Politics tends to make some Malaysians behave a bit outside the norm and do bizarre things.
I am referring to the setting up of burger stalls in front of the home of Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga's home by a group of disenchanted traders, followed by a group of so-called army veterans who went to perform 'butt exercises.'
Their actions were clearly an invasion of an individual's privacy. Worse still when we have our deputy inspector-general of police who sees it differently and has gone on record to say that he sees no offence in gathering outside someone's home, and doing what these people had done.
I doubt whether the deputy IGP knows it or not that his callous statement is tantamount to allowing every crackpot to do anything in front of anybody's house so long they don't encroach into their property. This is certainly a "Malaysia Boleh" phenomenon!
Over in Penang we observed the actions by certain members of Perkasa who performed mock Hindu funeral rites in front of the chief minister's home.
They later did a similar thing at Komtar where the chief minister's office is located. To conduct mock funeral rites on a living person was downright crass.
How these people got away with their actions baffles me. Isn't the chief minister important enough to be accorded some kind of police protection?
How come the police and local authorities didn't take any action against these hoodlums for disturbing the peace and littering respectively?
Previously, there was also another nut case who sent two coffins to the home of a state assemblyperson. I didn't read of any severe punishment meted out against this chap.
Malaysians are observing these antics very closely. Just because some of these so-called NGOs claim to be championing the causes of the ordinary people, it doesn't mean their members could just let loose their feelings and do things that would make any normal right thinking person shudder.
Little do they know the damage they could have done to the political parties they are said to have links with.
It is no wonder Penang Umno had come out strongly to condemn the actions of these Perkasa members. Then again it's probably too little, too late.