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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Malaysiakini’s Newsmaker of 2010: Ibrahim Ali

Ibrahim Ali is Malaysiakini’s Newsmaker of 2010

by Hazlan ZakariaThe turbulent waters of 2010 stirred waves, continually shaping and reshaping the shifting sands of Malaysian politics.

A once rising Pakatan Rakyat receded in popularity as the BN tasted victory in three by-elections, continuing to command or ‘buy over’ popular support, whichever version is to be believed. But these events paled against the exploits of one person who towered over the rest and dominated newsheadlines.

This has undeniably been the ‘darling’ that none has been able to resist reading about. Independent Pasir Mas parliamentarian Ibrahim Ali has been at the leading edge of the ultra-Malay rights tide as founder of Perkasa.

Pugnacious “Super Katak”

He may be dubbed a ‘super-katak‘ who is hopping mad, but there is no doubt that the pugnacious Ibrahim is Malaysiakini’s Newsmaker of 2010.

Called ‘spirited’ by some, though others shudder to see the Napoleon complex in him, Tok Him – as he is also known – has been the X-factor that has made readers go click-crazy and comment-mad.

Much like Shakespeare’s Richard III, Ibrahim is the villain that everyone loves to hate; one who unashamedly walks the walk and talks the talk.

For all his current cockiness, the man came from humble beginnings. Born on Jan 25, 1951 in Kampung Pasir Pekan in Tumpat, Kelantan, he is the fifth child and eldest boy of 13 siblings. He was favoured if not pampered by his father, a village headman.

A pious mother ensured that Ibrahim was taught Islam and to be committed to it from young. It is the likely source of his professed fervour for the religion.

His father, although uneducated, was an influential man. However, his allowance amounted to a pittance in having to support such a large family. Ibrahim’s childhood was therefore an austere one.

A self-proclaimed “pure Kelantanese” with a probable dash of Thai in him, Ibrahim grew up with childhood friends who included non-Malays, mostly of Thai origin with a hint of Chinese.

He was in Form Six in 1969 when his father, a staunch PAS supporter, was arrested under the Public Order (Preservation) Act 1958. This helped to shape Ibrahim’s destiny.

Triple Expletives

Ibrahim’s first brush with activism and politics began when he entered what is now Universiti Teknologi Mara, but was then known as Institut Teknologi Mara.

Driven by his father’s example, Ibrahim championed the cause of the Malay ‘underdogs’. Literally following in his father’s footsteps, he too was incarcerated under the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA).

He shared a cell in Kamunting in 1974 with then student leader Anwar Ibrahim, in the first of two periods of confinement under the preventive detention law.

But Ibrahim soon shaped up and conformed to UMNO, loyally fighting for the party until the fateful split which saw the formation of splinter Semangat 46 (S46).

Ibrahim followed the fading star of then S46 leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, only to be out in the cold when the movement fizzled out.

He later stood under a PAS banner and won the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat for the third time in 2008.

Ibrahim is possibly the only MP who have won the same seat under three different parties – UMNO (1986), S46 (1990) and PAS (2008), earning him the super-katakmoniker.

But the prodigal son of PAS did not stay with the Islamic party for long – months after reclaiming his Pasir Mas seat, he broke away to become an Independent. Last year, he regained prominence when he founded Perkasaand declared his unadulterated views on Malay rights and supremacy.

Journalists soon learned to dread his prolific text-messages each day, but the public soaked up the vitriol and responded in kind – and often not kindly. His pet topic is the New Economic Policy. He was instrumental in organising theBumiputera Economic Congress in May, which successfully pressured the Najib administration into promising protection of the Malays in its New Economic Model.

A month later, Ibrahim was locked in a protracted slanging match with UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin over a MCA leader’s comments on scholarships for bumiputera students. Some argue that Ibrahim’s pinnacle of achievement was his unbashed triple expletive on global television stationAl-Jazeera. It turned him into the icon for Malay ‘supremacy’, even across the seas.

A recent heart attack has not mellowed him. His first act after a medically-imposed hiatus, was to hold a press conference to laugh off the claims of those who said he was in a coma or worse.

Going under the knife has not dulled Ibrahim’s wit or caustic speech, while therevocation of his datuk-ships from the Kelantan palace has not chastened him either.

Love him or loathe him, it cannot be denied that his month-long silence left an empty space in the public domain. But he’s back!

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