Whom should we trust?
By Sim Kwang Yang
On the eve of polling in the March 8 2008 general election, a close friend enquired whether Anwar Ibrahim could be trusted or not, given his chameleon-like political career that saw him change his affinity in rather dramatic ways several times.
This question about Anwar Ibrahim’s trustworthiness has become all the more topical now that he is scheduled to come back to our Malaysian political arena on full steam next week.
Even before the general election, there was widespread mistrust for Anwar Ibrahim among the Chinese electorate, because of his perceived sins committed against Chinese education during his tenure as education Minister. One could argue that, as Education Minister, Anwar Ibrahim was implementing the education policy of UMNO, but that would still not diminish the burden of his rather huge political baggage.
The Chinese community has always had ambiguous feelings for Anwar, even from the early days when he was involved with ABIM as a young radical Islamic activist. His Islamic credential may have been an asset for his career first in UMNO, then as an ally of PAS when he was banished to political wilderness ten years ago. But for many Chinese who suffer from Islam phobia, Anwar Ibrahim is often perceived by many as a mildly threatening enigma.
In the ten-year existence of PKR, right up to the time of the general election last month, I was constantly bombarded with the question of whether Anwar Ibrahim would return to UMNO, just like Ku Li did in the 90s after fighting UMNO in vain with Semangat 46 as his political vehicle.
The assumption under such doubt is clear. PKR is the personal political vehicle for Anwar. If eventually he would return to UMNO embrace, there is no point in supporting PKR and Anwar. This was a view greatly encouraged by MCA.
Then again, on the eve of the 2008 general election, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar issued an ominous warning to the nation. If Anwar Ibrahim shall become the prime minister of Malaysia, then the country would be heading towards an “unmitigated disaster”. This much celebrated activist claimed that Anwar is certainly not the “knight in shining armour”, as many perceive him to be.
I know both Anwar and Chandra personally for over two decades. For me to comment on them based on my skimpy personal knowledge of their private world is a betrayal of my privilege. So I would not do it. There should be honour even among politicians, activists, and writers.
Nevertheless, Anwar Ibrahim is such a political phenomenon in Malaysia that one should try to make sense of his personal significance in the public life of the nation. One can do this with justice if one examines the evolution of political values among Malaysians and political practitioners with a view of exploring the possibilities for a more enlightened democracy in years to come.
