Zam Goes to Hollywood

The newly appointed deputy information minister Zainuddin Maidin, or simply Zam as he’s known here, apparently has a lot to offer not only to fellow Malaysians but also the capital city of the entertainment world, Hollywood.

Recently, the new broom swept many people off their feet with his public announcement regarding the Malaysian ban of famous American actor, Brad Pitt, from the Toyota advertisement. He claimed that the Toyota commercial was ‘an insult to Asians’ as it, he insisted, would ‘plant a sense of inferiority among Asians’.

There are many ways to make one’s mark in the political arena, and one has seen many a politician, in his/her attempt to be publicly noticed, committing guffaws along the way. But this one is really the pits.

It sounds really stupid especially when there is already a standing rule in the Information Ministry that advertisements should not include non-Asians, particularly Caucasian-looking personalities. (Well, at least there used to be such a ruling for advertisements on TV.) In other words, Zam really didn’t have the need to desperately justify this ruling in a way that only invites laughter and scorn.

Anyway, what happened, it seems, was that the minister’s blunder reached the American tinsel town where a female radio deejay remarked rather sarcastically that Mr Pitt made all American men feel inferior, too!

At this juncture, we were wondering whether the impenetrable Zam was also testing the waters in Hollywood, in the sense that he might be casting his eye on that glitter town should his political career fail miserably in the near future in Bolehland. And for all you know, there may be some people in Hollywood who may be tempted to revive the once popular series, The Three Stooges — and Zam might just fit the bill.

But this is really not all. Prior to this, the honourable deputy minister also claimed that in Malaysia the mainstream media have the freedom to decide on which advertisements to run. This is in relation to the US public relations campaign that is being mounted in the media in various countries throughout the world, including Malaysia’s mainstream media, to portray how Muslims in the US are able to live harmoniously in prosperity with the rest of the population.

Zam boasted that Malaysia’s media have that freedom. Sure, the mainstream media that are under the control/influence of the powers that be ‘instinctively’ know where to draw the line. Try saying that, Zam, come the next general elections.

But many things can still happen between now and the next general elections, especially with shoot-from-the-hip Zam. Just recently, Zam came up with another ‘masterpiece’. He urged the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) to support ‘all government efforts to combat militant activities in Malaysia, even with the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA’.

As usual, with a twist of logic, Zam insisted that all laws passed in Parliament had the support of Muslims and non-Muslims alike and, by implication, they’re ‘halal’, and therefore ought to be acknowledged and backed by the people in general. It is important to impress upon the honourable minister that it doesn’t really matter who passed the laws concerned – especially when more than two-thirds of the Malaysian Parliament are from the ruling BN. What does and should matter is what kinds of laws are being passed by Parliament for the common good. Do these laws enhance civil liberties, freedom of expression, the administration of justice, etc.?

Now tell us what you think. E-mail us.