As I said, this is not about personalities. It is about the cause. Today, by chance, we have Anwar as the Opposition Leader. And that happened only because Dr Mahathir’s speech in the 2nd September 1998 Umno Supreme Council meeting was more convincing than Anwar’s. The majority of the Supreme Council members, although on Anwar’s side, accepted Dr Mahathir’s version of the story more than Anwar’s.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Anwar: PR parties share common goal

(Borneo Post) - BINTULU: Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said all coalition partners of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) may have different ideologies, but they are united because of policy.

“We have different backgrounds and races, but we fight for mutual objectives. We want to change our current system,” he said at a PKR Bintulu pre-Gawai dinner here on Saturday.

The de facto leader of PKR said PR was confident of altering the political landscape of Malaysia in the coming 13th general election because BN had gone too arrogant.

“First major fundamental difference between PR and BN is there is time for Malaysia to accept that we are a great Malaysian family of all races, religion and culture.”

“The sooner Umno understands this the better it is for Malaysia.”

“Currently Umno is not able to understand this, and BN component parties are also weak to say anything. It’s time we defeat BN in the next general election.”

Also present at the function were Selangor exco member Elizabeth Wong, state PKR chief Baru Bian, PKR Bintulu chief Paul Raja, Kapar MP S Manikavasagam, Krian assemblyman Ali Biju, and Kemena PKR chief Ribi Rayang.

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Before I talk about the news item above, I would like to first close the debate on Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim. I think we have argued about this man long enough -- a man who did not and will not cause too much impact on DAP either way.

For all intents and purposes, the whole matter has been overrated. When Tunku Aziz joined DAP back in 2008, I did not sing his praises or hail him as the Malay version of Gandhi, like many of you did. Hence, when he decided to leave, I took it as cool as when he joined more than three years ago. I did not get my panties all twisted into knots, like many of you did.

Anyway, I enjoyed tickling all of you over the last few weeks and see you foam at the mouth. Most of you who were suffering from diarrhoea of the mouth when Tunku left, and then he endorsed Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, were the same people who suffered from diarrhoea of the mouth when Tunku joined. If you had been cool when Tunku joined then you could probably remain cool now that he has left.

I suppose this is your guilt working on you. You went overboard when Tunku joined. So now you go overboard when he leaves.

Two Umno Bloggers have resigned from Umno to join DAP. Then, a couple of retired senior police officers are joining PAS. One retired Special Branch officer has joined the opposition in Sarawak. And, again, you are all excited about it, as excited as when Zaid Ibrahim first joined PKR and Tunku Aziz joined DAP.

Cool lah brader and sista! Don’t get too excited. It is good, no doubt, that the opposition is attracting ex-Umno people or retired police and army officers. That is a good endorsement of what the opposition stands for. But if you start getting too excited about it then, if anything happens, you will, again, start foaming at the mouth and start cursing them, the Malays, Islam, Raja Petra and Malaysia Today all in the same breath.

People come, people go. People even die. But life goes on. It is what lies ahead of us and whether we are able to face these challenges that matter. You talk about focus. You keep telling me to focus. But are you yourself focused? Do you understand what our perjuangan is all about? Is it about personalities or is it about the cause? And what is that cause?

Okay, I admit that I have been very naughty. But I did say some time ago that my ‘job’ is to throw the cat amongst the pigeons and watch the feathers fly. And, boy, have the feathers been flying over the last couple of weeks!

Hell, it is so easy to manipulate you people. All I need to do is to throw cats all over the place and you pigeons will fly in all directions. I suppose pigeon brains will always act like pigeons. Now you know why Barisan Nasional is able to play you for suckers. It is because many of you are suckers.

Okay, enough of my gloating for one day -- although it is nice to be able to gloat. Let’s get to the business of the day, which is the news report above and what Anwar Ibrahim said: all coalition partners of Pakatan Rakyat may have different ideologies, but they are united because of policy.

Now, what does this mean? For those of you who have a poor command of English, look at the definition of those various words below.

PKR, DAP and PAS have different ideologies, like what Anwar said. Nevertheless, they are united because of their common policy.

I want you all to note this point and remember it well. This is so that we can avoid further arguments, which are mainly the result of not being able to understand this point and not sharing the same view on what these various words mean.

Allow me to illustrate this point by referring to the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST). No, this is not a discussion on religion but just an example I have plucked from the top of my head.

The MCCBCHST members have different ideologies. I mean: the Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Taoists do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God or accept the doctrine of the Trinity. Nevertheless, the members of the MCCBCHST are united because of a common policy. And that was why the MCCBCHST was formed, because they share the same policy although they differ on ideology.

Is this not the same argument that Anwar raised: all coalition partners of Pakatan Rakyat may have different ideologies, but they are united because of policy?

If we can understand this then we can avoid unnecessary quarrels that are mainly the result of not understanding the concept of how we unite and how to disagree even though we may be united.

PKR, DAP and PAS are united by common purpose. And this unity is based on wanting to kick out Barisan Nasional and take over the federal government. But just because they are united by purpose it does not mean they are also united by ideology. And this we must accept. If we can’t then we will end up quarrelling, as we always do.

Notwithstanding that, although PKR, DAP and PAS are united by purpose, meaning that they all want to kick out Barisan Nasional and take over the federal government, it does not mean that they are also united in the reason for wanting this.

For example, the reason why PAS wants a change of federal government is to be able to see the adeen of Islam implemented, which Umno is resisting. If Umno no longer resists the adeen of Islam but instead embraces it, is there any longer any reason for PAS to oppose Umno? I really don’t know but maybe the top PAS leadership can answer this question. However, if Malaysia implements the adeen of Islam, then I suppose there is no longer any reason for PAS to oppose Umno.

Now, what is the reason why DAP wants a change of federal government? I suppose it would be to see an end to racism, discrimination, corruption, etc. But the adeen of Islam is not on the list of DAP’s wants. That does mean, however, that DAP cannot unite with PKR and PAS under the umbrella of Pakatan Rakyat.

PKR, on the other hand, wants to see Anwar as the new Prime Minister. DAP and PAS have no objections to that although they treat it more as a bonus than the main perjuangan like PKR does.

The bottom line is: we can still be friends and unite under a common cause. But note that we may not share the same ideology, only the same purpose. And if I express an ideology that differs from yours, this does not mean we are enemies.

The US is opposed to Communism. Russia, during WWII, was Communist. The US and Russia were, in fact, enemies who never trusted each other. But they shared a common purpose, and that was to defeat Nazi Germany. So they worked together to defeat Nazi Germany although they opposed each other’s ideology. Of course, once Germany lost the war, the US and Russia reverted to becoming enemies and took the world to the brink of a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

This is the concept of an enemy of my enemy is my friend. Hence we need Barisan Nasional to be in power for Pakatan Rakyat to exist. If Barisan Nasional did not exist would Pakatan Rakyat exist? I am not gungho about Pakatan Rakyat. I just want Barisan Nasional ousted. Hence Pakatan Rakyat presents itself as the platform in achieving this. That is all.

In fact, PKR exists only because Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad defeated Anwar in the 2nd September 1998 Umno Supreme Council meeting. Say, the opposite happened. Say, Anwar defeated Dr Mahathir instead and Anwar had taken over as the new Umno President on that historic day of 2nd September 1998.

Then Anwar would also have taken over as the new Prime Minister of Malaysia. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would have never become the Prime Minister with Najib as his Deputy Prime Minister. And, today, Anwar would be the Fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia, and 14 years in office this September.

And what would you and I be doing today? Today, you will all be cursing Anwar and I will be writing articles whacking the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim. There would be no Altantuya, Rosmah, Khairy, submarine, NFC, etc., issues. Instead, there would be other issues we will be talking about involving the Umno and Barisan Nasional administration of Anwar Ibrahim.

I would probably still have been detained many times because I would still be vocal like I used to be when Anwar was the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. Only that, this time, it would be Anwar’s government that detained me.

So, can you see what has happened here? One meeting, the Umno Supreme Council meeting of 2nd September 1998, changed all that.

2nd September 1998 was the day the Umno Supreme Council met to sack Anwar Ibrahim from Umno, a day after being removed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Malaysia. Before the meeting started, the majority of the Supreme Council members were on Anwar’s side -- except for just five members, Ibrahim Ali included. However, when Dr Mahathir delivered his “friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears…yada, yada, yada…it is not that I love Anwar less, but I love Umno more” speech, the tables turned. Dr Mahathir brilliantly went into the meeting as the hunted and emerged the hunter -- and Anwar’s fate was sealed.

Now, if all that had not happened, today, you and I would all be talking about different things and will be aiming our bullets at different people. Even Karpal Singh, who initially was supposed to represent ‘the other side’ in the Sodomy 1 case, ended up representing Anwar instead, against ‘the other side’. Hence, even Karpal ‘changed sides’ after 2nd September 1998, so to speak. Even Mat Sabu, who used to go round the country to whack Anwar and call him a sodomist, ‘changed sides’ and defended Anwar after 2nd September 1998.

As I said, this is not about personalities. It is about the cause. Today, by chance, we have Anwar as the Opposition Leader. And that happened only because Dr Mahathir’s speech in the 2nd September 1998 Umno Supreme Council meeting was more convincing than Anwar’s. The majority of the Supreme Council members, although on Anwar’s side, accepted Dr Mahathir’s version of the story more than Anwar’s.

In short, we are saying what we are all saying today mainly because both Dr Mahathir and Anwar played ‘last man standing’ and Dr Mahathir won. If not, we will all be saying about Anwar exactly what we are saying today about Najib. Hence, do we want to get emotional about personalities who are what they are mainly because of an accident of history?

I, too, would not be doing what I am doing if not because of an accident of history that fateful day, 2nd September 1998. Because of 2nd September 1998, my whole life changed as well. And, because of 2nd September 1998, I now live in exile in Manchester and have lost everything that I own, my home included, which the government ‘seized’.

Yes, I bet you did not know that, those of you who say I have sold out while the government takes away the only home I own in Malaysia.

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Policy: rules, procedure, guidelines, guiding principle, course of action, plan, strategy.

Aspiration: ambition, goal, objective, aim, target, hope, desire, want, wish.

Ideology: philosophy, dogma, doctrine, beliefs, principles, thought, ideas, creed.

Objective: purpose, aim, point, intention, reason.