The honourable thing to do

"I am relinquishing my position as Health Minister, MCA vice-president, Labis MP, Johor MCA liaison chief and Batu Pahat MCA division chief."

MCA vice- president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, who yesterday admitted to being the man in a sex DVD, copies of which are widely distributed in Johor, has resigned. "After making my confession, I had hoped that Malaysians would be able to accept my apology. Unfortunately from the feedback I received, they could not. Some have a holier-than-thou attitude."

It is the honourable thing to do, albeit rather reluctantly, I would suspect. It would have been really, really honourable if he had resigned yesterday, not today, on his own accord without waiting for feedback. But I'll overlook that point. The important thing is, he's willing to take responsibility for his actions. Will other politicians, tainted by the whiff of sex or corruption scandals, have the balls and be brave enough to emulate Chua Soi Lek when found out?

AFTER-THOUGHT 1: I'd like to quote three comments by Kalimullah Hassan in today's New Straits Times:

1. Chua could have played the denial game, like many prominent people and politicians throughout the world, including in our own country, played each time they are caught in embarrassing positions. "The tape was doctored; it was not me; it's a political ploy." But no. he came out and admitted his role.
2. Chua has displayed a sense of accountability that not many -- in fact, very few -- politicians, on either side of the spectrum, have ever displayed or shown in Malaysian politics.
3. We should ask ourselves one question when judging Chua -- who are we not to forgive him who has asked for forgiveness for have we, too, the fallible human beings that we are, not sinned at one time or another?

AFTER-THOUGHT 2: Jeff Ooi, in his Screenshots blog, had picked up a report in Merdeka Review (sorry, you'll have to check that page yourself as it's all in Chinese) that claimed several ministers had called for Chua's resignation during the Cabinet meeting this morning. Mmm... I wonder who could be those ministers, the holier-than-thou ones that Chua had alluded to above? From his own party? From the other political parties in the Barisan fold? Will we ever know? Interesting, eh?