Be careful what you wish for

 

So why are you still so angry? You wanted Tunku Aziz out. You were angry that he remained in DAP. The longer he stays in DAP the nastier the comments get. Now that he has gone that is the end of the matter and we no longer need to talk about him or about what he does. He is free to do what he wants, with whom he wants, and in whatever manner that he wants.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Most of you here, the majority of you who commented in Malaysia Today, wanted Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim to resign or get sacked from DAP as soon as he gave his views regarding the Bersih 3.0 rally late last month. Tunku Aziz was called all sorts of foul things -- traitor, turncoat, Umno mole, Umno stooge, Trojan horse, amongst the milder names he was called. There were, in fact, more degrading labels that some of you used on him.

The popular sentiments appear to be you wanted to see the back of Tunku Aziz. DAP does not need people like Tunku Aziz. If he can’t shut his mouth and toe the party line then he should leave before DAP sacks him. And DAP must sack him if he refuses to leave, most of you opined.

Your ‘prophesy’ was that Tunku Aziz would leave DAP. And he would leave because he is a Barisan Nasional man. He is merely a plant, a Trojan horse, sent to DAP to do damage inside the party. Hence it is a foregone conclusion that he would, sooner or later, leave DAP to ‘return’ to Barisan Nasional.

That was what most of you felt. And that was what most of you expressed. I too wrote an article called Dear Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim eight days ago, which I am sure most of you have read. If you have not, then you can read it here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/49188-dear-tunku-abdul-aziz-tunku-ibrahim

Most of you who commented (114 comments altogether) agreed with what I wrote in that article. What most of you who commented did not catch is that I was being sarcastic. I was not talking to Tunku Aziz. I was talking toYOU! And if you did not catch my drift then too bad, I am not going to waste my time teaching you English.

So, now, Tunku Aziz has resigned, as what most of you wanted. But are you happy now? Apparently not! You are still not happy. Now you whack him for resigning.

Look, you wanted him out so he left. How he leaves is his business -- whether he announces it on TV or he sends in a resignation letter or he whispers in Lim Guan Eng’s ear. Once you ask for a divorce, and a divorce is granted, you no longer have any right to question what and how things are done. You are no longer together and, therefore, you no longer have any obligations to each other.

YOU wanted the divorce. So remember that. If your ex-spouse decides to date someone else after that, you no longer have any business to say otherwise. You no longer have any rights over your ex-partner. Your ex-partner is now free to do what he or she wants. You have no more say about what your ex-partner does.

So why are you still so angry? You wanted Tunku Aziz out. You were angry that he remained in DAP. The longer he stays in DAP the nastier the comments get. Now that he has gone that is the end of the matter and we no longer need to talk about him or about what he does. He is free to do what he wants, with whom he wants, and in whatever manner that he wants.

That is what divorces are all about, to free us from the bonds of marriage and from obligations of being true and faithful to one another.

Now, why was Tunku Aziz treated so shabbily? many people are asking, Malays in particular, especially non-partisan and fence-sitter Malays, those who do not have any party affiliations but merely want to see good governance.

You must remember, there are 16 million eligible voters in Malaysia with about 12 million plus registered to vote, roughly half of them Malays. About half these 12 million are members of political parties. It could even be less if you consider that Umno claims to have 3.5 million members but their membership list has been padded.

Let’s say that about 5 million or so, less the ‘phantoms’, are members of political parties. This would mean more than 7 million do not belong to any party and, therefore, do not care much for party politics.

That is a very sizeable figure indeed. So let us ignore the estimated 5 million party members and look at the 7 million non-party members instead. What do they think, especially the Malays?

What they are thinking is that many other DAP leaders have expressed their opinions and have criticised or opposed certain opposition policies and stands. Take Karpal Singh, as one example. He has said many things against PAS and even Anwar Ibrahim. He said Anwar is not fit to be the Opposition Leader. He has said he would not sit at the same table as PAS, let alone form a coalition with that Islamic party. And so on, the list can go on. 

Did any of you call Karpal a Trojan horse, a Barisan Nasional stooge, a mole, a traitor, a turncoat, etc., or that he had been bought off? Did you demand he resign or be sacked? What about the Chinese leaders of DAP who chided DAP or the DAP leaders in public (even up to the last few days this is still going on)? Why were all these people, the non-Malay leaders of DAP, not given the same harsh treatment and vilified the way that Tunku Aziz was? 

Malaysians are simple-minded people, Malaysia Today readers included. And the conclusion of a simple mind would be very simple. And their conclusion is: because Tunku Aziz is Malay. That was why he was treated so harshly and vilified. And that was also why the other non-Malay leaders were not subjected to that same treatment. 

Hence, we are back where we started. The whole affair has taken on racial connotations. What Tunku Aziz was subjected to and which none of the other DAP leaders were subjected to was merely because Tunku Aziz is Malay and for no other reason.

Is this the wrong conclusion? In the game of politics it is perception and not truth that matters. And that is the perception whether it is true or not. Have I too not had to endure this and am still enduring it? So why should you too not have to suffer this?

Tunku Aziz’s concern was that Bersih might not only become violent but would be turned racial as well. A person like Tunku Aziz who has lived for more than 70 years would have seen a lot of things. And being the conservative Malay gentleman that he is, he sees things differently from those of us who are younger, more aggressive, and will not shy away from a fisticuff. (I mean, how can you shy away from a fisticuff when you once ‘moved’ with the Long Fu Tong).

How can it be racial? you may ask. Was not PAS involved? Were not Pak Samad and Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali also on the front lines? So the Malays are very much a part of Bersih as the non-Malays are.

Sure, there were many Malays in the Communist Party of Malay (CPM) as well. In fact, some of the leaders were Malay. Furthermore, some of those who attacked the police stations and shot the police officers dead were Malays. But does that stop the Malays from the villages from thinking that the CPM is Chinese and that it is all about the Chinese trying to topple a Malay government? 

Speak to any veteran soldier if you happen to know any. Try to suggest that the CPM was a multi-racial movement and not a Chinese movement. See how many would agree with you. They will swear that the enemy was Chinese and that the CPM was Chinese. It was not multi-racial as far as they are concerned. 

Is that the truth or is that merely the perception? Does it matter? It is what they believe. The army veterans are convinced that they were fighting a Chinese CPM and that is was about defending a Malay government. 

Actually that is a very unfair assessment of Bersih. Bersih 1.0 in November 2007 was almost entirely Malay although some of the leaders were not. Bersih 2.0 and Bersih 3.0 were more ‘balanced’ than Bersih 1.0. We saw more non-Malay participation, which is good.

But these people are not looking at those who marched on the streets, the multi-racial crowd that we saw. They are looking at those who they imagine to be behind Bersih, or more accurately, the perceived hidden hands behind Bersih.

And herein lies the problem. Hence, was Tunku Aziz out of line in expressing his views or should we instead have taken stock of what he said and covered our arses properly and not allow Bersih to be turned into a racial issue? Anyway, while on the subject of army veterans, look at the pictures below of the veteran soldiers outside Ambiga’s house.

This was the kind of thing that Tunku Aziz was trying to avoid and now it has happened. Sadly, however, Tunku Aziz has left because most of you wanted him to leave. And now we discover that Tunku Aziz was not too off the mark in his fears. I suppose, as they say, history will judge you but only after you have gone. So we need time to answer the question as to whether Tunku Aziz was a traitor or a man with foresight. Time will tell.

Okay, what are you all going to do about this? Can we have some volunteers to do a 24-7 'rukun tetangga' outside Ambiga's house? How many of you are prepared to sacrifice your time to volunteer for guard duty so that the third they 'invade' Ambiga's house there would be enough people to defend her and die for her. I read so many comments here in Malaysia Today urging her on. It is now time for you to come forward and defend what you believe in. Or are you merely keyboard warriors who post comments from the safety of your homes/offices?