MOB RULE TO JUSTIFY DEMOCRACY

Monday, August 25, 2008
Post Elections Malaysia (15) - Mob Rule to justify democracy?
By Roh

Question for the day... In our quest for power, should we result to mob power or democratic means? Or does the means justify the ends? At times, it is a bit hard to grasp Malaysian politics, where one person has become a cult figure and has admirers and sympathisers who practically worship this fellow. This person, in his bid to become Malaysia's leader, has justified his actions by saying it is what the people want, and he has no moral scruples in forming the government by way of defection. The question of betraying the people who have voted someone else does not really matter to this fellow or his staunch supporters. What is paramount is that this fellow must be prime minister. So much for being the champion of democracy and transparency.

At times, it makes me wonder the difference between this fellow and Noriega. Read on this piece from my friend Veera.

The Star Online > Along the watchtower
Thursday August 14, 2008

Uphold democracy, not mob rule

ALONG THE WATCH TOWER By VEERA PANDIYAN

We need leaders who can forge meaningful national unity based on democratic principles and responsible dialogue.

SOMETHING must be very wrong if we cannot sit down and talk frankly about issues that affect us, even after 51 years of living together.

Aug 31 is just two weeks away but it would be meaningless to celebrate yet another Merdeka Day, pretending not to see the alarming cracks, fissured along racial and religious lines.

The fragility of our much touted national unity has been exposed, again, as shown by the ruckus at Saturday’s Bar Council forum, Conversion to Islam: Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini & Shamala Revisited.

The talks, aimed at highlighting the plight of families embroiled in legal disputes arising from conflicts in the civil and syariah legal systems, came to an abrupt end after a mob threatened to storm the Bar Council building.

Among the Muslim legal experts inside were former Suhakam Commissioner Prof Mehrun Siraj, Zarizana Abdul Aziz of the Women’s Centre for Change, former Syariah Judge Dr Mohd Naim Mokhtar and Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia (Ikim) Syariah Law Centre director Dr Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad.

Five families facing legal problems arising from one spouse converting to Islam were also at the forum to share their experiences, along with their lawyers, participants and the media.

The agitated horde outside comprised members of several Muslim non-governmental organisations – Muslim Organisations in Defence of Islam (Pembela), Malaysian Islamic Propagation and Welfare Organisation (Pekida), Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM), Peninsular Malay Students Federation (GPMS), – besides Umno, PAS and PKR members.

The more prominent among them were PKR Kulim-Bandar Baharu MP Zulkifli Noordin, PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub, who is also Kubang Kerian MP, and GPMS vice-president Jais Abdul Karim.

Unlike in other incidents of public order, the police accompanied the mob’s leaders as they trooped up to the first floor where the forum was held and confronted the organisers.

Bar Council head Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan had little choice but bring the talks to a close, but only after stressing that the organisation of lawyers had “no enmity with anyone”.

Tempers, however, remained frayed with harsh words hurled at the participants.

Elsewhere in Bukit Damansara, two petrol bombs were tossed into Wanita Umno vice-chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s house.

The Molotov cocktails, which fortunately did not do much damage, were clearly meant for Ambiga, who had lived there three years ago.

What provoked such seething anger? And, honestly, was it justified? Perhaps, as Ambiga herself has admitted, the council should have been more careful with the name of the forum.

The words “Conversion to Islam” could have given the wrong impression to the mob that conversion of non-Muslims to Islam was being challenged; although the council had clearly stated that it was to discuss the plight of families embroiled in legal wrangles arising from conflicts in the civil and Islamic laws and for views from both sides of the religious divide to be aired.

From Saturday’s episode, it is obvious that we are still a long way from holding mature discourses. It’s tragic, but when it comes to religion, emotion rather than rationality rules.

Even political lines are easily blurred. As DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang noted in his blog, “elements of Umno, PKR and PAS united on a fictitious issue – the non-existent challenge (to) the position of Islam in Malaysia as provided (for) in the Constitution”.

Responses from both leaders at the pinnacle of power as well as from the much-hyped head of the government-in-waiting were strangely similar.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak who had called for the open forum to be scrapped and be replaced with a closed meeting, blamed the council for the fracas, chiding it for not listening to advice.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar warned that certain things were “out of bounds for public discussion, even if held in a private place”.

PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who will contest the Permatang Pauh by-election on Aug 26, echoed equivalent views, saying it would be better if such events were held behind closed doors.

With sentiments easily aroused for the much-needed political points for both sides, the guarded stances are fathomable. But do they reflect leadership in the true sense of the word?

What this country needs are leaders, both Muslim and non-Muslim, who can help forge meaningful national unity, based on sound and fair democratic principles.

They must be able to face the issues squarely and promote sensible and responsible dialogues, not give the impression that they condone the actions of rabble-rousers who threaten the use of violence to get their way.

As Malcolm X said: “Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.”

The only means that Malaysians, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, can truly come together is through open and honest dialogues. As such, those who claim leadership must have both the courage and ability to persuade their supporters to embrace civil discussions over issues, however sensitive they are.

The voices may seem to be louder when it comes to expressing dissent these days, but Malaysians are, by large, reasonable people who abhor violence and all forms of disharmony. We prefer to talk things out, listen to the other side and accept fair decisions.

In this case, the pivotal point is this: If a non-Muslim converts to Islam, solutions have to be found for his or her family members affected by the conversion because of differences in jurisdiction between the syariah and civil courts.

We cannot ignore the anguish and discord caused when one spouse converts without the knowledge of the other. Or when one spouse converts children without the knowledge or consent of the other.

Then there are other agonising matters, such as the division of properties, custody battles for the children and, at the end, heart-rending conflicts over burial rites for the deceased.

Instead of just continuing to treat this as a taboo subject, leaders should face up to reality and devise workable solutions.

For a start, re-jig or tweak the existing laws covering marriages and divorces, taking conversions into consideration.

As Islam and its laws are very sensitive for Muslims, the Government must, of course, tread carefully. But it must not hesitate to take those steps.

There is much more at stake here than just politics and its predictable players.

Associate Editor M. Veera Pandiyan likes this quote from Dwight Eisenhower: “You do not lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.”

© 1995-2008 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

Posted by roh at 12:44 PM

PAS DALAM PAKATAN, PKR MENGINTAI PELUANG

Sudah pasti kita masih ingat, akan cadangan supaya diadakan mubahalah atau sumpah laknat yang lahir dan tercetus dari pandangan dan pendapat Mufti Perlis dan disokong oleh Menteri Besar Kelantan. Namun hari ini pelbagai pihak tampil memberi pandangan dan komen yang beza berhubung sumpah yang telah dibuat oleh Mohd Saiful Bukhari Jumaat lalu. Tindakan ini sebenarnya telah menimbulkan kekeliruan pada umat Islam dan menunjukkan kelemahan umat Islam pada pandangan bukan Islam akan kelemahan perundangan Islam dalam menyelesaikan sesuatu masalah.

Inilah kelemahan pada umat Islam pada hari ini. Yang peliknya kenapa pada awal cadangan untuk diadakan muhabalah yang dikemukakan oleh Mufti Perlis dan dipersetujui oleh Menteri Besar Kelantan ini semua alim ulamak, ahli akademik dan mereka yang berpengetahuan mendalam mengenai Islam berdiam diri? Kenapa tidak ditunjukan cara dan adab untuk mubahalah ? Tetapi apabila muhabalah itu sudah di buat, maka timbul lah pelbagai komen dan pandangan yang telah mengelirukan umat Islam.

Lebih mengelirukan dan menyedihkan apabila seorang yang diiktiraf sebagai Tok Guru dan juga tunjang utama pemimpin yang memperjuangkan Islam mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa sumpah yang di buat oleh Mohd Saiful adalah suatu kebodohan terhadap Islam dan dakwanya lagi atas dorongan politik (Mingguan Malaysia:17 Ogos 2008) tetapi kenyataan beliau bertentangan dengan pandangan Mursyidul Am PAS dan juga Menteri Besar Kelantan yang menyatakan bahawa sumpah Mohd Saiful adalah sah mengikut Syariat Islam cuma cara yang dilakukan saja tidak mengikut nas Islam.

Tidak berakhir disitu saja, bagi menguatkan lagi dan memburukan keadaan, pandangan orang ‘luar’ dipinta, tujuannya untuk mendapatkan sokongan dari luar yang lebih menampakkan neutral, kononnya. Tapinya malangnya, yang membuat kenyataan itu sebenarnya sudah hilang kreabilitinya dan keperibadiannya memang diketahui dunia. Tidak semena-mena bekas Presiden Indonesia, Gus Dur pula mengeluarkan kenyataan di Ibu Pejabat Keadilan di Kuala Lumpur menyatakan sumpah yang dibuat oleh Mohd Saiful tidak betul disisi agama Islam. Layak ke Gus Dur mengengeluarkan kenyataan sedemikian? Tidakkah kita semua rakyat Malaysia tahu akan keperibadian Gus Dur semasa menjadi Presiden Indonesia dan kenapa beliau digulingkan? Tidak kah beliau juga mempunyai skandal seks dengan wanita-wanita Indonesia apabila gambarnya terpapar di akhbar-akhbar dan majalah seluruh Indonesia termasuk Malaysia?

Amat duka cita sekali apabila kita sesama Islam bertikam lidah dan berselisih pendapat secara terbuka mengenai pendekatan Islam. Tidakkah Agama Islam ini pada hakikatnya mudah, tetapi ini umat Islam lah yang merumitkan Agama Islam itu sendiri. Akibat kelemahan umat Islam dalam menyelesaikan masalah ini menyebabkan mereka yang bukan Islam telah berani mempertikaikan kedudukan dan kesucian Islam. Lihat lah apa yang berlaku di Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah Kuantan, apabila telah membenarkan seorang mualaf yang memeluk Islam hampir 14 tahun keluar daripada Islam (Berita Harian Online:18 Ogos 2008). Kenapakah ini terjadi?

Keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Syriah Kuantan adalah tuntutan yang dikehendaki dan diperjuangkan oleh Majlis Peguam. Inilah agenda mereka sehingga mereka dengan beraninya mengadakan Forum membincangkan perihal memeluk Islam baru-baru ini dan yang sebenarnya adalah berpunca dari kelemahan umat Islam sendiri. Isu muhabalah ini jelas menunjukkan akan kelemahan pada mereka yang mendakwa beragama Islam apabila masing-masing mempunyai pendapat yang berbeza dan hakikatnya mengaibkan agama Islam. Akibatnya yang bukan Islam mengambil kesempatan di atas kelemahan umat Islam sendiri.

Inikah yang dikehendaki sesetengah pemimpin kita yang sanggup mengadai maruah Agama, bangsa dan negara? Siapakah pemimpin-pemimpin itu? Sama-sama lah kita renungkan, mudahan bangsa kita dan Agama Islam yang menjadi amalan sejak sekian lama di negara ini tidak lenyap ditelan oleh kerakusan manusia yang bercita-cita untuk berkuasa.

Politik Desperado

Apabila seseorang berada dalam keadaan terdesak, mereka akan buat apa saja dalam memastikan segala yang dihajati akan dikecapi. Mereka yang desperado atau desperate ini sudah tidak ambil pusing dalam apa jua bentuk tindakan atau kelakuan yang mereka telah dan sedang lakukan. Yang penting bagi mereka ialah kepuasan nafsu dapat dihajati. Namun, dalam politik, apa jua bentuk tindakan dan kelakuan, dalam apa jua bentuk keadaan, ia boleh terjadi tanpa diduga ataupun tanpa disedari.

Kalau kita lihat apa yang dilakukan oleh Anwar Ibrahim dan Isterinya dalam karier politiknya hari ini boleh dikatakan tindakan desperate dalam politk. Tidak mustahil, oleh kerana desperate dalam politik demi mengejar cita-citanya menjadi Perdana Menteri menjelang 16 september nanti, isteri terpaksa berkorban melepaskan jawatan kerana Permatang Pauh sajalah kawasan selamat untuk beliau mengejar cita-citanya.

Tapi rata-rata rakyat Permatang Pauh semuanya terkilan, tertipu dan melahirkan rasa tidak puas hati diatas tindakan Ahli Parlimen yang di pilih oleh rakyat Permatang Pauh pada PUR yang lalu. Apa tidaknya, belum pun sempat apa-apa janji ditunaikan, rakyat sekali lagi diajak untuk mengundi, tapi kali ini calonnya adalah Anwar Ibrahim.

Tindakan desperate Anwar ini juga dilihat akibat sokongan dan simpati rakyat kepada beliau semakin hilang. Pelbagai cubaan beliau lakukan dalam usaha meraih sokongan rakyat tetapi rakyat tidak keluar untuk memberi sokongan. Antaranya cubaan beliau ialah dengan mengadakan road show atau ceramah ke pelusuk negara dan menghasut rakyat supaya mengadakan demontrasi.

Beberapa cubaan untuk mengadakan perhimpunan rakyat, untuk menunjukan sokongan keatas beliau juga tidak mendapat sambutan. Walaupun beberapa perhimpunan diadakan, tetapi tidak mendapat simpati rakyat seperti tahun 1998. Anwar cuba mewujudkan situasi tahun 1998 untuk mengejar cita-cita politiknya. Sikap desperate Anwar dan rakan-rakannya dalam politik ditelanjangkan dihadapan penyokong beliau sendiri apabila himpunan sejuta rakyat tidak dapat sambutan, tetapi dimalukan apabila sebuah kumpulan menyanyikan lagu yang liriknya lucah dan aksi menunjukkan punggung semasa mereka membuat persembahan menimbulkan perasaan marah penyokong mereka dan juga ahli-ahli PAS.

Selain itu juga, desperatenya Anwar dalam politiknya boleh dilihat dengan jelas. Dengan isu liwatnya terhadap Mohd Saiful belum selesai dan sudah tentu beliau tahu akan apa yang akan berlaku seterusnya dan dengan sepantas kilat ia mengumumkan hasratnya untuk bertanding di Permatang Pauh. Perkiraan tindakan beliau cukup senang, ia cuba memerangkap minda rakyat dengan memburukkan Kerajaan dan mengatakan Kerajaan menghalang beliau untuk bertanding dalam pilihanraya jika pihak berkuasa menangkap beliau berhubung kes liwat ini.

Apa yang di nyatakan oleh Tun Mahathir dalam Buletin TV3 pada 3 Ogos 2008 amat jelas bahawa Anwar cuba menzahirkan tindakan Kerajaan keatas beliau adalah satu bentuk tindakan yang kejam kerana menghalang beliau untuk bertanding dalam Pilihan Raya kecil di Permatang Pauh di dalam sebuah negara demokrasi. Jadi sedikit sebanyak, tindakan beliau ini seolah-olah akan menimbulkan dan membangkitkan kemarahan rakyat diatas sebarang tindakan undang-undang yang akan dikenakan keatas beliau oleh Kerajaan.

Itu desperate di satu pihak, tapi pengumuman Perdana Menteri mengenai kajian penstrukturan semula harga petrol pada setiap awal bulan bermula September ini mungkin boleh ditafsirkan politik desperado? Kenapa dalam masa dan situasi begini PM mengumumkan hasrat Kerajaan untuk menurunkan harga petrol? Nampaknya Kerajaan UMNO juga sedikit sebanyak terikut-ikut dengan permainan politik pembangkang.

Adakah keputusan untuk menurunkan harga petrol ini sudah difikirkan masak-masak? Sudahkah difikirkan akan kesan terutama perasaan rakyat jika 2 atau 3 bulan selepas Kerajaan menurunkan harga petrol, tiba-tiba harga petrol di pasaran dunia melambung tinggi dan Kerajaan terpaksa menaikkan kembali pada harga sekarang iaitu RM2.70? Tidakkah ini akan menimbulkan lagi kemarahan rakyat?

Hari ini rakyat sedang dan sesetengahnya sudah memahami akan tindakan Kerajaan menaikkan harga petrol, namun pengumuman menurunkan harga petrol ini akan memberi satu harapan baru kepada rakyat tetapi adakah harga barang di pasaran akan turun jika harga petrol nanti diturunkan? Apakah harapan dan jaminan di atas penurunan harga petrol oleh Kerajaan keatas harga barang-barang kerperluan rakyat? Janganlah Kerajaan terikut dengan rentak politik mainan pembangkang, kerana dalam sejarah negara, apabila berlaku kenaikkan harga petrol akan diikuti oleh kenaikkan harga barang-barang pengguna namun tidak pernah dalam sejarah negara apabila harga petrol turun, harga barang akan turut turun.

Kalau harga petrol turun tapi harga barang-barang tetap sama dan mungkin akan naik lagi, ia tidak memberi sebarang makna kepada rakyat.

Apa yang dinyatakan ini adalah berdasarkan kenyataan oleh Pengerusi Lembaga Pelesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (LPKP), Datuk Markiman Kobiran (Berita Harian, 3 Ogos 2008). Beliau berkata “pelaksanaan tambang baru bas ekspres dan bas henti-henti bukan hanya mengambil kira harga bahan api tetapi juga kos operasi termasuk kenaikan alat ganti, gaji pekerja, tol dan sewa terminal”. Adakah rakyat akan menerima alasan sebegini? Bagaimana dengan nasib rakyat berpendapatan rendah yang bergantung sepenuhnya pada pengangkutan bas?

Jadi jelas, penurunan harga petrol tidak memberi sebarang makna kepada pengguna. Petikan dalam Berita Harian bertarikh 3 Ogos 2008 jelas maksudnya “Kerajaan akan memenuhi janjinya kepada pengusaha bas ekspres dan bas henti-henti untuk menaikkan tambang mungkin selepas Aidilfitri ini walaupun harga minyak mentah dunia mulai susut ke bawah paras AS$125 setong”.

Kerajaan sebaliknya perlu melaksanakan tindakan lain yang lebih menguntungkan rakyat. Jika harga petrol diturunkan, penurunan ini juga akan turut dinikmati dikongsi oleh pekerja asing dan rakyat asing dari Singapura dan Thailand yang bersempadan dengan Perlis dan Kelantan.



Sebaliknya adalah lebih baik jika Kerajaan memberikan rebat tunai kepada rakyat seperti diberikan sebelum ini dari menurunkan harga petrol. Dengan wang rebat tunai itu, sekurang-kurangnya ia mampu menggalakan rakyat berbelanja dan ia mampu menjana ekonomi negara dan yang pastinya rebat tunai ini hanya dapat dinikmati oleh rakyat Malaysia sahaja.

Sesungguhnya sesiapa sahaja apabila berkeadaan desperate akan melakukan apa jua. Namun, jika tersalah dan tersilap langkah yang dilakukan nescaya ia boleh mengundang masalah dan buruk padahnya. Menerima kesannya ialah rakyat yang akan menanggung segalanya.

www.malaysiaaktif.com

So What Do Malays Want?

Or more specifically, why is everyone else feeling so threatened by ‘Malay Unity’
It seems that whenever the subject of Malay Unity comes up, the so-called liberal intelligentsia, and by this I mean those who claim to have a very open and broad mind on all things, gets all hot under the collar.

I honestly do not understand why.

For example, last week, the Karim Raslan, a columnist with The Star noted with some force that talks between Umno and PAS is almost certainly against the wishes of the people.

I do not have a magic barometer to measure public sentiment and I am quite sure that Karim doesn’t have ne either so like most political analysts; he takes the reading after filtering it through the people around him and finally through his own political and social tinting.

Which brings me to this question; How did he arrive at the conclusion that the talks between the two Malay p?litical parties are against the wishes of the people? Which people is he talking about.

There is no doubt that the result of the 12th General Election showed that the people wanted change and a close look at the post election polls indicate that the desire for change came from all communities.

The fact is, many, like myself do not really care which particular party or coalition rules the country as long as it takes care of my interests and makes sure that we live in peace and are free to pursue our dreams.

There are many analysis of the shift in political influence and they range from the notion that the people are sick and tired of Barisan Nasional rule to the idea that people just want to shake things up a bit but not too much, just to see if they can get rid of the deadwood in Government.

Whichever way you look at it, the Malaysian people are mature enough to want a peaceful change, they want peace, they want economic and administrative stability and minimal disruption in daily life as a result of any political change.
The Malays have long formed the backbone of this country’s politics and if you take a look at past election results you will know that they waver between Umno on one side and PAS on the other and in the interim they thrown support to Umno splinters such as Semangant 46 and now PKR.

If you examine those results even more closely you will notice that, effectively Malays only ever vote for Umno or PAS, if they ticked the S46 box its because they believe that they were voting for Umno member who want to make Umno better.
They ticked PKR’s boxes this time around because they are comfortable with the idea of an Umno splinter group leading the Opposition.

Without PKR most of the protest votes would have gone to PAS.
In effect, over the last 50 years, the Malays have always put their trust in these two political organisations and deep in the hearts of many, as it is in my heart, there is a wish that PAS and Umno could find common ground from which to serve the people.
Malays accept that Umno is good at working out the economy, business and international relations but they also believe that PAS is safety net for when they think that Umno has strayed too far from the faith.

PAS and Umno represents their own internal conflict of chasing after Dunya while keeping one foot in the grave. Malays are most happy when they have found a balance between the two. There is nothing like worldly success that is accompanied by humility and piety.

I think Malays generally welcome any efforts to foster stronger unity among them, especially now that the Chinese, Indian and a few other non-Malay groups have developed a taste for Malay-bashing.

Every time they talk about stripping Malays of their assured status in the constitution, they say they are helping to make Malaysia more modern and progressive, when the Malays remind them how we even arrived at the constitution, they say Malays are being racists.

When they talk about leveling the playing field in the business world, they mean take away Malay quota and say this holds back the nation but they get their knickers in a twist when they are reminded that the Chinese practice worse discriminations in the business world.

When the Indians rally under a questionable organization like Hindraf, they say it is a show of solidarity, when the Chinese get together within their many associations they say it is to promote stronger communal ties but when Malays want to foster greater unity, oh suddenly this means we would go back to the dark ages.

Why is that? I will tell you why.

These so called liberals are working one simple message and one simple plan. The message is the Malays are not good enough to run this country and the plan is to create disunity and disharmony among the Malays.
Any show if unity or strength by the Malays is given a negative label, pure and simple, anything that they think will fragment the Malays is good and healthy.

Well here is a reality check:

Malays want Malays to stay in power because it is the only way to ensure that the country is stable in every sense of the word.
In a two party system, each side should be headed by a strong Malay-based backbone party, don’t even imagine that DAP would have gotten all those votes in Perak if they were acting alone and after this term, I am quite sure they will never taste the same vitory again.

The people voted them in under the assumption that they will still get a Malay-majority State Government. The Sultan understood this and that is why PAS holds the MB’s post.

The Malay agenda is very strong in this, their homeland and it will remain as strong as ever in the future.

At the core of the Malay agenda is generous sharing of this land’s bounty but political control must not be removed from Malay hands.

If the liberals want less talks between PAS and Umno and less effort towards building supermassive Malay political blocs then may I suggest that they stop the Malay bashing right now.

Malays are already feeling cornered and I don’t think they will let themselves to be led down a silly garden path in the name of idealism, not when their lot in their own country is far from secure, not when the economic power of the country is still in the hands of the Chinese not when the world of professionals are still controlled by the Indians.

Yes, they are angry with some of the things that are happening in Government but they are not half as angry as they are at any attempts to create disunity among them.
Karim should learn from Nasaruddin Mat Isa and understand why he is so popular and can cross the Umno-PAS divide easily, in fact Karim should take a close look at Anwar Ibrahim and understand why he is so popular.

Malays want to be even more united and those who get in their way had better watch out.

Fed Up With Anwar Ibrahim

I've been in the cafe business far too long for me to remember. Through the years, I heard many times the name Anwar Ibrahim being mentioned by my customers either directly to me or in the conversation among themselves. It seems Anwar Ibrahim has dominated the Malaysian political scenes far too long. Eversince he was the maverick student leader who championed the poor of Baling, later becoming the second powerful man in Malaysia ( as Deputy Prime Minister), then ousted and convicted on several charges. Now is he out of prison, and commanding the opposition front. He is touted to be the Prime Minister in Waiting. Currently, he mounted a campaign against the government over sodomy charge against him by his aide, saying that it is conspiracy against him to stop him becoming the next prime minister.

To me this is the last straw that broke the camel back. I had enough of his political antics. Even my customers are fed up discussing about him. The articles in the NST last sunday confirm our belief that Anuar Ibrahim has taken all of us for a ride. So lets refrain ourselves from talking about him anymore........here I posted the articles.

Sunday Times July 27, 2008 (Used by permission)

by Tunku Abdul Aziz

IT seems to me that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is suffering from paranoid

delusions. His preoccupation with what he sees as political conspiracy against

him is doing his reputation and credibility, such as it is, enormous damage.

To compound the growing cynicism about his version of events,

he has not, to date, been able to produce any verifiable evidence to support his

contention.

As far as I am concerned, and for all practical purposes, his claim of

victimisation at the evil hands of the authorities is just so much political

posturing, and has to be viewed, sadly, as a ploy to gain sympathy for his cause

and confuse the gullible in our midst.

And there are many who see a conspirator in every nook and corner, in much the

same way that Americans, at the height of McCarthyism, looked under the bed
before retiring for the night, half expecting to find a communist lurking there.
While Anwar expects the highest standards of proof in others, he is somehow both
careless and cavalier about his own. He has made the preposterous accusation
that the charge of sodomy brought against him by his former aide is part of a
diabolically clever plot to stop his prime ministerial ambitions dead in their
tracks.

That, too, must remain a matter for conjecture unless it can

be proved otherwise. Many Malaysians await Anwar's irrefutable evidence with

bated breath.

Does he not realise that many people can, and will, draw their own conclusions

about the real reason behind his persistent refusal to give his blood for the

purpose of a DNA test?

Let us get that over and done with so that the police can make a quick

determination as to whether or not he had been maliciously accused of something

he is innocent of. Readers will no doubt recall that when he was in custody 10 years ago, he

accused the authorities of administering arsenic to poison him.

All very dramatic, and the world was understandably aghast and shocked by that

revelation.

Independent tests done in Australia, however, proved negative. Anwar showed

absolutely no remorse about his having blackened his country's good name and

reputation. On the premise that there is one law for all, no one should reasonably expect

normal police criminal investigation procedures to be set aside or compromised

on the spurious ground of a lack of trust in the police. What is the evidence

for this?

Anwar, for all his political savvy, now runs the risk of being likened to "the

boy who cried wolf" -- once too often. He should submit himself voluntarily to the DNA test, and if need be, under an independent expert observer group if this would help.

The police have been more accommodating in his case than I have seen in some

others. And if he is innocent of the charge against him, there is "nothing to

fear, but fear itself".

Conspiracy or no, even Anwar must know that the devil is in the detail: how does

he propose to seize power except by resorting to unprincipled political

machinations and manipulations?

He has to show that he has not totally abandoned his moral and ethical

principles and this is the only way that he will ever recover the moral and

intellectual high ground that he once occupied. The moral support of right thinking people everywhere that he could at one time take for granted is beginning to wear thin.

What has happened to the mass exodus to his camp of ethically deficient

political malcontents from The Land Below The Wind, across the South China Sea,

that he predicted with an almost messianic zeal and prophetic certainty to help

him topple the government and transform the nation?

He has done our Sabah politicians grave injury to their reputation. They have

proved that they stand by certain personal values and standards of ethical

behaviour.

I cannot imagine anything baser and more grotesque than attempting to corrupt

and seduce perfectly decent and honourable parliamentarians to betray the trust

of the voters who had put them there in the first place to represent them in

their constituencies.

What kind of message is Anwar sending to the people of this country, and in

particular to the young people now beginning to take an interest in political

issues?

Dislodge the government by all means, if this is your purpose in life, but there

is a time and place as provided under our electoral process.

The place is the ballot box, and the time is the 13th general election.

This is all part of our democratic system and what business have any of us to

bring about a change of administration outside of the legal electoral framework?

I am well aware of the opposition song-and-dance about what they claim to be a

defective electoral system before every election. But this constant refrain

about the unfairness of it all is muted, now that the same defective process

that they used to vent their spleen on with demonic vehemence has catapulted

them into power in five states.

I suppose even they must now admit that it has not been that bad, after all, for

those who were not expected to pick more than a few crumbs off the floor.

Anwar has made great play of his having to remove his clothes for his medical

examination and implied that he was being singled out for special treatment.

I am assured by my doctor friends that it is normal procedure for certain types

of examination. Many of us have been through this and we were none the worse for

wear.

In my own case, on my visit to Israel two years ago, I was asked very politely

to remove all my clothes by airport security. More than at any time in my entire life, faced with the prospect of having to bare all, and not even paid for it in front of total strangers, I remembered my mother, thinking how right she had been to remind my brother and I always to wear clean underpants!

Like Anwar, I did not like the strip act one little bit, but unlike him, I did

not kick up a fuss and neither did I call a press conference to denounce this

"barbaric" practice against a senior United Nations official which was what I

was at the time.

If I had been gripped by paranoia, I suppose I would have seen the whole

exercise as being specially devised to humiliate me, a Muslim.

It was a security requirement and I respected their right to do everything

possible in the interests of their country's security.

Anwar should desist from involving the international community in what is

essentially a simple case. He somehow feels that the United States, the European

Union and Japan should fight a proxy war against his country to shield him from

the due process of law of his country.

I do not claim, naturally, to speak for other Malaysians, but there are people I

know personally who are beginning to suspect his motives. It is poetic justice.

We must all take responsibility for our actions, and if we feel that we have

been defamed or otherwise unfairly accused, we should place ourselves in the

hands and at the mercy of the courts.

Anwar should submit himself to the country's criminal justice system like the

rest of his fellow Malaysians and lead by example.

He is, after all, according to his supporters, a prime minister-in-waiting. I

hope they are not holding their breath.

We are all getting a little sick and tired of the "Anwar factor" that is turning

out to be an absolutely unnecessary distraction at a time when we need to get on

with our lives.

* The writer is a former special adviser to the United Nations

secretary-general on ethics.