KUALA LUMPUR, 01 June 2010 – Several prominent socialites have come out in support of Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam’s recent statements over animal testing. The Chief Minister had defended Indian company Vivo BioTech’s plans to build an animal testing medicine lab in Malacca, saying that God created monkeys and rats for experiments to benefit human beings.

Ali Rustam has received unexpected but enthusiastic support for his views from some of Malaysia’s most prominent and stylish socialites.

One of them, who spoke to TPT on conditions of anonymity, but who later changed her mind and wanted to be known only as “Simone”, as it sounded sexier, had this to say: “I don’t really follow local news as it can be soooo boring but this issue really spoke to my heart and I wanted to come out in support of Chief Minister Ali Rustam.”

“Simone” brandishing a victory sign

“I fully agree that animals were created by God so that they could benefit human beings. And not only just for medicinal purposes, but also for clothing and accessories. Our ancestors used to wear animal skins and till this day, we have carried on this tradition”, said Simone who went on to brandish her chic pink crocodile skin handbag to our TPT reporter.

When asked about her religious credentials, Simone chirped “Oh I don’t sit in [the church] all that often, maybe only for special occasions like Christmas but I do go down once every few months when I clear out my wardrobes of things that I’ve worn at least once and donate them to the church. Who says you can’t wear Prada when you’re poor?”

It had turned into a regular shouting contest between Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen in the state. Whenever they bump into each other, be it at the coffeeshop or wet market, the air would be full of cries.

“You quit!”

“No, you quit!”

“YOU quit first!”

“No, YOU quit first!”

“Coward!”

“No, YOU coward!”

Like boys arguing in the schoolyard, these men are challenging each other to resign.

Following Dr Zambry’s challenge to all Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen to resign and prove that they have the support of the people, Pakatan Rakyat have thrown the challenge squarely back to Dr Zambry.

“Zambry is challenging us to quit because it is the only way he can think of to get us out of office,” said a Pakatan Rakyat spokesman. In Pakatan Rakyat’s press release, the party pointed out that as the Mentri Besar, Dr Zambry should lead by example. If he wants the Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen to resign, Dr Zambry himself should resign first. Pakatan Rakyat said they would gladly follow Dr Zambry’s footsteps and resign after Dr Zambry had shown the way.

With both sides refusing to budge, this has resulted in shouting matches between the two groups whenever they bump into each other on the streets. To better prepare themselves, Pakatan Rakyat has distributed portable loudspeakers to all their members. Truckloads of lozenges were also spotted arriving at the Mentri Besar’s office and there are rumours that should Dr Zambry decide to resign, an international lozenges brand is ready to make him the official ambassador of their product in Malaysia.