Chua Soi Lek, the Malaysian Chinese community leader and cabinet minister who fell from grace after being linked to a sex tape, is returning to the political scene - and, one by one reclaiming the posts he vacated after the scandal.
But the rehabilitation of Dr Chua has sparked intense debate about whether it is ethical for him to be returning to politics, even as VCDs of his extra-marital sexual escapade continue to sell in markets.
There is speculation that he will soon seek the vacant presidency of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the biggest Chinese party.
'I have a right to contest [various positions] and the members are electing me,' he said when contacted yesterday. 'I don't want to say anything about the past but politically I am keeping my options open.'
That troubles many within the party.
'Especially with the VCDs still selling in the night markets,' said a senior retired MCA leader, aligned with an anti-Chua faction, who did not want to be named. 'What is the ruling, where does the party stand on this?' he said.
Dr Chua, 61, was Health Minister when he stunned the nation in January by admitting he was the unwitting star of a widely distributed sex video which showed him cavorting with a young woman who was clearly not his elderly wife. He quit his parliament seat and every post he held in the party and the government.
