Pmx Putin S Second Wife Joke A Lesson In Humility For Pmx No Harm Admitting I Don T Know

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PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim deserves to be credited for making a person who rarely laugh like Russian President Vladimir Putin to display his humorous side.
However, in his zest to show off his knowledge prowess, he made a costly ‘wild’ guess that left not only the Malaysian delegation and their Russian counterparts in stiches during his second official visit to Russia recently (May 13-16) but the entire world.
Joke aside, Putin’s gesture has been interpreted as having embarrassed Malaysia on the global stage with Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan having described revelation of the Putin-PMX private exchange as “publicly mocking “PMX’s cultural faux pas” (Russia is an Orthodox Christian-majority country where polygamy is illegal and historically frowned upon).

Veteran journalist and blogger Datuk A. Kadir Jasin who had previously joined numerous Malaysian entourages abroad has gone a step further to attribute the so-called ‘costly’ blunder to an oversight in diplomacy decorum.
“This is especially so in non-Muslim countries like Russia where polygamy is banned for followers of all religions,” he penned on his Facebook page.
“The Russian Family Law clearly states that marriage can only be between a man and a woman, and they cannot be married to other people at the same time. Russia also does not recognise polygamy practiced in foreign countries. Same-sex marriage is also prohibited.

“So logically, our Head of State (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) or Head of Government (PM) does not joke about religion or polygamy. If you’re insure who sat on the third throne, just say you don’t know.”
Former KGB spy
To recap, Kadir referred to a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) which reads:
Speaking at a joint news conference in Moscow on Wednesday (May 14), the Russian leader recounted giving Anwar a tour of the opulent St Andrew’s Hall in the Kremlin, home to three ceremonial thrones once used by Russia’s imperial family.
Russia president Vladimir Putin (left) and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the St Andrew’s Hall in the Kremlin on May 14, 2025 (Image credit: Reuters)He explained that one throne was for the Tsar, and one for his wife – then asked his Malaysian counterpart who the third was for.” Without even thinking, the prime minister said, ‘for the second wife’,”
Putin said, to laughter from the audience. “I hope he is not angry at me for saying these things but this is an answer of a true Muslim, of a true representative of Islamic culture.”
While schooling PMX on the need to understand that Russia was once a monarchy prior to embracing the Communist ideology, the national journalism laureate cautioned that Putin himself was a former foreign intelligence officer for the Committee for State Security (KGB) for 16 years.
“To a spy, a person’s character and background are very useful weapons. These weaknesses will be used to trap and blackmail,” warned the former group editor-in-chief of mainstream New Straits Times.
“Those interested can Google the story of how the Soviet Union trapped the then British war minister Lord Profumo by baiting him with a call girl named Christine Keeler.” –  Focus Malaysia

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