the relish dish

Posted by wetbenang at Friday, March 16, 2007

DUMB, DUMBER, DUMBEST - PART II

Today The Star carried a clarification by Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor on the remarks he made last week on women bloggers, which is further proof that he is suffering from a "gone-case" bout of foot-in-the-mouth disease.

Read this excerpt:

Adnan: I didn't mean all women

'I was referring to Indon journalist'

KUALA LUMPUR: Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has clarified that he did not label all women bloggers as liars.

He said his statement was specifically made in reference to an Indonesian journalist who wrote in her blog about the ministry's inefficiency.

Tengku Adnan said he loved "all women" and he was "here because of a woman."

"In fact, most of my supporters in my constituency are women," he said.

(For the uninitiated, you may want to check out Nila Tanzil to understand what this was all about in the first place.)

Ohhhh. Not all women bloggers are liars, he now says, only Nila Tanzil. What an insult to our intelligence! What an insult to all women, including the one who's responsible for his being "here". And what an insult to Nila Tanzil. If were her, I would be hopping mad by now. And then get even. You know, tit-for-tat.

I don't understand why the Minister couldn't be graceful about the whole thing and accept Nila's observation as constructive criticism, and try to do things differently (and better) in the future. That would have been a princely thing to do, kan? We all learn from our mistakes. We are not perfect. But no, he chose to shove his foot deeper into his mouth.

I liaise a lot with people representing his Ministry, and "efficient" is not the first thing that would come to my mind when dealing with them. If I were to tell, their tales alone would need at least 831 postings.

OK, I exaggerate. But I'm afraid if Nila Tanzil were to pursue the matter further, this could turn into an embarassing diplomatic row.

But then, it's not like we're not used to being mortified by the words and actions of our leaders, kan?

15 comments:

You could not understand why the Minister could not be graceful about the whole issue? Come on dahling..u are asking far too much from our zany "leader"...tak baik u.....ishk.....belajar lah bersimpati dengan mereka yang mempunyai tahap kecerdikan dan keintelektualan yang sangat di bawah paras "suhu bilik"..HA HA HA...tu saje...., kan? I lurrvee Westpac Bank :)

samantha said...

9:14 PM

I believe him! I believe him.. My leader, my nation's chosen politcian would never have meant those vile insinuations..

then again.. I'm a woman.. and I blog.. and not truly employed.. hahahahahahhhahahahahah

Crabby Ashburn (Temasek-born Malaysian) said...

2:59 AM

Wetbenang
errr... another no-make-sense statement from him.. just trying to shift blame on others I guess. Hmm.. sick politics!

Xis said...

12:19 PM

Sam: Well, I expect a lot from those running the country.
Lis: I feel sorry for his mother.
Xis: You and I are quite alike...aren't we..?

wetbenang said...

12:54 AM

Bang Man, of course I do...I do..I do have high expectations and high hopes at those zany people running my country but at the rate they are running it..I only want to run away from it - what hope? what expectations? of course we must keep on writing and fighting as we must act if we want changes, which is what we are all doing. having said that, I still believe that it is a waste of my precious time to harbour any hope and expectations on zany people who happens to run my country....that's that.

I'm happy for you.

samantha said...

8:23 AM

Wetbenang
quite alike? Hmm.. let me see... maybe.. coz we're "sekampung".. right? ;)

Xis said...

6:07 PM

i though the ministry could not take critism by others. Espesially from accross country. Maybe if from theirs country, the problem will not like now. Blogger is just human being who could blow up their mind. :-D

Anonymous said...

10:12 AM

i think this minister should how to be a wise person, that fight back those blog isn't by that statement

Anonymous said...

2:19 PM

think this minister should learn how to be a wise person, that fight back those blog isn't by that statement

Anonymous said...

2:22 PM

I love that idea. Awesome Post..

Tips and Tricks blog said...

6:28 PM

Thanks for knowing exactly when to tell me what I want to hear, when I want to hear it the most.