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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [sangkancil] Anwar aid surfaces in Perth (fwd)
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 01:02:11 +0800 (SGT)
From: M G G Pillai <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Sang Kancil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CC: SK <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 07 Aug 2000 10:09:13 GMT
From: chris smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: anwar
Dear MGG Pillai,
Thought you might be interested in these for your sang kanchil site.
These
three yarns appeared in The West
Australian on Saturday.
all the best
REBEL STARTS ANWAR FIGHT FROM PERTH
By P.T. Singam
Foreign Editor
MALAYSIAN political dissident Abdul Rahim Ghouse, who fled his country
two
years ago when deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was sacked and
arrested, has surfaced in Perth.
Dr Rahim, his wife and four children have lived quietly in a Perth
suburb for almost a year after first moving to Jakarta in Indonesia on a
temporary residence visa.
In an exclusive interview with The West Australian yesterday, the
Rahim
family shed their anonymity to seek Australian public support for their
campaign to oust Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and promote
the
Free Anwar Campaign, a global cyberspace crusade to seek justice for
Anwar, who they say was framed by the Government and jailed for six
years
for abuse of power.
The family's decision to go public is certain to aggravate the already
strained diplomatic relationship between Malaysia and Australia, which
has
protested at Anwar's arrest and bashing in police custody.
Dr Mahathir has labelled Prime Minister John Howard as anti-Malaysia
and
said Mr Howard was not welcome in the region, at least in Malaysia. He
also has grizzled about the support for Anwar from Mr Howard and leaders
from both sides of Australian politics.
The Malaysian Government, given its disenchantment with the Federal
Government, could be expected to protest strongly to Canberra about Dr
Rahim's activities in Perth.
It would certainly see this as justification of Dr Mahathir's
outbursts
against Mr Howard and would seek to portray the Australian Government as
promoting anti-Malaysian subversives abroad.
The Malaysian Government would question Australia's intentions in
granting temporary residence.
ÉWhen Rahim applied for a visa in Jakarta, they must have known his
identity because he was making very public anti-Mahathir statements,æ a
Malaysia watcher said.
At the height of the Malaysian political crisis and before Anwar's
arrest, Dr Rahim fled Malaysia in a fishing boat to join three other
Anwar
backers in exile in Indonesia to plot the downfall of Dr Mahathir. He
organised meetings between Anwar's eldest daughter and then Indonesian
president B.J. Habibie and Philippine President Joseph Estrada.
The presidents' public show of support for Anwar incensed the
Mahathir
Government, which warned member countries of the Association of
South-East
Asian Nations against interfering in Malaysian domestic politics.
The same warning could be made to Canberra about Dr Rahim's
declaration
that he is Anwar's personal representative in Perth and is determined to
enlist Australian support for his campaign.
But Dr Rahim, 39, a sociologist, said he was not doing anything wrong
or illegal.
He came to Australia through the proper legal channels and did not
intend to break Australian laws.
Anwar fight from Perth
ÉI am grateful to Australia for allowing my family to move here,æ he
said.
ÉWhile in Jakarta, we were on visitors' visas and it was difficult to
live there. Despite support from human rights groups and non-government
organisations, there was pressure on the Indonesian Government to
alienate
us. My children could not attend school legally. Our lives were
disrupted.
ÉAustralia has given us the opportunity to rebuild our lives as a
family. My wife and children are again leading normal lives. My
children
have settled in well and there is no disruption to their education,
which
is the main reason I applied to come to Perth.æ
Soon after arriving in Perth last October, Dr Rahim was visited by a
senior Malaysian police officer who sought to negotiate his return. But
Dr
Rahim refused to go back until Anwar was freed.
Dr Rahim told Amnesty International, the human rights group which has
followed the Anwar case closely, about the visit.
He had not heard from the Malaysian police since but the Malaysian
authorities had made it known that he was wanted under the country's
draconian Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without
trial.
He hoped his pro-Anwar activities would not cause problems between
Australia and Malaysia.
ÉMy family and I believe Dr Mahathir is a dictator and we are seeking
justice for Anwar,æ he said. ÉThere are many people out there, in
Australia and in Malaysia, who believe that, too. I am not promoting
violence. I am using the Internet for global action. And I am prepared
to
do that as long as it takes.æ
Now, in what he said was his unwanted absence from his country, Dr
Rahim wanted to get the support of State and Federal politicians as well
as non-government organisations and inform the global community about
the
injustices at home.
He rejected perceptions that Anwar and his supporters were Islamic
extremists.
ÉMost people did not believe Anwar was bad,æ he said. ÉMost of the
international leaders who came out in support of Anwar after his arrest
were from non-Muslim countries.
ÉEven representatives of churches, Buddhist organisations and Hindu
temples in Malaysia offered prayers for Anwar. If he were an extremist,
would they offer their support?
ÉWhen the mainly Chinese Democratic Action Party and the Islamic PAS
can communicate as an opposition group after Anwar's arrest, the issue
is
no longer one of race or religious extremism, it is about Dr Mahathir's
abuse of power and control of the judiciary, attorney-general and
police.æ In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's Human Rights Commission clashed
with
the ruling party. Commission chairman Musa Hitam said he was insulted by
a
ruling party official's criticism of his statement upholding Malaysian
citizens' right to political protest. The disagreement followed
Government threats to crackdown on yesterday's protests outside the High
Court, where Anwar was to learn his fate on sodomy charges.
The verdict was delayed because of fear of violence. About 500 Anwar
supporters gathered to protest and scuffles were reported but no one was
injured. Under Malaysian law, sodomy is punishable by maximum
imprisonment of 20 years and whipping by a rattan cane.
Another jail term would remove Anwar from the public arena and
virtually
end his political ambitions.
FAMILY TAPS INTO MAHATHIR PLOT
By PT SINGAM
Tucked away from the street in a leafy residential Perth suburb is a
political cell that is thriving on a family's commitment and
determination
to end the 18-year reign of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad,
Asia's longest serving leader.
And in a corner of the family's living room is their weapon - a
computer.
The family of Abdul Rahim Ghouse, avowed backers of jailed Malaysian
deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, are tapping new-age technology and
cyberspace to tell the world about what they contend are the injustices
of
the Malaysian political and legal system with their Web site
www.freeanwar.com.
Dr Rahim's son, Ibrahim, 17, a TEE science student, is the
programming
specialist who sends into cyberspace information his father receives
daily
from the Free Anwar Campaign secretariat in Kuala Lumpur.
Ibrahim's sister, Raiyan, 15, a Year 10 student, helps edit copy and
the rest of the family - mother Saripah Maziah, Nusaibah, 13, a Year 8
student, and Izzah, 11, a Year 6 student - are right behind them. Some
Malaysian student friends in Perth are also part of a wide support
network.
Dr Rahim sees the enthusiasm of the children as evidence of a growing
body of opposition to Dr Mahathir.
ÉThe older generation may be prepared to put up with the culture of
fear
that is so prevalent in Malaysia, they would rather suffer silently than
speak up about injustices,æ he said. ÉBut these young people are
representative of the monumental change that is happening in Malaysia.
The
young are questioning values and demanding reforms.
ÉFrom the mail we have been getting since we launched FAC on July 27,
you
can see most of the respondents are young people.
ÉMahathir is isolating himself by the day by his own actions. He is
still
a leader from the Cold War. He thinks from the point of conspiracy.
ÉToday, North Korea and South Korea are speaking to each other. The
United
States has gone back to do business with Vietnam. But Mahathir is still
in
a Cold War mentality. Nobody dares speak to him at meetings. He is like
a
dictator.æ
Dr Mahathir's supporters no doubt would dismiss Dr Rahim's views as
propaganda and point to his election success, his ability to stay in
power
two years after Anwar was sacked and his efforts to turn the Malaysian
economy around after the Asian financial crisis.
But Dr Rahim, sociologist turned businessman who is Anwar's personal
representative in Australia, has the unshakeable support of his family
as
he spearheads the global Free Anwar Campaign from his home. ÉI am very
proud of what my father is doing fighting for justice,æ daughter
Nusaibah
said.
ÉI want to be known around the world as being part of the FAC.æ The
rest
of the family nodded in agreement.
The family have almost forgotten the discomforts and inconveniences
they suffered when their lives were disrupted by the fall of Anwar.
Dr Rahim fled Malaysia after Anwar, just before his arrest on
September
20, 1998, told him to avoid arrest so he could be free to carry on the
campaign for reforms. He had spent the previous two weeks in Anwar's
house
organising programs for public rallies and meetings against Dr Mahathir.
As the country hosted the Commonwealth Games, the police cracked down on
protesters and arrested hundreds of Anwar supporters.
The Rahim family moved from house to house in Kuala Lumpur to evade
police. With a small bag of clothes and some cash, Dr Rahim left his
family and was on the run for two days. All immigration points had been
alerted, so he reached the southern Malaysian coast and managed to take
a
boat to Indonesia.
He stayed on remote islands for several days before a senior
Indonesian
immigration officer sympathetic to the Reformasi movement - the
pro-Anwar
campaign named after the reformasi fever that was sweeping Indonesia
after
the fall of president Suharto - agreed to process his travel papers.
He joined three other colleagues in exile and lobbied through the
region, the United States and Europe for Anwar. He and his colleagues
were
constantly on their mobile phones organising public opposition to Dr
Mahathir.
After several weeks, his family joined him in Jakarta and they had to
leave the country several times for one or two-day trips to Singapore.
This was to enable them to stay in Indonesia as tourists but it meant
the
children could not go to school legally.
Two of the children attended classes illegally with the help of
teacher
friends. Ibrahim, the eldest, studied at home with his father's help. At
the age of 15, he scored top marks in the O levels exam at the British
Council after studying for the two-year course in six months.
The insecurity in Jakarta led Dr Rahim to apply to come to Australia
as
a businessman last October.
ÉWhen I think of our troubles, I think of Anwar's and his family's
misery,æ said Mrs Rahim, who ran refuge centres for teenagers in Kuala
Lumpur. ÉIt helps us through.
ÉLife in Perth has been wonderful. We are doing things together as a
family and the children are doing well at school.æ
The children like it here but miss the Malaysian foods, their
friends,
relatives and teachers.
Ibrahim is impressed with the freedoms in WA. ÉYou can say what you
want,æ he said.
ÉThe weird thing is people complain about the government and the
taxes.
But when you look at Malaysia, wow, what a difference.æ
Ibrahim's sister, Raiyan, is relieved that her family's support for
Anwar can now be revealed.
For almost a year, she evaded questions at school and elsewhere about
her past and her father's activities.
ÉI am afraid I will be seen as someone I am not,æ she said.
RAHIM LABELLED TRAITOR
The Malaysian Government has branded Abdul Rahim Ghouse a traitor for
making anti-Mahathir statements from abroad and accused him of fomenting
violence that marked the early days of Anwar's arrest.
But Dr Rahim rejected the charges, saying he simply sought to expose
corruption, nepotism and cronyism in the country and help the poor.
Unlike Anwar, Dr Rahim worked behind the scenes.
He joined UMNO, the dominant party in Malaysia's ruling coalition, in
1994 and had a meteoric rise.
After studying in Britain, he worked as a technical manager in a
plastics factory in Kuala Lumpur for two years before going to the
United
States in 1985 for further studies. He gained masters degrees in
chemistry
and sociology and a doctorate in sociology.
He was deputy dean of the International Islamic University Research
Centre in Kuala Lumpur until 1994 when he quit to concentrate on
politics
and business.
He became divisional youth leader in 1997 and was national UMNO youth
economic bureau chairman until his expulsion from the party during the
Anwar crisis.
In his economic portfolio, he launched programs to help low-income
people and encouraged successful Chinese business leaders to share their
experiences with Malays.
He headed Malaysia's International Centre for Media Studies and the
Institute for Strategic Research, an Anwar think-tank which brought
politicians and academics together to look at government policies and
issues affecting the country.
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