It’s no secret that I don’t like Anwar Ibrahim. I won’t go into the reasons for my dislike of him right now, but let’s just say I don’t like a few of his policies and I also don’t like his political character. But, for the record, let me state this in no uncertain terms… I hope he KICKS ASS in the upcoming by-election; that means improvement over Wan Azizah’s result.
Why? Because of Ketuanan Rakyat! Whether we believe that Anwar is sincere about delivering us from the tragic hypocritical lie that is Ketuanan Melayu, let there be no doubt that a vote for Anwar Ibrahim is a vote for Bangsa Malaysia. This is made patently clear by none other than his former blue-eyed boy Ezam Mohd. Noor, who had this to say in an interview:
“Bagi saya, ekonomi bermasalah perkara biasa, ia pernah berlaku, tetapi yang lebih luar biasa ialah ancaman struktur politik dan sosial yang dirosakkan oleh Anwar melalui politik barunya. Dalam sejarah, kita tidak pernah diancam oleh struktur di mana orang bukan Melayu semakin berani mempersoalkan DEB dan kontrak sosial. Ini ancaman kepada keutuhan bangsa. Ancaman ini lebih berat daripada ancaman ekonomi. Pada ketika ini tiada siapapun boleh menafikan bahawa bangsa kita terancam dan keutuhan Melayu sebagai teras cukup terancam. Bagi saya, ini adalah ancaman besar kita kena lawan.”
One thing sorely missing in today’s political situation is clarity. We should all thank Ezam for providing us this much needed clarity on where the battle line is drawn, and what side we are on.
I want Anwar Ibrahim to return to Parliament with a sizeable majority so that the impact of the 838 tsunami is not merely written off as a intermittent event. The desire for change is real. We can sort out “turun harga minyak esok” and “lompat parti” later… although I do anticipate the entire campaign will be like nails on a chalkboard to me because he will harp on exactly those two issues. So to preserve my sanity, I won’t be watching the campaign very closely :P
While I’m here, let me also mention that I think those 3 bigtimers in the Malaysian blogosphere who are flying the Malaysian flag upside down should think things through a bit better. Flying the flag in distress is not a small matter, you don’t do it on a bloody whim. To fly a flag in distress is basically saying “abandon ship”. Are you abandoning Malaysia? Even if you don’t really understand what it means, you should certainly understand the severity of the gesture. To say you are doing it because “the country is being run by racists” is a damn joke. Where were your balls during Hishamuddin’s Keris Spectacular? Now that Anwar is going to return, suddenly everyone so brave la, wow. To do it because of rising unemployment makes us look like a nation of spoilt brats. The high crime rate is very bad of course, but not much of a justification either.
I’m really no nationalist, I don’t think I’ll be flying the Malaysian flag anywhere during this year’s Merdeka, the closest gesture to being “patriotic” that I’ve ever done on Merdeka was to go to a strip club in Melbourne wearing my DAP pin two years ago (more of a gag than anything else). But I will most certainly NOT be flying the Malaysian flag upside down, online or offline. Especially not when our athletes would have been doing their best in Beijing just a week or two before that (and let’s be fair, some of them do a decent job such as our bowling lasses). I think the actions of this small handful of bloggers (all of whom are fairly experienced fellas who should know better) is embarrassing to the entire reform movement. Not to mention embarrassing to Malaysian bloggers. No need to call the lot “unemployed women monkeys” when a handful of prominent guys exhibit such poor judgement.
Fly the BN flag upside down if u like (people have done worse to it anyway). But I would appreciate it if you would turn the Jalur Gemilang right side up please, thank you.
Having said that, I will of course cede you your right to fly it upside down if you wish. So long as you understand that, in return, I reserve the right to label you an emo fool for a long, long time. This kind of small-minded politics is not helpful.
I don’t really care about the other two guys, but Haris Ibrahim… *sigh*… he tends to drift on and off my shitlist. If he can keep his emotions in check I think he would make a great politician and an asset to any party. But I guess that’s a damn big if.
