Ali Abd Jalil dreams of revolution and a Malaysian republic
Ali Abd Jalil wants what is happening in Iraq and Libya to happen in Malaysia as well, an Islamic revolution
Mike Tan, The Ant Daily
A Malaysia without Sultans is unthinkable for many Malaysians. For activist and Swedish asylum seeker Ali Abd Jalil however, it would be a dream come true.
Not a day passes without him posting about the topic on his Facebook wall, with a choice selection of profanity and insults directed at royalty and the government. His posts offer an insight into what Ali thinks is an ideal future for Malaysia.
A Dec 13 post, made in response to a lawyer Ahmad Shuaib Ismail, goes like this:
“Ahmad Shuaib Ismail is an Umno lawyer. He is a (*&^%$ing lapdog trained by Umno and the Sultan as a lackey… Staunch a*slicker
Yes, it’s true, more Malaysians support the Republic… we are preparing. Our main target starts in Johor. The Anarchy Regiment Group is centred there. The time will come. Now we are strategising and gaining strength. We will storm the palace and evict the Johor Sultan. All of Johor’s wealth will be given to the rakyat in a fair and equal manner.”
While Ali’s post seems a tad dramatic, it could just be a sarcastic reply to Ahmad’s post, which in all honesty is equally dramatic. Ahmad pleads for the military to be on 24-hour alert because of the threat to destroy the Malay Sultans by the Malaysian republic movement led by “activist Ali Abd Jalil, ‘ketum’-using staunch Pakatan Rakyat supporter, Dapigs chinpeng and deviants in Sweden”.
He then asks people not to forget the Lahat Datu incident and the overthrow Nepalese monarchy by “opposition activists overseas”.
Ali is no stranger to sarcasm, and doesn’t seem to mind pulling a practical joke on his detractors. A joke post he put up on Dec 12 stating that he was picked up by Interpol and would be deported to Malaysia was taken seriously and reported upon by several media outlets.
His detractors wasted no time in celebrating his ‘capture’ only to be taunted by Ali in his following post.
Ali’s other posts exhort readers to overthrow Umno and the Malay Sultans, and repeatedly announce the impending revolution of the Malaysian republic.
While some observers may compare Ali’s fledgling movement with the more successful Arab Spring movements, it would be wise to realise that the countries that experienced a regime change as a result of Arab Spring protests were already republics, albeit ruled with dictators.
More importantly, the Arab Spring managed to instigate change through protests. Ali, however, is more old-school, he advocates revolution by ‘overthrowing the monarchy and government’, a traditional anarchist cry.
That comes as no surprise, because Ali is a self-professed anarchist.
An anarchist, as defined by Dictionary.com, is a person who seeks to overturn by violence all constituted forms and institutions of society and government, with no purpose of establishing any other system of order in the place of that destroyed.
Modern anarchism developed with the French Revolution, which saw the abolition of the French monarchy, and the resulting reign of terror. Anarchism was a popular school of thought in Europe during the 19th century as a result of discontentment against European monarchies.
Even today, anarchist groups and organisations are alive and kicking in Europe, although their philosophy has undergone some changes. It is no wonder then that Ali Abd Jalil should have made his way there, his own ‘haj’ if you will, to the heart of anarchism.
Yet, the question remains, will Ali be able to turn his dream into reality? Can he really overthrow the monarchy and turn Malaysia into a republic?
Perhaps we should examine the last two countries that did away with their royalty – Russia and China.
In both countries, the revolutions were led by exiles – Russia had Valdimir Lenin, and China had Sun Yat Sen.
The monarchies in both countries had a bloody end, although the last emperor of China lived out his life as a commoner in Communist China, long after Sun Yat Sen’s successors lost to the communists led by Chairman Mao.
Both new movements highlighted the injustice perpetrated by the monarchy, and also promised – like Ali – a Utopia where justice and fairness would rule and the citizens would reign supreme.
Yet, nearly a century later, both Russia and China have yet to fulfil those promises, and instead have become countries known for totalitarian rule, corruption and have replaced their tsars and emperors for billionaire oligarchs and political princleings. A large percentage of their citizens still suffer in poverty, much as their forefathers did a hundred years before.
Can Ali prove that his grand revolution for a Malaysian republic is any different? Or is he just wrapped up with romantic ideals of a bygone era and advocating ideas that have been proven as failures?
Malaysia definitely needs a lot of improvement, that’s for sure.
But is Ali’s way the ‘right’ way to go?
