Zaid: Hope and freedom come with a price

ARCHIVES 2009

By MT Webmaster On Mar 3, 2009

"He (Najib) represents the elite. He has been in politics for the last 20-25 years, and I do not think he is able to see what is on the ground. When he travels, he is treated in royalty, with a whole entourage following him when he travels."

Tan Yi Liang, The Sun

A panel of media and political experts was of the view that there is a possibility for change and hope for freedom in Malaysia, provided the current system is reformed to allow room for discourse and dissent.

Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim (Lawyer & Pilitician) during
Obama-Magic in KL forum at PJ Hilton, PJ.

"Hope and freedom and change come with a price. And the question is, are we prepared to pay the price. If we are not, then it will not come so easy," said former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

"That price is not for any 'Malaysian Obama'', it is for the people of this country to answer whether they are ready for that," said Zaid, who was a panelist at the Obama-Magic in KL seminar, featuring Obama's campaign manager Roger Fisk.

"In our country, we have a long way to go for that freedom. We have elections once every five years, but we need a lot more for this country to mature, Zaid said.

"Our leaders today talk of uniting the people, they talk of freedom and democracy but I don't sense a real genuine desire to do that," said Zaid, who called on Malaysian leaders to embrace "ordinary" values.

"The reason we are in a state of flux is because we do not have the leadership that extols the virtues of ordinary people, of excellence, honesty and integrity."

"We take pride that we are clever at fixing and manipulating things, so long as we have power," he said, before comparing the Malaysian situation with the American Obama scenario.

"America has had its share of leaders who sacrificed for all these values, and we too have had leaders like that. But we need more of them. People who stand up for the normal, usual good things about leadership that you and I know," said Zaid, adding that Malaysian leaders should not gloss over principles of leadership.

"Leaders must have some principles that they stand for, and I think sometimes people gloss over this because they want to be practical," said Zaid, who was asked what advice he had for incoming Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"I hope that he (Najib) he will be a leader for the country first, and not put UMNO first. This is very important. Sometimes issues and problems in this country are seen in the perspective of a particular party. I think we are bigger than that, and we have the capacity," added Zaid.

This view was also supported by blogger and fellow panelist Datuk Kadir Jasin, who said that change was nothing new to the Malaysian scene

"We cannot deny that Malaysia has survived because we allow gradual, step by step change to take place. I think change is happening in Malaysia."

"No government in this country, be it Umno or Pakatan Rakyat, or PAS or DAP can go back to the old ways," said Kadir, who pointed to the rise of blogs and "new media".

"We are now talking and we have a new way of getting the message across," said Kadir, who is the editor-in-chief of Berita Publishing.

He expressed his belief that change and reform was possible for all in Malaysia, including elements of the establishment.

"I think UMNO can change, as the flipside of not changing is death and I think they don't want to die," said Kadir, who cautioned that there will be no hundred days or honeymoon for Najib as a new PM.

Meanwhile advertising entrepreneur Datuk Vincent Lee said a reform in the media and leadership are necessary factors to bring positive change to Malaysia.

What we need to do is to free the media, and the question is what people want, he said.

"People want the three Ps- peace, prosperity and progress. However, we get three Cs from the politicians — . Confusion, confrontation and corruption," Lee said.

Asked what advice he had for Najib when the latter assumes power, Lee said he would urge Najib to engage more with the grassroots.

"Obama's campaign was very different. He was very single-minded and I think it shows that he believes in something. His personal beliefs have translated into the people's beliefs. He had a deep sense of belief, and he started a movement," said Lee.

"So, change must start from us first. I think if we wait for our leaders to change, it will never happen," he added.

However, theSun's special investigative reporting editor Nadeswaran said the people should accept responsibility for the leaders they elected.

"The majority voted for those they thought would deliver, and if they did not deliver, you are to blame. It is as simple as that. The government was not elected by the minority, it was elected by the majority," he said, adding that people will have to deliver the change they want.

"There is hope for change, but every time we find a man we can place our hopes on, he gets shot down," said Nadeswaran, who cited Zaid's case as an example.

"Unless you have a group of people who say cohesively that what they are doing is for the people, nothing is going to change," added Nadeswaran.

Meanwhile, asked about how a report alleging that Obama was pro-Hamas, Fisk responded that consistency in the campaign message was of paramount importance.

"The very important thing was not having your message dictated by the news cycle and maintaining absolute clarity about the core values of the campaign.

"If you hold campaign meetings to discuss how you will respond to the news, you will look back and find that all you have done is react," said Fisk, who added that a good campaign "does not have to respond to everything".

"We have always had faith that if people were really going to believe that Senator Obama was predisposed to one side of the Palestinian or Israeli conflict too much, then they would pick up on that themselves.

"Just because the New York Post has a cartoon, or one or two stories in a news cycle have such news does not mean that you have to respond to that," he said.