Raja Petra: an enemy and a patriot

 

I would like to pay tribute to Raja Petra Kamarudin – an enemy but also a person whom I consider a patriot.

At the sunset period of my life, I harbour no grudges, vengeance or dengki to anyone. My spirituality has taught me to let Allah alone judge whether a person deserves salvation or not.

For me, I look at all people I have known as good with some things they have done, but perhaps not so good with others. I take issue with the not-so-good deeds, actions and sayings of these people, but I do allow such matters to cause me to judge their person as a whole. Indeed, it would be impossible scientifically or spiritually to label someone a wholly good or bad person.

I remember Raja Petra for doing great things in the days of Reformasi. However, he also did some bad things as a political mercenary to unseat those whom I consider good people in the present government.

A funny thing happened about two weeks ago when I came across a video on YouTube of Raja Petra commenting on the sedition issue involving Muhyiddin Yassin.

I have never liked to read or view any postings by Raja Petra or any of his statements that appear in my WhatsApp chat groups. To me, he had turned to the dark side and I was done with him.

Despite that, I listened to the man, and I felt what he had to say was significant. After that, I viewed one other posting, and that was the last.

According to Iswardy Morni, it was Raja Petra who was at the centre of the Dubai Move, and that was the worst of his misdeeds.

I also once came across Raja Petra describing me as 

Professor Kangkung

 because of some of my writings. I smiled quietly when I read his piece. I actually felt proud to be mentioned by a legendary blogger like him. It meant that my writings and media postings were significant enough to bother the great man. Nice! I harboured no ill-feeling from his attacks and so I never responded to his criticism of me.

I was at peace with Raja Petra because I knew he had lived a hard life during the days of Reformasi which many fortysomethings today would not know. If Raja Petra has had a good life in the UK in the last 12 years or so, I thank God that he has been rewarded for his great deed of standing up to Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Barisan Nasional.

Raja Petra was a single warrior like Moses standing up against the might of Pharoah and his vast army and dominion. For his great sacrifice in setting up Malaysia Today and the Maha Zalim websites, we all owe the man a great tribute.

If I were to name three personalities that fuelled Reformasi, gave hope to citizens like me, and showed that with tenacity and courage the mighty could fall, it would be Harakah’s Ahmad Lutfi, Malaysiakini’s Steven Gan, and Malaysia Today’s Raja Petra.

Among Malaysia’s darker days since May 13, 1969, the beating and jailing of Anwar Ibrahim bears no comparison. Although the might of the BN-led government was targeted at only one man, for me, that showed how the government machinery, the higher educational institutions, the religious institutions, the police and even the sacred judiciary had been compromised big time. I was living in a literal 

mafia state

.

Those who are young now can never understand the helplessness of watching one man being paraded in and out of the courtroom with mattresses being carried about as evidence.

The lowest point for our nation was in the dark days of Reformasi. Many Malaysians attacking Anwar nowadays do not have an iota of conscience or compassion for him because he was seen as the Malay leader that brought the politics of Islamisation to Malaysia. That is not true. Malaysia would have been Islamised with or without Anwar.

With the country in the grips of an iron fist, the streets were filled with protests by a mostly a Malay-Muslim crowd. Meanwhile, most non-Malays were too busy to bother, and eventually voted for and kept the BN government in power in the 1999 and 2004 general elections. So please don’t cry wolf now.

It was Raja Petra who stood alone against the onslaught of dignity and civil liberty. He maintained his Malaysia Today and Maha Zalim websites and wreaked havoc on a great empire. For his deeds, Raja Petra was hounded by the police, His family members were not spared. It is a low blow to use our children against us to silence dissent.

I remember Raja Petra in lock-up refusing to eat anything until he was released. I heard his wife had to sell nasi lemak to make ends meet.

I met Raja Petra only once at an event where he was to speak. We sat at the podium and talked for 10 minutes. My view of Raja Petra is all cyberspace and only those 10 minutes of face time.

For me, Raja Petra will always be a hero and a patriot. Whatever he did for money as a political mercenary is simply a product of our country’s institutions being compromised. We should never let that happen again.

So, let us honour the memory of Raja Petra Kamarudin, a patriot and a hero of Malaysia. Al-Fatihah. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.