Anwar charms students, pushes activism
By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
BANGI, March 13 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim regaled a young audience with tales of corruption and sodomy here last night, in a bid to inspire student activism and gain the young vote ahead of impending polls.
Speaking to a crowd of hundreds at the “Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional II” congress, the opposition leader openly discussed details of his ongoing Sodomy II trial with the youths, earning himself many “oohs” and “aahs” and cries of “kesiannya” (how pitiful).
“I was caught again in 2008 and placed in lockup. But I was given the worst cell ever and was made to sleep on the floor.
“And then, I was dragged to a doctor, stripped naked. They measured my private parts and then they measured the hair and then they even examined the back.
“I asked them, ‘For what? The accusation against me is for sodomy, so doesn’t that only involve the front… why do you need to check my back?’” said Anwar to a rapt audience who grimaced in response.
The one-day congress held at the Selangor International Islamic University College convention hall in Bandar Putra Bangi here, was jointly organised by the pro-Mahasiswa Nasional group, which won big in the just-concluded campus polls, and Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia.
The outspoken leader dedicated a full hour to speak with the students, continuously reminding them to be brave and to never fear their leaders.
He pointed out to the group that he too had started as a student activist during his university days and had even experienced his first jail term when he was a student.
The university, he said, had been his arena for discourse and avenue to discuss, to champion rights and to correct wrongs.
“You must remember that you represent the sentiment and the aspirations of the people. Back in the 1970s, we used to regard students as the voice, the heartbeat, the conscience of the majority.
“It was our responsibility as students to voice out the needs and wants of the majority, and to understand the community’s hardships,” he said.
Anwar also made direct references to the troubles in the Middle East, specifically singling out Egypt and its ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, when making comparisons to Malaysia.
He called Malaysia’s august House as “Parlimen Mubarak” when he explained how he and four other Pakatan Rakyat leaders had been suspended “without trial”.
Anwar also called Egypt’s media “Utusan Mesir” and “Radio Television Mesir”, making inferences to the opposition’s repeated criticisms against government-owned media in Malaysia like Utusan Malaysia and RTM.
“That is why we say that for democracy to live, every institution must be free. If your name is the SPR (Election Commission or EC), then you must be free and fair whether it has to be for the general election or campus elections,” he said.
Anwar claimed that during his time as a student leader, freedom was better enjoyed in the country and criticisms were more widely accepted.
“But now, it is difficult. This is something that has to be corrected. But how? We can only voice it out… look at me and (PKR deputy president) Azmin Ali, we have been suspended from Parliament simply because we just touched on the APCO issue.
“And then (PKR Subang MP R.) Sivarasa was barred too. This is Parlimen Mubarak,” he said, earning applause.
Anwar later encouraged the students to be more active on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to ensure that they were always well-informed.
“Tweet more, Facebook more but cut back on the unimportant things and concentrate more on the important ones. Most of the time at least 80 per cent is nonsense while 20 per cent is important.
