JUST READ! |
The end of a long walk to freedom Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:19 PM PST I don't know why Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak equates Umno's struggle to Nelson Mandela's anti-apartheid revolution. I am totally confused... its beyond comprehension but I better leave it to the open forum. I just wanna jot something about the man in question, who died on December 6. Nelson Mandela died in his Johannesburg home after a long illness, he was 95. My most compelling memory of Nelson Mandela was when, attending the opening ceremony of the 1995 World Cup (rugby) in South Africa, the great man came out on to the field. As one, 50,000 white South Africans got to their feet and cheered him, punching their fists into the air, and roaring ''Nelson! Nelson! Nelson!'' All this, just a few kilometres from Robben Island, where he had been imprisoned for 18 of the 27 years he spent behind bars until his release in 1990. The atmosphere was electric, just as it was four weeks later when Mandela came out on to the field for the Springboks v All Blacks final, wearing the No.6 jersey of the Springboks captain, Francois Pienaar, … and the people roared once more. Invictus did not get close to capturing the magnificence of the moment. No book could capture the greatness of the man. Vale, Madiba, his clan name, a former pugilist turned man of peace. Mandela was known as Prisoner No. 46664 following his conviction under the apartheid regime for treason. The man's drive for a unified South Africa through peace and reconciliation saw him revered by the very guards who kept him under lock and key. He is to South Africa what Abraham Lincoln was to the United States; a unifying figure who devoted his life to the pursuit of justice and freedom. Any onlooker who followed South African politics feared what might happen in South Africa as it went through the transition to a post apartheid society. There was a high probability of violent conflict, perhaps of civil war. There were militarised far right wing groups, there was an unhappy Zulu population driven to the brink by fears it had been excluded from the post apartheid process, there were people in Mandela's own party, the African national Congress, who called for blood to flow on the streets and on the veldt. That the anticipated bloody explosion never occurred is a tribute to Mandela's conviction that strength came through reconciliation and the pursuit of peace. In an unlikely partnership with apartheid President F.W. de Klerk, Mandela created the political architecture for a post-Apartheid South Africa. Mandela and de Klerk were joint recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Mandela served one term as South Africa's president after the country's first general election in 1994. He retired from public life in 2004 though retained the title of 'Madiba' or father to the South African people. The question remains what now for South Africa? There will be a long period of grieving throughout the nation. After that the tensions Mandela was able to suppress may come to the fore. There remains crippling poverty in the country and the cities have some of the worst crime rates on earth. There will be some in the ANC who will seek to pursue the contentious but long promised land reforms in South Africa. The challenges for the African nation are greater now than at any time since Nelson Mandela came to power but the lessons he brought to the nations may still hold it in good stead. "When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity." - Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013 RIP |
Posted: 08 Dec 2013 01:40 AM PST What Awang Selamat wrote in Mingguan Malaysia today - on the possibility of a 'Malay tsunami in the 14th general election - makes we wonder which Malays from the political divide will launch the assult? Will it be the Malays in Umno or those in PAS and PKR? We already had the 'Chinese tsunami' for the 13th general election (of course the Indians and Sikh will not be able to have their own tsunami) that saw Barisan Nasional almost lost its grip on the Federal Government, an issue still 'useful' in speeches by Umno leaders, especially during the just concluded general assembly. Personally, I do not believe the Malays will have the 'will and column' to launch such a big political assault. Its different from the Chinese. Why? They are still very much divided. The 4 million Malays in Umno and about 3 million in PAS and PKR will find it difficult to align themselves together. The Umno-PAS 'muzzakarah' that has yet to materialise will not promise anything, including the possibility of the Islamic party joining Barisan Nasional. PKR will remain forever with DAP unless Anwar gives up his great ambition to wrest Putrajaya and become prime minister. But still, PKR Malays (almost all are ex-Umno members) will not jettison the plan to neutralise Umno. And what about the approximately 5 million Malays who are partiless. Its not easy at this particular juncture to tell which side would they be in four or five years from now although Umno, PAS and PKR are trying their best to lure them. And I agree with Umno sec-gen Ku Nan that such a 'Malay tsunami' will not happen, or quite impossible to say. Maybe Utusan has its own calculation on the 'Malay tsunami' and I dare not say its totally impossible, unless PAS and Umno merge (just like the planned Gerakan-MCA merger). Most importantly is for Umno not to belittle its main allies MCA and MIC. We need them... |
You are subscribed to email updates from JUST READ! To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 |
Jom berjuang bersama rakan bloggers di Facebook!
Tunjukkan sokongan anda! Sila Like.
No comments:
Post a Comment