I couldn't resist responding to this patently spurious letter published on Malaysiakini today.
Chin Chai Ho? Is that a bona fide by-line, I wonder - or one of Azalina's legendary cybertroopers out on an anti-Anwar spin? Sorry, Chin Chai Ho. You'll have to do better than that. Your opinion piece looks like an opinion; it even reads like an opinion piece; but when I hold it against my nose, I smell styrofoam. And perhaps a whiff of cincalok.
Take this paragraph for example:
"Anwar Ibrahim and his associates in the DAP and PAS want the people to believe that the country is coming apart due to massive corruption and mismanagement by the Barisan Nasional government. Yes, there have been some corrupt practices by certain quarters in the government; no one condones them. One Zakaria of Klang does not make all the 500-odd state assembly persons in the country corrupted too. There are other cases of corruption but definitely the country is not riddled by these corrupted officials nor the country is coming apart. Our officials and civil servants are generally a dedicated and honest lot."
Hello, Mr Chin (Or is it Mr Ho?)! I've lived here since I was born a very long time ago and I don't need Anwar, Kit Siang or Nik Aziz to tell me BN has mismanaged my country for as long as I can remember. The only reason why I chose NOT to migrate is that I am a warrior at heart - and I decided 20 years ago I would grow a deep root here and live to see the demise of fear-and-greed driven politics and the passing of the Age of Corruption. We're almost there now... if not for the unfortunate fact that the BN still retains control of the federal government apparatus. Which means they can choose to maintain repressive laws and retain well-trained goons like Gani Patail, Musa Hassan and all the wet-bummed hacks running the mass media. Indeed, many of us don't need any convincing that BN actually LOST control of Malaysia on March 8th. If it hadn't been for the massive cheating and unfair advantages at BN's disposal, right now they would be crushed beyond recognition, blown to smithereens like some Mongolian Mata Hari.
In their hearts BN know they have no business forming the federal government anymore. But it's scary to find yourself suddenly vulnerable and liable to prosecution for gross abuse of power and misappropriation of public funds. Doesn't matter if you're already retired. As Param Cumaraswamy rightly says, "There is no expiry date on crime." That's why you would cling by your fingernails to the last vestiges of power and, with your last ounce of strength, try to push your political foes down the stairs or trip them as they walk by.
The day Anwar Ibrahim (or Wan Azizah) becomes PM, many in the BN will shit their pants and quite a few will do a Zakaria Mat Deros. Anwar returns from the political wilderness of his 6-year imprisonment like the ghost of Altantuya Shaariibuu or Jalil Ibrahim (the conscientious auditor who was murdered in Hong Kong while investigating the BMF scandal). To be publicly humiliated and privately beaten up, poisoned, and punished for being ambitious - and since when has ambition been a crime? It's no secret that Anwar was already in line to become PM, having been given the post of Finance Minister as well as Deputy Prime Minister. But Mahathir is one of those aberrated egos who cannot tolerate being overtaken on the road to immortal glory - he is the original source of road rage! Not that I believe the Pakatan Rakyat government will be vindictive. But just for them to do their job honestly and efficiently would be punishment enough for all the arrogant and greedy cacing that have had their heyday under the dacing.
Mr Ho Ho Ho says: "For goodness sake give us a break. Surely the people can see his true intention. All he wants is the prime minister-ship and the power that goes with it."
My friend, whoever you are, we all know that. Everybody knows that. Anwar Ibrahim would like to be the PM because he has been training his whole life for the job, since he was a kid, probably. I've watched him address the crowds at ceramahs. I've studied his every move and raised my cap in admiration of his stamina and strength-of-will. I know he wants to be PM and I would very much like to see him get the job. In fact many of us have been waiting since 1998 to see justice done and destiny fulfilled. And you know what quality Anwar Ibrahim has that makes me name him our best candidate for PM? Natural intelligence. That's one quality that has been conspicuously absent in politics for a very long while. And don't point at Mahathir and tell me he's even more intelligent. Mahathir is indeed cunning - but that does not equate with true intelligence or he would have apologized, shut up, and relocated to Mauritius years ago.
So what the dickens are you talking about? Chin Chai Cakap ah?