Anwar vs Peja: Who dares wins

 

It shouldn’t be difficult for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to give the Tambun incumbent, the former Perak mentri besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu, also known as Peja, a bloody nose.

The Bersatu deputy president, who is also the youth and sports minister, is not popular amongst ordinary Malaysians.

If Anwar (above, right) can solve Tambun’s problems, and by association, the issues troubling Ipoh and Perak, then he should not have a problem winning our vote.

Despite his lack of academic qualifications, Peja (above, left) achieved a meteoric rise up the greasy pole of politics. He possesses one stellar achievement, which is the art of ampu-bodek (grovelling), but he does not mind the negative comments about his lack of commitment, because he is handsomely rewarded for switching sides.

He was made mentri besar, then briefly became a special adviser to a former PM, and despite his mediocrity, was made a minister.

Peja also has exceptional skill in switching sides, and it is difficult keeping up with his revolving door allegiances. His early career was in Umno-Baru, but in the run-up to the 14th general election (GE14), he switched sides to Bersatu which was then part of Pakatan Harapan, and later Perikatan Nasional following the “Sheraton Move”.

A disastrous MB

The orang asli in the constituency of Chenderiang felt betrayed by Peja, who encouraged crony timber barons to encroach onto their ancestral land in 2018. When criticised, Peja blamed the orang asli for failing to improve themselves.

As menteri besar, Peja awarded multi-million ringgit forestry projects to companies with RM2 paid-up capital. No open tenders were involved, and when netizens attacked him, he brushed aside their criticisms.

Ipoh folks were furious that Bukit Kledang, overlooking Menglembu was denuded, and residents who lived lower down the hill were fearful of being buried in landslides after nonstop heavy rains. The arrogant Peja ignored residents' concerns.

Malaysians were also angry that Peja was one of the main architects in the Sheraton Move of 2020. He flip-flopped from one policy to another. He did little to support athletes when he became the youth and sports minister.

As mentri besar, he was weak and ineffective, wasted money on white elephant projects such as the money-sucking MAPS theme park. He did very little about stopping environmental degradation and was clueless about attracting young talent to return and rebuild Perak.

So, is Anwar up to the task of giving Peja a good thrashing?

At one time, Tambun, like Ipoh, Kampar, Batu Gajah, and Tapah, was rich. These towns were built with tin money and were populated by millionaires.

Along came former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his Maminco project to corner the London tin market. Almost overnight, these millionaire havens became ghost towns. Mahathir could not have cooked up a better plan to rid Ipoh and its environs of the Chinese tycoons and their influence.

Will Anwar be able to rejuvenate Tambun and the Kinta Valley? It is an open secret that there are many officials on the take and many indiscriminate developments take place in the area.

Environmental destruction for ‘development’

Development is not just about building gleaming structures of concrete and steel. There is also mental and social development.

Will Anwar get rid of the parochial attitudes of the administration in Perak? Does he have a creative team who will prevent young Perakians from seeking their fortunes in other states, or overseas? Our schools are struggling.

When Harapan was briefly in power in 2018, the destruction of the limestone hills was halted. Umno-Baru resumed this destruction; will Anwar stop it again?

Anwar should stand in the middle of Tambun town and look at the surrounding limestone hills. They are fast disappearing. Successive Umno-Baru MPs and administrations have done little to preserve the beauty of Ipoh, and its karst hills. These limestone outcrops are what give the Kinta valley its beauty.

The destruction can be clearly seen if Anwar were to approach Tambun from the North-South highway because on either side of him, the limestone hills are being blown to smithereens. Any caves and archaeological treasures would not have survived the explosions.

Few developers in the area care. Their concern is to flatten the hills and erect concrete jungles and skyscrapers. They ignore the drainage of the area, so flash floods are common. Further north, illegal sand mining is common.

On the outskirts of Tambun, vegetable farmers have had several run-ins with the authorities. Farmers, who have tilled the lands for at least four generations, are being evicted. Malaysia has a serious problem with food security, but the government pays lip service to this problem.

Why not help the farmers who grow cheap vegetables, not just for the local trade, but also for export to Singapore? Anwar should look into this problem.

We lack an efficient public transport system. Despite all the promises, the administration has failed the Kinta Valley residents.

Litter is also a huge problem. The place lacks a cohesive education campaign about littering, and enforcement to punish fly-tippers is haphazard at best.

Politics is a nasty business in Malaysia and it is particularly bad, in Perak Look at how the convict Najib Abdul Razak destroyed the state’s democracy in 2009. Corruption and tribal politics have become a way of life.

Anwar can accomplish a lot in Perak, but he should do less talking. He should show us what he is capable of. Show, not tell. Act, not talk.

Prove it in Tambun and even his worst sceptics might back him all the way to Putrajaya. - Mkini

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MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.