Student rebel, DPM, opposition leader (Part 1)

Cheah See Kian

If the 1998 political crisis had not happened, Anwar Ibrahim would have been the fifth prime minister of Malaysia.

If not for Dr Mahathir Mohamad's forced removal, Anwar would not have founded Parti Keadilan Rakyat to oppose Umno.

If not for the restriction of the law placed on him, Anwar would have become a member of parliament after the 2008 general election instead of fighting today’s by-election to reclaim his old seat of Permatang Pauh.

It is the 'ifs' that has characterised the political fate of Anwar, a man who has made headlines in his colourful political career.

The story of Anwar is not just another tale, but a tale of rebellion against the establishment.

Born on Aug 10, 1948 in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Anwar was brought into a family whose steps trod the field of politics. His parents, though not star-studded political figures, were nevertheless active Umno members.

Anwar's father, once member of parliament for Seberang Jaya Tengah (later renamed Permatang Pauh), was Health Ministry's parliamentary secretary, while his mother was a division chief in Wanita Umno, and his brother, Rani, the chairman of Malaysian Youth Council and an active party member.

His first foray into politics began when he entered Universiti Malaya in 1967 as a Malay Literature undergraduate. In the following year, he became the chairman of the university's Malay Literature Society and the Malaysian Muslim Student Association, effectively becoming a renowned student leader.

After the May 13 racial clashes, Anwar began to ponder on the need of social restructuring through religion. At this time, Anwar and Mahathir shared the same view - that the first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman failed to elevate the economic and educational status of the Malays. Thus, Anwar looked up to Mahathir as his mentor, a symbol of strength for the coming change.

When Mahathir was sacked from Umno after May 13, 1969, Anwar stood beside him and championed his call of reforms. And when Mahathir's influential ‘The Malay Dilemma’ was banned by Tunku's administration, Anwar braved the dictates of the day and pushed forward Mahathir's seminal work, brandishing it akin to Lin Biao's support of Mao Zedong during the Chinese Cultural Revolution beginning from 1966.

Anwar's rebelliousness can be gleaned from the following tale: In 1971, when Anwar's father presented him to Tun Razak during the latter's birthday, Anwar was suggested to further his education overseas as a legal student after graduating from Universiti Malaya, in order to contribute to the nation in the coming years. Anwar declined the offer, as well as the opportunity to join Umno at that time so as to remain free from political control as a champion of Islam.

However, Anwar did not decline the invitation to participate in the United Nations Youth Conference, and became the chairman of Malaysian Youth Council and a member of the United Nations Youth Conference advisory panel in the following year. From then on, Tun Razak began to notice Anwar's rise, in no small part due to his founding of Abim (Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement).

Though Abim was only registered in 1974 as a formal society, it was already an active entity when it was founded in 1971, fighting for the rights of lower-class Malays in their educational needs. The aim was to expand Abim's influence in pushing for Islamic reforms by recruiting more young people under the banner of education. With this exercise, Anwar had cemented himself as a charismatic leader amongst the Malay youth.

With his newfound influence, Anwar participated with students from Universiti Malaya in the hunger strike at Baling in 1974, forcing the government to arrest him under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Only two years later - in September 1976 - was Anwar released unconditionally by the administration of Tun Hussein Onn. Prior to his release, Anwar was offered a conditional release by the Tun Razak's administration, of which he flatly rejected.

After his release, Anwar did not seek leadership appointment from his mentor Mahathir, whose returned to Umno in 1971 paved way for his then appointment, first as the education minister after the 1974 general election, and later as the deputy prime minister in 1976. Instead, his experience in jail gave him the experience to lead Abim again, to the point that the organisation was at odds with the government in opposing corruption, abuse of power and the abolishment of ISA.

In 1980, in the midst of pressing for reforms, Anwar married his beloved Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, of which their devotion was publicly displayed later when she took up the mantle of leadership and preserved his spirit of reforms during Anwar's trying times in the late 90s.

The Islamic reforms
The year 1981 was a turning point for Anwar Ibrahim, representing his second stage in his political career and maturity. It was during this year that he joined Umno at the behest of his mentor Mahathir, the then prime minister. His entry was met with caution from Umno veterans, and with scepticism from PAS (due to the Islamic party’s failure in inviting Anwar to its leadership). But he had the support of his wife and the blessings of his family, as well as Abim’s full backing.

And thus, began his meteoric rise in Umno. The reason Anwar was lavished with much attention was due in no small part to the support he received from his 50,000-odd Abim members. He also gave Mahathir the necessary well of strength to push through his political agenda.

To prove Anwar's leadership and charisma, the new Umno member was deliberately picked by Mahathir to contest in the Permatang Pauh constituency in the 1982 general election. This move was more of a test: to prove Anwar's capabilities, as well as to silence the critics of Umno veterans in letting an inexperienced young man to rise to the leadership echelon.

And indeed Anwar passed the test, thus began the alliance between Mahathir and himself, paving the way for Mahathir to initiate his Islamic reforms in the administration of the nation.

Mahathir believed that the Islamisation of the administration will initiate the necessary reforms, and with this, Anwar found the chance at last to carry out his ideals of Islamic reforms in the government. Together, Islamisation was successfully introduced and penetrated every facade of the administration.

The Islamisation during Mahathir's administration, and the ideals of Anwar, was founded on similar grounds, that values were flexible, not rigid, enabling Malaysia to develop its own model similar to Middle Eastern modernisation, instead of being restricted by the example of Turkey. Incidentally, the administrations under Tunku, Razak and Hussein Onn were based on the Turkish model. Coincidentally too, Tun Hussein Onn and his father Onn Jaafar were both of Turkish descent.

The root of such an ideal was based on the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the demise of the Shah and the collapse of the Pahlavi dynasty by the country's Islamic revolutionists. The overthrew of the Shah was not only the pride of the Shiites; it inspired the Sunnis to pursue reforms and change, with Malaysia a prime example of such an inspiration.

Thus history witnessed the alliance between Mahathir and Anwar during the 1980s, pushing Islamic agenda into the mainstream, while regaining good relations with Middle Eastern states and strengthening ties with Western nations. It was a time where East meets West, where Malaysia strived to absorb the industrial and technological prowess of our Western counterpart, while levelling Eastern values as the soul of the nation, displacing conventional Western mindset which had dominated the country since its colonisation.

The criticisms levelled at the West during the latter half of Mahathir's administration and the promotion of Eastern values by Anwar was seen as the culmination of this amalgamation, a measure to show the Muslim world what it takes to be a successful Islamic nation.

However, this period was not sparred from internal frictions, due to mismanagement and the difficulty in accepting Islamic values as universal values by local non-Muslims.

Renaissance man reinvents himself (Part 2)

Cheah See Kian

Tell-tale signs of cracks between then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim, could be seen in the 90s, where in less than a decade, his protege’s influence grew tremendously and became deputy prime minister as well as deputy president of Umno.

His meteoric rise indeed put pressure on the leadership of Mahathir, with supporters hailing Anwar as his apparent successor, of which it was intolerable.

From then on, Mahathir sought to undermine Anwar's power and influence, culminating in his successful effort in dismantling the Anwar-backed Wawasan team of Umno vice-presidents comprising Najib Razak, Muhyiddin Yassin and Muhd Muhammad Taib. (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi belonged to neither of the camps, and was ousted as vice-president by the Wawasan team in the 1993 party elections).

However in 1996, Abdullah returned to the Umno echelon as a vice-president with the blessings of Mahathir, while Muhyiddin lost his position at the party polls. Anwar's position was very much shaken, culminating in his dismissal in 1998 and the appointment of Abdullah as Mahathir's deputy.

Though there exists a crack in the nation's leadership in the 90s, Anwar took the opportunity to expand his horizon through his many overseas visits as a national leader, resulting in the further development of his ideals - instead of pushing forward reforms based on Islamic values, it would be based on universal values.

Such a change in ideals can be gleaned from Anwar's seminal work on ‘The Asian Renaissance’ in 1997. In witnessing the rise of Asia in its economic growth, Anwar believed that the new world order should be based on the foundation of multiculturalism, and not ethnic affirmative action at the expense of infringing and neglecting the rights of others, reminding that Malaysia is in essence a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural entity.

If the 1980s characterised Anwar's passion in Islamic reforms, the 1990s could be characterised as Anwar's attempt at merging Islamic and Oriental thought, bridging the age-old animosity between the East and the West.

In this period, Anwar showed forth his vision for the nation from an international perspective rather than from a religious perspective.

It should be noted that after Tunku Abdul Rahman and Mahathir, Anwar was the next Malaysian leader in articulating his thought through the publication of his seminal work. However, it was Mahathir who held the most number of published works, while Anwar was known more not by his ideas, but his tumultuous political career.

In Anwar's seminal work, he made special mention of Mahathir and his patience in giving him the freedom and space to explore and develop his ideas.

Fall from power
Anwar's reforms came to an abrupt halt when in 1998, Mahathir took the step to strip him of all leadership position, reducing him to nothing.

At this time, Anwar realised that reforms would not be successful from within, and that he needed to take more drastic measures to effect permanent change. Thus the launching of the reformasi movement, accompanied by Anwar's Permatang Pauh and Kuala Lumpur declarations.

However, Anwar had to face the wrath of the law, being detained without bail, and the subsequent charges leveled against him caught the attention of the international community. His political struggle on the streets was subsequently turned into a battle in the courts.

Yet the movement continued on and caught traction in the 1999 general election, with PAS the biggest winner. But the opposition faced one of their biggest defeats in the 2004 general election, with the Islamic party’s representation greatly slashed, while PKR was almost uprooted from national politics.

This was due in no small part that Anwar's ideals were still unacceptable to the masses, with the opposition still unable to see the advantage of such ideals. It was only after Anwar's release in 2004 that he had the opportunity to persuade PAS to turn aside their religious struggle, and instead fight for the welfare of all Malaysians.

It was an arduous endeavour, taking three long years to convince PAS' rank to see the nation's political struggle through the lens of an Asian perspective.

With this, PAS was able to make inroad into the 2008 general election, to the point that it was able to assume the administration of Perak and formed a coalition government in Selangor. Such a drastic turnabout demonstrated the leadership and charisma of Anwar in influencing a staunch political party such as PAS.

The 2008 general election was the greatest opportunity for Anwar to pave the way for him to re-enter national politics, and in the process, his vision and ideals of reforms were this time widely accepted, benefitting not only DAP, but also elevated PKR to become the leader in the national opposition bloc.

However, the only way that his vision and ideals be realised is by wrestling national administration from the current government, knowing well that this journey will be harsh and gruelling, with failure a dreadful fate. The survival of Anwar thus far is in no small part due to his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who for the past decade held the fort and paved the way for him to return.

Since ending his American lecturing circuit in 2006, Anwar had firmly established his visions, setting aside the agenda of Islamic reforms, though his image still portray a picture of an internationally-recognised moderate Islamic leader.

In enlarging his vision, Anwar had sought to rebuild the relationship with Turkey, and ready to embark again the struggle of his forerunner, Onn Jaafar.

At the same time, Anwar remained close with Saudi Arabia, recognising Malaysian Muslims' root to the Sunni denomination and the state as the pilgrimage centre of Islam. On the other hand, his dream to initiate the Asian renaissance in Malaysia persists on, waiting for its day.

And thus, Anwar chose to contest in the Permatang Pauh by-election yesterday. As expected, he emerged the winner. The nation now awaits Anwar’s next chapter in his tumultuous political career.

The future of PAS

Dato Dr Cheah See Kian

I would like to present two important concepts in the democratic political process and their differences - value judgement and empirical judgement. In the context of PAS, its value judgment refers to the judgment of its ideals in advocating and setting up of an Islamic state, which is a logical and reasonable struggle of the party.

However, the empirical judgment of such a struggle dictates that it is incompatible under the context of a multi-cultural society. Past experiences in advocating the party’s struggle of an Islamic state to non-Muslims suggest that such a struggle belongs and remains in subjective value judgment, and that it should not and cannot become an empirically objective judgment.
This is further supported by the majority of Malaysians in aspiring for a country that is not theocratic, but democratic, that accords freedom of religion to its citizens.

Thus, PAS should learn from the experience and subscribe to an empirical judgment of its politics, reducing the scale of its religious politics while concentrating on advocating the ideals and policies of integrity, justice and good governance.

Should PAS adopt this direction, I believe the party will surely garner the support of the various races. However, should PAS retain its brand of religious politics, and then will not have the backing of the non-Muslims.

In view of the change in the current political landscape, PAS needs to reevaluate its position and subscribe to a new political paradigm to win the support of the people.

Furthermore, with the emphasis on ‘Ketuanan Rakyat’ under the banner of Pakatan Rakyat, PAS should cooperate with others to build a better Malaysia that is peaceful and harmonious.
In the event of PAS encountering a conflict between the value and empirical judgment of its ideals, an objective evaluation is more sensible under the context of a multi-cultural environment.

In politics, there is the need to find balance between the aspiration of the party and the political reality of the nation, as it is unrealistic to hold on to ideals that do not conform to reality.

Under the present scenario, there is only one choice for PAS, and that is to abide by the majority.
This does not mean, however, that PAS should sacrifice the preaching of Islamic ideals among fellow Muslims, only that it should accept the reality that theocracy is not compatible a multi-racial Malaysia.