Bikini smear campaign against DAP’s Dyana nothing but ‘gutter politics’, say politicians, analysts BY EILEEN NG MAY 17, 2014 Even before she is officially confirmed as the DAP candidate in the May 31 Teluk Intan by-election, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud is already the victim of a smear campaign that includes pictures of her in a skimpy swimwear. The 27-year-old political secretary to DAP leader Lim Kit Siang has been attacked on the basis of her ethnicity and religious beliefs – for being a Malay Muslim running for a seat touted to be predominantly Chinese. Several blogs also recently published photos of a woman clad in a pink bikini, saying it was Dyana and questioned her character as a Muslim. After the pictures went viral, some social media users said they were not of Dyana, but that of Filipina actress Pauleen Luna. Responding to the incident, Dyana said she was surprised by the wave of attacks that ensued, following rumours of her candidacy for the by-election. “My personal details were misused... And now, to tarnish my image further, there appears to be a photo of me allegedly wearing a bikini. “While I think the Pinay actress in question is very attractive, I feel this really displays the level of gutter politics that our opponents would go to, especially against a female. “Guys, please grow up,” she said in her letter to The Malaysian Insider, adding that the episode made her realise that Malaysian society is misogynistic. Several DAP leaders and political analysts have also spoken out against the attacks, speculating that the ones responsible behind it were Barisan Nasional’s (BN) cybertroopers. They said those who were out to discredit Dyana were unable to comprehend the fact that a Malay would want to associate themselves with a Chinese-majority opposition party like the DAP. “All this while they have told the Malays that DAP is a Chinese party. They are doing this to tell the community that those who join the party are not real Malays because real Malays dont wear bikinis or revealing clothes,” said political analyst Professor James Chin of Monash University Malaysia. Political analyst Oh Ei Sun believed the attacks against Dyana were politically motivated. “It is too coincidental, given that rumours of her being a potential candidate surfaced recently. Her rivals were certainly trying to portray her as not a good or real Malay, who in their minds should be conservatively dressed,” said the analyst from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. In describing the entire episode as “gutter politics”, DAPs youth wing chief Teo Kok Seong said they were probably threatened by the partys pool of candidates, who were able to give BN’s selection a run for its money. Teo, however, warned that such action will not bode well for BN with regard to its image and chances in the by-election. BN will attempt to seek victory in Teluk Intan through Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong. Mah won the seat in the 1999 and 2004 general elections but lost to DAPs M. Manogaran and Seah Leong Peng in 2008 and 2013 with a 1,470 and 7,313-vote majority respectively. Seah’s death due to cancer on May 1 triggered the by-election. DAP Wanita secretary Teo Nie Ching lamented that female politicians seemed to be the easy target and urged politicians from both sides of the divide to condemn such unhealthy acts. “They targeted women to lower our dignity. This is not the type of politics we want to see in Malaysia,” she said. Nie Ching and DAP national vice-chair Teresa Kok are no strangers to such incidents, as both had their fair share of encounters in the past. She also commended Gerakan for condemning those who attempted to discredit Dyana, and said that this incident would not stop women from joining politics. Gerakan secretary-general Liang Teck Meng yesterday condemned the act and said that such acts were not only rude but insulting to women in the country. “I am shocked to find out that such photos were circulated online in an attempt to tarnish her reputation. Such acts in my opinion are not only rude but also insulting to women in Malaysia.” Dyana said from the get-go, she knew that joining the DAP came with a price. “Of course, joining DAP came with a price. I was immediately scrutinised and lambasted. False stories were created. My words were twisted. I was labelled a ‘pengkhianat’ (traitor). I was also called many other names.” But she said all these had solidified her belief that she was “on the right side of history.” “My mother and my mentors have taught me well. They had warned me that there would be days like these. “So to my detractors, I wish to paraphrase Katy Perry. You will hear me ‘roar!’” she said, borrowing a line from the pop singer’s hit single “Roar”. – May 17, 2014
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 01:32:13 +0000
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