Back Opinion Anwar Should Beware That In Fighting Monsters He Doesn T Himself Turn Into A Monster

---

(NW) – When I criticised ex Penang Chief Minister Ramasamy recently, for behaving improperly towards a guest (the guest here being PMX Anwar and Digital Minster Gobind Singh Deo) during Thaipusam by picking on his dress, entourage, speech, date and duration of visit, his deputy by the name of Satees will retort against my criticism by asking me why am I so suddenly supportive of Anwar Ibrahim?
Satees himself will allude to two reasons as to why I am “suddenly” shifting my support to PMX Anwar.
The first, according to Satees, is because I am paid to do it. To this I will only say that I wish it was true, because so far, no one has come forward to pay me for the things I write other than Newswav. I am printed by other media outlets, yes, but none of them pay me.
The second, according to Satees, is because of my kerfuffle with the Sarawak Premier Abang Jo last year, which resulted in Abang Jo lodging half a dozen police reports against me. I don’t know how Satees see my unfortunate affair with Abang Jo is connected with me supposedly being pro-Anwar, but there might actually be some truth to it, because I did at a point, believe that I should stop being critical of PMX Anwar at least for a while, because if I am critical of both the leaders of East and West Malaysia at the same time, I am surely going to be doomed.
Some might call this cowardice, but I don’t care.
As far as I am concerned, If people like Ramasamy get in trouble, he can get other people to come and defend him or bail him out, but I can only count on myself. That being the case, I see no shame in pulling back my punches and retreating when I am forced to engage with far superior opponents, rather than charge like a fool and die a dog’s death defending something that is frankly, not really particularly worthwhile or meaningful.
It is easy to fight when someday someone else goes to prison or pays for it. Try fighting for something with your own hard earned money and freedom at stake, then tell me what you think, and perhaps then I will bother to listen to what you have to say.
Also, after last year’s budget, when Anwar announced a slew of pro-working class initiatives, I must admit that I had even become pro-Anwar for a while, because I most definitely and unabashedly am for the pro-working class stance that he took.
There are two things that I write about that you should take with a pinch of salt. The first is about Indians and the second is about the working class. Because I identify with both these groups, I generally cannot be counted to be objective about whatever I write about these two groups.
A man has to stand somewhere, and I stand with the Indians and the working class. Whatever a man stands for, he cannot be expected to be objective about it, so I don’t expect anyone to trust me when I speak about Indians or the working class. When I speak about these subjects, you should probably hear me as how a judge would hear the lawyers that are arguing in front of him or her. Yes, there is probably some truths in what the lawyers are saying, but much of it will be exaggerated and some of it will be omitted in order to present a narrative that will be pursuant to the respective interest that they are pursuing. As a judge, it is you who must use your judgement and discernment to determine the reality of the situation, and not depend on me to present you with a fair and unbiased reading, about a subject that I cannot be expected to be fair and objective about.
But now that it has been many months since Anwar last did anything significant for the working class, and considering that Anwar and Abang Jo have their own disagreements to resolve, and thus are unlikely to be paying attention to me anymore, I think I am capable to be more objective in regards to Anwar’s reign today.
So what is my view about Anwar’s reign today, you ask?
Well, I believe that like I had predicted earlier, Anwar is getting more dictatorial the more he secures his hold on the reign.
Has Anwar secured his hold on his reign?
I believe the answer is yes. For the first two years of his reign, Anwar regularly faced the possibility that his reign would be overthrown before its time, but today, I think the chances that he will finish his tenure is significantly greater than the chances that it will collapse.
I believe we will know for sure after the Sabah state election concludes, but if Anwar manages to create a unity government in Sabah, with PH being a critical component of the coalition that will emerge to govern Sabah, I feel that Anwar’s rule will go from being strong to unassailable.
Why do I believe that Anwar is getting more dictatorial?
Well, it is because in many of the incidences that I see are happening in the country, from the arrest of a Malaysia Kini journalist to the imprisonment of a 67 years old former Bernama journalist to the way that the Najib Addendum Conundrum is handled to the ascension of Musa Aman as the Governor of Sabah and Zahid Hamidi’s DNAA, and many more, which I doubt i need to tell you because i am sure you already know, I feel that our dear country today seems to be running more on discretion of those in power than in obedience to any principle, rationale or reason.
This recurring suspicion that I have, which is that under Anwar’s reign, it is the discretion of those in power, rather than adherence to principles, that will determine how the authorities will act, is why I believe I am continuing to believe, that under Anwar, Malaysia will enter a more authoritarian phase.
Am I concerned that Anwar being dictatorial?
Well, suprisingly, my answer is no.
Like I have mentioned earlier, I do believe that somebody will likely have to act in a more dictatorial, or at least authoritative manner, in order to save the federation from disintegrating.
In the way that I see it, I don’t see anyone in the country who is capable of wielding dictatorial power other than Anwar.
Mahathir could have done it he was younger, but considering that he 100 years old, added to the fact that Mahathir has lost most of the gravitas, prestige and respect that he previously held in the last 7-8 years, means that the only person that I feel will be able to serve as the PM for Malaysia at at a time when the Federation is beset on many fronts with existential problem, is as Nazri Aziz said, Anwar and only Anwar.
Do I believe that Anwar will be a good dictator though?
First of all, I would like to say that I don’t necessarily have a negative view of dictators. I think people like Lee Kuan Yew was a dictator too, and I think not only did Lee Kuan Yew do a great job as a dictator, I think if he didn’t assume dictatorial powers when he assumed it, I doubt that Singapore would even exist, much less succeed today.
I believe that democracy can only work well in a nation whose population has the sufficient amount of virtue, resources and skills, to operate on its own. In such a nation, a democratically elected leader will only need to act as a representative to the people to other nations, and act mostly as a facilitator and adjudicator within their country, and otherwise leave the people alone to mind their own business.
In a nation where virtue, resources and skills are lacking however, we will probably need a dictatorial albeit benevolent leader, in order to change the profile of the nation, to ensure that it will be able to obtain the virtue, resources and skills necessary to mind our own business and leave everyone alone.
We will need a dictatorial leader because only a dictatorial leader can break our old habits that are detrimental to us and instil the character necessary for us to accumulate the resources, virtue and skill necessary to enable our country to survive and thrive, instead of decaying and disintegrating.
We must remember that until Lee Kuan Yew came into the picture, there was little to no difference between a Malaysian and a Singaporean. Today, there is a much more palpable difference between a Malaysian and Singaporean, and the reason why there is a noticeable and significant difference, is because of the influence of Lee Kuan Yew in the attitude, culture, habits, character, ethics and world view of the Singaporeans.
It is because of Lee Kuan Yew’s influence in the Singaporean Experience, that Singaporeans were able to transform themselves into the sort of people that can survive and thrive in the modern times.
If Malaysia wants to stop its period of deterioration and disintegration, and enter a period where it will again succeed and thrive, we will likely need a dictator in the mold of Lee Kuan Yew to turn things around.
So does this mean I think that Anwar will be as good a dictator to us as Lee Kuan Yew was to Singapore?
Well, here is the onion. I don’t know.
All I can say is that we probably are going to need a dictator to save the federation from such issues as corruption, race and religious tension as well a separatist desires, and Anwar is likely the only person in the federation who is capable of wielding dictatorial power.
As of now, I can only see that Anwar is capable of using dictatorial powers, as applied by the previous regime, to quell the opposition to his rule.
I have however, yet to see any significant signs that he is going to cleanse the nation of the plague of corruption, cronyism, nepotism, kleptocracy and other debaucheries that is causing us to degenerate in our virtues, as well as reduce our skills and resources.
I also don’t see Anwar showing any signs, like Lee Kuan Yew, that he is capable of transforming the character of the nation, from being one given to break apart and sink into oblivion, to becoming one that will not only survive, but thrive in the years to come.
I also have doubts as to whether Anwar’s penchant of fighting fire with fire, will not curse Anwar into becoming the same thing that he is fighting against.
So in conclusion, I suppose that the only thing that I can say about Anwar and his reign for now, is in the words of the German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”
For now, I can only see Anwar fighting monsters in the abyss. What I don’t see yet though, is signs that he will not himself be drawn into the abyss, and become the very monsters that he is fighting against.
Source : NewsWaz
The post Back Opinion: Anwar should beware, that in fighting monsters, he doesn’t himself turn into a monster appeared first on Malaysia Today.

---