Ke Mana Malaysia Kita? 7

~ The Koboi Project

A is for Anwar Ibrahim. He is now the 10th PM of Malaysia and his first job is to form the cabinet of the new unity government. Partiularly, he has to find a compromise that satisfies his old allies of choice and his new allies of convenience (or duty, to put it positively).. What will this mean for all the hopes of his base, particularly their ‘no compromise on corruption’ and ‘the Malaysia for all’ aspirations. Whatever the outcome, Anwar Ibrahim is now the leader of a larger coalition than he started with and this logically means a degree of detachment from the community that brought him to the Prime Minesterial role. The pertinent question is – how far he will rise above his base?

Update 17. 12.2022: Some quarters are now suggesting that Anwar Ibrahim’s Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)signed with his Unity Government supporters on the eve of the vote of confidence on his new government, is a prelude to a new Malaysian Autocracy! The MOA allegedly contains a condition that misconstrues Article 49A of the Federal constitution as it refers to it as the basis for a clause that requires government MPs to vacate their seat if they vote against the prime minister. On the other hand one cannot but sympathize with the new PM in his desperate need to restrain Malaysian parliaments inherently amphibious condition – its tendency towards Katakcracy!


https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2022/12/17/unity-govts-mou-prelude-to-dictatorship-says-ex-deputy-law-minister/

Ke Mana Malaysia Kita? 4

~ The Koboi Project

1 Kibaran Bendera, Panji Pauh Ulung, unbublished

Anwar Ibrahim was the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, when the Asian financial crisis struck in 1997. Although he seemed to be on the way to becoming the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia, he got into a conflict with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed and, by 1998, he was sacked from his post, arrested and charged with the offences of corruption and sodomy. In 1999 he was convicted and jailed. Today, 24 years after he was foiled in his early prime ministerial ambitions, and following Malaysia’s GE15 resulting in a hung parliament, Anwar has been asked by the Agong to form the next government. At last, in 2022, fragile though his tenure might be, Anwar Ibrahim has finally become the 10th.Prime Minister of Malaysia.

https://koboibalikkampung.wixsite.com/sialjambalang

For more –
Lament for Anwar
1 Kibaran Bendera
Politik Ulangan (1993 -2020)

Ke Mana Malaysia Kita? 3

~ The Koboi Project

9 Kuncu Kuncu, Koboi Balik Kampung, 2015

This image is about the associations in Malaysian life that transcend race and religion. Be it in the realm of politics or that of business, and even in crime and corruption, Malaysians come together across these primordial divides. One might say, every Mahathir has his Ananda or every Anwar has his Nalla, or even, every Najib has his Jo low. This image celebrates my own Malaysian cabal. Particularly, it commemorates my own friendship with the late Suflan Shamsuddin.  My other close friends in this photograph are Lim Chee Min and Thomas Vanniasingam. Here is an extract from a letter I wrote to Suflan posthumously as a way of remembering him.

https://koboibalikkampung.wixsite.com/series/suflan-shamsuddin

Saya Doa Bagi Dia Sihat!

~ The Koboi Project
Anwar certainly has not lost his bite and charm on the hustings. What wins me over though, is ironically or otherwise, he remembers his adab! Nevertheless, I wonder what this old fued has to do with the future of Malaysia. Which brings me back to the irony in his prayers for good health!

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8f9s56