Of Jeff Ooi, Abdul Khalid "the Bugger" and Roast Owl

A Kadir Jasin

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I LIKE Jeff Ooi’s “sack that bugger” outburst against the Selangor Menteri Besar, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, some time ago.

The blogger turned politician,who is the DAP MP for Jelutong, was reported saying that Abdul Khalid had “….overstayed our welcome. Sack that bugger.”

I don’t care much for Ooi’s attack on Abdul Khalid or about politicians fighting like baboons. But as a Selangor resident and ratepayer, I too am cheesed off with just ended water rationing.

Ooi's outburst - from "kucing kurap" to "sack that bugger"

But I find Ooi’s usage of the term “bugger” very amusing. In the days I was learning English language in the late 1950’s and 1960’s, the term “bugger” was offensive.

Then a bugger was generally referred to man who liked young boys for sexual purposes. Bugger is derived from buggery.

So, when we were upset with somebody and could no longer hold back our anger, we called him a bugger. Or we would turn it into a verb and say, bugger off, which means, go away.

In Victorian England, buggery was so prevalent that it was made a capital offence. A bugger or a sodomite faced very heavy penalty.

My research found that under the English Buggery Act of 1533, sodomy was declared a capital offence, punishable by death.

Under the Act, it did not matter whether it was done with a man, a woman, or an animal. Sodomy was seen more as a sign of debauchery than as one of homosexuality.

Convictions were difficult to obtain. The Act was repealed in 1861, and the penalty changed to imprisonment of between ten years and life.

Our law on the crime is hauntingly similar to the English Act. It appears as Section 377 of the Penal Code under the title unnatural offences and carries a penalty of 20 years imprisonment, caning and fine.

It says, inter alia: “Unnatural Offences 377. Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years and shall also be liable to fine or whipping.”

Ooi not only called Abdul Khalid a bugger, he also told him to bugger off. But I am sure Ooi had used the term as an expletive and not to accuse Abdul Khalid of buggering young boys.

Ooi was reported saying that the failure of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat of which Abdul Khalid belong, is a Pakatan failure. He was expressing his utter frustration with the Selangor water rationing in a Facebook posting on Apr 23.

Ooi said he was a ratepayer in Selangor as he owned a house in Subang Jaya, and the area is constantly subjected to water supply cuts.

So the next time you call your friend or party colleague a bugger, bear in mind that people who are not familiar with him may think that he is a sodomite.

The Devil's Port-Gate

For Ooi, no matter how angry he is with Abdul Khalid, I strongly advise him not to ask Selangor MB to go kissing  “the devil’s port-gate.” In case Ooi is not familiar with the saying, in the Elizabethan euphemism, devil’s port-gate refers to female’s private part.

Or telling somebody’s jealous wife to feed her husband roast owl. According to English folklore, a man who is fed a roast owl by his wife “will become completely subservient to her every wish.”

For clarity and entertainment, listen to this gem by the great P Ramlee here.

Please have some sympathy for the endangered owls and the meek husbands!