Reformasi Movement: 20 years on, Anwar's return and the new Malaysia
The 20th September is marked by the PKR and many in Malaysia as the day when the reformasi movement (reformasi means reform in Malay) took shape.
It was the day when Anwar Ibrahim, who was fired as Deputy Prime Minister, was arrested by a team of cagouled (masked) and armed men at his home in Damansara.
The arrest was so dramatic that it shocked many in the country. But with the government’s tight grip on power, many were sceptical.
Nevertheless, a large number of Malay-Muslims supporters of Anwar Ibrahim did not sit back as they fought on the streets with protests against the government.
The PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, perhaps manipulated by top Umno leaders, did not give an iota of opportunity to the nascent reform movement in the country.
But Anwar Ibrahim was not going to go without a fight. September 20 is a day that his entire family will remember. It is a day the Malaysians will learn to respect, because this is the day when the reform movement was consolidated.
Despite his arrest, the reform movement on the streets grew stronger and the voices were heard all across Malaysia. What saved Anwar’s political career was the arrival of the internet. It drew a large number of people online in support of Anwar and that was the beginning of the end of Umno’s rule.
For those who have lived through the years of the massive protests in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, the tight police cordons and the water cannons as well as the unrelenting beating of young and old folks in the streets by the police, they will know how it feels 20 years later.
That is to see a reformasi movement finally in power in Malaysia, albeit it is Dr Mahathir back in the hot seat of PM.
And for the reformasi movement, it is odd that Anwar Ibrahim is not in Parliament and is not in the first reformasi Cabinet in the country’s history.
Henceforth, it is salient for the Port Dickson voters to live up to the change in the country and to vote massively for Anwar Ibrahim.
The reform movement is not dead. There are divisions among the leaders on several issues. These leaders are tired, worn out of the long drawn battle they fought against the Umno and the Barisan Nasional.
When they got victory, they want to sit back and enjoy the moment.
But the call for reformasi and the need to carry out the reforms in the country needs the very thinker of the reform movement in the house!