Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Morituri Te Salutant, Malaysia!

THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE SALUTE YOU, MALAYSIA!


Late last night, a group of us met up and, very quickly, the conversation turned to RPK’s ‘Probably my last message’ post.

The discussion became very heated.

Tempers flared.

At the heart of all that was said was an earnest concern for a man who has come to mean so much to so many of us.

A man who has thus far displayed such tenacity in pushing for change, in pressing for greater transparency and accountability in governance, and tirelessly working to free so many from the mental bondage inflicted by a media so long subservient to their corrupt, political masters.

Yet, we feared that it was this same tenacity that would leave our friend dead in less than two weeks.


[Read the rest at Haris Ibrahim's blog, The People's Parliament.]


Monday, 23 February 2009 marks the day the would-be Malaysian emperor Najib Abdul Razak gleefully awaits word that his wishes have been faithfully carried out and that his archenemy, Raja Petra Kamarudin, would have his freedom curtailed under the grotesque operation of an obscene and archaic law, by order of an utterly despicable and unscrupulous home minister named Syed Hamid Albar.

Raja Petra Kamarudin - the only truly royal and noble personage in our midst in that he wholeheartedly loves his country and all its people, regardless of ethnic origin or cultural imprint - has vowed that, if he be rearrested under the obnoxious ISA, he will not let his persecutors have the pleasure of encaging his spirit. Instead, he will refuse all food and drink and sit silent in his cell until his soul separates from his physical body; and by those ascetic and non-violent means he will set himself forever free.

Is it any wonder that Raja Petra Kamarudin (or RPK as everybody calls him) has won the hearts of all honest, truth-loving citizens; and has become Malaysia's greatest living hero, mobbed by fans wherever he goes? RPK's indefatigable support for Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Rakyat government in the making helped swing the votes against Barisan Nasional on 8 March 2008. A large portion of the credit for the political tsunami of 2008 therefore goes to RPK - and that is precisely why the nefarious Najib Razak and his Umno supporters want RPK safely locked away.

Would it trouble Najib's conscience if RPK died within a couple of weeks of being reimprisoned? Not at all. However, if this scenario were to happen in the coming weeks, RPK's may not be the only death that symbolizes the death of participatory democracy in Malaysia. A handful of RPK's loyal friends and ardent freedom-fighters have sworn to accompany him on his fast-to-the-death, in protest against the travesty of justice brought about by a neutered judiciary, subservient to the political order of the day.

This would focus international attention on the tattered state of justice in Malaysia and put the spotlight on Najib Razak's immense unpopularity as a potential prime minister, making his bid for power an accursed and illegitimate one in the eyes of the rakyat.

I salute the courage and fortitude of those who are about to lay down their lives for freedom, justice and truth in Malaysia. And I spit upon the cowardice of those who continue to carry out unjust orders rather than risk their jobs by making a moral stand at this critical juncture of our history.