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Pray for Malaysia

The country was shocked by two incidents within less than 20 hours. PKR adviser Datuk Seri

Anwar Ibrahim was ound !uilty o sodomy and a "alaysia Airlines li!ht has !one missin!.

The saety o the 2#$ %assen!ers and crew on board has very much worried "alaysians.

At this moment& the %olitical outlook& as well as the social and %sycholo!ical trauma are

severe tests or "alaysia.

Anwar also lost his candidacy in the Ka'an! by(election ollowin! the court)s decision. *e is

acin! a ive(year im%risonment and it is tantamount to castin! a neutron bomb to the

%olitical arena& which would not only aect the by(election and the Selan!or menteri besar

candidate layout& but also brin! a !reat im%act to the "alaysian %olitics.

Ater the court announced the verdict& many %eo%le could not hel% but was shocked by it& as

i they had !one back to the day +, years a!o& when Anwar was arrested.

-hat ha%%ened +, years a!o mi!ht not have included in the %lan o ormer Prime "inister)s

Tun Dr "ahathir "ohamad. The wish mi!ht be to end Anwar)s %olitical lie as soon as

%ossible& end the conrontation& so that the stron!man %olitics could be restored.

*owever& that day has not %assed but continued even until today. It has motivated Anwar and

i!nited the Reormasi movement& resultin! in the lon!(run stru!!le between the / and

Pakatan Rakyat.

The stru!!le has led to the establishment o PKR& as well as Pakatan Rakyat& while takin! a

bi! ste% in %ractisin! the cross(racial %olitical model. In the civil society& it has also ins%ired

the %eo%le)s %olitical awareness. "any %eo%le started to doubt and o%%ose to the one(%arty

dominance system. The %eo%le have been oered another o%tion& which !ave rise to the two(

%arty system movement.

Anwar has been a real leader& as well as a s%iritual icon rom +$ to 20+1. In %articular& he

had %layed the roles o !atherin! consensus and uelin! in the 200 and 20+# !eneral

elections.

The stru!!le between two %olitical !rou%s has !iven birth to healthy com%etitions in %olitics.

The / has also dro%%ed some %arts o its bi! brother mentality and chan!ed into sot

attitudes while makin! some ad'ustment to %olices& to i!ht or the su%%ort o the %eo%le&%articularly "alays.

*owever& the stru!!le also seems to have almost reached a critical %oint. In the 20+# !eneral

election& the / won the rulin! %ower but not the %o%ular votes. Ten months later& the PKR

created a by(election to %ave the way o makin! Anwar the Selan!or menteri besar& as an

eort to march towards Putra'aya rom the state.

Precisely at this very moment& the sodomy case that has lon! shrouded came to a decision.

*istory seems to re%eat itsel +, years later. -here would it lead "alaysia to

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The PKR wishes to re%eat the mode and launch the Reormasi 2.0. Some %arty leaders

believe that they have to achieve the !oal throu!h street movements. 3 course& it is not yet

an oicial %olicy o the %arty and has not been acce%ted or su%%orted by other com%onent

%arties o Pakatan Rakyat.

The Reormasi movement at that time was illed with indi!nity. Today& however& most o thethen activists have %robably turned middle a!ed. They have walked %assed the u%s and downs

in %olitics& as well as the era o sadness.

The new !eneration today had not even attended %rimary school durin! the Reormasi

movement at that time and thus& they have no e4%erience in it. They have also !ot used to the

stru!!le between the two %olitical !rou%s and thus& the im%act o any incidents on them

would not be as intense as on the %ast !eneration.

The court verdict will certainly arouse indi!nation o Anwar)s su%%orters and !ain him much

sym%athy rom swin! voters. Re!ardless o who is !oin! to contest in the Ka'an! by(election

as a PKR candidate& he or she is e4%ected to easily deeat the /.

*owever& Anwar)s %lan to enter Shah Alam seems to have come to nothin! and everythin!

has returned to the s5uare one. The PKR)s strate!y to march towards Putra'aya rom Selan!or

has suered a setback.

3verall& Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat could win more sym%athy and its %olitical stru!!le could

!ain more attention.

As or the /)s wish to coo%erate with Pakatan Rakyat to %romote national reconciliation& it

seems to have turned out as a stillborn %lan. It is not a !ood thin! or the current trend o

%olitical and reli!ious %olarisation.

So ar& the whereabouts o the "*#60 remains unknown and all I ho%e is a miracle that

everyone on board is sae.

At this moment& no one knows the truth and it is not necessary to make s%eculation and

accusations. Instead o %artisan& racial and reli!ious dierences& what is needed now is

em%athy and com%assion& as well as %rayer and the e4%ression o concern.

This is a diicult sta!e& as well as the time or unity and mutual su%%ort.