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By Mihar Dias August 2025
When a leader speaks too loudly, it is rarely a sign of strength. More often, it is fear trying to disguise itself as authority. Rafique Rashid’s sharp Facebook comeback to the Prime Minister’s recent outburst puts this into perspective: the louder Anwar Ibrahim warns, the more obvious it becomes that he is shaken.
Anwar’s fiery call to “stop inciting” and his stern warnings about national harmony sound less like statesmanship and more like desperation. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B3MTqkoWg/
His so-called “final warning” to critics—even couched as a call for calm—looked uncomfortably like instructions being passed down to the police. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B3MTqkoWg/
The irony is painful: a man who rode the crest of Reformasi by speaking truth to power now finds himself scolding the public for daring to question him.
The triggers of his anger are telling. An upside-down flag. The Zara Qairinah case. A legal challenge to his eligibility.
Symbols, scandals, and lawsuits—none of which required the voice of thunder if his government was secure and trusted.
But the opposite seems to be happening. Instead of easing tensions, the Prime Minister’s words have fed a sense of double standards: one law for the powerful, another for everyone else.
The Zara Qairinah issue has clearly cut deep with the public. Parents across the nation saw not just a victim but their own children in her place.
To dismiss the outrage or sweep it under the carpet only reinforces the idea that there is justice for some, silence for others.
When citizens rally around the Jalur Gemilang, it is not to destabilize the nation but to demand respect for its symbols. What crime is there in that?
Rafique is right to note that fear is at the heart of this storm. A Prime Minister confident in his legitimacy does not need to shout down critics or label them as threats. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B3MTqkoWg/
If anything, this government’s inability to provide a credible post-mortem on its missteps—whether in managing dissent or explaining double standards—shows weakness, not authority.
The legal challenge to Anwar’s eligibility to contest elections is another thorn. It does not question the royal prerogative of pardon but asks a narrower, technical question: was the five-year disqualification truly lifted?
If the Prime Minister is secure, why the defensiveness?
After all, courts are there to answer such questions, not mobs or political rallies.
In the end, Rafique’s conclusion is uncomfortably true: the people have found their voice, and they will not easily be cowed. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B3MTqkoWg/
Anwar’s warnings may echo from the podium, but the “ugutan rakyat”—the threat of public discontent—rings far louder.
Perhaps the Prime Minister should remember his own history. Reformasi was born not in silence, but in defiance.
Now, faced with citizens who dare to question him, Anwar must ask himself: is he the reformist he once was, or just another leader trying to scare his people into silence?
Wasn't it Nero who fiddled while Rome burned?
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) 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!
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