Satirical sketch of Najib becomes symbol of Malaysia’s political circus

An image that paints Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak as a “sinister clown” red nose and red mouth, mascaralined eyes, and arched eyebrows over a powdered white face is gaining ground as a symbol of protest in a country whose government is caught neckdeep in a huge corruption scandal.

“The level of farce and absurdity to cover up the 1MDB corruption has made a circus of the entire country ... Malaysian politics is a circus replete with clowns,” Malaysian graphic designer and antiestablishment activist Fahmi Reza tells EFE.

Last year, Najib was accused of diverting some $700 million from state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bank (1MDB) into his personal accounts.

Following a probe by the anticorruption commission, the Malaysian attorney general exonerated the leader of all charges, satisfied that the sum was a donation from the Saudi Arabian royal family.

However, 1MDB, whose debt rose nearly $11.4 billion between 2009 and 2014, is still being probed by Swiss authorities for alleged bribery of foreign officials, misappropriation of public funds and money laundering.

In an act of defiance against the “corrupt” administration, Fahmi came up with a satirical sketch, retouching Najib’s Facebook profile picture to make him akin to a “sinister” circus clown, sharing the image for the first time on Jan. 31 via his own social media profiles.

Within a few weeks, his creation spread to become a “symbol of resistance” across the country, despite threats and attempts of intimidation by authorities against any gesture of dissidence.

“We live in a time when our politicians are a sham, personifying hypocrisy and the absurd. My work is to pinpoint the hypocrisy, highlight the absurd in drawings and make people laugh. But people know there is considerable truth behind the humor,” the artist notes in an email.

Fahmi, who was one of the foremost figures of the international social movement ‘Occupy’ in Kuala Lumpur, wields his art as a “tool of criticism” to defend civil rights and urge a “change” for Malaysia, ruled by the same political party ever since independence, 60 years ago.

“We need a democratic revolution in Malaysia ... We want to explore the real meaning of democracy beyond the current representative system. Redefining participation beyond elections. Beginning to think about an alternative to the present unsuccessful system,” he explains.

He chose to accompany his creations with the tagline, “In a country full of corruption, we are all seditious”, denouncing the repeated use of the Sedition law by authorities the last year alone saw 91 such cases to censor and clamp down on dissent.

“I think disobedience is an important component of a democracy,” says Fahmi, proud to be termed a troublemaker and who is currently facing investigation over two criminal charges relating to the caricature.

“They may put a rebel behind bars, but they can’t bar rebellion,” he concludes.