Pakatan Rakyat is Hot, Flat, and Crowded (WITH CHINESE TRANSLATION)

 

(Sinchew-I.com) – Anwar today, compared to Anwar in 2008, has witnessed drastic changes. He seems to have less determination, and less charm. It has only been 5 years, but it seems that Anwar has lost more than 5 years in these 5 years. 

Original Text by Zheng Ding Xian (郑丁贤), Assistant Chief Editor, Sin Chew Daily
Translated by Gilbert Yeoh-Tan, No-Body

It has been over a week, and Dato’ Chua Jui Meng has become the most talked-about MIA (Missing In Action) politician Malaysia has ever known.

Since 18th March, the date Lim Kit Siang announced he would contest in the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat, the reporters have not been able to locate Dato’ Chua. It would appear that he has ‘vanished’ from the political circles.

Being the PKR’s Johor Branch Chairman, he, as a Chinese, holds the highest position in the party. And as Pakatan Rakyat has made Johor the frontal battle field, Mr Chua should have been very busy. Although PR has been touring Johor, the Branch Chairman appears nowhere to be seen.

Of course, if I were Chua, I would have been devastated. At first he has set his heart at contesting in Gelang Patah, but the seat was eventually given to Lim Kit Siang. And to make matters worse, it was his boss, Anwar Ibrahim, that made the announcement.

He wanted to go back to Bali to contest, but DAP has told him: “No fucking way.”

Even though PKR has been trying to hand him a relatively unsafe seat, such as Sekayang, DAP still said: “Why should we let him?”

If Chua were forced to a corner, he may, as others would predict, resign from PKR. But the question remains: Where can he go? He can’t even go back to MCA.

To be frank, I am not really concerned about how Mr Chua’s political advancement would end up. Once, during our encounter, I found that it was very hard for me to synchronize him with Pakatan Rakyat; his idea of PR’s core belief was just like how Google would translate the English language into Mandarin: totally out of tone.

What really touched me was, Dato Chua’s story was just like Anwar’s and PKR’s.

Over the years, PKR has been regarded as the “party that will not win’ that even its alliances look down upon. Hence, it has been thought as only it will let others down but never the reverse.

Also, Anwar today, compared to Anwar in 2008, has witnessed drastic changes. He seems to have less determination, and less charm. It has only been 5 years, but it seems that Anwar has lost more than 5 years in these 5 years.

I haven’t heard of his new opinions in a long time; I have also not heard of his new political inspirations. Even in Parliament, he lacks vigor as the opposition leader.

It is indeed a pity. Whether you like him or not, he had been brilliant, especially when he preached about cross-racial politics, economical evolution, and religious tolerance.

Nevertheless, just as fireworks in New Year’s Eve, it vanishes as soon as it lightens up the sky.

Many reasons contribute to that. First of all, he is afraid that the Malays may not be in-sync with the above ideas and of losing common ground with the Malay community. He needs the Malay votes. And as he hesitates, his opponents catch up and puts his aura into shadow.

Secondly, his performance in his past political career gains him little support from the Chinese. As an ex-Umno, PAS supporters find it hard to accept him as well. Also, his cross-racial ideas make the “Ketuanan Melayu” Malays abandon him.

Thirdly, he is trapped in his PKR’s internal politics that makes him lose his focus.

PKR is the weakest link in the PR. It is the easiest target, and it has been squeezed between DAP and PAS, rendering it to lose more and more ground.

In his book “(The World is) Hot, Flat, and Crowded” US writer Thomas L. Friedman talks about the fierce competition among different nations. Here, I would theme it as “Pakatan Rakyat is Hot, Flat and Crowded;” If PKR were to slip during the election, it will be swallowed whole and alive.

And here is something to think about: without PKR, what really is PR?

 

郑丁贤‧民联很热，不平，又很挤

已经超过了一个星期，蔡锐明先生是全国最知名的失联人物。

从3月18日，林吉祥宣布要出战振林山开始，记者就再也找不到蔡先生，他彷佛已在政坛 蒸发。

他是公正党的柔佛州主席，也是公正党内职位最高的华人代表，而民联将柔佛列为大选的 前线州……，现在应该是蔡先生最忙的时候。

民联如火如荼的在柔州各地造势，不过，这位公正党州主席不见踪影。

当然，任何人若是蔡锐明，心里肯定很难受。他想在振林山上阵，但是，这个议席却给了林吉祥，而且还是他的顶头上司安华宣布。

他想回老巢峇吉里竞选，行动党告诉他：“门儿都没有。＂即使党内想替他找个不怎么安全的位子，譬如昔加末，但是，行动党说：“凭甚么？＂

蔡先生一旦被逼得走投无路，大有可能如外界所言，要退出公正党；不过，他又能去哪儿？

连马华都回不去了。

其实，我并不怎么关心蔡先生的政治前途。有回遇见他，下意识的，我发觉自己竟然很难把他和民联接合在一起；从他口中说出民联的语言，如同用谷歌把英文翻译成中文，很不搭调。

我感受更深的是，蔡先生的遭遇，也是安华和公正党的写照。

几年来，公正党积弱不振，被认为是“缺乏胜算的政党＂，连友党都看不起它；于是，落入只有它让人，没有人让它的窘境。

而今天的安华，和2008年前后，差很大；少了当年的魄力，也失去不少魅力；5年时间，他何止老了5岁。

很久没听过他有新的论述，也没有发表政治愿景，即使在国会，也缺乏反对党领袖应有的强势表现。

毕竟是一种遗憾。不管人们喜不喜欢他，都不能忽视他曾经放射光芒，特别是他提出跨越族群政治的论述，对经济改革作出建议，也提倡宗教包容的思维等等。

然而，这些光芒如同元旦的烟花，射得很高，照亮了天际，不过，瞬间就消失了。

原因多方面。一是他担心马来社会还跟不上这些思维，害怕和马来社会脱节，而他最需要的是马来人选票。

就在他犹疑和放慢步伐当儿，他的对手赶了上来，把他的光芒盖下去了。

其次，他过去在政府的经历，让华人社会不怎么信任他；而他的巫统背景，让伊斯兰党支持者难以接受他；他的多元论述，又让马来民族主义者摒弃他。

第三，他受困于党内的派系和人事斗争，失去方向。

公正党是民联最弱的一环，最容易成为攻击的目标；而它又夹在行动党和伊斯兰党的中间，不断的被两党压缩，空间愈来愈小。

美国作家佛里曼写过一本书〈世界很热，很平，又很挤〉，道出各国剧烈竞争下的局面。

用在这里，可换成“民联很热，不平，又很挤＂；一旦公正党在大选表现失色，就要面对被鲸吞蚕食的下场。

后果是，没有了公正党，又何来民联！