It has been a long wait. Anwar Ibrahim is finally the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Many have remarked how he deserves it. Or that he has been cheated out of it before. Or everybody has had their chances and now, it is Anwar’s turn to rule. Or he suffered to get here.
But, I tell myself that it is never about Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar, and Pakatan Harapan for that matter, is a means to an end.
The end is something much bigger than any one of us. The end is a Malaysia where everybody has a place under the sun, living in dignity and as equal, prosperously.
It will not be easy to achieve that, especially when even such a goal is not quite concrete. It is fluffy. It is intangible, at least the non-economic part. In fact, it is clear not everybody will agree—vehemently disagree at that—to the kind of equality envisaged in that kind of Malaysia.
The first step towards that end, is clearly reconciliation between major groups in the country, and some kind of compromise. But that reconciliation cannot be about making everybody happy. There are principles and ground rules to be adhered to. That we are all Malaysians, that we all have dignity that must not be violated. Reconciliation does not mean reconciling everything. Something, like deep fascism, cannot be reconciled with inclusive values.
The meeting ground has to be reasonable.
Ultimately, the core of that inclusive values, to me are (among several others) the end to the means that are Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan.
One reply on “[2965] Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan are a means to an end”
[…] But not all things can be compromised, and compromises must involve both sides, not just one. If only one side compromises, and willing to compromise everything, then something is wrong. […]