As If We Never Said Goodbye
The Unspoken Truth
Once upon a time in beautiful Malaysia, a political star reached his peak, fell from grace in Sodomy I and II but rose again albeit a pale shadow past glories. Standing in the sunset boulevard of his political career, Anwar Ibrahim’s fate will be made known next week when the Federal Court will hear his appeal against the five-year prison sentence he received in March this year on charges of sodomizing a male aide after the appeals court overturned an earlier acquittal.
A sharp contrast from the Sodomy I years, Anwar Ibrahim now faces waning support because the crowds at his gatherings to drum support have diminished not just numerically, but also in the faint decibels of ‘Reformasi’ cries. The plain and painful truth is the Reformasi he promised decades ago, is still in the shadows, just like his shadow cabinet. His face, wrinkled with deep lines of worry on his forehead, speak volumes about the harsh reality he faces not just from the judgement next week but also the fact that he stands to lose everything he had hoped for and had been strategizing not just for PKR or PR, but for his own elusive dreams.
But then again, he has himself to blame, erring not just in his ways but also the choices he made, some of which he had to pay a heavy price – years in prison. A lesson he never learnt, the grim prospects of a déjà vous stands before him for he not only faces a sodomy charge, but also sedition charges.
Most shamefully, instead of summoning local support, Anwar Ibrahim has openly criticized Australia for silence over his case when meeting Australian Senator Nick Xenophon in Jakarta. According to Sydney Morning Herald, Anwar Ibrahim said that no Australian leader since John Howard in 1998 had spoken up on his behalf.
Why would any international leader risk overstepping boundaries and decorum by interfering in legal matters of another country’s court? Wise and experienced as he professes to be, Anwar Ibrahim should take the cue from the fact that for 16 years no Australian leader has voiced support for him.
To exacerbate matters, it is ironical and disgraceful that Anwar Ibrahim bypassed his Pakatan Rakyat partners – DAP and PAS – and chose to hobnob with Nick Xenophon ‘to discuss an international support campaign if, as expected, he goes to prison later this month’.
Is this the real Anwar Ibrahim at his lowest point and at his worst akin to a desperate drowning man clutching at any straw for any glimmer of political survival?
Instead of globetrotting to various leaders of media, an act which clearly seems to be his current hobby as he did the same for the MH370 tragedy, should he not be liaising with DAP and PAS leaders as to what will happen to the echelons of leadership in the worst case scenario?
A responsible, dedicated, and people-centric leader would be meeting his voters to assure them of contingency plans for the constituency that elected him.
Sorry, that is not in Anwar Ibrahim’s interests. The role of the rakyat is just to clap for him, attend demonstrations, cry and wail, carry placards with anti-government messages and disgrace themselves by not behaving within decorum and of course , not forgetting the most important – they have to vote for him. After that, they are clearly forgotten.
You see, dear Malaysians, it never was, never is and never ever will be about the rakyat or Malaysia.
It is always about Anwar Ibrahim, his wonderful glorious self must be promoted, elevated, pitied, sympathized and whatever his high and mighty self desires.
Without sounding mean or wicked, I doubt many would be affected or concerned if the worst-case scenario happens next week. His record of failed achievements has shed a dark and menacing shadow over his name. Like him, we are all tired. His has been postponed sixty-six (66) times – the longest in Malaysian history!
Who can forget September 16 that never was? Will the shadow cabinet ever see the light of day or forever remain shadowy like in the vampire flick ‘Twilight’? How can we forget the ludicrous allegation of 40k foreign voters flown in to vote in 2013? Then there was the overhyped manipulated Kajang by-election and the so-predictable and boring Menteri Besar debacle.
If Anwar is indeed such a righteous leader, there would be no need to slam Australia or to appeal via foreign media to support him. The rakyat would be behind him. However, are they?
