THE latest sex video allegedly involving a federal minister isn’t the first to rock Malaysian politics.

One of the earliest sex scandals involving a politician dates back to December 11, 1989 when then Jelutong MP Karpal Singh named Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker DP Vijandran during a parliament sitting as the person in a series of 11 sex tapes.

Prior to Karpal’s expose in Dewan Rakyat, copies of the sexual trysts had already been making its round in the form of VHS (video home system) tapes. The videos showed Vijandran having sex with different women.

Unlike now when videos are easily sent to the target audiences’ phones, one had to have a VCR player to view these videos. But this wasn’t a problem as many Malaysians had a VCR player to watch their beloved dramas from Hong Kong, Japan and India.

The tapes, which were sent to Karpal’s office, had been stolen from Vijandran’s house when he was burgled in August 1988. Along with valuables, the four thieves had taken the 11 tapes and four envelopes from his safe.

Although the rising MIC star initially denied it, he subsequently said that he was unaware that his nephew had secretly filmed him. 

In the aftermath of the revelations, Vijandran lost favour in MIC and disappeared from the Malaysian political scene.

Anwar’s first sodomy trial

Ten years later, then deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim also found himself embroiled in a sex scandal, although there were no videos involved.

After he was fired on September 2, 1998 by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar’s former speechwriter Munawar Anees and adopted brother Sukma Darmawan Sasmita Atmadja were arrested on suspicion of having homosexual relations with the sacked Umno leader.

Five days later, they were handed a jail sentence of six months after pleading guilty to having “unnatural sex” with Anwar. The two later recanted their confessions and appealed their sentences, claiming they had been coerced, but the appeals were rejected.

Anwar was subsequently charged for sodomy and attempting to subvert the investigations. During the trial, the key evidence was in a mattress taken from an apartment in Bangsar, which was said to have been stained by Anwar’s semen. This was submitted as DNA evidence of Anwar’s sexual acts. 

The trial, however, was marred by several inconsistencies such as the inability of the prosecution to accurately decide on the dates of the alleged sexual encounters due to the inconsistency of the DNA evidence.

Nevertheless, Anwar was found guilty and sentenced to six years for corruption and nine years for sodomy. His sodomy conviction was subsequently overturned at the Federal Court in September 2004.

Double whammy in 2008

After a lull of 10 years, 2008 came back with a vengeance with two major sex scandals involving senior leaders.

MCA’s Dr Chua Soi Lek announced his resignation as health minister on January 1, 2008 after admitting to being the person in a sex video that had been circulated through DVD.

The DVD, which could be purchased from night markets around the city, contained an hour’s footage of Chua having extramarital sex with a female friend in a hotel in Johor. The married man with three children was secretly filmed performing sexual acts with a woman in a hotel room.

In his autobiography, which was released last year, Chua blamed his downfall on his prominence and rise in MCA. Although he returned to lead MCA from 2010 to 2013, he was unable to get the legitimacy outside the party after that.

Anwar came back into the limelight in mid-2008 when aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan lodged a report on June 28 that he had been forcibly sodomised by his employer.

Although there were no videos or mattresses, DNA evidence was once again used against Anwar. This time it came through semen that was found in Saiful’s anus three days after he allegedly sodomised.

The inconsistencies did not stop there as the examining physician from Hospital Kuala Lumpur testified that there was no penetration or defensive wounds on Saiful although there was semen.

After two years of trials, Anwar was finally acquitted on January 9, 2012 after Judge Zabidin Mohamad Diah found the DNA evidence to be unreliable. 

But the PKR president’s plight did not end there as the decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal before it was upheld by the Federal Court on February 10, 2015.

Anwar was sentenced to five years in prison before he was given a royal pardon on May 16, 2018, after Pakatan Harapan won in the last general election and formed the government.

Anwar a target again

Before he was jailed in 2015, Anwar was again implicated in another sex video.

In March 2011, former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and then Perkasa treasurer Shuib Lazim screened a video alleging Anwar had had sex with a woman in Thailand.

Rahim, who was initially charged with statutory rape in 1994 before the charges were withdrawn, showed the video to a selected audience comprising journalists and activists.

The 22-minute footage depicted a man, alleged to be Anwar having sex with a woman, with subtitles emblazoned on it.

Anwar denied the allegations and the issue died down within a month.

Azmin caught in scandals too

PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali had also been dragged into sex scandals before.

In 2012, a series of photos of someone looking like Azmin committing sexual acts with an unknown woman surfaced on the internet.

The pictures showed a man resembling Azmin in the hall of a house cuddling with a woman while other pictures showed the same woman performing oral sex on the man inside a toilet. 

Azmin denied allegations of any sexual misconduct as his supporters defended him by saying that it was an attempt to frame him.

The then Selangor menteri besar was once again caught in a sex scandal when a married woman accused him of having an affair with her in January 2018. She revealed details of their liaison as well as video clips of their sexual acts in a blog. Azmin once again denied all the allegations.

PAS has its share

The share of sex scandals did not distinguish parties as PAS had its own share of leaked videos.

Eight days before nomination day for the 2013 elections, a video depicting then PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali was circulated in pro-Umno blogs.

The 30-second video allegedly showed the PAS politician having sex with a woman in a hotel room. 

Although Mustafa denied the allegations, he had since stopped contesting for party posts and elections.

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu was also linked to sexual misconduct ahead of the elections last year.

Several days before elections, pictures of him being involved in an illicit relationship with a woman was circulated.

Sabu refused to be drawn to the controversy and subsequently won the Kota Raja parliament seat and is now the defence minister.

The Ramadan season is over and with it the ceasefire. – June 12, 2019.