Profiles in Courage—Wan Azizah and Anwar Ibrahim

November 7, 2008

Extracted from my friend Antares’ blog: http://magickriver.blogspot.com/

CHANGE, yes, We can and We will

WAN AZIZAH ISMAIL: No other woman in Malaysia has done as much to demonstrate the quiet, gentle power of the Feminine Principle as former Opposition Leader Wan Azizah, fondly known as Kak Wan. She studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and was awarded gold medals in obstretics and gynecology, but opted to graduate as an ophthamologist instead. When her husband was sacked as deputy PM and finance minister in September 1998, Wan Azizah rose to the occasion and led the Reformasi movement as president of Parti KeADILan Nasional (the National Justice Party, which later merged with Parti Rakyat Malaysia to form Parti Keadilan Rakyat or the People’s Justice Party).

All through the difficult years when her husband was incarcerated and in grievous pain from an untreated spinal injury, Wan Azizah carried herself with courage, dignity and stoicism – and yet she had a warm smile and a kind word for everyone she met at ceramahs. The people of Malaysia not only hold Wan Azizah in the highest esteem, but wholeheartedly adore, respect, and trust her. Not given to raising her voice or using harsh words, this living embodiment of nobility and virtue is the complete antithesis of – and the perfect antidote to – the degeneracy, corruption and hypocrisy within UMNO that crept in during the Mahathir Administration (and which continues to block the way for truly inspiring leaders to take over). With Wan Azizah as Prime Minister this nation will experience a massive healing and be restored to its destined greatness.

DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM: Is he the world’s most successful failure - or Malaysia’s response to Barack Obama? How come he’s still the Opposition Leader and not Prime Minister? And why did he insist in September that he had “the numbers” for a bloodless takeover of the federal government? Will Saiful Bukhari’s sodomy accusation be exposed as a vile conspiracy and the whole ridiculous case thrown out – or will Anwar find himself sucked into a rerun of the same nightmare, like a Prometheus chained to a rock and subject to having his reputation devoured by a vulture named Mahathir for all eternity?

Anwar Ibrahim is undeniably a man of extraordinary destiny, whose life reads like classic mythology, and whose trials and tribulations have been epic, perhaps even messianic. Feared, mistrusted, slandered, betrayed, unjustly accused, cruelly arrested, brutalized, politically crucified and thrown in the dungeon for six long years – Anwar Ibrahim’s resurrection and heroic return from the political wilderness is the very stuff of legends.

Despite the jaw-dropping miracle he has wrought by pulling and holding together the diverse factions within the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition – facilitating the political tsunami of 8 March 2008 that swept away UMNO/BN’s hitherto unvanquished and behemoth monopoly on power – some Malaysians remain skeptical and continue to mock Anwar’s publicly stated ambition to become Prime Minister.

I am certainly not one of them. Since September 2, 1998 – the day Anwar ceased to be Deputy Prime Minister,Finance Minister and UMNO bigwig – I have been observing the man closely and he has conducted himself impeccably as a spiritual warrior and visionary leader. From grudging admiration and growing respect, I have come to love the man as dearly as I love myself and my country. Yes, I believe and trust in Anwar Ibrahim and I have absolutely no qualms that he will prove the best prime minister for Malaysia at this juncture of our political evolution.—ANTARES