Meet Anwar Ibrahim

Hari Jumaat lepas saya pergi ke LCCT untuk jemput abang saya yang baru balik dari Sabah. Then kitorang gerak ke Alamanda untuk beli buku, nak tengok wayang tp wayang semua hampeh. Lastly we went to Satey Kajang Haji Samuri for our makan petang. 

Satey situ masih sedap seperti biasa.

Sebelah restoran satey tu ada padang/stadium Kajang. Penuh dengan bendera PKR, sedikit DAP dan 2,3 bendera PAS. Hairan jugak, ada event ka? Memang ada event pun. On the way nak balik, kami terperasan ada banner kecik tulis program bicara bersama Anwar Ibrahim. Masa- esoknya 19 Januari 2013 pukul 2-5 petang. Tempat- Hotel Oriental Crystal, Kajang. 

Itu...terlalu dekat dengan UKM.

Atas saranan abang saya dan juga atas niat diri sendiri yang betul2 nak pergi-tengok-dengar-salam dengan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, maka saya gigihkan diri meredah hujan renyai2 pada hari esoknya untuk ke Hotel Oriental Crystal tu.

Sampai saja di sana (awal, pukul 150 dah sampai haha) dah nampak beberapa brader2 umur lebih kurang saya duk lepak2 kat ruang lobi. Boleh nampak jugak 2,3 orang PKR duk kawal trafik kat depan hotel tu (jalan situ sangat serabut dan sempit, typical Kajang). Sambil duk melilau2 cari lif, terperasan kat banner tu ada tulis "daftar melalui Anwaribrahim.com atau XYX.blogspot." Alamak. 

Tapi takpa, boleh daftar ikut manual. Depan pintu masuk hall tu ada kaunter yang dijaga oleh seorang gadis comel yang tugasnya ambik attendance. Since I had not registered online, they insist me to register on the paper. There I have to write my name, age, work, email. I was skeptical at first but nevermind, AUKU is no more around. I think too much maybe.

As I enter the hall (more like bilik seminar), the crowd was very small. Around 30 people at least were there. Maybe what PakSyed and other pro-government blogger had been saying was right- Anwar Ibrahim is losing supports now. 

To get the event started, the president of AnwarIbrahimClub gave a speech first. Oh I forgot to tell you, this talk/event was organized by AnwarIbrahimClub which were formed in 2005. The objective of the club? To support Anwar Ibrahim of course. Most of their members are young people with age around me. They even sell their club's t-shirts there (RM10 for a piece). Very murah wo. Kain kualiti bagus. Design pun simple.

After the president finished, next was the Ketua Angkatan Muda Keadilan- Encik Shamsul Iskandar turn to give speech. His speech was mainly about...i couldn't remember much. But some of the things he said are about be brave to change or at least take sides. He said that neutrals cannot be neutrals forever. He gave the analogy of a car. You start enjin kereta, on radio, pasang aircond, tekan minyak- tapi kalau gear neutral kereta you memang tak jalan. You kena letak gear D4 atau R, asalkan jalan. Then he asked for people to hear from both sides. Yes this he had repeated many times. He said that the media (tv3 and utusan especially) had been extremely bias. They had reported lies/spin/fitnah to smear the Pakatan name's. He also claimed that the government (BN) were feeling the heat of losing the Putrajaya.

Well he talked and talked for nearly one hour and he candidly said he need to talk sampai la Datuk Seri sampai. I was getting restless already- mana Anwar Ibrahim ni? Orang nak dengaq dia cakap, bukan anak buah dia. Dah la lapar gila siot.

And then the moment had arrived... Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tiba ke dewan ini. As he entered, the crowd all stood up and gave a round of applause. Lama berdiri dan tepuk tu, dekat 2 minit jugak.

*Lupa nak cakap. During the time the Katua Angkatan Muda Keadilan giving his speech, the crowd was getting larger. Anwar masuk saja, crowd dah lebih dari kerusi yang disediakan. Banyak yang kena berdiri. I sat in the 4th row from the front, segan la nak duduk depan sekali. On my right is one brader (umur lebih kurang saya) penyokong kuat PAS dengan lebai putih edisi PAS dan tshirt kuning HKL 112 and on my right is an indian guy. That brader PAS tu kuat bertepuk dan angguk kepala untuk setiap isi2 ucapan while the indian guy was busy writing the isi2 ucapan for the whole event by using his BlackBerry.

Cuba cari di mana saya

Anwar Ibrahim, the most hated politician (dari mata pro-government dan some neutrals) was standing in front of me, in flesh. The man who had been the Timbalan Perdana Menteri and also previously the Menteri Kewangan.The man who was accused of sodomy, twice. The man who was caught in the tape for having sex with a China Doll. The man who was _______________ (isi tempat kosong). Damn. This is unreal.

He walked a bit slow. He looked tired and beat-up. Not sure whether caused by his tight schedule or the persistent struggle against the brutal character onslaught by the pro-government side. His hair is nearly all white. Wrinkles, skin sagging all clear to see. He's old. He's already 65 years old. He's no more the energetic Anwar in the 90's.

 Ini pun jauh lebih ceria dari semalam.

He started by giving a simple crowd warming talk, explaining the origin of the big tasbih he was wearing around his neck and urging the crowd to be casual and feel free to ask any questions. Wow, I was amazed by his casualness and calmness. As if this is a sembang2 kedai mamak saja.

So the event proceed to Q&A sessions. The questions that were asked were pretty common. Let me list down (seingat saya la). Oh ya, what i write here may be not accurate words by words from DSAI. But generally, the idea is there.

1. Free Education

DSAI said that free education is a must for the rakyat. Why? To be fair with the anak2 kampung, anak2 kebiasaan. The anak2 orang kaya, anak menteri, anak tokey will go to prestigious/mahal/oversea college and university and when finished will immediately get hired or create/sambung business. They wont need PTPTN. Yang menderita adalah anak2 biasa, anak2 kampung. Keluar Uni dah hutang berpuluh ribu. Tak kerja lagi pun.

The money for free education? His team (he mentioned Rafizi) had calculated that RM6 billion is needed annually for free education. The pro-government will say "Negara akan bankrap! Duit tu celah mana nak kutip?" DSAI explained that it can be taken from Petronas yearly profit of arond RM80 billion. Apa sangat RM6 billion dari RM80 billion...ini demi masa depan anak2 kita juga.

2. Hi-tech investment in Malaysia

He said that during Mahathir's time Malaysia had done one good project which is Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). DSAI agreed with the project but sadly he said the project was stagnant. He gave the comparison to Bangalore project by the Indian government. They (india) started the project 10 years after our MSC but now India had been the powerhouse of IT and software market.What went wrong? He blamed the administration of MSC and cronyism. Contracts, tender were not given to local IT companies (even though they are very good) instead were given to oversea punya company. Talent spotting and training were minimal and this is something yang merugikan because he said that during pelancaran of MSC Bill Gates and Michael Dell came here too. Gates hired 2 Malaysians to be in his 'Team of Twelve'. Even Dell predicted that Malaysia can become the future of IT hub.

3. Car Price

He said that car price are very high because of two reasons- AP and Excise Duty. He said that AP alone is makan duit rakyat, tambah pula dengan Excise Duty yang exorbitant, memang melambung harga kereta. He claimed that if (no, more like when) Pakatan get to Putrajaya his team will reduce the Excise Duty. Dia ada explain macam mana, tapi saya dah lupa detailnya. But it sounds convincing, very convincing.

4. Elections.

He said that he believed in election, but he didn't believe in SPR. He showed some proofs showing the anomalies, lies, illogical things regarding rekod daftar pengundi. Ada yang lahir tahun ni, daftar mengundi tahun ni. Ada yang lahir tahun 70, daftar mengundi tahun 50. Ada kes kat daerah mana tah yang secara tiba2 ada extra 100k orang pengundi dan ada yang 100k pengundi tu tak ada alamat. Ada sorang pakcik tu mengundi dah 3 kali tapi bila tengok dalam sistem, tak ada pun. Hari ni masuk tv, esok terus clear ada dalam sistem. Status- "pendaftaran baru". Tak logik langsung.

He also ask the mahasiswa to turun padang waktu mengundi untuk cek penipuan. Anak muda memang tak boleh mengundi, tapi mereka ada kepakaran IT. Boleh semak dan dapat puluhan ribu bukti. Tak perlu berdemo, bertumbuk atau buat bising. Cuma tolong untuk pastikan pilihanraya itu bersih dan telus.

5. Hudud dan Hukum perkataan Allah

This one i cannot remember clearly. I cannot write about this. Tapi ringkasnya dia kata yang Hudud...oh serius saya tak ingat. But top it all, his answers memang convincing. Oh plus! Dia ada sebut San Miguel.

6.  IMF dan National Debt.

DSAI said that the one asking for IMF help during Financial Crisis in 97 was not him but Mahathir instead. Proof? He said he opened the file of Malaysia when he was a....(cannot remember the position) in international group banking apa nama tah. The letter from Malaysian government asking for IMF help at that time was there in the file, signed by Mahathir. Balik Malaysia, semua angkat Mahathir sebagai hero. 

National Debt was increasing greatly in the past 3,4 years. Paling kuat melonjak naik adalah mula dari zaman Pak Lah. The only time Hutang Negara tunjuk nilai positif adalah masa tahun 94-98. DSAI acah sikit, "sapa menteri kewangan masa tu? Tak tau tak luluih peqiksa."

Tengok pada 94-98

7. Cronyism, Belanja Tak Perlu and Ketirisan

DSAI said that Malaysia lose RM20 billion annually all for the ketirisan/kebocoran duit. Sumber? Audit Negara. Dalam satu report apa tah, Malaysia punya illicit money flow adalah sebanyak RM190 billion untuk 10 tahun. This, is caused by the mismanagement, cronyism, and so much more.

He asked for the government untuk berjimat. He also said that whenever PM Datuk Seri Najib travel, he will have his own team. He said that DSN has a cook. He calculated that if the pay for a day is RM1000, a month he will get RM30k. "Banyak tu dah boleh gaji berapa orang dah..."

8. Kebebasan Media

He said that Malaysia is not a country with free media journalism. The obvious example is TV3, mainstream TV channels and newspapers. He showed the proof of Khairy Jamaluddin lies about the kes saman antara DSAI dan KJ. He explained to us how the Utusan had spun his words. And many more lah, i cannot remember.

9. Personal Struggle and Sufferings, Prison Experience.

He shared with the crowd the sufferings he had endured during the prison time. The prison life, the loneliness, the mental sufferings. He spend all his time there with reading books and Quran. Dia ada buat lawak jugak, dia cerita yang pada awal2 dulu orang dia complain pasaipa dia kata yang dia baca buku dan menyanyi dalam penjara. Tak elok la, orang dah bersedih menangis kat luar dia pulak duk menyanyi dalam penjara! 

Banyak buku yang dia baca masa dalam penjara. Dari Shakespearre ke entah apa nama tah hingga ke novel Les Miserable. Dia kata kita semua kena baca buku tu, ia sangatx44 bagus untuk kita faham penderitaan rakyat susah dan kekejaman sistem keadilan yang tak berapa nak adil. Oh he also shared his favourite songs while he's in Prison. Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Beatles. Dia suka lagu A Hard Day's Night dan Yesterday.

Fuh letih taip panjang2.

The event finished around 5.15pm. With determination, I pushed my way through the crowd of people just to salam with DSAI. Dan aku berjaya!!!! Tangan dia lembut, tak macam tangan ayah saya. Dan sangat sejuk. 

Honestly, saya tak pasti kesahih-an tentang apa saja yang dia kata dalam event ini. Some are very2 convincing and impossible to deny, some are quite ambiguous. DSAI really meet my expectation (and people perception)- a very charismatic man and an orator. Bila dia cakap, memang rasa macam semua benda tu betul. Rasa tertarik dengan dia, tak boring langsung. Nak kata dia pakai ilmu penunduk, tak nampak cincin kat tangan pun. Haha...

The crowd really is big. Penuh bilik seminar tu kira ok la tu. Crowd terdiri dari orang tua, orang pertengahan umur, orang muda, pelajar universiti, pelajar matriks dan juga budak kecik darjah 2 camtu. Semua bangsa ada- Melayu Cina India semua ada. They really loved DSAI.

Tapi rasa sedih sedikit lahir di hati. DSAI is such a great person. Regardless of his moral problems, his personal feuds with Mahathir and BN, he is undeniably an asset or at the very least a charismatic man. Sayang seribu sayang, he ended up like this. No, we Malay ended up like this. Kan bagus jika DSAI dan BN itu satu. Atau sekurang2nya, DSAI dan BN bekerja bersama untuk agama, bangsa dan negara. Teringat kata abang saya, at one time BN/UMNO is invincible. Mahathir and Anwar working together, the support from the Malay are extremely strong. PAS pun nyawa2 ikan saja masa tu. DAP tu macam tak wujud. Even bila Anwar jadi PKR, Mahathir still menang walaupun penyokong Anwar tu sangat besar.

Event dialog ini bagus sebab ia sangat kasual dan informal. Terasa dekat dengan DSAI dan takda protokol2 sangat. Apa yang buatkan event ni lagi bagus! Adalah disediakan  jamuan di ruang kafe bawah. Teruih pekena mee goreng 2 pinggan dengan kopi susu secawan, haha! Terima kasih DSAI!

I am very grateful that I had this chance to attend a talk and meet Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Ini adalah peluang yang sangat rare. Selaku orang yang rasional, saya kena dengar dari kedua-dua pihak. The truth? It's hard to see the truth. Maybe DSAI is just acting and lying all the way, after all he is a politician. Anything is possible.

Next wish- to attend a talk and meet Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Dengar, jumpa dan salam. Abang saya dah salam dengan Najib, saya pula dah salam dengan Anwar. Wahahahaha!