Where there's smoke

1. Recently a young employee had made a statutory declaration alleging that his boss attempted to sexually assault him. I found it hard to believe that the boss would face the same situation again that in the past had him charged, tried and found guilty of sexual assaults on two occasions. What is mind-boggling is that the boss is an eminent political figure in the country. In the following account I will refer to him as “the pied piper.”

2. In my youth, I used to idolise the pied piper, a charismatic figure, and saw in him a promising future leader for the country, but it was not until 1975 that for the first time I heard someone made derogatory remark about his behaviour. The remark came from a colleague of mine who became a close friend during a one-year specialist course in art education that we attended at STTI, Cheras. It was a coincidence that the pied piper was his peer at a prestigious elite school in Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

3. Later in 1979 I went for my first degree at the oldest university in the country where I saw disgusting name-calling scribbled at the back of toilet doors that was directed at the pied piper. That brought to mind my colleague’s remark about his behaviour four years back. Consequently, I began to wonder if there could be smoke without fire.

4. During the outbreak of political unrest in September 1998, the controversy of a political decision made by the then prime minister became the ubiquitous topic of conversation across the country. It was at that time that a friend related an account that had happened in the early 1970s when he was working in Baling. It happened that one day he was listening to the pied piper delivering a fiery speech to a crowd in an open place hitting out at the ruling government. As he listened intently, a friend came up to him and said if it were worthwhile listening to one who had a darker side to his character. The friend of my friend, also a peer of the pied piper, went to the same above-mentioned school in Perak.

5. There are other accounts including comments on social media relating to the strange behaviour of the pied piper that undoubtedly have proven detrimental to his public image, but curiously enough not challenged in court. At present the pied piper is still fighting for his survival on the political scene in spite of the controversies shrouding his image.
6. In certain countries politicians readily step down at the slightest hint of corruption or wrongdoing. So I wonder why the pied piper is so intent in pursuing his course of action. Does he really believe or want people to believe that he is the victim of slander? There do seem to be some grounds to suspect his honesty because he remains evasive about his strange behaviour. The story of the pied piper is a tragedy in itself. He puts the general public in a great dilemma. The people are in limbo while waiting what might come next. I for one believe that it is unethical to have a hypocrite for a leader.