Having watched Al Jazeera on the ongoing trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who was caged-in on a stretcher, I begin to wonder if ever such a thing could happen in this country to anyone of our leaders. Mubarak is charged for premeditated murder for ordering the shooting of the protestors during the people’s revolution that evicted him from power, and for massive corruption throughout his years as Egypt’s President, that spans more than two decades.
No one had ever realized, including me, that the man who was once the Egyptian Air Force Commander that served with distinction during the October War against Israel in 1973, and was later appointed the Vice President of Egypt under President Anuar Sadat. Hosni Mubarak rose to become the fourth President of Egypt following the assassination of Anuar Sadat while witnessing an Armed Forces parade in 1981. Besides the above two charges, strangely enough, Hosni Mubarak is also being investigated for the assassination of Anuar Sadat that happened 30 years ago. Since it was a case of murder, I think there isn’t a time bar imposed upon such cases. So, the many murderers in our midst better beware, particularly those that had caused the death of many while the victims are being incarcerated in our prison cells. The Kugan case is one that I can still remember.
Having seen the pathetic and ailing state of a once powerful head of government and a strong ally of the most powerful nation in the world USA, Hosni Mubarak’s bed ridden figure strikes me to believe even more that no human being is powerful enough to decide and to control his or her fate. It is the will of the All Mighty that Hosni Mubarak has to fall and his fate now lies mercilessly in the hands of the Egyptian trial judges. Now, not even his once powerful ally could lend him a helping hand. Many of his loyalists had abandoned him, and some are on trial with him.
Hosni Mubarak’s downfall is unlike that of Saddam Hussein of Iraq. While it was the Egyptian people that caused the downfall of Mubarak, Saddam’s downfall was very much ‘US aided and sponsored’. In other words Mubarak deserves to be brought down more than Saddam, because the latter’s downfall wasn’t genuinely through a people’s revolution. Now, who then was the more hatred leader?
Coming back to what we see happening in this country presently, I cannot say for certain that this country is ripe for a people’s revolution. Although we know that corruption among the political elite and government officials are rife, but there are still the semblance of political, social and economic stability in this country. The people can still find food on their table. Jobs are aplenty. There is the sense of security prevailing throughout, and ‘cowboy like executions’ that I used to witnessed in Cambodia in the early 90’s is rarely heard off. I can say that our people are yet to be pushed to the wall.
But despite the above prevailing ‘feel good factor’, the government has to be watchful and constantly vigilant against the rise in abuses and the deprivation of the rights of individual by the ruling authorities. Draconian laws like the much debated ISA and the EO are examples to quote. The recently held Bersih 2.0 rally to demand free and fair elections can spark a more serious people’s backlash. And the growing support that Bersih had gain internationally cannot be ignored by the government. But despite all this, I think there is still the lackadaisical attitude among the ruling elite to treat seriously the causes that had sparked people’s discontent. They (the governing elites) think nothing will happen to them because they are secured in the arms of the law. But just look at what had happened to Mubarak? Was he not surrounded by his powerful security forces? The same goes for Saddam.
So let us all be mindful that if the people has awakened, nothing can stop them from meeting their demands; nothing at all. Not even the mighty security forces. And let us be reminded again that we should draw lessons from Mubarak and Saddam, although many would say that what happened in Egypt and Iraq is not likely to happen in this country.
CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
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5 comments:
Dear Dato Pak Chad,
Keep on writing.
What you have written,comes from your heart.
Even if sometimes you might get the facts wrong,we know that it was not done on purpose, and it was not an unintentional error.After all you are human.
The message that you have brought to our attention through your observations, are actually the same thoughts in our mind.We too have the same observations.Thank you for this Jihad of yours...against corruption...
A leader has to answer for his actions.So Mubarak will be judged by his people for the rights and wrongs he has done/committed while in power.
If a leader has discharged his responsibilities with good intention, nothing to fear since the public will surely forgive him if he has unintentionally committed mistakes along the way.
For Malaysia to move forward, we need leaders who are not afraid to make difficult decision for the benefit of the nation.For example Stalin during his time had to overhaul the Soviets' society in order to industrialize the Soviet Union.It was not a popular decision as it had caused lot of hardships and sufferings to the Soviets.But at the end of the day his decison and action was fully justified because the Soviet Union caught up with the West, they in fact was first to put their astronout on the moon.
Is this a distraction from the lack of MUSLIM Condemning Syria Atrocities to their own people like in Libya?? How about lack of intervention in Somalia?? Is this a mind game to make sure muslim mind their own business unless Isreal is involved.?? Is Malaysian mind set being conditioned so that when the ruling elite do their worst to preserve their legacy, nothing stands in their way??!! Many questions that should never surface today had we rid Malaysia of Racism from the beginning of Merdeka!!
Bumi-non-Malay,
Not possible to condition the minds of the people with the existence of the internet.
To each his own since there is much diversity within the Islamic world.If you are unable to care for yourself nobody else can help you.
To feel the diversity within Muslim countries just look at the following scenarios: Saudi Arabia is a totalitarian state based on the Quran and Shariah; Syria is ruled by dictatorship backed by the powerful military; Egypt under Mubarak was an autocracy posing as a republic; Jordan is ruled by a monarchy and Iran is run by powerful clerical oligarchy which is against democratic reforms.
Let their own people determine their future destiny.
The one biggest mistake amongst "RULERS" is that they act, behave and think they are GOD!
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