I know what I have done, what have YOU done?

Raja Sara Petra

Some have asked: what have I done for the country? I assume they mean if you have not done anything for the country then you do not have any right to talk. Well, as starters, I spent five years in university — three years in Malaysia and two years in the UK — without any government money. How many other Malays, especially those criticising what I write, can say the same thing?

In 2000, when I was still in standard six, I was already ‘active’ in politics. I was at the ‘historic’ Lunas by-election, which PKR won and which caused Barisan Nasional to lose its two-thirds majority in the Kedah State Assembly. How many of you were there?

In the 2004 general election, I was in Abdul Rahman Othman’s campaign team, the then PKR Deputy President, when he contested the Putrajaya Parliament seat. We actually had to sleep under a tent the entire period. We also called up for help but no one came forward to help us. So just my family and a couple of my school friends had to handle the entire campaign.

I was also in the Bersih march to the Agong’s Palace in 2007 (the genuine one) and at Bersih 2.0 as well (the copycat), plus I was involved in the 2008 general election. And in all that time I was still in school and not even eligible to vote yet. So what have you done? But why that determines my freedom of speech and right to comment is beyond me.