Rafizi’s wife prepared for his possible arrest

INTERVIEW | The couple, in fact, are actually quite happy over the possibility of a lawsuit by the Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and the consequences to be faced under the OSA.

“They are doing something to silence him by arresting him, we are happy with that.

“He (Rafizi) is happy with what he’s doing, so I think I should be happy, (too),” she told Malaysiakini.

As a wife to a politician like Rafizi, Fisha believes that one has to have a positive mind, if possible, at all times.

Failure to do so would affect him as her husband would be worried about how she would feel. And the couple, she said, always has a backup plan.

Fisha has even told him that she would stay at her mother’s place should he get arrested.

All in all, the 42-year-old simply believes that being a whistleblower is her husband’s calling.

“He wants to do it (and) we can’t do it the conventional way, we are up against the regime (so) we should do something extraordinary,” she said.

Admitting that coping without Rafizi would not be easy, Fisha, however, is of the opinion that they were an “unconventional” couple.

Citing normal Asian marriages where the wife might be slighted if the husband does something, she is thankful for the support of both their family members.

“Knowing that what he’s doing is right - there’s nothing to fear. If he has to go through it, he has to go through it and we are all behind him,” she said.

‘Eighth time behind bars’

And this would also not be the first time that he gets arrested. If the lawmaker gets arrested this time around, it would be the eighth time that he finds himself behind bars although this would only be the second time if he gets detained for days.

“I reminded him how he was detained for five days sometime in March last year; so it’s like an annual thing,” she said.

And whatever happens, the couple’s two-and-a-half-year-old son is of paramount importance.

“We want our son to be as happy as possible because whatever parents feel will be reflected to the son. We have prepared ourselves (that) whatever happens, it will not affect our son.

“We are more worried of what we did not do, if we miss the boat or the opportunities to do things,” she said.

The Manchester University alumnus is also frank when sharing that it was initially not easy to be Rafizi’s wife as her husband is always out attending ceramah and meeting other politicians almost 24 hours a day.

But after a while, she realised that she had to accept it, even though Rafizi himself may have considered himself a “reluctant politician”.

“Eventually, I must say, I’m not a reluctant wife to a politician. I have to respect what he’s doing.

“He’s not doing it out of gaining or abusing power, he’s doing it to bring back justice to Malaysia. So things have been easy since I put my mind to it,” she said.

Recalling how she met him, the two first laid eyes on each other during the night the Pandan MP won the best debater for the Prime Minister’s Cup in 1992.

Rafizi was then only 15 while she was there to support her college classmates who were from the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK), the same school Rafizi was in.

“I did send him letters, I’m not sure why I was attracted to him, it was not because he was the best debater, I didn’t know what exactly,” said Fisha between chuckles.

They then, however, lost contact and as fate would have it, met again in 2009. The two reconnected through Facebook after the passing of the late Azlan Benan Omar, PKR Youth’s former secretary.

When it comes to her occupation, the low-profile person has been a banker all along ever since she graduated with a degree in biochemistry.

“When I graduated, the market was not good, there were not many opportunities. I have always been interested in finance, so I ventured into banking,” she said.

Happy staying out of limelight

And she is also happy with being out of the limelight, stressing that the limelight should be on her husband instead, as a politician.

“And we want to have a private life. If we start meeting people, they will ask for our phone number and will start calling,” she pointed out.

She credits her emphasis on privacy to the reason why the couple has survived this far.

“We are happy with what we have because we try to be as private as possible, we don’t want any intervention from anyone. Once you start comparing with other wives, you will feel different.

“That has helped in how we handle things so far, because I don’t have to compare how my husband can do this and that, or why can’t my husband do that.”

And Fisha stresses that it was a choice that she herself had made, more so due to her work as a banker.

Her husband may be one of PKR’s most important politicians, but she is not even a member of the reformist party or any other political party. She however keeps abreast of political issues through reading blogs. -Mkini