THE PM rides high. He has been handed on a silver platter an overwhelming mandate to rule. But the past baggage of the Anwar issue haunts him much as he tries to hide it. Perhaps he is hoping that through the process of time, and the poor memory of Malaysians, the albatross that he has inherited from his predecessor and has allowed to hang heavily around his neck would just disappear.
But the tell-me-the-truth PM must stop denying the truth – the effects of the severe and systematic public humiliation of Anwar Ibrahim will not go away. Keeping quiet will only harm his credibility in the long run.
(Till today the unjust and scandalous sacking of then Lord President Tun Salleh Abbas remains etched in the psyche of this nation and its effects still felt especially in the country’s judiciary and courts.)
When he was the deputy PM, Abdullah Badawi himself had said that Anwar would soon be forgotten and that he will be a non-issue… only to be constantly reminded by Mahathir of the damned spot that had left an indelible stain on the latter’s premiership.
A further truth that he cannot deny is that the ruthless humiliation of Anwar had violated Malay cultural norms and split the Malay community. His sacking they may have tolerated, but the crude and cruel attempt to discredit Anwar – the Malay will not forget.
The ritual shaming of Anwar has in fact been the shaming of the Malay and no one has pointed this out so succinctly than well-known journalist/writer Rehman Rashid in an article "The Politics of Contempt", when commenting on the (first) corruption trial:
"Every new development in the Anwar Ibrahim trial deepens the disgust of it all. What next? Soiled underwear? Used condoms? The headlines local newspapers now run would curl the whiskers of a sewer rat. Does anyone up there care what this is doing to the Malays?
"This is shaming the Malays. This is stripping them of their dignity and reminding them, as Mahathir Mohamad did in his book, ‘The Malay Dilemma’, that they’re a pathetic people…"
He continues: "Even IF Anwar is guilty, this matter could and should have been conducted in a very different manner nonetheless, to preserve dignity, to save people’s shame; above all to show that the answer to dishonourable deeds is honourable deeds; that the base are redeemed by the noble. Not by miming buggery before a live audience."
Equally true is the fact that the cruel treatment of Anwar did not only affect the Malay but the non-Malay. Lim Kit Siang captures the initial (and on-going) rage amongst the non-Malays very accurately in a speech delivered in Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia:
“If Anwar had just been sacked for disloyalty or incompetence, however unfair and unjustified, it would have been regarded as a power struggle which was of no concern to the common people.
“But when Anwar became the victim of a vicious and protracted campaign to shame and humiliate him, deploying all the apparatus of state, including organs of government which are supposed to be fair and rise above party or personal warfare, including the most flagrant misuse of the controlled printed and electronic media, to character-assassinate him with all the horrendous but unproven allegations and even to pummel him to within an inch of his life when handcuffed and blindfolded in the lock-up in the very inner sanctum of police high command, giving him the infamous black-eye, even non-Malays without the cultural underpinnings of the Malay Annals felt outraged that the last line of fair play and common decency had been transgressed.”
Alas, as a non-Malay who tries to teach my children to appreciate and respect Malay culture, custom and creed, I dread the day when I have to explain to them the manner in which the powers of the day stooped so low to bring contempt and odium to bear upon a man, who is still revered by many as “an illustrious son of this nation”.
Anwar Ibrahim (and his family) has been humiliated enough. The Malay has been shamed enough. This whole nation has been fractured enough. It is time for the PM to initiate the healing process -- he can take the first giant step by allowing Anwar to receive treatment overseas.
It is humility and humaneness that will restore Malay pride and wholeness and healing to the nation, and not the haughtiness and high-handedness that we have seen for many years. The overwhelming mandate given to Pak Lah in the last general election is largely out of the desire for a gentler and kinder government.
Anwar is not the only one in danger of becoming paralysed – but the government’s refusal to allow him to go overseas for urgent endoscopic surgery prompts one to wonder whether it is becoming unfeeling and losing all sense of decency.
We have only to look at the perspective of the medical profession to further ascertain Anwar’s rights and this has been so eloquently put by Dr Frank Steven in a letter to Malaysiakini recently:
“…under no circumstances should anybody deny a prisoner the right to proper medical care. This is inhuman, uncivilised and unbecoming of any sane person or government…As a doctor, I must affirm that no patient should be compelled to be treated by a doctor not of his choice. The patient must be treated by the doctor of his choice and in whom he has confidence.”
In stark contrast we have the Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek humming hollow over the Government being firm in not allowing Anwar him to go overseas “as we have doctors here for him”.
Another doctor, Wan Azizah, showed that Chua was shooting his mouth off by reminding him that: “As prisoner, the welfare of Anwar is the responsibility of the internal security minister and the premier, not the health minister”. With such a health minister more interested in politics, little wonder Bolehland is still unwell.
Surely, Pak Lah can appreciate Anwar Ibrahim's right to medical treatment of his choice. Surely he can empathise fully with Anwar’s desire to go overseas for treatment, as he once had a unwavering determination to seek overseas treatment for his wife after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Surely such empathy must not go empty.
From the legal perspective, as far back as three years ago, Suhakam had asserted Anwar right as a patient to make an informed choice about which medical treatment he wishes to undergo and, noting that there were no relevant prohibitions under Malaysian law, had called for him to be allowed to travel abroad to receive the recommended specialised medical treatment.
Abdullah Badawi has nothing to lose but everything to gain by respecting Anwar’s rights. He will be held in high regard by both sides of the divide. If Anwar absconds or escapes, it would be the end of his credibility and integrity… Very ironically it is Anwar’s return (if he is allowed to go overseas) that Pak Lah has more to fear than he escaping.
If I may end by appealing to the religous sentiments of the deeply-religious PM. According to well-known Islamic author and professor Jamal Badawi, Islam is epitomized in the most frequently recited of all Qur’anic phrases, the Basmala — In the name of God, the Merciful (al-Rahman), the Compassionate (al-Rahim). Both words are related to the quality of rahma (mercy and compassion). God manifests Himself through His absolute, all-inclusive Mercy and Compassion, and Islam is founded upon that affirmation.
May Pak Lah treat Anwar in the manner in which he wishes God to treat him – with mercy and compassion. - MJ/zs (
www.harakahdaily.net)
