The undressing of an icon: RPK is coming home!

At last Raja Petra Kamarudin has got his ticket to come home! How long can you stay exiled and pretend to fight for democracy in Malaysia but stay in United Kingdom, we have always wondered. After all, we all have stomachs to feed mate!

I still remember the revelations RPK made through Malaysia Today that made people like me turn away from Barisan Nasional and long for a better Malaysia for ourselves and our children without the present Umno-led government. RPK got us hooked on blogs, he made us email all his revelations to friends, and most of all he made us return to writing. Yes, I never wrote a piece on any political subject until the day I became a fan of RPK, and tagged him.

Every morning it was Malaysia Today first, just like reading the morning papers then all things came second, he made me drop the New Straits Time which I was reading from the time I was 10 years old, and go on line for local as well as foreign news. Yes, there was the saving of a dollar per day, and it is almost 5 years since I bought any mainstream newspaper. The number of people I convinced to stop buying newspapers too runs into the hundreds. No doubt about it, RPK has awed us all with his exposes and shocking tales of skullduggery. He also took the trouble to refer to manuscripts , laws, and the federal constitution always giving us the impression that he was the best expert as far as the laws in the country were concerned.

First time Malaysians had access to unadulterated Umno bashing!

RPK may have made us view things from his perspective, BUT it was his Umno bashing that was always the highlight, especially the Altantuya murder case and First Lady Rosmah Mansor's involvement in it, plus the intricate Statutory Declaration by private eye P Balasubramaniam. RPK bashed Najib and Rosmah to Kingdom come, and for this, he was cheered and hailed far and wide. It is a real reflection of how unpopular the first couple are.

When printed out in black and white, Umno and BN were exposed as the cheap tawdry criminals they are. It became an obsession for those of us wanting and wishing for a way out against such an evil regime. In the end, we ate, breathed and slept on politics in Malaysia against the Barisan Nasional. Well almost all the things he said about UMNO and Barisan were true, or eventually became true, even though the Home Minister Hishamudin tagged that whatever is said in Malaysia Today is only 40% fact.

The euphoria the opposition created for the March 2008 GE-12 election reached a boiling point, and RPK's ceramah in Klang at Kampong Raja Uda was one to be remembered for a long time along with those held by the real speakers - the Kit Siangs and the Anwar Ibrahims and their speeches, the bashing they gave Umno, especially in Selangor, took everyone by storm.Perhaps this is what Umno is now trying to recreate with RPK - only of course in the opposite mode. But can RPK influence Selangorians that Anwar has two horns and a tail while Najib is Mr Cool and perfect? It is sad that life has descended to such levels for a man like RPK, who should be respected and not relegated into the growing group of 'just another Umno stooge'.

2008, his arrest and exile

The results of the 2008 elections was the high point for RPK. The opposition took five states including the jewel in the crown Selangor, and brought down the majority in Parliament for Barisan Nasional. I don't know about you but he made us work during the elections - me and my friends spent our time in Sungei Siput campaining against Samy Vellu on our own accord. No, we did not want Samy Vellu to win and continue to oppress the Indians so we spent close to RM7,000 for the campaign including sending thousands of SMS to unknown people.

Then came his arrest under the ISA and his trials which was to be expected. He became a Hero amongst us, he easily had a readership of more than 50,000 readers and fans. I can still remember the candle vigils all over town as well as the famous ones in Amcorp mall, we were all with his wife Marina at the virgils, we used to stand outside the court for hours for his trials we did not mind the heat or the pain. Some of us were arrested at the vigils but we did not care, we were for him who showed us the way for a better Malaysia.

Then he ran away into self-exile. We were happy for him, we hoped for the best for him and Marina, at least he can pen his thoughts from outside Malaysia peacefully and safely.We cried for him when his son was arrested and tortured, we felt it was revenge by Umno against him. We prayed for the safety of his son, until that fateful day when he gave his first interview in the STAR.

The STAR shocker

Yes, we felt he let us down in the interview, when after bashing Rosmah for years, he suddenly U-turned his support for her and Najib in the interview. Straightaway, his readers smelt a rat. His readers deserted him. He became a pariah but even so, some of us did not give up on him, we knew his arm was being twisted.

Which father would allow his son to be penalised because of him and his work. We thought that the powers-that-be were using extreme measures to coax him, and we were right to an extent. His son was released some time after the interview. I would question RPK now about his relationship with Anwar - yes, his often hot and cold relationship with Anwar and Keadilan party. RPK came in and out of Keadilan as he wished.

You know, right from the beginning we did not have much regard for Anwar or the people from Keadilan, because they were all from Umno. Because of this, we felt they were used to corruption and biasness, and while in Umno, Anwar rubbed the Indians the wrong way many times. Indians were not favoured by Anwar.

Through the Reformasi era, people were actually sympathetic to Wan Azizah first, then Nurul Izzah and then only Anwar, but through RPK's Free Anwar campaign, he made us believe in Anwar again.

The last turncoat?

Yet, today my dear friend RPK, you chose to bash Anwar. We don't care if it is your own opinion or that what you thought was not right yesterday is right for you today. As far as we are concerned, we have accepted Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat. Yes, Anwar is no angel as neither as your precious Najib or Rosmah now.

You see, Anwar is charismatic and that's why he can gel the Pakatan alliance and them to move despite the obstacles thrown down by Umno and BN. Anwar, no matter how you hate him, is the catalyst for Pakatan - the only formidable opposition for Barisan Nasional.

We Malaysians need Pakatan to do a check and balance on Barisan Nasional. Pakatan has grown from strength to strength over the last 3 years. It has its flaws. As RPK said Pakatan cannot win GE-13, he may or may not be right, but we don't care we just want a formidable opposition to put an end to the 54 years of gross misrule by Umno and Barisan National. Enough is enough.

No matter what you say, dear RPK, soon, we will have an Opposition in government and they would have matured by then. You said Selangor will be lost, but I can bet with you this will not happen.

Whatever you think of Anwar we do not care, even if Anwar really 'torpedoed' Saiful, and 'banged' the shit out of the Thai prostitute we don't care. It is his own personal problem until it is proven. We care only for Pakatan and Anwar is its catalyst and therefore can do no harm.

Pakatan is stronger than you now, even the Umno bloggers are better than you now

If Anwar were not important, then why would Najib want to pay you so much or spend so much effort to get you to speak from his side. Why keep going after his arch rival Anwar? What is so great about Anwar if he is not really so great?

Also, sad to say despite the sensational interviews in the Malay newspapers, I don't think many Malaysians will be sidetracked from the NFC scandal, the UPSI police brutality and the Adam Adli protests or the January 9 Sodomy II verdict. The results will be the same. The people will hate Umno more because of Najib and Rosmah. In the end, it will not be Anwar who would have lost because of your interviews. It is you yourself, dear RPK, who has wagered and lost - lost badly.

No, my dear RPK, today you have bought your freedom and will be coming home soon. I think there is "udang sebalik batu" in your case, and I beg to differ when you just said you don't care about your detractors like me or what we think.

The sad truth is that people like Big Dog Zakhir Mohamad, Rocky's Bru Ahhrrudin Attan and even Parupu Kari or Papagomo are better people than you now, RPK. At least they stay true to their roots and not stoop so low that you can smell the shit in their pants.

Anyway wish you the best for old times sake, and goodbye to you and Malaysia Today.

Malaysia Chronicle