There are not many people in Malaysian politics today that are known to me personally. I have been away from K Hell for almost a decade now and like many of you, what I know of them are the results of what I read of them in the main stream medias, on the NET and from discussions and conversations I have had with people in K Hell and with Malaysian whom I have met in Melbourne.
In this past decade I have met many Malaysians in Melbourne and many more have been the "interesting" conversation and and exchange of emails I have had with "interesting" individuals in Malaysia - at times at my encouragement and most times at their own initiative for their own vested interests - and for all these sharing of tit bits about these "interesting" politicians and people in public office, I am grateful. Not all of them I have shared with those of you who read what I write in this blog but whether shared, stored in the numerous files within my Mac or kept within the dark recesses of my mind.... all these bits of data and information will somehow come to be of use to me if not now, then sometime in the future.
Of all these many many individuals that have, in one way or another, been involved in Malaysian politics over this decade that I speak of, two names have stood the test of time if you want to talk about leaders that our people, our nation and our future would need once these dark days of a corrupt umno led bn government are banished from Putrajaya.
Harris Ibrahim and Rafizi Ramli.
There is no need for me to talk about Harris Ibrahim. when you talk about Harris Ibrahim you talk about integrity, commitment and a passion for justice. His ABU, his SAMM has earned him the right to be the Voice of the People. Of late I seem to have lost him somewhere in the
hustle and bustle of the NET but for me Harris Ibrahim has already earned his right to be one of those leaders who we will turn to for a better tomorrow for Malaysia and for all Malaysians. He does not seem to be beholden to anyone or to any faction - and for better or for worse, he marches to his own drum beat.
The other one is Rafizi Ramli.
Rafizi is my junior in MCKK and I am loathe to admit that that fact alone initially caused me to hold him in the same regard as any senior will regard any junior...basically it is the "I am better than you syndrome...until you prove to me otherwise!"...after all "junior" means younger and "senior" means older....but this junior of mine is responsible for, among other things....INVOKE.
Twelve offices. At the last count there were eighty honest, dedicated, incredibly hard working staff - ninety five percent of them below twenty five. Most of them university graduates from prestigious international universities such as Oxford, Berkley, Melbourne and Kings College. All putting their careers on hold for one year working with INVOKE - to remove najib and rosmah from power and bring in a democratic two party system in Malaysia. Rafizi put in his life savings to start INVOKE. He does not take any salary. He leads, drive. organise and execute INVOKE's plan to help Pakatan Rakyat win government and end corruption and impunity.
INVOKE is a data, media and election machinery providing crucial election data to candidates they support from PKR, Amanah and DAP to enable them to refine electioneering strategies down to the street level....and all candidates supported by INVOKE must sign a pledge to be corruption free, carry our their duties as MP (if elected) and must declare their assets. INVOKE operational costs monthly is RM$300,000 and counting.
Just stop for while and read again the above two paragraphs to get an idea of what INVOKE has set out to do and the financial and physical logistics involved in such an undertaking... and remember this not an initiative by the opposition but by Rafizi Ramli! And remember he has put his own savings into the venture, does not take a salary and has been able to put together a committed and passionate group of mostly young people, out, for lack of a better word....out to change the world...our world that is now so corrupt and dedak driven.
Just reading about INVOKE takes my breath away! Now if he can do this out of government can you even begin to imagine what he can do if he is in government? What can he achieve if he is a Minister? Hell, do we dare dream that he will one day lead our country as Prime Minister?
And what if the fourth floor of the prime minister office are staffed by those eighty odd INVOKE staff who are now putting their career on hold in order to work for the ideals and dreams that Rafizi, through INVOKE, has instilled in them?
And I heard that Harris Ibrahim is somewhere in there with Rafizi, working together to rid our country of the corrupt najib and rosmah and bring about the changes this nation will need for democracy to prevail.
There is still hope for our country with people like Harris, Rafizi and the people of INVOKE. Please do support them in any way you can - especially financially for as they say :
In order for this team of these 80 young heroes to defeat UMNO BN, please support us. We need to raise an additional RM3 million to keep INVOKE afloat for another 10 months. You can donate as low as RM20. If 150,000 of you donate RM20 each, we can change Malaysia forever. It will be the best ever RM20 investment you make in your life. Please viral this to your friends and make a donation here : INVOKE
