The Rafizi Ramli legend

In fact, Rafizi almost achieved that hero status with his crusade against NFC and George Kent. But he was not quite there yet until the government arrested him. And then, suddenly, he earned his stripes and became a fully-fledged hero. People just love those who stand up against an evil and corrupt power and stubbornly refuse to back down even when they are whacked. And the more they get whacked and the more stubborn they are the bigger a hero they become.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Dear Datuk Seri, I have titled my article today ‘The Rafizi Ramli legend’ although Rafizi is not dead yet but still very much alive because that is exactly what you have turned him into, a legend. And I should know, Datuk Seri, because I have travelled that same road before.

Datuk Seri, I am, amongst others, a student of history and literature. What I mean by that is not that I have a PhD in history and literature but that I am still studying. Well, I would not quite qualify as a mahasiswa but more like amahasitua. You see, I have enrolled as a student of Oxford’s continuing education program, which is sort of like the kelas dewasa that was set up the Malaysian government during the time of your father, the Second Prime Minister of Malaysia, but with more glamour attached to it being Oxford and all that.

Anyway, Datuk Seri, back to the issue if I may (I do digress, don’t I?), any student of literature and history can tell you that Robin Hood, although he may not have actually existed (like some say about Hang Tuah as well), is seen as an English hero, a legend of sorts.

Between you and me, Datuk Seri, although the English are proud of Robin Hood, he was not really English. He was actually Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, or something like that. I mean, for all intents and purposes, he was of Viking descent, sort of like Hang Tuah was Chinese, at least some people say. And this group of Vikings travelled south to rape, murder and plunder, sort of like what Umno does, and eventually occupied the territory of the south then called Normandy and now part of France. And the people of Normandy were called Normans, or the people of the north, meaning those of Viking descent.

Then, in 1066, the Normans invaded England and killed Harold, the Saxon king of England. In fact, the Saxons too were not English either. They originated from Germany and about 500 years earlier had invaded England and kicked out the Britons, the original people of England who did not speak of word of English mainly because the English language had not been invented yet at that time.

Hence, 100 years later, the time when Robin Hood was supposed to have existed, the Lords, Dukes, Earls, etc., in short the Rulers of England were the Normans who came from France and in turn who came from the Scandinavian countries. In fact, the court language at that time was French and some of the so-called English kings did not speak a word of English, which they considered the language of the barbarians. For that matter, today, 1,000 years later, the French still think of the English as uncultured who speak a barbarian language.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, and about 100 years after 1066 when the Normans invaded England and brought culture to the barbarian Saxon English, who are still quite uncultured even today, especially after a football game when they adjourn to the pubs, Robin Hood was supposed to have existed. And Robin Hood, said to be the son of an Earl and himself an Earl, would therefore make him a member of the ruling class, and hence must most likely be a Norman and not a Saxon as the Saxons were the lower class while the Normans were the ruling class.

My point is this, Datuk Seri, Robin Hood, if he existed, was not English. However, the English needed a hero, and since Robin Hood was the leader of the English Reformasi Movement, the English adopted Robin Hood as an English hero. The English, just like us Malaysians, needed a hero to oppose the evil and corrupt government. And since Robin Hood was the one who led the movement to oppose this evil and corrupt Norman government, then Robin Hood would have to be that English hero. 

And I am afraid, Datuk Seri, this is what you have turned Rafizi Ramli into, the Robin Hood of Malaysia who is opposing the evil and corrupt Umno government, no different to England of more than 900 years ago. I hear next week Rafizi may be facing a second charge, this time under the Official Secrets Act, on top of the first charge he is already facing. That can only serve to enhance Rafizi’s Robin Hood image even further. Hence do you really want to turn Rafizi into a Malaysian hero?

You said yesterday, Datuk Seri, that Rafizi should have gone through the proper channel to lodge a complaint or report to the MACC instead of exposing the misconduct involving the NFC issue to the public. You are probably going to say the same when they charge him a second time on the George Kent issue. I have even read Blog postings that say Rafizi may have done the correct thing but he did it the wrong way.

That is well and fine, Datuk Seri, but may I remind you that I did exactly what you suggested and see where that got me? In April 2008, I went to the Kuala Lumpur High Court to file a copy of my Statutory Declaration and the following day my lawyer, J. Chandra, sent a copy to the prosecutors in the Altantuya murder trial. Then the police arrested me and the Attorney General charged me for what they allege is my crime of criminal defamation.

So you see, Datuk Seri, even when you go through what you said is the proper channel they still arrest you and charge you. So what, Datuk Seri, is the correct channel? It appears like no channel is the correct channel. Never mind which channel you use you can still get into trouble. Hence, Datuk Seri, can you explain what you consider as the proper channel?

To add insult to injury, Datuk Seri, I was charged for defaming your wife and two other people. First of all, Datuk Seri, that law that I was charged under applies to a situation when you allegedly defame a government officer in the delegation of his or her duty. Your wife at the time you were the Deputy Prime Minister was not a government officer and she was not on duty at that time. Hence for two reasons that law does not apply to this type of situation.

Furthermore, Datuk Seri, even if I did commit criminal defamation, I did not defame your wife and the two others. Even if I did commit criminal defamation, I defamed a fourth person, not the three people I am accused of defaming -- that is, your wife and the two others. I accused this fourth person of making that allegation against your wife and the two others. Hence the charge should have read, ‘You, Raja Petra Bin Raja Kamarudin, at a certain time, date and place, defamed Lt Kol Azmi Zainal Abidin…’ and not ‘You, Raja Petra Bin Raja Kamarudin, at a certain time, date and place, defamed Rosmah Mansor…’

Can you see, Datuk Seri, what I am driving at? And I reiterated this point in my TV3 interview last year just before the Sarawak state elections, which attracted a lot of controversy. And I also restated this in the statement the police recorded from me in Bangkok, Thailand, soon after that.

Datuk Seri, am I the only Malaysian out of 28 million Malaysians who can understand this? Surely 28 million other Malaysians, you included, cannot be that dumb that you just cannot understand this very simple point. I would like to believe, Datuk Seri, that I am not the only smart Malaysian and that all the rest of the 28 million Malaysians are country bumpkins with no brains.

Anyway, Datuk Seri, that is my issue, which is all water under the bridge any way. I really do not have any regrets because my wife, Marina, and I used to discuss that once I reach 60 we would leave Malaysia and come to England to live. My sons live here, as do my siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces and grandchildren, while my mother is buried in Surrey, the county (called district in Malaysia) where I was born. Instead, we came here in 2009 when I was 59, which means it resulted in us having to bring forward our plans by a mere year. 

In other words, if what happened in 2008 had not happened, we would have come here in 2010 anyway. And that was why in 2007 we bought a house in Manchester, sort of to prepare for our eventual move from Malaysia to England. Hence moving here in 2009 did not really upset our plans much and it was sheer luck that just a year and a half before that we had bought a house in Manchester.

My, I am digressing. But then that is what I am and my mother did say I had the gift of the gab, which in Bahasa Malaysia would mean cakap banyak or mulut murai (I think the kids today call is mulut lazer). What I want to talk about is that everyone needs a hero and, today, Rafizi Ramli is that hero. And you, Datuk Seri, turned him into that hero. And to become a hero you must face persecution, get arrested, fight against powers stronger than you, fight evil and corruption fearlessly, and so on, basically what Robin Hood did. 

In fact, Rafizi almost achieved that hero status with his crusade against NFC and George Kent. But he was not quite there yet until the government arrested him. And then, suddenly, he earned his stripes and became a fully-fledged hero. People just love those who stand up against an evil and corrupt power and stubbornly refuse to back down even when they are whacked. And the more they get whacked and the more stubborn they are the bigger a hero they become.

If you can remember, Datuk Seri, when I left the country in February 2009, many who hailed me as a hero began to condemn me. They called me ‘from hero to zero’. They were so angry that I chose exile over going to jail. They wanted me to stay in Malaysia and go to jail. They were outraged that I would rather leave Malaysia than go to jail.

So what does that tell you, Datuk Seri? Did they consider me a hero for fighting against the government? Did they consider me a hero for fighting against corruption? Did they consider me a hero for exposing the wrongdoings of those who walk in the corridors of power? The answer is no, no and no! They considered me a hero because I got arrested. That is the long and short of it. And when I refused to go to jail I become from hero to zero.

This is not one of my essays for Oxford, Datuk Seri. Those types of essays are purely academic. I am writing about my personal experience of how I became from hero to zero. And the reason I became a hero is because your government arrested me while the reason I become zero is because I refuse to go to jail and instead chose to come to Manchester.

So I know what I am talking about, Datuk Seri. And trust me, Datuk Seri, you do not want to turn Rafizi into a hero by arresting him next week to face a second charge under the Official Secrets Act. I mean, Datuk Seri, the Official Secrets Act is so yesterday. Today we should be talking about the Freedom of Information Act.

I trust, Datuk Seri, you will take this unsolicited advise in the spirit it was given. And can I take this opportunity to wish you Selamat Berpuasa and Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. And my salam to your charming wife as well. 

Till we next talk, stay well.