"Gatal & Garu" - the new Fatah senario

Gatal - A Malay word which, according to the dictionary, can mean (1) itchy, (2) lustful, or (3) promiscuous.

Gatal-gatal - A Malay word which may mean being keen, or eager, or itching, to do something (terlalu ingin hendak membuat sesuatu).

Gatal mulut - Refers to someone who likes to talk nonsense (cakap yang bukan-bukan), or to nag (berleter) or to gossip (suka mengumpat).

Gatal tangan - Refers to someone who cannot resist putting his finger into another one's pie, or who cannot keep his hands to himself (suka membuat sesuatu yang bukan-bukan).

Normally, when you feel "gatal", you will have an urge to "garu".

Garu - A Malay word which means to scratch, or to scrape the skin.

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Abdul Fatah Harun, an opposition MP from PAS, made a sweeping statement in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday saying that divorcees were "gatal" and this was the main reason for the large number of failed marriages.

"We must analyse whether the problems resulting in divorces were caused by men or women," he said. "Divorcees are easily spotted at functions through their ‘gatal’ behaviour.

"It is as if they have no regrets over their divorce. Widows do not behave in such a flirtatious manner. They are sad and quiet."

"I've seen these single mothers when I attend gatherings or parties. They didn't look like they were sad about getting divorced. Instead, they seemed to be gatal."

For details of news reports on this controversy, you have a choice to read The NST, The Star, The Sun, Berita Harian or Utusan Malaysia here.

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Someone is obviously itching to be scratched in the August house.

I wonder if all the combined claws of the female MPs managed to ease his discomfort. Or is he just "gatal" for some publicity? Any kind of publicity is always better than no publicity for a desperate politician, isn't it?

I don't want to sound bitchy here but I have a curious question on the issue of divorcees being perceived by some men (or even women) to be "gatal" or "promiscuous".

Take the example of Minister E, who divorced his wife F and married another divorcee T.

Now, both F and T are divorcees, although one is now a current and the other now a former.

Does it merit the argument to say that T was "gatal" because she was a divorcee before she met and married Minister E, effectively dumping F on the sidewalk because Minister E prefer to "garu" her, being young and nubile compared to F?

Is F justified in calling T "gatal" (if she so wished) because T knew that Minister E was married and yet must've been itching to lay her hands on him.

Does it also mean that F, who is now a divorcee not by choice but by circumstance, finds herself suddenly very "gatal" because, well, she must be, going by Fatah's logic.

And what does that make Minister E? He must have been inflicted by a bad case of "gatal tangan" because obviously he could not resist relieving T's perasaan "gatal" when they are together.

I'm itching for some answers to this Fatah senario.

And if you are offended by this posting, please excuse me. It's not my fault. I was inflicted with the "gatal mulut" syndrome after reading the papers this morning.