguard the sanctity of that public portfolio. Her guilt is yet to be proven and it would be unfair for the media to sensationalize the issue to cause unnecessary embarrassment to her and her family as all sex scandals do.

Elizabeth claims she is a victim of a political conspiracy aimed to discredit her party and she should be commended to be willing to resign to protect the greater interest of her party. If what she says is true, which appears to be so, then it brings to surface unpleasant and unethical political practices that are taking roots in the country that is a highly regrettable.

Is it scandalous to go nude in the privacy of your own home? If somebody can be accused of being immoral by being nude in his/her own home then we won't have anybody to run the country. If being nude in your own home is a crime than all Malaysian would committing such crimes everyday. On the contrary it is the invasion of such privacy that is scandalous.

We do not know whether Elizabeth is wrong or otherwise. This needs to be investigated fairly by the authorities and appropriate action taken. What we know for certain is that the person involved in taking and distributing those photos is definitely wrong, both legally and morally, and he needs to be severely punished that would also deter others from doing such things in future. The culprits responsible for circulating the pictures of Wong and those who are exploiting the issue must be exposed and brought to task.

It is sad that there are people are willing to stoop so low to resort to such unethical means to bring down elected representatives. Malaysians must reject the use of such shameful tactics and condemn in the strongest terms the desperate people responsible for such a despicable act.

Dr.Chris Anthony