Probably my last message to Malaysians (with Mandarin translation)

This country needs major political, economic and social reforms. The next two years are going to be most trying years indeed. And expect a snap general election within 18 months of Najib taking over if he does take over on 1 April 2009.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tomorrow, I will probably be detained under the Internal Security Act. Anyhow, before we talk about that, let me start by giving you my prediction for the two by-elections scheduled for early April.

In 2004, BN won the Bukit Selambau state seat with a majority of 7,695 votes and in 2008 they lost it with a majority of 2,362 votes. (See the chart below). In the coming by-election, I forecast a voter turnout of around 26,000 and a majority of 3,500-4,500 for the opposition.

For the Bukit Gantang parliament seat, in 2004 Barisan Nasional won with a majority of 8,888 and in 2008 it lost with a majority of 1,566. (See chart below). This time around, the voter turnout will be roughly 42,000 and the opposition will win that seat with a majority of 5,000-8,000 votes.

Okay, I am forecasting this even before I know who the candidates are. Well, I have no choice. On Tuesday, 17 February 2009, the Federal Court is due to hear the appeal against my release from Internal Security Act detention and I really do not know what the outcome is going to be. Chances are, I have but 24 hours left as a free man and if I do not write this article today I never will.

On 7 November 2008, the Shah Alam High Court ordered my release from detention. The government has appealed this decision although it did not see the need to appeal the decision of the Shah Alam High Court acquitting Abdul Razak Baginda of the charge of murder without his defence being called.

I was in court last week to witness the performance of the three judges and what I saw did not give me much confidence. First of all, we asked for a quorum of seven judges, or at least five. But the court turned us down and fixed a quorum of only three judges. And two of the three judges appear to be hostile towards us from the word ‘go’. It looks like my fate has been sealed even before the case goes to court.

Anyway, I know for a fact that it was not Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who ordered my detention. He was not even aware I had been detained. The order came from Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and since I am bent on making sure he never becomes Prime Minister on 1 April 2009 I really do not blame him for wanting to get me out of the way.

My friends and family want me to leave the country and to seek political asylum in another country. They feel I can still continue with the struggle in a foreign land. But I am against that as much as my wife pleads that I consider this. I am no quitter and I do not run. I shall stay and fight till the very end even if that is the last thing I do.

If I have to lose my freedom so be it. That is the price we pay for opposing the powers-that-be. But I shall not go quietly or make any deals to secure my release with those who walk in the corridors of power.

I was given an option. Take the money and become rich or go to jail. I refused the money and instead chose jail. This is my choice and no one can convince me to do otherwise. No doubt I will have to pay for this and it will be a heavy price that I shall have to pay. But this is the price of the struggle and the price does not come cheap.

I shall not submit. I shall resist till the end. I stand on right and I oppose what is wrong. Amar makruf, nahi munkar, as Islam would say. We must uphold right and oppose wrong. That is not only the Islamic way but also the way of all religions. And even atheists believe in this, so you need not believe in God to subscribe to the concept of amar makruf, nahi munkar.

Over thousands of years countless people have met their deaths just because they stood on the side of right. What I have chosen to do has been done by so many who are now nameless and faceless. So it is nothing so special that I do which has not been done before.

My resistance will continue. But I will have to continue my resistance behind the barbwire fences of the Kamunting Detention Centre. It will now be up to you, those who are free, to continue where I left off.

My resistance, however, will have to take on a new form. I will no longer be able to write or speak at ceramahs. My voice has now been silenced. But I can still speak the words of silence, which will be my new form of resistance.

I shall no longer open my mouth or utter one word during my detention. I shall maintain the silence of a mute person. I shall not sign any documents of the so many documents that they make you sign when under detention. My signature is not going to be placed on a single shred of paper.

By doing so would mean none of my family members or lawyers would have access to me. Yes, that is the price I shall pay for ‘not cooperating’. I know this and I am prepared for it.

I shall refuse all medical treatment and visits to the hospital. I shall refuse to accept any food and water supplied by the Kamunting authorities. I shall refuse to leave my cell or to meet any of the prison authorities. In short, I shall shut myself out from the world and keep to my own world of my eight feet square cell.

This action will mean I shall survive at the most seven to eight days. By the end of that period I shall be dead. I am prepared for that. They plan to imprison my body for the rest of my life. But I shall release my spirit from my body and will again be free. They can keep my body and they can do whatever they want with it. But they will never be able to keep my spirit. I shall separate my spirit from my body and deny them the pleasure of incarcerating me.

This is a decision I have taken and no one can make me change my mind. And this is probably the last article of mine that you shall read if they send me to Kamunting tomorrow. Keep the struggle going. I shall no longer be able to join you in that struggle. The work is far from finished. This country needs major political, economic and social reforms. The next two years are going to be most trying years indeed. And expect a snap general election within 18 months of Najib taking over if he does take over on 1 April 2009.

I lay down my life for this nation of ours called Malaysia. I will sacrifice myself for the sake of the struggle. There is very little left I can give at this point of time other than my life. For those who stood by me all these years, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I go with a heavy heart. But my heart is heavy only because I have but one life to give.

Death is not the end. Death is but the beginning. It is the beginning of a new journey that none of us can escape and will one day embark upon. It is not something to be sad about. It is something to rejoice.

Please continue your struggle to make Malaysia a better place for our future generation. This country belongs to them and it is for them that we struggle. For some of us, our time is already almost up. We do not have many years left. Many have gone before us. Many friends who started out with us in 1998 are no longer around. But they left this world in the hope that one day Malaysia will be the country that we dream it would be. And that, too, must be our dream.

I pray and hope that the Putrajaya Federal Court will uphold the decision of the Shah Alam High Court to free me from ISA detention. But if it reverses that decision then we must be prepared for that as well. And if the Federal Court does what I fear it will do, goodbye Malaysians, my comrade-in-arms. We shall meet again, one day, although not in this world but the next.

 

 

 

(也许）我最后的告国人书

 

这个国家需要巨大的政治，经济和社会改革。在接下来的两年将会更加艰巨。如果纳吉真的在2009年四月一日成为首相，那十八个月内应该会有一场闪电大选。

 

明天我也许会在内安法令下被扣留。无论如何，在谈到这个之前，让我来给你们一些四月初的两场补选预测。

在2004年, 国阵以7,695张的多数票赢了武吉士南卯区州议席。在2008年，他们则以2,362张多数票输掉(参考以上图表)。在这次的补选，我预测有26,000人出来投票，然后反对党可以得到3,500到4,500张多数票。

至于武吉干当的国会议席，在2004年, 国阵以8,888张的多数票胜出。在2008年，他们则以1,566张多数票输掉(参考以上图表)。在这次的补选，我预测有42,000人出来投票，然后反对党可以得到5,000到8,000张得多数票。

你看，我还不知道候选人是谁，就得预测成绩。我是没有选择了的。在2009年2月17日星期二，联邦法院将开审有关我得以在内安法令下释放的上诉。我不知道结果是如何的。看来我还有24个小时的时间做个自由人。若今天我不写这篇文章的话，我看就没有机会了。

在2008年11月7日，沙亚南高庭批准我的人身保护令，释放了我。政府就为此提出上诉，却不知为何不上诉沙亚南高庭撤销拉萨巴京达的谋杀诉案，他甚至不用辩护呢。

上个星期我在法庭内已看到三位法官的表现。我所看到的让我很没信心。首先，我们要求七司会审，或至少五司会审。不过法庭不准许，只给我们一个三司会审。而三名法官中的两名看来对我们有敌意。虽然还没有开庭，看来我的命运已经被决定了。

无论如何，我已经知道不是首相阿都拉要扣留我。他甚至不知道我被扣留了。扣留令是来自副首相纳吉。既然我一直努力着不想让他在今年四月一日当上首相，我也不会怪他要除掉我这支眼中钉。

我的朋友和家人都要我离开这个国家，并在其它国家寻求政治庇护。他们觉得我还能够在外地继续斗争。虽然我老婆一直哀求我考虑，但我却反对这么做。我不是半途而废的人，也不会逃避。即使这是人生最后一件事，我也会留下来，斗到最后。

若我终究会失去自由就由它去吧。这就是我们对抗强权者所要付出的代价。但我不会静悄悄地走，或与强权者做出妥协来确保我的自由。

他们给我一个选择。拿钱当富翁或坐牢。我拒绝金钱，选择坐牢。这是我的选择，没有人能改变我的选择。虽然我必须付出代价，一个非常巨大的代价。但这个是斗争的代价，一个不菲的代价。

我不会投降，我将会抗拒至终。我捍卫正义，抗拒邪恶。回教的说法就是Amar makruf, nahi munkar。我们必须捍卫真理，抗拒邪恶。那不止是回教的做法，也是所有宗教的做法。即使是无神论者，也深信如此。因此，你不必需要有宗教信仰，也能接受amar makruf, nahi munkar的概念。

千年以来，无数的人因为站在正义的一方而从容就义。我所作出的选择，与这些许多无名氏的人所作出的选择一样。所以，我所作的，也不是什么没有人做过的特别事情。

我的抗争将会持续下去。但我会在甘文丁的扣留中心继续抗争下去。在我走后，就要看你们这些自由的人了。 我的抗争，将会以新的形式出现。我将不能书写，或出来演讲。我的声音已被掩盖。但我还能够以静寂之语说出，这就是我新式的抗争。

在扣留时，我将不会开口说一言半句，我会持续沉默。我不会签署任何在扣留中心他们会逼你签署的文件。我的署名将不会出现在任何纸张。

这样做的话就是表示说，我的家人或律师都不能见到我。是的，那就是因为我“不合作”而需要付出的代价。我知道会这样，我也有心理准备了。

我会拒绝所有医疗，或进入任何医院。我也会拒绝接受甘文丁当局提供的饮品食物。我会拒绝离开我的牢房，或去见牢狱当局。简短来说，我只守在我的八方尺大的牢房中，隔绝牢房外的世界。

这表示说我将会生存最多约七到八天，然后死去。我已准备好这么做。他们计划关我的人身到老死。但我却从自己的人身释放我的灵魂，而得到自由。他们能够关着我的人身，要怎么做都行。但他们关不住我的灵魂。我会把我的灵魂和身体分开，拒绝给予他们监禁我的快意。

这时我已做出的决定，没有人能够改变我的心志。若他们明天送我到甘文丁，也许这是你们能够读到的，我最后的一篇文章。请继续斗争下去吧。我不能参与你们了。距离完成工作的日子还远呢。这个国家需要巨大的政治，经济和社会改革。在接下来的两年将会更加艰巨。如果纳吉真的在2009年四月一日成为首相，那十八个月内应该会有一场闪电大选。

我会为我们称为马来西亚的大地上放下我的生命。为了斗争，我会牺牲我自己。在这个时刻，我的生命是我谨能够付出的。那些这些年来支持我的人，我衷心感谢你们。我会很沉重地离去。但我心沉重，因为我只有一份生命可以付出。

死亡不是终点，而是个开端。这是新的旅程的开端，我们无人能躲避，也终有一天会来到。这并不值得去伤心，而是要欢庆。

请继续你们的斗争，好让马来西亚在我们的下一代时，能够成为一个更好的地方。这个国家是属于他们的，我们为了他们而斗争。对于我们一些人来说，我们的时候差不多已经到了。我们已经剩没多少年了。很多人已经比我们先走了。许多在1998年开始斗争的朋友，如今都不在了。但他们是抱着有一天，马来西亚将会是梦想中的国家的希望而离开这个世界的。而那个也一定要成为我们的梦想。

我祈望布城联邦法院会维持沙亚南高庭的原判，不让我在内安法令下扣留。但我们也要有心理准备面对不同的结局。若联邦法院判了我不想要的判决，那就再见了，马来西亚同胞，我的同志们。我们总有一天将会再见，虽然不是在这个世界，而是另一个世界。

 

原译：ecs283

编辑：Pratamad