8 July, 2008
The incident showed how the opposition coalition, headed by de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had little common ground and, like all marriages of convenience, would be difficult to sustain.
The Australian Financial Review
As an underground rocker, Joe Kidd ticks all the boxes — long hair, black jeans, angular features and an undergraduate sense of humour. He's unhinged and has no recognised songs.
But he does have a signature move. When performing “Licking Ass to Get Ahead”, he usually shows his own bottom in a highly choreographed move to demonstrate disdain for the government.
By all accounts, it's often a crowd pleaser but as all performers know, choosing your audience is vital.
An anti-government rally in Petaling Jaya on Sunday was not the occasion. Kidd and his band, Carburetor Dung, were halfway through their third song when the moment arrived. The pants came down, and in an apparent display of modesty, he left the boxer shorts up.
It was pretty tame stuff, but not to the hardline Islamists in the crowd. They rushed the stage, threw bottles and, despite the best efforts of security staff, landed a few blows.
The carnival atmosphere at the Kelana Jaya Stadium quickly turned ugly. The entertainment programme was wisely "suspended" and a good Muslim rushed to the stage and called for evening prayers.
In one moment all the problems of Malaysia's resurgent opposition were on display. The incident showed how the opposition coalition, headed by de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had little common ground and, like all marriages of convenience, would be difficult to sustain.
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