OPPOSITION leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has to quickly change course if he wants to win the 15th General Election (GE15) or else he risks biting his fingers – again!
He needs to understand the conscience of the Malay voters, particularly those who are wary of him being overly friendly with the Democratic Action Party (DAP).
This is because the current state of the political mess is presenting the best opportunity for Anwar to win the hearts of the Malay community – a community that is fed up with UMNO on many fronts.
If Anwar is too late, he is not only risking his political future but he is also going to miss a thin window of opportunity that may not appear again in the future.
We suggest that he continues with the national agenda which separates Pakatan Harapan (PH) from others although he needs to strengthen the pro-Malay agenda altogether within PH.
We believe that Malaysia needs a figure like Anwar but the community still has not accepted PH or even the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) as an alternate political force.
Many of the younger generation, particularly those in the rural areas, hate Anwar because of the simple reason that the previous Governments had ruined his reputation with various court cases to embarrass him. This has been going on for 22 years in what we believe are false accusations.
On the other hand, the younger generation is not asking why the Government – then and now – is so afraid of Anwar’s political struggle.
They should ask why he is targeted by the Government of the day. Does the younger generation now know too little about him? It appears so.
Do they know that he is the father of the reform movement and is also among the politicians who went against kleptocracy as well as being someone who also opposed authoritarianism?
The younger generation does not know of Anwar’s background and how he – through the Asian youth leadership – was one of the top Asian youth leaders by virtue of him having generated a lot of admiration in Indonesia in the early 1970s.
For that matter, the younger generation does not know that the then Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was on a mission to find young Muslim figures who were impacting their countries and was helping in the development of Islam. Anwar was then the chosen one.
The youngsters also do not know that Anwar rode a kapcai motorcycle on that gloomy day in September 1998 right before he was summarily arrested at his house.
They are not aware that Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was still working at the Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya (PPUM) until the early 2000s when she retired to join politics full time.
Do they know that the prison authorities at the Kamunting, Taiping detention centre provided Anwar and Dr Syed Husin Ali (one of the founding leaders of PKR) with tables and books as well as writing pads, etc?
Families and friends could visit them but the younger generation has no idea who the visitors were.
What we want to convey is that whoever wishes to see this country reformed should keep writing to tell the story of the reform movement in Malaysia. They should also keep the story of Anwar Ibrahim alive on all forums because this is how Malaysia will eventually see reforms.
Don’t just linger on Facebook, TikTok to feel good. Don’t let the story of the reformasi movement lose its fervour because Anwar is the only one who represents the people’s hope for reform. – Nov 7, 2021
Isa Selamat is an Editor at Worldfuturetv.com and Kazi Mahmood is an Editor at Business Today.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
