I have always believed that Anwar doesn’t not have in him the seed of the world to come.
Anwar belongs to the past. Like it or not, his place is in the world that Mahathir reigned. In memories, proclivities, disposition, standpoints and aspirations, he belongs in the same world that Mahathir calls home.
The sun has long set on the old world. The old order, however, is stubbornly clinging to a world that is ceasing to exist, and its stubbornness is delaying the new world from having its time under the sun. If the ancien regime continues to have its way, it might even force the new world to be stillborn.
The slate needs to be wiped clean to prepare the grounds for the birth of the new world. The old trees that are taking all the space and blocking the sunlight and from reaching the ground need to be cut down so that young saplings can grow and replenish the forest.
Anwar might not contain the seed of the world to come, but destiny might have chosen him to be the one who prepares the ground for the new world to be born.
It doesn’t matter for what reason Anwar cuts down the old trees. It doesn’t matter whether he is doing it to settle old scores or to be the midwife of the world to come. As Deng Xiaoping once said, it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice. The only thing we need to know is that the old trees need to be brought down for the forest to survive. As long as he does what is necessary for the times, Anwar’s name will be remembered and honoured in the world that he will help bring forth, though he himself might not have any part in it.
For all you know, destiny might have conspired to bring Anwar to this very moment, by setting him on a path filled with trial and tribulations, for the past 25 years.
This is Anwar’s hour. His entire life might have been a preparation for this exact moment in our nation's history.
With the seizure of Ilham tower, the gauntlet has been thrown and the salvo has been fired.
Soon the forces of the old and the new world will be arrayed on the battleground.
Leading the new world will be Anwar Ibrahim, the last great man from the old world.
He will be leading the charge against his old companions, mentor, allies and comrades in the old world, for the sake of the world that is yet to come.
If he succeeds, he will be forever remembered as the man who saved Malaysia at a critical juncture in its history. He will be the Bapa Reformasi Malaysia, who against all odds, forced the old world to march into the sunset, and set the stage for a New Malaysia to have its time under the sun.
Nehru Sathiamoorthy is the author of “While Waiting for the World to end”. He was a columnist at FMT and a frequent contributor to the South China Morning Post, Malaysia-Today, MalaysiaNow, MalaysiaKini and Focus Malaysia.
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