KUCHING, April 15 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim spent his final outreach to city folk here last night playing on the people’s awe and sympathy over the years he had spent in incarceration under Barisan Nasional’s (BN) rule.The powerful orator drew sighs and groans from a crowd of thousands during a ceramah at the BDC here as he chronicled his fall from the throne of deputy prime minister and painful six-year experience behind prison bars.
“I have gone through enough in my life — the best and the worst.
“I have tasted the best food with all the Sultans. I have tasted the worst food in the lockup.
“I have worn clothes weighed down with medals until my body became heavy; the most expensive clothes. But I’ve also been stripped bare with not a single stitch on me.
“I have been in good health and I have also been beaten to near death.
“At the time in my mind, I really honestly thought I would be left here to rot and die,” he boomed to his sympathetic audience.
The experience, Anwar said, had left him with lasting memories and the courage to fight against unfair persecutions, corruption and abuse of power.
“Was it a bad thing? Yes. But to me, I came out a better person. I have stronger affection for the people, more committed to defend justice and the rights of all — the Malays, the Chinese, the Ibans, Bidayuhs — come, let’s work together as a family,” he said.
Anwar’s words impacted the audience hard and they cheered him on in response, many looking glassy-eyed.
“I am appealing to you. I do not play games.
“Today, I say Malaysia has a great future. But Sarawak has to take the lead. If you take the lead, you can create history on April 16,” he said, referring to polling day tomorrow.
“I have been attacked from front to back. That is why I say this is the work of crazy people.
“What is Najib’s work? Sex, sex, sex. He sees me and he is reminded of sex.
“And then, he uses (former Malacca Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul) Rahim Thamby Chik. There is no other person in Malaysia more qualified to talk about sex than Rahim,” he said, drawing laughter all around.
Anwar was referring to Rahim’s admitted involvement in the sex video caper allegedly featuring the opposition leader and a foreign prostitute.
The political veteran also playfully cautioned the audience against conducting any business in government departments on the top floor, pointing out that they could “accidentally” topple to their deaths.
He was referring to Teoh’s tragedy in 2009 and the recent death of a Customs officer, both of whom had plunged to their deaths while undergoing investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“Next time, any interview you may need to do or licence application at a government office, do not go upstairs.
“Don’t play the fool. If I were to be invited for a meeting or to give my statement to the police, I would tell them — Tuan, first floor please. Or ground floor,” he said.
But he quipped that in his experience, even the ground floor as an unsafe place as he was beaten during his 1998 “black eye” incident.
“And yet, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said I had beaten myself,” he scoffed, referring to his former political master.
Anwar also took the opportunity to boast of Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) performance in helming Selangor and Penang, pointing out to Sarawakians that their state had even greater potential.
He said that the Auditor-General had graded Penang as one of the most well-managed financially but Sarawak, despite its vast natural resources such as oil and timber, “did not even make it into the book”.
He pledged that under PR’s rule, religious freedom would be guaranteed and the rights of all those in various faiths would be protected.
Referring to the ongoing Alkitab row, Anwar criticised the administration’s Muslim leaders for failing to understand the universality of Islam.
The ban on the use of the word “Allah” on non-Muslims, he said, was unprecedented as “nowhere in any Muslim country has this ever been an issue”.
“Only in 1 Malaysia is there two Allahs,” he said, shaking his head.
The predominantly Chinese crowd that gathered appeared to hang on to the leader’s every word, clapping and laughing on cue.
When Anwar descended from the small makeshift stage, they accosted him with books, sheets of paper and the plush “Ubah” toys, clamouring for his autograph.
PR’s campaign for Sarawak has been promising thus far, particularly in the urban seats and Chinese-majority areas.
Central to their success is the growing anti-Taib sentiment, which PR leaders have said was shared across the board by all local communities, including the Bidayuhs, Chinese, Ibans, Orang Ulus and many of the Malay/Melanaus.
When met at a nearby coffeeshop, a voter from the Kota Sentosa constituency said she planned to vote for “Mr Lim”.
She later explained that she was referring to the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and meant that her vote would go to the DAP.
According to the middle-aged businesswoman, many voters were against the ruling administration because of its Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who has ruled in Sarawak for 30 years.
“It has been too long. We need a change,” she said, echoing the words often used by DAP leaders in their ceramah speeches.
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