I Heard It Through The Grapevine

One of the things I hate when I follow Wak on assignments, is that my role is reduced to that of prop-carrying clown. I mean honestly, how else can one best describe a 5foot 3 bespectacled short hair guy moving around in a Docker's lookalike and wearing a black vest that is supposed to signify something which for all intent and purpose is meant to advertise our presence, but make me look like some 1960's hippie hurled forward in time to the 21st Century? It makes me feel like Gil Gerrard in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, you know what I mean? But hey, that guy was a celebrity there; both, in the 25th Century and the 20th! And he had that wowie looking Erin Grey to accompany him too, while the only wowie for me is somewhere near the Atlantic! What tough luck I'm going through. But sigh...that's life.

Anyway, I should not be complaining actually. Of all the guys at webtv8, I am the one with least work. I mean, we have Wak who is the live wire of the team without which or perhaps with which, I guess all the rest would be...dead wires? (Hmm...does not sound good, does it?) Then, we have Zul as the Chief of Technical Matters, several other volunteers, and Roslan as the Brains. Now, reading that last bit, should I not then be the looks? No? Oh well...

Oops! I'm going far off from what I want to write; do forgive that crazy lovesick reporter wannabe cakapaje. OK, here it is then.

The other night Wak and I covered the Anak Kelantan Di Perantauan meet at Hotel Niko. The meet which had Tok Guru Nik Aziz and Dato' Husam Musa in attendance, was packed to the brims, and even had some of the audience clambering to the stage to make more room for those outside. Had one been present that night, one would be forgiven to think that PAS had already won all the 60 seats it is contesting in the Parliament; such was the fervor one would have felt that night. It was, in other words, exhilarating! Even the media - including some foreign house - was in full force, though it does make one wonder why when some mere snippets of the night would actually be shown by them, if they are ever at all.

Arriving at the event early allowed Wak and cakapaje to get several attendees to voice their opinion and support for the Kelantan PAS State Government there, which the video is made available here. We did manage to get quite a handful of them and were satisfied about it, and Wak then prepared the camera to shoot the night's event while cakapaje began assuming his clown role but for the presence of TV3, which could have led to a fist fight between us. Anyway, cakapaje realised he was supposed to be a clown and not a boxer, left the hall after having the last words. And that, is where the story actually begins.


Mingling around with the crowd is preferably a much better time spent rather than sitting rigid like a fool in the packed hall. Undoubtedly the speakers had more than mere interesting words to say, but that cakapaje just could not find it in him to be a mere listener. And was he glad he was outside, for there were celebrity writers all around!

While moving from one small party to another, cakapaje himself somehow was made to feel like a celebrity - celebrity clown, that is. Anyway, it was during that process he managed to pick up some rather juicy bits of election...shall we say, gossip? But, coming from these writers who would put their integrity at stake for the information they have, let us not then. So let us start off with the small bits first:

* A certain high ranking person who is not contesting may be appointed as a senator. Hmm...not much of a story there.

* Sometime later this year, 2 high ranking non-celebrities of the highest order may be embroiled in a bitter duel. Irrespective of the outcome, the political party they lead may implode leading to a repeat of history sometime in 1987-88. But this is an open secret already.

* A certain infamous politician from Rembau WAS caught by the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor for being too close - physically speaking - to a voluptuous celebrity. Though many were made aware of the case, it was given a real hush hush job by the media as it indirectly involves an infamous sleepy man. Reminds one of another case involving someone from Pahang who was caught in the same situation and one which led to the resignation of several officers of a Religious Department, does it not?

* But the juiciest story of them all, should be this: a certain infamous son in law of an infamous father in law, and who was said to have graduated from a certain prestigious University in the United Kingdom, did not actually graduate at all! It seem, he was expelled sometime during the 2nd year of his studies there. Now, this may be a true case of a lilliputian mind!

So, there you go. There's more, in fact! But, all of them - even the above - cannot be substantiated not because the stories are not true, but that many heads will roll if they were as the government of the day is simply not honest, transparent or true. Thus, if one wish to have those stories above and more substantiated, the first thing one need to do is to vote be end out of the office. And if you do not know which party to vote for other than be end, then just vote for any party but them (be end).

Oh, by the way. If I go on writing like this, I might as well try to get an opening with URTV magazine; think they will accept me? Then again, nah...I don't like writing smuts.