Whose nadir?

By Farida Jivamala Ibrahim


Najib, you had hoped, you and your minions, that the atrocities committed against ordinary, decent  and innocent people would bring them to their nadir – their worst moment, their moment of least hope. But it’s backfired on you.

It is your nadir, Najib. Not ours. The more abuse you allow hurled at the rakyat who want a good government, the more those divisive slurs, the stronger the rakyat become. The more you allow freedom of speech and action to be stifled, the more they will speak out and do what is necessary for oppression to end.

Ethnic groups are coming together like never before. People are closing their eyes to status, race and religion and opening their hearts to one another. They have learnt to trust again, realizing the real party that has been shredding the fabric of unity and respect all this time.  The walls you allowed to be erected are fast coming down.

The internet blossoms now with new and fervent writers, many of them so young,  whose openness, passion, steadfastness and writing gifts this nation should be proud to acknowledge and applaud.

Freedom has finally found its voice. Courage has finally found its people.

Everywhere, people are awakening – teenagers, adolescents, young and old. I keep hearing of 18-,17-,15-year-olds wanting to step forward. They have  found new dreams. They see in the distance the fruition of  a better country and are willing to give their all for reforms to be birthed.

It will come – a free and fair country –  where we can stand tall among the nations and know  there is a future for all.

And that glorious future can include you, Najib – if you can get out of your time warp and Hitlerian mentality, and get  Perkida,  Wataniah,   Mat Rempit army,  Perkasa,  silat groups etc  to see reason.
You know, I went to court the other day about 8.30am, to give support to Murugan  – the ‘last man’ standing. I was surprised at the number of Malay youths present at the complex, almost a hundred, I would say. They were giving support to the Datuk T trio, holding placards which proclaimed they loved them. Love porno-video makers?

I could not stay for Murugan’s session which was rescheduled to take place at  11.30 am. I walked out of the court complex at about 11am and saw those youths still there,  a few possibly even as young as 13 or 14. They were standing around,  sitting on the steps, doing nothing. I also saw ‘a sea’ of gleaming motorbikes in the parking lot.

I wanted to ask some of them why they weren’t in school or college or working at that hour. I looked at one youngster, wondering whether it was he I should speak to. He looked back at  me, and there was something in his eyes that made me keep my silence.

That day I had many troubled thoughts. All I could think of  was the waste – the waste of young potential, the brainwashing of gullible minds, perhaps even the poison of money doled out?
Why have these youths been brought down to this state of idleness?

Who in the end will rescue our young Malays from their wayward ways and dependency syndrome and give them something fresh and real and true to hold on to, something  that will help them gain self-respect and esteem and worth?

Truly, no one has done a greater disservice to the Malay community, damaged the young, fed them insecurities, robbed them of self-esteem and self-respect than those who want an eternal perpetuation of their own position and power.

Please  let our young grow  before it is too late and they lead permanently damaging lives.

I am sure there are some   people in the police force, on the bench, in the MACC, in SB,etc. whose conscience  bothers them – because they see the atrocities and think they cannot do anything. They are decent, they understand and want a better nation but they live in straitjackets, needing their jobs.

The time is now, if they should ever want things to get better. There is a choice, albeit a hard one. To say, ‘No more’…or continue to be dominated and be devalued as people, having the humanity in them slowly stripped away.

Najib, you bungled big-time. All you should have done was agreed to the Bersih rally, the Perkasa rally, the Khairy rally – because that is democracy, never mind the purposes of each.

Instruct that each march occur at different times, and don’t forget Bersih set their date  and time  and venues before the others. Have the police on hand to protect the marchers and apprehend any agent provocateur bent on disturbing and disrupting the peace, and when July 9 comes to an end, positive things would have been said about you. And you would have taken that first small step towards redemption.

Instead, you get the   police to carry out your unreasonable orders and they get the bad name. I feel sorry for the police, so many good people there having to do bad things for you.

I’ve ceased being angry with  you, Najib. I’ve ceased feeling disdain for Khairy, Hishamuddin, Rais, Muhyddin, Mahathir, Ibrahim Ali, Nazri and others recruited to spread hate and cause fear.
Why? We often hear this saying, “If you do the same thing over and over again, and expect different results, that’s insanity.”

Look at where our nation has been heading down the years? See what you have been allowing – directly or through your minions! The rakyat are bullied, threatened while you  just rail and rant. The rakyat are constantly intimidated while you twist innocent words and actions, having the media print falsehood to raise the racist and religious temperature to new obnoxious highs.  You allow the police to arrest Bersih individuals for merely wearing those t-shirts but Umno and Perkasa with their  threats of violence, bloodshed, arson and  unlawful behaviour get off scot-free.

And now, what is most incomprehensible is that in your total fear of the rakyat whom you are required to defend and protect, you make Yellow, the colour of  royalty, a kotor concept.

You do these over and over again  and yet expect different results? You do these  over and over again and think somewhere along the way people will grow to respect and love you, obey and applaud you? If that isn’t insanity, what is?

You have a choice.  Call off your police and FRU and the army and SB. If they have orders to shoot, the bloodshed that flows is not that of an enemy of the state but of innocent people who want a future for our country, the citizenry of this country! That is betrayal of the highest order!

Why is it so difficult for you to comprehend that Bersih 2.0 is not about taking over government but  about free and clean elections? That is so clear. The more you resist, the more we suspect so much of unethical moves are being done in preparation for GE13 and so now because you are being stalemated you have to resort to bestial and barbaric ways. Thus the fury.

In days of yore, many kings walked out of their palaces to sit in the public square to meet their subjects, hear cases and deliver judgment. That has drastically changed today.  Walls and guards keep people away from their King and walls and guards keep their King inside.

Subjects want to meet their Ruler. Subjects want to  hand over important matters for the Ruler to consider. Kings are not just figureheads. They have a crucial role to play in nation-building. And no one has the right to stop subjects who want to appeal to their King.

Najib, you may go on in this incomprehensible, reprehensible way. That’s your choice. But in the end there is always the day of reckoning for each of us –   each of us have to be finally accountable to our Creator.

For now, as July 9 looms, know that people are not afraid.

Here is a likely scenario I hope you will read and think through with compassion:
In his little village,  75-year-old Pak Mat rises from his prayer mat and steps out onto the veranda. He looks out to a dawn that is breaking and reflects on the significance of the day.  In  a few hours he will be there to march  for free and fair  elections. .

Mak Su joins him and he sees the tears before she hastily wipes them away. “Don’t go,” she says imploringly. “What if they beat you up, break your legs, detain you…?”

“I have to,” he replies sombrely. “It’s gone too far. If I don’t do something now,  there’ll be no hope for our country and our children’s future. It is my duty to stand up against all the wrongs.”

Pak Mat slips into the bedroom where  his five-year-old  grandchild sleeps. He brushes the little one’s  cheek gently with a feathery kiss and hurries out to the veranda again.

He puts on his sandals , picks up his walking stick and looks at Mak Su. She is weeping.
“What if they shoot you … what if you are killed?” she says brokenly, her weeping giving way to heart-wrenching cries.

Pak Mat takes his wife’s hands in his, and  with hope and faith in his heart says, “I will be back. God is on our side.”