Najib and Anwar: How do you explain to your children?

By Steadyaku47

“We cloak ourselves in cold indifference to the unnecessary suffering of others--even when we cause it.” James Carroll

I want to write today about a friend of mine - Anwar Ibrahim. About what he is going through now. About what personal pain he must be feeling in spite of the brave front that he puts for us all to see. About what he is going through as a father and husband. He is again living the nightmare he went through a decade ago. A nightmare that ended only after years of incarceration when he was pronounced innocent of sodomy. But that did not spare him the pain, the embarrassment and the humiliation of going through that first sodomy trial. Mahathir and Mahathir alone perpetuated that suffering. Mahathir is no longer Prime Minister. However God has not given Mahathir the grace to accept that he is no longer Prime Minister. Why God has not done so is for God to know. So maybe Mahathir really is to be pitied rather then reviled. We do know that God did not make UMNO leaders very bright either but even HE outdid HIMSELF when HE threw Najib Tun Razak into our midst.

In UMNO relentless search for power and great wealth we have been privy to many a scenario. The colossal road show pitting Mahathir against the Sultans. The sacking of Tun Salleh Abbas. The very public confirmation by UMNO’s own President of money politics  - invoking damnation and hell to those who practice it – a classic instance of the pot calling the kettle black! And a lot of good that did to UMNO! Huh!

We had to suffer the embarrassment of Mahathir babbling away teary eyed on stage for all to see because he knew  that it was time for him to go. Even he could no longer do anything about money politics in UMNO – so better to leave then be in the predicament that Najib and UMNO are now facing! Say what you like about Mahathir but in hindsight did he not engineer his exit at precisely the right moment? Give credit where credit is due I say!

And now Najib. I am not going to ask him how he sleeps at night after Altantuya. After pushing out Pak Lah. After Teoh Beng Hock. After Kugan. After PKFZ, after the death of the three innocent schoolgirls over the suspension bridge tragedy, even about his own sordid sexual past…..because in the privacy of your house doctors can give you medications - uppers or downers to manage your mental and physical state and still give you a good night sleep. So he sleeps ok at night. I am not going to ask him how he will face his maker when his time comes because hopefully for him, that is still a long way off and he still thinks that there will be time to wash his sins away.

But this I will ask of him. As a Father to Riza Shahriz,  Nooryana Najwa and Norashman how does he deal with his children’s queries about these things that are happening around them. Najib’s children are adults and educated enough to read, digest and think for themselves what is right and what is wrong. Their education, the best that money can buy, should enable them to make their own conclusion as to what Uncle Razak Baginda has done. If they can condone the Ringgit $500 million as commission for “services rendered” to our Nation that Najib has given to Razak’s – what about Razak’s Baginda’s keeping of Alatantuya as his mistress? What about her murder? What about the SMS that Najib send to Razak? What about the involvement of UTK in the murder? What about Bala’s statutory declaration about Najib’s connection with Altantuya? If anything I would like to believe that their education would give them the ability to conclude for themselves what is right and what is wrong. And I would also like to believe that they are educated enough to understand that the swearing by Najib on the Koran that he is innocent of Altantuya’s murder does not, and I repeat, does not, makes their father innocent of that crime. That, as any educated person understands, is for the court to decide.

So Najib, I ask you – have you sat down with Riza Shahriz,  Nooryana Najwa,  and Norashman to explain your part in the whole matter? Or have your family been conditioned to accept that in politics the ends justifies the means? And that is your excuse to them for hounding Anwar through the courts in the sodomy two trial. Your excuse for this disgraceful and shameful act of bringing another Father to disrepute and embarrassment in front of his children? You  know that Anwar is a father. A father with six children. He too, like you, will have need to explain to his children what is happening around them.

But then Anwar’s children know of their Father's commitment to help others less fortunate then him even before he joined UMNO. They have seen their Father imprisoned under ISA before he became the anointed successor to Mahathir. Then from being Deputy Prime Minister they have seen their Father taken away from them, from the sanctuary of their home by balaclava clad armed men and then hounded through a corrupt Judiciary by Mahathir for sodomy. Jailed and then finally vindicated. They have seen their father bashed black and blue by the Inspector General of Police. They have seen their father in Prison again – for a much longer period this time. And while he was in prison they grew up. They have seen their father come back from prison to become leader of the opposition. They have seen more than what any father would want their children to see of themselves in life and yet there is more.

Now Sodomy two. Najib do you think Anwar has to explain anything to them in as far as sodomy two is concern? Or are Anwar’s children already resolute and firm in their belief in the innocence of their Father and prepared for anything that you and your cohorts will throw at him – at them? And I am not even going to start about Azizah. Don’t anybody doubt Azizah’s ability to shoulder more then her share of bringing up that family and defending Anwar!

So again back to your family Najib. How do you deal with Riza Shahriz,  Nooryana Najwa and Norashman? The ends justifies the means? Huh! As for Rosmah I can only quote Bill Cosby who said “Let us now set forth one of the fundamental truths about marriage: the wife is in charge”. Camna? 

* This article is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The blog owner does not endorse the view unless specified.