LETTER | Malaysians at the crossroads

LETTER | Malaysians have arrived at the crossroads.

It is either we stand united or over 20 years of call for Reformasi by Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim would be wasted, as the nation returns to the rule under the BN regime.

Crudely speaking, Malaysians will again have to welcome the former “First Lady” and her husband, despite all the efforts to set things on the right path.

As I see it, most Malaysians who support Pakatan Harapan want to see change, but they are somehow easily swayed by paid cyber troopers and opinion influencers engaged by politicians with deep pockets.

In the next general election, a new stage will be set up as well for independents comprising mainly opinion influencers to steal votes from Harapan. When votes are split, BN would have the advantage over Harapan.

When Malacca fell into the hands of BN, the first explanation given by cyber troopers disguising as Harapan supporters is: Anwar is not relevant anymore.

I have heard the same tune when the political frogs jumped out of the Harapan government, causing the collapse of an elected government.

My question is: What has Anwar to do with this? If the people rallying to his Reformasi call are determined to see change, they have to stay on the right course.

If we pay enough attention and observe more, a lot of salvos are aimed at only the key leaders: it is either Anwar in Harapan or Lim Guan Eng in DAP. Previously, it was Lim’s father, Kit Siang.

The reasons are obvious. Just as in a chess game, the biggest victory is won if you are able to “kill” the king. 

Over the years, Anwar has been the target of many smear campaigns and character assassination.

There is something really wrong if Anwar was thrown into prison twice for the wrongs he did, but not the others from the court cluster.

Please wake up

Malaysians, please wake up! A lot can be said about the Malacca state election but I will just give a cursory commentary on this. 

Firstly, it is a state election that is very close to the general election.

Secondly, some borders are still closed and the Covid-19 pandemic is still unabated. Many Malaysians who are residing overseas are unable to return. 

Thirdly, most of us are busy with our own daily affairs, and we are simply not bothered with a state election knowing that the general election is just a few months away.

I believe come GE15, it is again a question of whether we want the country to revert to a former regime that is known to be corrupt. For me, it is better for a government that is built on integrity than one where its same leaders are trying to make a comeback.

No political party is perfect. There are good and bad people in each party. Therefore, we have to do a reset in the way we think.

Harapan supporters should ask the question. If Anwar is too old, then, what about former prime ministers Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Abdul Razak, and for former deputy premier Ahmad Zahid Hamidi? Are they any younger than Anwar?

To me, the call for a two-party system in a democratic country is still relevant. We were expecting Harapan to be perfect, knowing well that such expectations were simply unrealistic.

We have not given Harapan sufficient time to carry out the reforms, bearing in mind that the government under Mahathir, fraught with political frogs who had their own agenda, caused the collapse of the government.

One cannot help but go back to a grand plan that some Umno leaders had revealed that Harapan would collapse during the first half of its rule. 

What a lot of people do not see is all the scheming that was taking place within and outside of Harapan itself through no fault of the good people in Harapan itself. 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.