It was common in communist countries to doctor certain photos so that out-of-favour leaders would somehow disappear from history. Take Russia's revolutionary figure Leon Trotsky. His presence in all official photos was removed on Joseph Stalin's orders. Malaysia has now learnt that same art of deception.

On Nov 14, Sin Chew Jit Poh , a Chinese newspaper, ran a 1995 photo of Barisan Nasional leaders at the launch of the coalition's campaign manifesto. It appeared on the front page of its Sin Chew Forum section. A similar photo of the BN manifesto launch, taken from a slightly different angle, also appeared in another Chinese newspaper, Nanyang Siang Pau , on Nov 19.

Compare the two. The Sin Chew Jit Poh photo (bottom) was clearly doctored by the newspaper where the image of sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim (standing next to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad) was conveniently replaced by current Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. For those who have forgotten recent history, Badawi was then not one of the top leaders in UMNO.

But the rewriting of history does not stop there. Syed Husin Ali, leader of PRM, said the person on the bottom right of the Sin Chew Jit Poh photo was not him. The body of the image was clearly another person, he said. "I never wear a belt," he said.