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PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL
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MONDAY - Jan 31, 2000
Mahathir and Ummi in London
Lee Tse Yin
Jan 31: There was a surprise speech by Ummi Hafilda and a discussion on
homosexuality. And with the fire-engine red jumper Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad wore, it was no surprise the students were soon fanning
their overheated selves in Malaysia Hall, even though gale-like winds
were raking London outside yesterday. LEE TSE YIN was there to cover
Mahathir’s meet-the-students session for malaysiakini.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s generous offer of a free Hari Raya
lunch and a dialogue session with students has been met with a packed
hall of about 160 people. This is less than the pre-election crowds by
about half or a third, but people are still jammed up to the entrance by
the end of the session.
People began filing into Malaysia Hall at about 9.45am. Security at the
door was tight, with entry restricted to the production of a Malaysian
identity card or student identification and a "yes" to the question,
"are you Malaysian?"
One student, attempting to tape a microphone to the podium, is told she
cannot do so, as the security officer is wondering who she is, and is
not sure the Prime Minister would allow it. It is not the men in dark
suits sporting ear-pieces who tell her this, but a makcik in a green
baju kurung, who apologises for doing so, and tells her she can tape
Mahathir's speech from where she is sitting instead.
Two German students are stopped at the door and told it is a
Malaysian-only affair, despite their protests, in Indonesian, that they
are studying politics in the region and are not from the media. Unlike
the unyielding, stolid responses of "I'm just doing my job," from the
security officer though, Mahathir himself is charming when they accost
him later at the front door and ask if they can join the talk instead of
watching it on CCTV in the canteen next door. "Of course, of course," he
smiles, letting them follow him into the hall in his wake.
By the time Mahathir and his family enter the hall, the aisle leading up
to the stage is so crowded they have to squeeze through to get to the
front. Once on stage, Mahathir beams warmly round at the crowd as if it
is an old friend and sits on a chair behind low window boxes of plastic
flowers, potted plants and a table covered in white lace. There is a
huge Malaysian flag hung on the wall to his left with the words "Selamat
Datang".
Throughout the opening speeches and doa, his face becomes serious,
almost pulled into a deep scowl. He nods and smiles at some phrases,
like "memajukan negara" and "beramah dengan pemimpin-pemimpin negara",
but mostly he looks down at his hands, which are loosely clasped
together.
He is examining the back of his right hand when the Malaysian High
Commissioner for UK and Eire Mohamad Amir Ja'afar congratulates him on
the election results and on winning the mandate of the people again. He
looks up at this and there is that warm smile again. When he finally
steps up to speak, his voice is a bit hoarse at first, and he has to
clear his throat a few times before it smoothes out. He begins by
announcing that uber cool shoe designer, Jimmy Choo, a guest in the
front row, is coming back to live in Malaysia, which draws a smattering
of uncertain applause from the crowd. Then he says he is here to listen
to people's views and launches into the importance of listening to all
sides of any story.
It is classic Dr M talk if the repetition of this theme from previous
speeches is anything to judge by. Following on, he leads onto an article
he has read in Britain's Sunday Times, about the British government's
wish to repeal Clause 28, which prevents the promotion of homosexuality.
His mention of "seks sejenis" draws nervous giggles from the crowd.
"Pendapat ini ditentang oleh kebanyakan badan-badan ugama. Mereka mahu
supaya disekat. Kerana kalau ada promosi homoseks, maka masyarakat yang
tidak homoseks pun berminat juga," he says playfully, smile in place.
The crowd chuckles in response.
"Ini promosi, bukan sahaja membuat penerangan; promosi," he stresses.
"Sudah ada satu video, saya berharap tuan-tuan tidak tengok (he chuckles
‘heh’ and the crowd chuckles back with him) yang mana seorang budak
berumur 15 tahun berkata 'kamu harus cuba yang mana yang lebih baik
sebelum membuat keputusan, er, untuk, er, apa sajalah. (He smiles and
the crowd laughs.)
"Itu kebebasan. Kebebasan negara ini ialah perhubungan homoseks. Itu
perkara biasa bagi mereka. Kalau kita bawa balik budaya ini kepada
negara kita, sudah tentu ia akan menghakis budaya kita. Dan ini, pada
pendapat kita, adalah tidak sihat.
"Memang kita tahu. Dalam semua masyarakat tabiat itu memang ada,
terutama di kalangan muda-mudi ini, ada juga tabiat itu. Tapi
kebanyakanya apabila mereka sudah dewasa, gugurkanlah tabiat yang tidak
baik ini. Tapi kalau digalakan - apabila diadakan promosi - maka perkara
yang dahulu kita anggap hina akan dianggap biasa dan akan diterima."
>From here, he moves on to the topic of irrational hatred that he seems
to think some "certain quarters" harbour for him, jumps to the topic of
"pihak lain", who influence students at universities and schools, and
then leads smoothly into the possibility and fear of being colonised by
a foreign country:
"Walaupun negara kita sudah merdeka dari segi politik, ada cara-cara
lain untuk menjajah kita semula - mungkin melalui pemikiran kita atau
budaya kita. Mungkin melalui ekonomi, negara kita dikuasai orang. Dan
apabila mereka sudah menguasai budaya, menguasai ekonomi, mereka juga
boleh mempengaruhi hal-ehwal politik negara kita."
Although he has spoken on these same themes before, the crowd is dead
silent and rapt, listening and watching Dr M, mostly without even a
furrowed brow of thought.
He ends with what seems to be his favourite quote these days: "Those who
forget the lessons of history are condemned to repeat the history over
and over again." (sic) It is from the aetheist writer George Santayana
who, interestingly enough, also wrote: "History is a pack of lies about
events that never happened told by people who weren't there", and
"Scepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily."
Now, question time. The first two questions from the floor are from a
middle-aged man and woman who say they have lived in London for the last
40 and 30 years respectively. "My only connection with Malaysia is
Malaysia Hall," says the woman. She asks for clarification on the
reports that Malaysia Hall is going to have to be closed when the lease
on one of its units expires next year. The man says the Malaysians in
London would very much appreciate his support to extend the lease of the
units.
Dr M says he himself would like to keep the hall, having become quite
familiar with it himself, and assures them the hall will be kept in one
form or another and that he will try to negotiate something.
I get a question in as hands are still few around the room - did Dr M
have that same sentiment of keeping history in mind when he wrote his
letter to the Tunku Abdul Rahman, asking him to step down, years ago?
"It is not connected to history," he says. "It is connected to the needs
at that time to realise the aspirations of the Malaysians at that
time... Over a period of time, things must change, but we have to learn
from this change.
"When the Tunku went, he was followed by Tun (Abdul) Razak, his
designated successor. There was no struggle for power, no campaigning,
no attempts to split the party. Everybody was very conscious about the
need for unity at that time. As a result, the Tunku left but his
connection with the party continued until, of course, I came along. He
found it difficult to forgive me for writing that nasty letter. "I don't
mind. I don't mind because I still look up to him as a great leader for
our country. He worked for our independence. That is something you
cannot deny. He had done a great deal for the country but there comes a
time perhaps that we need to change the leader. Current thinking is that
we need to change the leader. But change must be for the better. Mere
change will be followed by improvement of things."
Dr M cites the examples of Haile Selassie and his successor Haile
Miriam, "a worse dictator than Haile Selassie" and of South Vietnam and
notes "So before we change we have to know a) whether the change is
necessary, and b) whether the change is for the good or just change for
the sake of change. So that is the lesson of history from the incident
involved with the Tunku."
It is in no way a direct answer of my question and Dr M has completely
ignored or not noticed what I hoped was a subtle hint that he could be
in the same position he thought the Tunku was in years ago - out of
touch and unwilling to change. His answer also made you wonder whether
he thought his reasons for admiring the Tunku could be applied to him as
well. Does he intend to remain in the limelight then after he retires,
like Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew?
"No," he says. ""When I retire I would like to be out of the picture."
"But obviously," he adds, "I cannot say that even if somebody asked me
for some opinion privately I wouldn't give my opinion. But whether
people follow it or not is their business. I have no intention to become
a Malaysian senior minister." Tomorrow: Ummi Hafilda made her presence
felt
LEE TSE YIN is doing her masters in Southeast Asian studies at the
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
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