By Niza Shimi
They say that first impressions count and that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. This has shaped how I see Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The first time I heard Anwar talk was when he came to my school when I was in Form Four. Possibly around 1974 when Tun Abdul Razak Hussein was prime minister. My headmistress invited Saudara Anwar (as he was known then) to speak as he had gained fame as a charismatic youth leader.
All I can remember from that speech was that he was a fiery orator and talked all about Islamic revivalism. I can clearly recall how he rolled off the name Snouck Hurgronje, a Dutch orientalist of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) who studied the Quran to subjugate Muslims.
Saudara Anwar's call was for us to better understand Islam, to make Islam a way of life and, as we were all girls, to cover our hair as it was aurat. Of course, the speech was full of fire and brimstone but I can’t remember much else.
A few girls did indeed wear the head scarf the next day, much to my headmistress’s distress. Those days Malay girls wore pinafores, heads uncovered, and were as Western as could be. This Islamic Revivalism stuff was radical. It shook Malaysia and parents were worried their children would abandon all things worldly.
Fast forward to my work days and I met Anwar again in several situations in a professional capacity. By this time Anwar had joined the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in 1982 at the invitation of his mentor and then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Assigned to cover several events attended by the then-deputy prime minister, I saw another side of Anwar. I witnessed his arrogance towards the local media. He was different from the foreign media. Gone were all the trappings of Saudara Anwar. He was Datuk Seri now.
The incident that forever shaped my impression of him was when a group of journalists were waiting to ambush him with some questions. A TV3 reporter who wasn’t very tall was right under his nose. She poked the microphone in his face and asked a question.
He glared at her and just turned away. Not far from that incident a foreign media reporter asked a question and he was all smiles and charming. It made me realise he was just an act. In all the events I have attended, neither Tun Mahathir nor Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak ever acted this way.
Since then, I have observed the many incidents that shaped Anwar’s rise and fall from power. Saudara Anwar is gone forever. What remains is a sad politician who is willing to work with his former mentor and tormentor (Tun M) just so he can become PM.
What more will he compromise? I don’t care about the high falutin jargon of reform and whatnot. But I do care if he wants to introduce religious pluralism. I don’t care if he can sing and dance but I do care how much he will compromise just to be PM.
My impression of him is that he has lost his bearings. He is desperate to be PM at all costs, despite being played out by Tun M time and again. I will not vote for Tun M or for Anwar. First impressions last forever.
Niza Shimi is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
Newswav is solely an aggregation platform and hosts the content. The views expressed and content above including media (pictures, videos, etc) were provided by the author. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
