July 20, 2012
Malik Imtiaz Sarvar: The Tragedy of RPK
http://www.malaysiakini.com (07-19-12)
PODCAST For the 21st Middle Malaysia podcast, media consultant Oon Yeoh speaks to prominent civil rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz about various legal matters, starting with Bersih 3.0.
He gives his view on whether the mammoth rally was in fact an illegal rally. He also talks about the lawsuit the government has instituted against the Bersih steering committee.
Malik also expresses concern over the Borders case where a manager was charged by the Islamic authorities for selling a book that was at the time not yet banned. He explains why it’s worrying because the Islamic authorities are going beyond their jurisdiction.
On an rather interesting note, Malik gives his views on well-known blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s switch from supporting Pakatan Rakyat to being its chief critic.
Hear his no-holds barred take on the “tragedy” of Raja Petra, whom Malik
now dismisses as “quite irrelevant”.
Back to legal matters, Malik shares his view on whether BN would give up power peacefully should it lose the general election and what would happen.
Malik gives an interesting twist on what he thinks could happen should there be an attempt by the BN government to declare Emergency if there is an upset in the polls.
The lawyer concludes the conversation by describing a scenario that could bring about a change in government.Listen to Malik in this 12-minute podcast.
We need more matured and level-headed public intellectuals like Malik Imtiaz and Haris Ibrahim to give us a balanced perspective on events and personalities in Malaysian politics . Well done, Malik. It is very interesting session you had Oon Yeoh. See you and Haris soon.–Din Merican
Excellent piece. But on the possibilities of a close election result… why not the obvious solution… a coalition…
Two sides must work together to form a Unity Government if GE-13 results in a hung Parliament (a likely scenario). But that can’t happen if both Najib and Anwar want to be PM of this government. We seem unable to think beyond the politics of power. Politics of unity is at the rhetorical level.
“Pecah belahkan rakyat” is the game today to win GE-13, using race and religion to accentuate differences within our polity. Keep dreaming, Isa, although I know that politics is the art of the possible and that there are no permanent friends, only interests.–Din Merican
Malik is one level headed and intelligent man. If Pakatan wins the General Elections I would prefer him to be appointed Minister of Justice.
Yes, I agree, RPK has become irrelevant.
But on the possibilities of a close election result… why not the obvious solution… a coalition…- Isa Manteqi
Isa Manteqi has never come out of his fairy world. He still thinks Malaysia is a land of little flying fairies and little hobbits.
I feel sorry for Isa’s declining intellect and shrivelling space between his ears.
Stagnation of thoughts is one thing, but a shrinking one!! Perhaps a bicycle pump into one ear and plugged on the other might help to expand the space.
BN is a coalition and PR is a coalition. Any more coalition is a mega one party state…. Isa Manteqi should have suggested Malaysia follow the path of North Korea, Cuba, Syria and China.
I have stopped reading Malaysia Today, the blog of RPK. RPK, in spite of his many warts, thinks that he is already God and is beyond critical examination. His blog has degenerated into tedious moralizing discourses on how indispensable he is. So boring and I don’t miss the flip-flops that RKP has indulged himself in!
Good interview with a calm, sane, lucid voice…. thank you, Imtiaz! Good work, Oon Yeoh
Why should there be a coalition?
If UMNO/BN can reform, it can win the 13GE hands down without being in the situation they are now in. However it cannot, largely due to the conflicting self-interests of its leaders and its component parties.
In the PR, the only party that is ‘susceptible’ to a coalition is PKR. True…there are no permanent friends; only interests or rather principles. However, I cannot see PAS and DAP sharing the same interests nor principles with UMNO/BN.
However, there could be a frogs galore. The direction to where they jump will depend on whether BN or PR is more likely to form the government post 13GE.
As a journalist the interviewer should not be asking leading questions and leading those he interviews. Rather he should do a quick follow up on the issues Malik raises and then leave the guy alone to answer. I find him irritating and a distraction. There is nothing funny and why is he laughing at his own jokes?
Somebody asks me why do I listen to FOX News and not MSNBC, NBC, NBC? I said I hate to hear my viewpoints being repeated – echoes of my own. I share Malik’s views on the issues mostly and I would like to hear somebody challenge him on those issues.
And has someone switched off the lights??
If only BN had reformed, we would not be in the quandry we are in today. All I know is that in the event of a razor-thin election result, a coalition CAN be hammered out that might sidetrack all the current confrontational posturings.
It is perhaps a dream, Dato but if amyone should know anything about consensus, collaboration and cooperation it is us Malaysians… after all that was how our country was born and how we have remained at peace and stability.
Frank has forgotten to take his constipation pills… again.
If they declare a state of emergency, they will have to justify their action
If the country is thrown into a turmoil, on purpose
They will have a price to PAY dearly
They are not going anywhere
Times up & out!
RPK HAS ALREADY SAID BEFORE – everyone has got a price!
So what do you think DINO BEANO?
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Maybe but some are priceless because they want to protect their family name.–Din Merican
Leave RPK to his own devices. Don’t think anybody is listening to what he has to say. He is a spent force if ever he was. Many thought he had the guts to take on Najib – and he did. In his foolish way. But it rallied folks to his call for change. It riled up the base. Today he is off on a frolic of his own that has nothing to do with change.
Leave the guy alone.
everyone has a price – Silent 1
every man has his price – Sir Robert Walpole —an old English idiom
Silent 1,
but not everyone is for sale…………remember that!
how would you like someone telling your dear one that?
If only BN had reformed, we would not be in the quandry we are in today- Isa Manteqi
Isa, you have been living in the world of IFs… by reading all your postings todate.
You cannot be making decisions based on ‘hypotheticals.’ and Fear of Change.
Just because BN did not reform, you want a MEGA COALITION between BN and Pakatan.
Might as well have a one-party state – A COMMUNIST STATE.
The dynamics of democracy is predicated on an adversarial system of governance where there are different viewpoints and opinions on what is good for the state is put out on the market place, to be either accepted or challenge. That is what democracy in a free world is all about and that is how it is nurtured to maturity. NOT forming One-party rule with Mega-Coalitions.
Hypotheticals of “IFs and Buts” are for wishing for little winged fairies and little hobbits to come out of a backyard garden to have breakfast with you.
Leave RPK to his own devices. He is a spent force if ever he was. – Mr Bean
Raja Petra’s public and personal persona in all these years is driven by one factor: He OVER-VALUED HIMSELF AND HIS SELF WORTH.
Perhaps that is because he thought he can get away with most things being one of royal blood, (claiming his royal roots with some of the royal palaces) and that he has some English blood in him, and as such if anything goes wrong in Malaysia,he can whisk himself off to UK anytime as a British carrying a British/EU passport
He thought he had a niche role with rising dissent of the chattering classes against the incumbent govt, and so he took upon himself the role of a “people’s fighter against oppression”, and Malaysians wanting a figure-head to take on the Establishment, warmed up to him.
Somewhere along the time, his ballooning ego from the adoration of his fans on cyberspace got the better of him. Either he wanted to remodel his public persona so as to now be seen as a NEUTRAL people’s fighter (ie not a Pakatan lackey), or that he suddenly found that Opposition politics is not getting HIM nowhere ie the suit is too small for his size, he decided to switch channel, so to speak, leaving his fans who stood by him, not because of him personally, but for what HE STOOD FOR.
RPK is now viewed as a brittle fighter whose ego is too big for himself and everybody elese, and who does not hesitate to throw tantrums. Not the kind of attribute a “people’s fighter” should have.
Now, to his former followers, the more he talks for or against Pakatan or UMNO-BN, the more they think he has a selfish motive for what he says or try to do.
He is now placed in a spectrum of a hypocrite at one end and an ego-maniac at the other.
RPK’s personal downfall is his own doing… he simply OVER-VALUED himself and his worth to the Malaysian public.
He is so badly discredited even by those of his former strong supporters and colleagues. Most prominent Malik Imtiaz and Haris Ibrahim and many others who once stood shoulder to shoulder with him and even put their own safety on the line for him.
Sad way to end an admirable career path. It could have led to better things for himself to the country as a whole,if only his larger than life ego did not get in the way.
“Why should there be a coalition?”
Yes, why should there be a coming together of thieves to share their loot?
We should all thank RPK (and similar people like Dr Chandra Muzaffar)
for what they did – courageously – in the past.
As for the present, just ignore them.
RPK took a pot-shot at PKR’s Latheefa Koya (READ HERE) claiminglaimed that the inappropriate manner in which Sepang Mekar Sdn Bhd was appointed to take over and redevelop the former Kelab Syabas swimming pool in Section 8 here was the reason behind PKR member Latheefa Koya’s resignation as a MBPJ councillor.
Guess what, the feisty shot back at RPK with equal measure. (READ HERE)
It goes to show the irelevance of RPK and his so-called evidence from his sources.
This is what Latheefa Koya wrote:
Look guys, it’s been a hard day – and rather than reading to or listening to that blathering pokkai (ex-bankrupt) fool RPK, i’d rather digest what the interview was about.
What strikes me is that almost everyone seems to think that UMNO will not go down without a horrendous fight (broken bones and crushed bodies and all that jazz..), should the time come. I beg to disagree. Most of the saner ones in that irredeemable, jaded party, already sense that their time is up.
They have a lame paramount leader, who doesn’t amount to much. And it is he who might hit out blindly – it’ll be like a juvenile temper tantrum – to which no one with a morsel of grey matter between their brains would support. So all the keris wielding and ax grinding, will be like a strutting peacock without a tail. The evidence of ‘cakap tak serupa bikin’ weighs heavily and indicts him as an invertebrate, like his yowling decrepit mentor.
The Malay middle ground, and even the elites, have shifted (tremors?) subtly. They’ve too much to lose, seeing what’s happening in the Mid-East. After all most Malays look up and copy the Arabs, no matter how insane. Plagiarism seems in vogue, in matters of culture and behavior, don’t you think? It may not be entirely peaceful, but i agree with Malik, that May 13 cannot and will not happen, again in the foreseeable future. Any questions?
You guys are talking about a nut case who spins for a living and takes a step back each time to watch the results of his handiwork. Over here we have a nut case armed to the teeth, shooting dead 14 individuals wounding 38 more in a movie theater. He has also wired his apartment with explosives. A month ago he was just another student. This one is a neuro science graduate pursuing a PhD course in neuro science. Somebody obviously forgot to scan his brain to see if it is wired properly.
What a roller coaster !
Mr Bean
Your neck of the woods is the land of the free ( to shoot) and of the brave ( to kill)?
Over here, it is land of the corrupt and of the cronies. .. Which is less violent, except for occasional injury from bag snatching criminals.
… And the land of the brave soon to become land of the neurotics.
Wishing all Muslim readers and bloghost , Selamat Berpuasa.
I will be in my best behaviour during this holy month, to conserve mental energy, unless provoked senselessly.
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Puasa should not slow down our mental activity. Thanks, Frank.–Din Merican
“The Malay middle ground …. ” CLF
What’s wrong with the Malay middle ground? Is it any different from the Chinese middle ground? Too much bush maybe? Is that why we have the rise of carpet munchers in Malaysia? Kathy wants to know.
Huh? Only mental ability?? What about the ‘long, cool dame? What do we tell her? Take a hike?
You guys still reading RPK spins? Pathetic.
Yup, the ground has shifted. The racial ‘politics’ of the ‘Middle Ground’, is passe’. This is no longer about the conflict of divisiveness (race, religion) we endure, it is a about policies that try to enculture it.
Using spurious accusations and gutter politics is now very ‘gelak’ and insults the Middle Malay cultural sensitivities. Same reaction from the Chinese, when the lap-mongrel party tried to take a dig at LGE and Betty. Middle as in the middle way, is the only option that can engender hope of a Brave New World. UNMO pedagogues still think with their cojones.
The Malay middle class is looking forward to engage the world at large. Exuberance and Overconfidence in their abilities are tempered by the realization that cooperation and sharing is essential to be competitive.
Carpet munching and -bagging will still be a problem, but they understand the sense of entitlement and rent seeking has reached it’s apogee under UMNO and has nowhere to go, but downward.
Mr Bean
The holy Book says the long cool dame should take a hike for the next 30 days.