'Blur, blank, boring' Najib not 'cartoonable' but wife ROSMAH IS 'INSPIRING' - top cartoonist Zunar

From a cartoonist's perspective, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is a dud. He is apparently not "cartoonable, flat, dull, blur, blank, boring, and always tries to play safe."

This is the unflattering description given by controversial political cartoonist, Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Haque.

However, Najib’s controversy-magnet wife Rosmah Mansor is a muse.

"In terms of physique and issues, she is more inspiring. Rosmah has the flair and is so cartoonable. She has been an inspiration to me,” he confided to Malaysiakini.

"It is very difficult for political cartoonists to survive on Najib alone so I hope, that Rosmah would be in power longer," he said laughing. "Thank God, we have Rosmah.”

In view of this, Zunar’s latest book, which is slated to be launched in January, would be a lampoon of Rosmah and the cartoonist plans to dedicate it to her.

'She is most powerful person in M'sia'

Quizzed on the consequences, Zunar, who has experienced numerous run-ins with the authorities, was unfazed.

"My philosophy is ‘why pinch when you can punch?’ I will go for the most powerful person and in Malaysia, that is Rosmah as she is involved in everything," he said.

"I believe the kitchen cabinet is more powerful than the government cabinet Najib goes to," he added.

"Of course the risks are there but thinking of the contribution to the country, this is bigger than the risks," he added.

Asked if the book is akin to a personal attack against Rosmah, Zunar conceded that it is.

He said the authorities have also attacked Malaysians in a personal matter, for example, when the police decided to probe the buyers of his books.

Zunar was recently hauled under the Sedition Act for publishing and distributing his cartoon books.

This followed the arrest of his three assistants and webmaster after Zunar performed a satire outside the Federal Court last month during Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy II case.

"If the government does not follow the rule, why should we? Its like a cowboy country now," he added.

'Laughing protest'

Zunar said he is also planning a "laughing protest” with regard to the rib-tickling remarks by Malaysian politicians.

"We would show a cartoon drawing and people would just laugh loudly. In Malaysia, every day we wake up and read the news, and we become tensed

"When we provide laughter, it becomes like a protest," he said, adding that laughter is good for health.

Zunar said even the police would be baffled on how to handle such a protest.

"Is it a crime to laugh? What is the offence? Unless they table an Anti-Laughing Act," he added. -M'kini