Veteran Journalist Says Anwar Ibrahim Has Become Hollow And Uninspiring

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VETERAN journalist Kalimullah Hassan writes that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s words today are “hollow, meaningless” and no longer capable of inspiring Malaysians.
He says PMX has lost his sheen long before the nation’s dreams collapsed under decades of political crises, corruption and institutional decay.
“But just like my dreams dissipated over years of judicial, constitutional, royalty crisis, 1MDB, trafficking, incompetent governments, corruption, a nation that has lost integrity and intellectual capacity, a slowly disappearing word, fughààn (فغاں-) – a lament or a lamentation of grief and sorrow, comes up,” he wrote on Facebook.
He noted that perhaps this decline describes Malaysia’s forever lost years. “My dreams dissipated years ago; but Anwar Ibrahim lost his sheen even before that. His words are hollow, meaningless, and they neither captivate nor inspire,” he said, in agony.
Kalimullah contrasts this decline with the early years when a young Anwar stood on a stage in Batu Pahat beside Yasser Arafat.
He remembers being awestruck, listening to speeches that were ‘dil-āvez’, captivating and full of promise.
Those were the days when Mahathir Mohamad was reshaping Malaysia with bold decisions, synchronising the nation’s clocks and projecting a sense of direction and energy.
For Kalimullah, those moments defined an era of hope. He recalls dreaming of a rising country, a growing family, a career that felt full of possibility. But those days are gone.
He adds Anwar has become the embodiment of this decline, quoting Sun Tzu, “The King is only fond of words, and cannot translate them into deeds.”
Kalimullah ends with a grim note. PMX’s cabinet keeps him afloat, he says, but the greater tragedy is succession.
“But the real tragedy for Malaysia today is who succeeds this broken king? There’s nothing except decrepit, tainted, incompetent septuagenarians and octogenarians,” he lamented. —  Focus Malaysia

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