Do you know what you are talking about?

By admin-s Last updated Mar 16, 2016

Kenneth Lee

There is neither justice nor truth in politics in this realm.

Cassandra Chung recently started an online petition for the removal of PM Najib Razak’s portrait from the halls of her alma mater University of Nottingham. The reason cited for this is her dissatisfaction with the explanations given by the PM on allegations of money into his personal bank accounts said to be from 1MDB. Her petition was met by more-than-expected signatures, but not without questions of her intentions. Some online users wanted to know who Cassandra Chung is and if her family background says anything about her actions. She replied to her haters with these words – “I do hope this petition has inspired more to speak out on issues of injustice”.

Syed Saddiq is Malaysia’s pride of a debater. Following his signature on Tun Mahathir’s Citizens’ Declaration of 4 March 2016, placing him firmly in the camp against PM Najib, he claimed that he had been banned from speaking in universities. In being upfront about his boogeying days when pictures of him dancing in a club appeared online, he replied frankly that this may have been his past but not his future. He told his “haters” that he would continue to “fight for truth” and urged PM Najib to come clean on 1MDB.

Cassandra Chung and Syed Saddiq are two examples of our eager young Malaysians who have been brought up to speak loudly for their beliefs. And for this they have my respect. It takes courage to say what you think aloud, and it takes courage to take action against a wrong.

My only gripe is – do they really know what they are talking about? It sounds rhetorical, I know, but it is an important question to pose to our next generation.

What is this “injustice” that they speak of? What is this “truth” that they seek? How much do they know of the intertwining topics of law, administration, politics, governance, history, personal agendas and human rights to justify a demand against “injustice” as they deem it? And from whose eyes are they judging this wrong?

When Tun Mahathir incarcerated Anwar Ibrahim on allegations of sodomy, many said it was incredulous and a political fix-up. When Anwar Ibrahim was convicted twice for sodomy, many continued to say it was incredulous. International media and human rights activists at home and abroad claimed that Malaysia had done him wrong. And now some have demanded that he be freed as part of the Citizens’ Declaration. But is not a law the law? We may not like sodomy to be made a crime, but it is still the law. His guilt was proven in a courtroom after many years of trial (with him choosing not to give evidence on oath), and so isn’t it right that a criminal should pay for his crime – or did everyone get it wrong? To his complainant, Saiful who swore both in the witness stand and on the Quran the truth of his statements, is justice being served by freeing Anwar Ibrahim from jail?

So who do we believe, and whose truth are we seeking to defend? For many Malaysians, it may be defined by what we hear at the coffee shops, what our local leaders preach or what we read online.

Since its inception in 2009, 1MDB has faced many attacks on its corporate deals, all of which it has over time answered, responded and clarified. By right during ongoing investigations in 2015, 1MDB can decline comment, but the Malaysian public demanded for answers, none of which were ever enough. Are they not entitled to protect themselves against premature judgment and the court of public opinion?

When 1MDB’s planned IPO in 2015 was scuttled by systemic reputational hits by so-called “investigative journalists”, opposition leaders and the media, allegations made against it were yet to be proven. Still many 1MDB employees would have lost their jobs as a result. Is it “justice” that they be deprived thus of a lawful vocation based on unfounded allegations? Are we being fair to them?

Throughout 2015, PM Najib has given many public statements regarding the moneys in his personal bank account. Yes, his answers may not be as crystal as we would like it to be, and sometimes his silence deafening. But every time he does answer, he has consistently denied wrongdoing and explained the nature of the monies as a donation.

Whilst PM Najib may be the Prime Minister held to account, he is also like us – an ordinary citizen. Why is he not entitled to plead the “5th Amendment”, when Tun Mahathir or Nurul Izzah is allowed to when questioned by the police? Doesn’t the law apply to all citizens the same? Must he answer every question from every person? Must he prove his innocence, when the cardinal and universal presumption is that he is until proven otherwise? His lawyer would argue that he has already done himself detriment by talking about the alleged RM2.6b donation and the donor. And still we continue to deny him his legal rights and press for further and better answers. Are we being fair to him?

What if the converse is shown to be true – that indeed a conspiracy did exist by Tun Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin, Sarawak Report, the Edge Media and its owner Tong Kooi Ong, Tun Mahathir’s allies such as Khairuddin Hassan, Matthias Chang and his crony tycoons, etc., to overthrow PM Najib? One might say that such a fix-up is nothing new to a master strategist like Tun Mahathir who has often gotten his way politically.

So for argument’s sake, if the coterie to overthrow PM Najib in fact existed and his reputation assassinated by media, are we all not guilty of false accusation? How do we give redress to such an “injustice” done to him and his government, 1MDB and the country? Will Cassandra Chung then petition the Malaysian Society of the University of Nottingham to reinstate PM Najib’s portrait? Will Cassandra Chung start a petition to then remove all of Tun Mahathir’s pictures from any great hall where they now hang? Will Syed Saddiq start to curse Tun Mahathir? Should PM Najib sue every single person who has prejudiced him so arbitrarily, including Cassandra Chung and Syed Saddiq? What measure of compensation will be sufficient to restore 1MDB for all its lost opportunities? Who will pay damages for causing Malaysia to be so rocked for the sake of power?

Damage is already done, and no amount of humble pie will cure Malaysia from its worst disease – propaganda from all sides of the political fence. And the saddest news is that many Rakyat are infected by it for they choose to believe what they want to believe and say whatever they want to say with impunity. But not everything that is said is true, and not everything that is true is or can be said.

Mahatma Gandhi is legendary for seeking the ultimate truth, and he was unfailing in his quest. But even he asked this – “How could we assume that the so-called enemies were knavish? And because they were enemies, were they bound to be in the wrong? From God we could only ask for justice.” And he is right, for it has come to be that there is neither justice nor truth in politics in this realm.

So when Cassandra Chung and Syed Saddiq speak of “injustice”, I hope it refers only to the miscalculation done by their haters to them directly, and not any of the unproven speculative conspiracy-ridden accusations and propaganda now hurled left and right in all corners of Malaysia by politicos against one another which they could have fallen trap to.

On my part, I choose not to pre-judge anything, what more an accusation against a democratically elected leader whose measure of achievements or transgressions only time will tell in the fullest picture. I can do that when I cast my vote at PRU14.