#muhyiddin yassin

[head-post]

Malaysia’s former PM ordered to pay $300,000 to politician for defamation

A Malaysian court ordered former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin to pay more than $300,000 to another politician in a defamation case.

Muhyiddin, who was prime minister from 2020-2021, is also charged with sedition for allegedly insulting the former king, as well as corruption and money laundering in separate cases.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court obliged Muhyiddin to pay 1.35 million ringgit ($308,078) in compensation for defamatory statements against former finance minister Lim Guan Eng. The court also ordered Muhyiddin to retract the remarks and imposed an injunction restraining him from repeating the allegations.

However, Muhyiddin said he would appeal but would delete the posts from his social media accounts in line with the court’s ruling. Lim stated on Friday that he was grateful for the court’s decision as the claims against him were false and unfounded.

Muhyiddin claimed that when Lim was minister from 2018 to 2020, he cancelled a tax exemption for a charitable organisation. Lim sued Muhyiddin for allegations of abuse of office.

Read more HERE

[kazifatagar]

Muhyiddin ordered to pay RM1.35 million to Lim Guan Eng

The High Court has ordered Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to pay RM1.35 million in damages to Lim Guan Eng for defamation related to the revocation of Albukhary Foundation’s tax exemption. Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain ruled in Lim’s favor, finding that Muhyiddin failed to verify the accuracy of his statements before posting them on Facebook. Despite having resources to confirm the…

[suara-rakyat-blog]

Kisah menyayat hati seorang atlet triatlit terkemuka yang lumpuh selepas menerima vaksin Pfizer. Hanya beberapa minit selepas menerima suntikan, dia mula mengalami kesukaran bernafas. Sejak itu, keadaannya semakin merosot dengan cepat. Syaratnya jauh dari "selamat dan berkesan." Dia berpotensi menghadapi kecacatan seumur hidup.

[radioshiga]

Ex-premiê da Malásia acusado de sedição contra monarquia

Kuala Lumpur, Malásia, 28 de agosto de 2024 – Agência de Notícias Bernama – O ex-primeiro-ministro e atual líder da oposição da Malásia, Muhyiddin Yassin, foi formalmente acusado de sedição nesta terça-feira (27) por supostamente insultar o ex-rei do país, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, durante um discurso político no início deste mês. Muhyiddin declarou-se inocente das acusações. Segundo seu…

[worldspotlightnews]

Malaysia ex-PM Muhyiddin Yassin set to be charged for corruption - SUCH TV

Muhyiddin Yassin, who was Malaysia’s prime minister as the country locked down over COVID-19, is expected to be charged on Friday with corruption over the alleged diversion of funds to his party. According to international media reports, Muhyiddin went voluntarily for questioning at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Thursday morning in relation to allegations that building…

[chawsl]

[riaunews]

Pemilu Malaysia Hasilkan Parlemen Gantung, Apa yang Sebenarnya Terjadi?

Pemilu Malaysia Hasilkan Parlemen Gantung, Apa yang Sebenarnya Terjadi?

Mantan Perdana Menteri Malaysia Muhyiddin Yassin mengklaim dapat membentuk pemerintahan dengan dukungan dari partai lainnya, setelah pemilu tidak menghasilkan pemenang mayoritas. (Foto: Reuters) Kualalumpur (Riaunews.com) – Eks Perdana Menteri (PM) Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad kalah telak di pemilihan umum (Pemilu) Malaysia hingga para pemimpin politik melakukan manuver untuk membentuk pemerintahan…

[lmaoitsyuuji]

Nah I’d meme

(Do memes (as it is popular in Malaysian politics) provide a useful way of understanding politics?)

Even politics aren’t safe from being ‘meme’d’.

Meme?

The term ‘meme’ (from the Greek word “mimoúmai”, meaning ‘to imitate’) was coined by a British evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book ‘The Selfish Gene’ (Benveniste 2022). A meme is a piece of media that is repurposed to deliver a cultural, social or political expression through humour and can be in the form of a picture or a video.

Quirk: Meme-ify

Memes exists in every social media platform you can think of—Instagram, TikTok, X and even WhatsApp. Do you know what meme format that is popular nowadays? Cat memes >^•-•^<

Cat memes, that had died down in 2010, has risen back from the ashes and are the hype nowadays. Honestly, I laugh at most, if not all, cat memes cause I’m a loser and that’s how I roll.

Behold, the thousand yard cat stare.

When meme meets politics

There seems to be an ongoing trend of people creating memes of political figures/parties in their countries. Trump is likely the most ‘meme’d’ political figure in history—just scrolling through the internet makes that pretty clear!

Political memes have become a common way for people to be exposed to political content and express their political views online (Halversen & E.Weeks 2023). Political memes’ purpose is to make fun of the political state of a country—however, it can educate people about politics as well. It is a good way for information to be spread around as it attracts netizens to engage with political memes. People no longer want to read but prefer to take a few seconds to view a meme and make a simple comment or adjustment to it and resend it to other platforms (Kasirye 2019, p. 45).

“Meme-laysia”

We usually see a surge of new memes online whenever election is around the corner or when a political figure messes up in their job (which they OFTEN do) and Malaysia is no stranger to political memes. In fact, Malaysian netizens strive in creating political memes. The distinguished gentleman above is probably the most well-known ‘meme’ in Malaysia. Memes about him cursing in the Malaysian Parliament garnered attention from locals and foreigners alike—talk about going viral for the wrong reason!

Additionally, memes were used extensively during the 15th General Election in Malaysia across many social media platforms and the influence of memes among young people in the social media sphere succeeded in altering Malaysian politics once more (Mohd Nizah et. al 2024, p.120). Political memes affect Gen-Z voters that participated in the PRU 15 election where over 4.5 million of them are under the age of 21. Memes act as a tool that distils complex political issues, making them more relatable and easier to understand to the younger generations.

Aside from that, there is an example of a popular Malaysian political meme that happens to be about our former Malaysian Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin. To recap everything, Muhyiddin Yassin announced his resignation on August 16, 2021, on live TV after serving only one year in office. This caused confusion amongst Malaysians and they took to social media to share their confused reactions to the news (Lee 2021). You might be asking—what’s wrong with that? You see, the problem about this is that Muhyiddin resigned from being a Prime Minister… to a ‘caretaker’ PM (until there’s a new successor comes). So, he basically resigned from being the Prime Minister of Malaysia… to the Prime Minister of Malaysia. This political issue has birthed many funny memes and here are some memes to prove it:

Source: Mashable SE Asia

Meme-ocracy

Now, do memes (as it is popular in Malaysian politics) provide a useful way of understanding politics? Yes, I do think they provide a useful way for people to understand politics. The younger generations use memes to understand and learn about the political state of Malaysia, especially during elections, as it is easier to consume than traditional news source. Memes simplify complex issues and make them more relatable, helping young people engage with the political landscape in a way that feels more accessible and entertaining. Seeing as how the young generations are becoming voters now, political figures use memes as a political marketing strategy to relate to the younger generations as well as to spread their propaganda to citizens. They also use memes to cope with the current trends of the world and to communicate with the younger generation as memes are less formal, straightforward, humorous and easily comprehended (Nieubuurt 2021).

Thoughts

I do believe people, especially Malaysian citizens, can understand politics through memes. People relate to memes and some memes, even political ones, can be hilarious. I like memes and so should you :).

(773 words)

References

Benveniste, A 2022, The Meaning and History of Memes, The New York Times, viewed 3rd October 2024,

<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/crosswords/what-is-a-meme.html>

Halversen, A & E.Weeks, B 2023, Memeing Politics: Understanding Political Meme Creators, Audiences, and Consequences on Social Media, Sage Journals, viewed 3rd October 2024,

<https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051231205588 >

Kasirye, F 2019, The Effectiveness of Political Memes as a Form of Political Participation amongst Millenials in Uganda, pp.44-52, Journal of Education and Social Sciences, Vol. 13, Issue 1, viewed 3rd October 2024

Lee, J 2021, Confused Malaysians make sense of country’s political crisis through memes, Mashable SE Asia, viewed 3rd October 2024,

<https://sea.mashable.com/culture/17175/confused-malaysians-make-sense-of-countrys-political-crisis-through-memes>

Mohd Nizah, MA, Abu Bakar, AR, Zahran, MA & Mohd Mokhtar, MA 2024, The Influence of Political Memes on Political Marketing Strategy in Malaysia, pp. 118-131, Journal of Public Administration and Governance Vol.14, ResearchGate, viewed 3rd October 2024.

Nieubuurt, J 2021, Internet Memes: Leaflet Propaganda of the Digital Age, Frontiers, viewed 3rd October 2024,

<https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2020.547065/full>

[kwiyoshi]

彡✎ Unpacking Politics, One Meme at a Time

(Do memes (as it is popular in Malaysian politics) provide a useful way of understanding politics?)

Politics: the only arena where you'll find more plot twists, backstabbing, and unexpected surprises than a season finale of your favorite TV show.

We get it – politics can sometimes feel like a maze of jargon and complex issues. However, with the rise of meme culture and its integration into politics, could memes be used to further understand politics and its complexity? (probably).

Behind the Laughs

Before answering the main question, let me hit y'all with some nerd facts about how memes came about. A meme is a cultural informational unit that spreads by imitation. The term, which comes from the Greek word mimema (meaning "imitated"), was coined by a British biologist named Richard Dawkins in 1976 from his work titled "The Selfish Gene" (Rogers 2023). Memes come in a variety of format that ranges from videos to still images.

From LOL to Legislation

In today's day and age of the Internet, memes can be found on all sorts of social media platforms that we use on a daily basis. Whether it be viral videos or yet another funny cat or dog picture like the doge meme. Nowadays, there seems to be an ongoing trend of memes being used in politics. I'm not particularly sure how it is being used, but most of the memes I see about politics are just to poke fun at a specific person or political party.

Now for the million-dollar (or in this case ringgit) question, how did memes suddenly become a thing in the political world? The earliest instance of memes and politics I could find is from the year 2000 during a presidential debate in the United States about then-candidate George W. Bush where he mispronounced the word "internet" as "internets." Four years later, he made the same mistake during a debate with John Kerry when he said, "I hear here’s rumors on the, uh, internets that we’re going to have a draft". After the whole conundrum, the response from netizens was eventful. Thus, making Bush one of the first few political internet memes (Klein 2019).

It seems that after George W. Bush became a trending meme in politics in the United States, I guess you could say he sort of paved the way for birthing memes in politics as we know it today. As far as I know, there are a lot of memes about our politics here in Malaysia that I've come across and it gets pretty entertaining considering how our politics here are.

Meme-laysia

As someone that currently lives in Malaysia, I would say that there are a handful of memes that circulates throughout social media when it is nearing elections or when someone that is part of a political party (or one of our ministers) screws up yet again. The political scene here is quite eventful, to say the least, but that does not mean we cannot laugh about it.

One of the most popular political memes in Malaysia is during 2021 when our then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin suddenly resigned from his position after only being the Prime Minister for one-and-a-half years. As good of a plot twist as this is, Malaysians took to social media to express their confusion and reaction to this news (Lee 2021).

Here is one of the example:

Upon resigning as Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin will assume the role of interim Prime Minister until a new leader, who commands the majority, is identified (Lee 2021).

Humor and Power

Phew. We're finally getting to the most anticipated part. Do memes provide a useful way of understanding politics? My answer to that is, definitely. Based on research conducted by Kasirye (2019), it is found that political memes do have an effect on providing information about politics.

The study also reveals that political parties employ memes to promote, oppose, and criticize various political issues among the populace. Since the majority of messages are created by political parties and actors to further their objectives, memes are spread through social media to reach the targeted political groups.

Due to memes having a visual nature and their ability to grab people's attention, memes are a good foundation to start understanding politics. Thus, memes are a great method for political engagement that appeals to people's cognitive and extrasensory faculties in order to interact with them and shape their opinions. Humor and sarcasm, on the other hand, are used as persuasive strategies in this awareness-raising technique (Kasirye 2019, p. 51).

Final Thoughts and Prayers

Overall, I do think that memes play a part in politics in terms of understanding what is going on or providing useful information. Memes are funny and people like memes due to the fact that they can be on different social media platforms, whether it be in video or picture format.

References

Kasirye, F 2019, 'THE EFFECTIVENESS OF POLITICAL MEMES AS A FORM OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AMONGST MILLENNIALS IN UGANDA', Journal of Education and Social Sciences, vol. 13, issue 1, pp. 50 - 51, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://www.jesoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/KC13_032.pdf>.

Klein, O 2019, The evolution of political internet memes, Kennedy School Review, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://ksr.hkspublications.org/2019/03/11/the-evolution-of-political-internet-memes/>.

Lee, J 2021, Confused Malaysians make sense of country's political crisis through memes, Mashable, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://sea.mashable.com/culture/17175/confused-malaysians-make-sense-of-countrys-political-crisis-through-memes>.

Rogers, K n.d., meme, Britannica, viewed 7 October 2023, <https://www.britannica.com/topic/meme>.

[hiduprakyat]

@staff who do i have to kill to get polls?? muhyiddin yassin???

[kazifatagar]

New: Muhyiddin ordered to pay Lim Guan Eng RM1.35 Million in defamation suit

The High Court has ordered Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to pay RM1.35 million in damages to Lim Guan Eng for defamation related to the revocation of Albukhary Foundation’s tax exemption. Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain ruled in Lim’s favor, finding that Muhyiddin failed to verify the accuracy of his statements before posting them on Facebook. Despite having resources to confirm the…

[suara-rakyat-blog]

Kamu tahu muka dia muka penipu

[zvaigzdelasas]

[SCMP is HK Media]

Of the various appointments, Ahmad Zahid being handed the deputy prime ministership was the most expected among political commentators, even though sceptics warned it would taint Anwar’s administration from the outset.

Ahmad Zahid is widely seen as a close ally of Najib Razak, the ex-leader defeated in 2018 polls and now in jail following a conviction linking him to the 1MDB financial scandal. Ahmad Zahid himself is facing corruption charges of his own for alleged money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

Along with Najib, Ahmad Zahid was among a slew of BN officials slapped with corruption charges following the 2018 vote, which Anwar’s PH won under the leadership of elder statesman Mahathir Mohamad.

The PH government collapsed in 2020, following an internal coup backed by Najib, Zahid and other BN heavyweights.

The conservative Malay-Muslim Perikatan Nasional (PN) bloc led by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin opted not to join the unity government, claiming it would be dominated by the Chinese-centric DAP.

2 Dec 22

[giftsforus]

Malaysia faces hung parliament for first time in history

Malaysia is facing a hung parliament for the first time in its political history, after a divisive, tightly-contested general election left major parties unable to secure enough votes to form a new government.

The result has thrust the Southeast Asian country into fresh political turmoil, as rival leaders scramble to broaden collations in renewed efforts to form a clear majority. Whoever wins will become Malaysia’s fourth prime minister in as many years, as the country grapples with rising inflation and a cost of living crisis.

With all but one parliamentary seat declared Sunday morning, veteran opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition was ahead, having secured 82 seats from a possible 220, according to results from the country’s Election Commission.

Close behind is former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Malay-based Perikatan Nasional, or National Alliance, with 73 seats. Muhyiddin’s group includes an Islamist party that has openly backed shariah or Islamic law.

But in the biggest upset of the night, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, made up of center right political parties including the dominant United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), suffered a stunning defeat – winning just 30 seats.

Officials from UMNO, which ruled Malaysia for more than six decades following its independence from Britain, previously told CNN the party had “a lot of work” to do and did not want to go backwards.

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Once indomitable figures were also thrust out. The country’s former prime minister, 97-year-old Mahathir Mohamad suffered defeat for the first time in 53 years, losing his seat in the Langkawi island constituency.

The lack of a clear winner in Saturday’s election now presents the possibility Malaysia’s King could become involved, with the constitution granting the monarch power to determine who has the majority in parliament.

Malaysia is braced for major floods. So why is it holding an election?

Both leading candidates declared victory on Sunday, despite results showing neither has enough votes to form a government.

In a late night speech to supporters Saturday, Anwar claimed he had enough support from members of parliament to form a government and would detail his support in a letter to the King. Muhyiddin also told his supporters he was in discussions with leaders of the Sabah and Sarawak political parties to also form a coalition.

Since 2015, Malaysian politics has been overshadowed by the 1MDB corruption scandal, which saw billions of dollars of taxpayers money embezzled out of the country. It brought down former prime minister, Najib Razak, who is now serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption.

Ahead of the polls, many voters expressed a strong desire to end years of political instability. And on Saturday, voters headed to polls in huge numbers, with state media estimating turnout to be 73.89% – despite heavy rains and flooding which hindered campaigning across half of the country in recent weeks.

Anwar the survivor

If Anwar is able to secure a coalition with enough votes to form a government, it would represent a remarkable comeback for the veteran politician, who was imprisoned for sodomy and released in 2018.

Anwar made his name as a student activist in various Muslim youth groups in Kuala Lumpur in the late 1960s, as the country reeled from the protracted Communist insurgency of the Malayan Emergency.

Arrested in 1974 in student protests against rural poverty, Anwar was sentenced to 20 months in jail. Despite his firebrand reputation, he later confounded liberal supporters in 1982 by joining the conservative United Malays National Organization (UMNO) led by Mahathir.

The freed politician was the heir apparent to then-premier Mahathir until 1998, when he was sacked and charged for corruption and sodomy. He was found guilty the following year, a ruling that led to mass street demonstrations.

The sodomy conviction was overturned, but the corruption verdict was never lifted, barring him from running for political post until a decade later.

In 2008, once his ban on political participation was lifted, he was hit with further sodomy charges.

Following an appeal of the acquittal of those charges he was convicted again and jailed in 2015. Human rights groups were highly critical when the conviction was upheld, calling it politically motivated – a claim the government denied.

Anwar was released three years later, immediately joining with one time political opponent Mahathir to oust the ruling Barisan party for the first time in Malaysia’s history. The success, however, was short lived, with the coalition collapsing after less than two years in power.

[selvarajasomiahposts]

Hajiji: Perajurit yang Menentang Fanatisme dan Ekstremisme

Sesungguhnya, Hajiji Noor ialah insan nan mulia. Pertimbangkanlah sejauh manakah kemuliaan Ketua Menteri Sabah sebenarnya. Beliau seorang insan yang berani, berhati waja dan memiliki prinsip yang utuh. Dengan tegasnya ia melawan rasuah. Hanya dua tahun lebih sahaja diperlukannya untuk sedar bahawa bekas majikannya, Muhyiddin Yassin daripada Parti Bersatu, umpama biawak hidup dek tuduhan rasuah…

[dailystraitsdotcom]

Ringgit and Public Sector

Ringgit, Rakyat, and Reality: New Look at Public Sector.

By Mahathir Mohd Rais Facing more and more economic pressure, it’s real important to look at what it means to change to contract jobs in Malaysia’s public sector, something Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin talked about. This move, they hope, will make the country’s ‘money matters’ more stable, but it’s making government workers and regular folks worried, especially those living in rurall areas. The…