Malaysia’s de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim speaks during a news conference in Petaling Jaya outside Kuala Lumpur July 3, 2008. - REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad (MALAYSIA)
These days, Malaysians don’t have to watch a blockbuster thriller to get their kicks. They live in one.
Since March 8, the rakyat has been reeling from one scandalous revelation after another. Events have been speeding up at breakneck speed. Not one week goes by without an “earth-shaking revelation”.
It’s as if light is shining on the cracks in the system and cockroaches are scurrying out.
Last Sunday, just before I tucked in, my heart sank when I received an SMS alerting me to Anwar Ibrahim being accused of sodomy. AGAIN. By a PKR volunteer. Ugh. It’s a repeat of the 1998 fiasco. Conspiracy theories abound. Again. Sigh.
Then Anwar sought refuge at the Malaysian Turkish Embassy because there were concerns for his life. Apparently, there was an assassination plot.
Then the United States declared that “it would oppose any politically motivated investigation or prosecution of Anwar and that it hoped there was no ‘pattern’ in the new accusations against him.”
All this seem to indicate that there’s international support behind Anwar’s cause.
The latest shocker is the statutory declaration by one P. Balasubramaniam, a private investigator for political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda which connects Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to the case of the murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Sharibuu.
You can read the statutory declaration at A. Ibrahim’s blog or at Bob Jots.
Now there are talks about a possible state of emergency in Malaysia, and then rumours of Anwar’s possible arrest.
Are you going WTF ZOMG already? And this is not even the full list of events that has happened since March 8. I mean there was the whole Raja Petra’s (a popular Malaysian blogger) statutory declaration and then the various “little” scandals about misappropriation of funds along the way. Frankly, I’ve been unable to keep track.
What’s going to happen to Malaysia?
Are we truly going to become the Zimbabwe of South East Asia like some people theorise?
I prayed to God today, asking him to save us - are our prayers enough? I’ve never felt more helpless as a Malaysian.
Yet, being a writer, there were times when I mused what a great story all of this would make. Would we see Reformasi Malaysia: The Musical in Istana Budaya one day? Or a Hollywood 4-part mini series that will be played on HBO? Or maybe a bestselling memoir from Anwar?
Lawd, with everything that’s going on, why not???
But on a serious note, the murder of Altantuya Sharibuu had me thinking about this bible verse:
But the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! - Genesis 4:10
