FEB 5 — It is well within Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil’s right to assume that her party will be unscathed by the scandal of the year: the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) mess.

Heck, if she wants to keep some distance between herself as the Wanita Umno chief and her role as wife and mother of the chief actors in the NFC scandal, that too is her prerogative (though we doubt many of us buy that line).

But please don’t trivialise the losses of millions of taxpayers when a private company uses a government soft loan without any regard that such public funds must be used responsibly. Don’t make small the wanton abuse of taxpayers’ money to buy condominiums and what have you.

And this is precisely what the Wanita Umno chief is doing by that flippant gimmick of sending a baju kurung to someone she claims is her “stalker”.

Her whole tone appears to suggest that she thinks there is much ado about nothing.

Even after discounting the hyperbole of the Opposition, the NFC scandal is serious business. In addition to allegations of an irresponsible use of public funds and criminal breach of trust, there are also accusations of bribery, etc. One man is already in court while the public waits to see if the Attorney-General has stopped asking the police for more details of a case that has apparently been thoroughly investigated.

So believe all you want that Umno is untouched by the NFC, but please don’t insult the intelligence of Malaysians.

They are the ones who will decide if Umno deserves another vote to stay in power. Right now, Umno doesn’t have to wait till the cows come home to know people’s perception of the scandal.

She might joke about sending a baju kurung over to her foes but the joke could be on her in the long run.