PETALING JAYA: Malaysian political frogs - better known as '"katak" - have been given a roasting by controversial rapper Namewee as general election fever continues to heat up.
In a music video uploaded to the rapper’s YouTube channel on Friday (Aug 12), the song took a jab at the 'frogs' in Malaysia through verses in Malay, Chinese and Tamil, with Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman both dancing in the video and giving a sarcastic speech on frogs being a protected species in Malaysia at its ending.
"Katak katak si katak katak dia suka lompat sini lompat sana sini sana (Froggy, froggy it likes to jump here and there).
"Kalau nak jadi kaya mari ikut saya (Do as I say and you’ll become rich).
"Pintu belakang ada si katak, dia selalu muncul dan hilang tiba-tiba (Froggy at the backdoor, It appears and disappears out of nowhere).
"Selamat datang, sini Malaysia, katak kita semua pandai pakai otak (Welcome to Malaysia, our froggies are just way too smart)", the lyrics of the chorus read.
Verses in Chinese meanwhile referred to the 'frogs' not having any stance or ambition while also being able to speak well on stage and needing money from the people.
"Then it will kiss you goodbye, don’t you feel surprised," the lyrics read.
In the speech at the end, Syed Saddiq said that frogs "have a high IQ and are good at jumping".
The term 'katak' was coined in reference to politicians who defect to other parties.
More recent instances of this was when the Federal government and several state governments collapsed due to defections.
The "Sheraton Move" in February 2020 resulted in the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan Federal government, when a number of MPs switched sides to help form the Perikatan Nasional government.
Subsequently, the state governments of Melaka, Kedah, Perak and Johor, previously led by Pakatan Harapan, also fell due to defections.
The Sabah election in July 2020 was also triggered by defections, after state assemblymen pulled their support for the Parti Warisan Sabah-led government.
On July 28, the Dewan Rakyat had passed constitutional amendments to the anti-party hopping law before the upcoming general election.
The law was passed after the required two-thirds majority was secured by the government to make the necessary constitutional amendments.
The amendment comprised four paragraphs and six clauses.
Among them was a clause that MPs who defect from the political party they represented as election candidates or those who became independent would have to vacate their parliamentary seats.
However, there were exemptions for MPs who changed political parties when their former parties had been deregistered, or if they were appointed to become Speakers of the House.
MPs who were sacked from political parties would not lose their seats. Also not affected by the law were MPs who voted against their party's wishes.
