Can Anwar be trusted?

Going by what he is doing and saying at the ceramahs,I think Anwar is truthful and genuine in wanting to serve the nation.One has to only attend a ceramah of his to understand that.Not only he is genuine but is increasingly demonstrating that is a really true leader for all Malaysians.

He speaks openly in front of all,Malays,Chinese and Indians,in support of any community that is marginalized.He calls for the elimination of suspicion between the races and stresses on the importance of developing mutual trust among them.

He does have closed-door sessions to discuss the problems of individual races.This is a signal of the evolution of a multiracial Malaysia where each community understands,appreciates and willing to help each other to get out of their ailments.

It is time that we put our prejudices of his past and support him for a better future.Who does not make mistakes to condemn Anwar for life?

Dr.Chris Anthony


Anwar says it again 'I'm no chameleon'

Terence Netto Malaysiakini,Mar 2, 08 2:51pm


PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim met head-on criticisms contained in a widely circulated MCA leaflet portraying him as a chameleon that changes colours to suit its political surroundings.

The unflattering portrait of the PKR leader conveyed by a 4-page leaflet entitled “Disclosing the true face of Anwar” was, according to the fine print on the last page, issued by the party’s headquarters in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

Among other things, the leaflet claimed Anwar was against lion and dragon dances when he was then culture, youth and sports minister in 1982; that he decreed the teaching of Chinese and Indian studies in Universiti Malaya be in Bahasa Malaysia in 1987 when he was education minister; and that he placed non-Mandarin speaking administrators in government-run Chinese primary schools.

When asked to respond, Anwar said: “The notion that I’m a political chameleon misses things by a mile.”

He elaborated: “Nothing I did and said in the language and cultural spheres were not standard BN-Umno policy and nowhere did I take my championing of any issue to the extent that I waved a keris and called for bloodletting, stirring crowds to emotive outbursts.”

Anwar was referring to the October 1987 Umno Youth-led demonstration in Kuala Lumpur where a band of Malay leaders, including present Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, harangued the crowd with inflammatory rhetoric.

Anwar’s face-off

At that time, the posting of non-Mandarin speaking administrators to government-aided Chinese schools ratcheted up racial tension in the country.

“Those were fraught times and I hold that the distinction one ought to make between a responsible and a chauvinistic leader in that context lay in how you argued your point without inflaming public sentiment.

“I stood on the sane side of that divide while there were others in power today who breached that line with impunity,” he said.

In a low twist, the leaflet accentuates Anwar’s supposedly devious side by superimposing a Chinese theatre facial mask on one side of his face on the opening page.

The charges leveled at Anwar in the remaining pages reinforced this image of a sinister character, untrustworthy and unprincipled.

“I suppose all is fair and foul in the midst of a high stakes election campaign,” commented Anwar. “But the notion of me as a Malay ultra is a base canard.”