Lest We Forget : Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim...He cannot dance ...he cannot sing!

Anwar Ibrahim was born in August 1947. Me in October 1947. Two months separates us at birth-enough for me to be able to say that he is older, but possibly two or three lifetimes separates us knowing what he has gone through in his life.

I remember the time when I wanted to meet up with him to find out what he was doing with his life. He was then teaching at one of the shop houses along Jalan Pantai – possible with Yayasan Anda if I am not mistaken. I did find him and he was indeed teaching and in slippers. At home that evening I casually told my father that I had met Anwar that afternoon. My father was then Director of CID. He stopped, looked at me and said sternly “Engkau tak ada kerja lain?” Whenever my father uses  “engkau” when addressing me I knew that he was not amused. And he then went on to lecture me as to why it would be in my best interest to keep away from Anwar!
  

Then I was away in Australia for a while and he became DPM. The next time I was back in KL I remember going to the Ampang Shopping center with my family and getting a few toys for our children at Toy R Us. As we walked up to the counter to pay there was Anwar. We hug and he smiled that smile that light up his whole face and then he was gone again out of my life for a few more years. But always the familiarity of old classmates made for easy banter every time we meet.

Then this time he was away for a while – six years I think – as the British like to say – at her Majesty’s pleasure in Sungai Buloh. I was with Zakaria Salleh, one of UMNO ex-Ketua Bahagian who had joined Keadilan when we heard that Anwar had been released and was at home. My friend wanted to immediately head for Anwar’s house to pay his respect. Would I like to come along? He asked. I said ok. We arrived and there were people everywhere. We got into line and waited our turn. We were told that Anwar was not well – that he was sitting down and that at anytime he might need to rest. After about an hour of waiting in line I eventually stood in front of him. He looked up from his chair, again with that smile of his, stood up and gave me a hug oblivious to what pain he must have felt. We talked for a few seconds and mindful of the others waiting to see him, I excused myself and walked on.

The last time I saw him was at a class get together in Bangsar – at Fauzi’s house, a school mate of ours who was the host - a few years back. As always his arrival was greeted with good nature ribbing by everyone and for the son of one of our classmates who had not seen Anwar before – that was a real treat. We sat and talked and I could see that age had caught up with all of us – Anwar included. He looked not as robust as I though he would be- after all he has always looked good whenever he was on TV and photographed well. But sitting beside me he looked vulnerable. 

Was the pressure of living constantly under public and media gaze and scrutiny getting to him? Was UMNO getting to him? I could not imagine what he had to go through on a daily basis in what he chose to do – POLITICS. It is one thing to be DPM where everything is laid out for you, another to be in the opposition. He constantly referred to Azizah in conversation with us and we could see that Family meant a great deal with him. As we talked I found myself thinking what more has he got to endure before his work is done. I did not envy the situation he was in. 

But he had no regrets. No wanting to take his pound of flesh from those that have done him ill. A more spirited discourse came from him when we talked about Mahathir – but either he was in control of himself or that he did not think it worth his while to think to much of times gone by. The present was what mattered.

At 63 I will not run if I can walk. Stand if I can sit. Talk if I can be quiet. Anwar has chosen the path less traveled. This path requires an uncommon resolve to move relentlessly forward no matter what. He stands in front of crowds everyday. He meets more people then he can remember everyday and all this he does with a willingness that belittle his age. He could be anywhere he wants to be in the world and be welcomed by world leaders and acquaintances. He could be in business and be rich beyond our wildest dreams. Instead he chose to serve the nation. He chose to take us to the next election because if Anwar does not do so, who then will take us? I am sure sometimes in his moment of solitude he must question his capacity to physically last the distance but his commitment to our cause is great. That will see him through and he has said many times that Azizah has done enough while he was away.

This is a good man. We all know he cannot sing well and neither can he dance well even if his life depended on it but he is decent man. I wish Najib and UMNO will do battle with him on a level playing field. I wish they could have enough compassion in their hearts to accept that Anwar had gone though more that a baptism of fire – a baptism that neither Najib or Muhyiddin could ever imagine or endure. But then it that would be like asking Bush to go fight Saddam one on one. No shock or awe, no overwhelming force meeting defenseless people, no doctrine of Rapid Dominance, no weapon of mass destruction on stand by just in case they are needed….none of the above. Bush would never survive. Neither would Najib against Anwar on a level playing field. 

We know that Anwar was with UMNO many years back. We do not know what he will be in the future. But this I know now. He and the other leaders in Pakatan Rakyat are the leaders we now have to lead us to the next General Election and they give us our best hope for a new beginning. A new beggining without an UMNO that has already abused the trust we Malays placed in them many times over, without a corrupt PDRM, a cowered MACC, without a Government that steals from its people, without a Judiciary that does the bidding of its Political masters, without many of the injustices and unfairness that we now have. 

Are these not reason enough for us to give them the opportunity to do so? 

First posted on Saturday, September 12, 2009

Cakap cakap....Anwar & Kamarulbahrin.

To be Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim needs to tread a fine line between idealism and the pragmatism of political reality. Nobody can get that exactly right. Anwar can only try.

He will struggle to contain PAS and DAP within the confines of Pakatan Rakyat and amidst the close quarters of religion and dogma. With the timing of the general election still to be decided there are already soothsayers who pronounced Sabah already lost. There are those who are certain that Zaid is going for the number Two post, which by inference indicates he is actually aiming for the number one post! There are already question asked if the Malays will accept Lim Guan Eng as Prime Minister, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal as Governor of Penang and Malacca? And was one being mischievous when Jui Meng was suggested as Mentri Besar of Johor?  

All this before the year when a general election year is to be called was set – not day or month but the year! Do you wonder sometimes how our Pakatan Rakyat leaders cope?

Yes we know that they need to be prepared for all eventualities....but steadylah!  Be confident that within Pakatan Rakyat there is enough wisdom and common sense to meet our aspirations. Our hope, our expectations and our dreams of living a good life in a good country.      

So for now hold your tongue. We are family. Discuss our differences, and our misgivings as a family should – within our self and within the four walls that is our home. Do not let others who are not with us interfere in our dealings and with how we run our life. Not all can be trusted to understand our fight. Not all can be depended upon to help us up when we fall. Trust only those who through their actions and deeds understand our cause. Reject those that seek to engage us in discussions where the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the language we talk, the color of our skin and the religion we practice is reason enough for them to call us a friends or an enemy.

Think in depth about the issues that matters to you. Understand your limitations and accentuate your strengths. Commit yourself by your deeds to making a decent future for our children and above all be true to yourself. It will take courage to live the life of our conviction. There will be enough courage and wisdom in the leaders of Pakatan Rakyat to lead us if we falter.     

For Anwar and those Pakatan Rakyat leaders in the front lines I take heart from these lines by Robert Jarvik “Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.”

What courage does it take for Anwar, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal, Tok Guru, Zaid, Jui Meng and all those Pakatan Rakyat front liners to go against UMNO and Barisan Nasional? I remember meeting Bahrain – you all know him as Dato’ Kamarul Bahrain Abbas: MP Telok Kemang – many years ago when Mahathir was God, UMNO his disciples and Malaysia his Kingdom – and I remembered asking within myself why was Bahrain with Anwar then when Anwar was within the four walls of Sungai Buloh?

You can call it loyalty, you can call it anything you like. But now I know this. Bahrain knew then what we know only now. He knew that there will be a Pakatan Rakyat to do battle with UMNO and Barisan Nasional and that Anwar will lead Pakatan Rakyat into the 13^th General Election with a real possibility of forming Government after the elections were over. I now call that hindsight. I knew some people, including me, that called Bahrain a lunatic back then! Sorry brother, forgive me.        

Is ANWAR fit to be PM?

Is Anwar fit to be our Prime Minister? I have my own doubts. His father was not Prime Minister – so his pedigree, while illustrious, is questionable. In his 60 over years on this Earth he has not done half the things that some of our Past and present Prime Minister have done – namely Mahathir and Najib. Because of this I can understand and sympathise with those of you that questions his fitness to be Prime Minister. Specifically I think you all are questioning Anwar’s commitment to continue with the money politics, corrupt practices and racial politics that UMNO has been practising. If you are then you will have to talk with Anwar himself if you want these doubts to be cleared. But let us look at this issue rationally.

Mahathir has asked Petronas to bail out his son’s shipping company at a cost of RM$1 Billion to the Nations coffers.

Anwar has not asked anybody to bail out any of his children from any business failures! The only thing that I can remember is that one of his daughters, Nurul, is the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai.

Mahathir has squandered an estimated RM100billion on financial scandals under his 22-year rule.

Anwar has not.

Under Mahathir the government has compensated a total of RM38.5 billion to 20 highway companies.

This is apart from the many hike in toll rates that has been imposed on the people of this country. Everything to do with these highway and toll contracts is not for the people to know – all under the OSA.

Anwar has not done anything of this sort.

Mahathir government paid compensation to the contractor of the Scenic Bridge in Johore to the tune of RM$300 million.

Anwar has not been involved in any ‘Scenic Situation’ unlike that Minister under Barisan Nasional government component party, the MCA.

Under Mahathir and Najib the commission paid for the purchases of Jets and Submarines to Perimeker Sdn Bhd and IMT Defence Sdn Bhd amounted to RM910 million - paid for services rendered. To whom the services were rendered and for sort of services have been rendered have never been made known to the people of this country – whose money were used to pay for these services.

Anwar has no such scandals involving him or his cronies..

Under Mahathir Tun Salleh Abbas the Lord President of the Federal Courts was dismissed and the Malaysian judiciary independence was compromised.

Anwar has not done anything to compromise the judiciary.

Under Mahathir the two bailouts of Malaysian Airlines System costs RM7.9 billion.

Anwar might have travelled on MAS, as any Malaysian would, but he has not been involved in any MAS bailouts.

Under Mahathir the AP’s scandal has costs the country the sum of tens of billions of ringgits.

I do not personally know if Anwar has ever purchased a car using an AP.

During Mahathir time, Lim Guan Eng was imprisoned under the ISA for going to the defence of an underage Malay School girl that was raped by the then Chief Minister of Malacca – Rahim Thambi Chik.

Anwar now has Lim Guan Eng as Chief Minister of Penang – one of the States with Pakatan Rakyat. 

In 2000 Anwar was sentenced to nine years for sodomy by Mahathir’s government. Four years later the Federal Court reversed this conviction. He is now again accused of sodomy. Let us see how many years before this issue is again resolved in the same manner as the first one.

Najib has not volunteered to clear himself of complicity in the murder of Altantuya by submitting himself to the Malaysian Courts – but has swear his innocence of that murder in the name of ALLAH. If only he would allow others to have access to the same method of declaring their innocence of any crime – including murder – what a wonderful place Malaysia would be for these criminals to be living in!

Anwar has been arrested and incarcerated under the ISA.

Najib and Mahathir have not.

Anwar has been punched and kicked by the Inspector General of Police while under PDRM custody.

Najib and Mahathir has not!

Among the more known issues that Najib’s wife has been involved in are:

·      Claiming to be the first lady of Malaysia.

·      Mrs 10 percent when Najib was Minister of Defence – she was the ‘go to’ person for those wanting a helping hand to secure tenders in Mindef.

·      Fahion show in Monaco.

·      Air brushed images of herself

Anwar’s wife, Azizah studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland where she was awarded a gold medal in obstetrics and gynecology and she later graduated as a qualified ophthalmologist. She served 14 years as a government doctor before deciding to focus on volunteer when Anwar became Deputy Prime Minister.

When Anwar was in prison she took over Anwar political role in the formation of Parti Keadilan Rakyat - then as leader of the opposition. She resigned her Parliamentary seat of Permatang Pauh to make way for Anwar. She is currently President of Party Keadilan Rakyat.

Like a bad little boy that did not get his own way, Mahathir resigned from UMNO on 19 May 2008 and urged other members to follow suit as a way of pressuring his own chosen successor, Abdullah Badawi, to step down. Mahathir rejoined UMNO after Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stepped down as Prime Minister in 2009.

Once Anwar has left UMNO he stayed outside UMNO.

Anwar is accused of being an outstanding orator, and a great communicator. I am sure that Najib would have liked to have the same accolades said about him. To date nobody has done so.

Anwar has been in government and in opposition. Mahathir and Najib have not!

So to go back to the first question as to whether I think Anwar is fit to be Prime Minister of this country…well if you want our country to be governed the way UMNO has been governing it in the past…..NO…..Anwar will not meet your expectations. But if we want a decent, responsible and accountable Government then I think we should give him a try. He and his Pakatan Rakyat comrades in arms would together be able to do much better then the Barisan Nasional goons.

What I wrote on 31st October 2009....I am still with Anwar!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Cakap Cakap....The choices we make in life....

I brush aside what choices in life that I dislike. But to be able to do this effectively I need to open my mind completely and free it off my ego. So that the choice I make are good ones – not tempered by the needs to feed my ego. But I not know where these choices will lead me. Where it will end - but I am sure that the journey will be interesting. There was no constrains no limitations in making these choice. I am guided only by what I believe is the right thing to do. 

But in Malaysia now there really are only two choices in front of me. Do I accept the situation that is now in place or do I accept the responsibility of helping to change it? It is too easy for me at 63 to sink into a comfortable abyss in life and care not for anything but my well-being and that of my Family. But I want to take the path less trodden and live a life that challenges me to the extreme. And so too I think, should you. 

The choice is simple. Every day you are reminded of the deeds of a government that arrogantly interpret and applies the rules of the land in its interest and its needs – not that of its people. Every day you are confronted with the reality of a life where your worth is measured to a large extent by your racial ethnicity and by who you know – which in reality makes your own self worth to be a zero – zilch. Naught! 

The Malays are much reluctant to express their true feelings not because they cannot make up their minds but because they would rather hold these thoughts within themselves. I hold no such reluctance. In these last few weeks I have been told that I seem to be incline towards being an Anwar Loyalist. A supporter of Pakatan Rakyat. That I am anti UMNO. My writings are bias. And worse I seem to forget or chose to ignore that within Pakatan Rakyat there are many internal problems that they cannot overcome or resolve. That their assemblymen were leaving Pakatan Rakyat by the droves. Anwar made a mess in trying to ‘guide’ Sabah to a conclusion of his own choosing.

I know all this. I read what is happening around me. I read what Kit Siang writes. I listen to what Tok Guru has to say and read Harakah and Siasah. What I do not know I ask. I too sometimes wonder why, despite having an honest upright Menteri Besar in Selangor, there is still much unhappiness in PKR Selangor. 

But in spite of all this to me the choice is simple enough. If you ask me to chose between Anwar and Najib, between a guy who has spent time under ISA and a guy who gave RM500 million of public money to his buddy for “services rendered”, between an Anwar that has served as Minister of Finance and Najib whose baptism of fire consisted of him being a Menteri Besar at a very young age and spending copious amount of ‘downtime’ in Singapore sowing his wild oats and still had time ‘buying’ somebody’s wife to make her his own, between someone with enough belief in himself to start Keadilan and ten years later become Leader of the Opposition and having over 50% of the population voting for him and a Najib whose only claim to the Prime Ministership is Tun Razak – I think the choice is simple enough. Anwar! Anwar & Anwar!

And Anwar comes with Tok Guru and Lim Kit Siang. The same Kit Siang who was sentenced to 18 months under ISA right in the first year that he was elected as a Member of  Parliament for Kota Melaka in 1969  and then again in 1987 for another 17 months. Over forty years in Malaysian Politics and he is still relevant to our cause. Tok Guru is in a class by himself. He speaks five languages – English, Arabic, Tamil, Urdu and Bahasa. He had a son put away for five years again under ISA. And his integrity and commitment against UMNO cannot be questioned. Whom amongst UMNO can you pick to stand on par with these two? Not one…not even one! Huh!

So for me the choice is simple enough. I understand the problems Pakatan Rakyat now faces. I understand that in the last election PKR had to take the good with the bad in its fight against UMNO – nobody wanted to be with PKR then. Now they have to clean up the bad.

While UMNO buys their silence PKR tries to rehabilitate them – and if they do not want to be rehabilitated – then they are shown the back door where UMNO awaits. I understand that in the reality of the street politics that Anwar finds himself in now he will have to make adjustments and take as good as he gives to ensure PKR’s viability – not only politically but also financially. He is not alien to these needs. He simply has to make sure that he does not go back to the excesses expected of him during his UMNO days. There are many now who will remind him of what is now expected of him – if in case he forgets. I am one!

I do not need to go into MACC, PKFZ, Malaysia F1 Team, Teoh Beng Hock, Kugan, Isa, Amin Shah, Razak Baginda, Petronas Money being used to rescue the Prime Ministers son’s shipping company, Perwaja, Tun Salleh Abbas, Ops Lallang, That raba raba Ambassador ……Mahathir, Lingam, Altantuya…etc etc I said I need not go there. So I will not.

If you are true to yourself then sit down and do your sums. Stack all the good on one side and the bad on the other…you can even put the maybes on the bad side.....and if you are true to yourself you know that the good will still be stacked on Pakatan Rakyats side. On Anwar, Kit Siang and Tok Guru side.. …and that will be the side I am already on.  I do not expect perfection from PR but I do expect  them to get rid of assemblyman that are not serving their constituencies. They have doing so with that Port Klang guy. I expect them to resolve their differences and not sweep them under the carpets or use money to keep their people happy and quite. They have done so. They still have some way to go but I know that they have just been together a few years –UMNO over fifty. So I will give PR more time to get its act together and if they will allow me to do my part in this fight against UMNO – I will.  

       

There are still question whether Pakatan Rakyat leaders will exercise their power with integrity and are they really up to the challenges of ethical leadership. Will they lose their moral compass? We know what UMNO has done! Why not give Pakatan Rakyat the opportunity to not abuse the trust we place in them?