Activist on a mission, Haris Ibrahim says bent on serving truth to bottom 40%

BY RITA JONG

OCTOBER 25, 2013

Activist Haris Ibrahim (pic) has made it a personal mission to take the "40%" truth to the masses in the heartlands in the next general election.

“I serve the 40% (of people) who are marginalised and if they are prepared to wait it out, then I will serve them to wait it out. If they cannot sustain their daily lives having to wait out four years, I’ll (also) serve them,” he said in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Network’s Radio Australia in Sydney yesterday.

Haris is a member of the ABU – Anything But Umno – movement. He has been fighting to change the government and one of the reasons he gives is that 40% of Malaysians live below the poverty line.

In the interview with presenter Sen Lam, he explained the scenarios faced by Malaysians recently, including the Allah issue and the religious tension as well as the negative outlook and the deteriorating fiscal position of the country’s economy.

“We need to very closely monitor the economy, to see whether we can in fact survive the huge foreign debt that this regime and its predecessor have built up. We are expecting price hikes over the next year,” he said.

“We’ve seen international reports that suggest the economy of Malaysia is on the verge of a disaster. Now the questions are being asked. A lot of the Malaysian diaspora would like to know where the nation is going to and what can they do to take it back in the direction that our forefathers had intended, 'one people, one nation', all equal.

“History has taught us, the history of revolutions will teach us, that when the numbers who are marginalised are large enough, they will come around and change the way of life of the middle class. Now they (the middle class) don’t want that to happen, so I stand with the marginalised now.”

Haris told the radio show that over the years, as he worked on the ground, he has seen the injustice, the inequality that has been perpetrated.

"This has been served to the 40%, and I think reached the point where I say this cannot go on.

"It begins to make the comfortable life that I have seemingly meaningless when, around the corner, I have to pass abject poverty to get to my comfortable home."

He said a day after the May 5 polls, he did not recognise Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister.

"Nor do I recognise his regime as the legitimate government of Malaysia, because there was wholesale fraud on the 5th.

"We've seen the Umno election just conclude and Zahid Hamidi (Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) is the Home Minister of a government I don't recognise and, therefore, I do not recognise his position.

"He was heard to say that a known notorious bunch of gangsters should carry on with what they're doing, that there may a policy on the part of the Malaysian police to shoot first when there is evidence, rather than to allow for due process.

"Now, should I to be encouraged then, by his recent huge victory at the Umno election? Is that a message of the kind of leadership that Najib is going to bring, to take this country forward, One Malaysia? Sorry sir, I beg to differ."

Haris made news recently when his visa application to Australia was rejected.

The Australian High Commission had described him as "high risk" as he might not want to return to Malaysia because he was facing a sedition charge. Furthermore, he was unemployed.

He obtained his visa after making a second application.

Haris was previously a lawyer by profession but gave that up to help the marginalised.

“You reach a point where it becomes meaningless if so many of your fellow Malaysians are deprived of the basic opportunities that you have been given simply because of ethnic considerations.

“I guess I find the comfort in seeing little incremental improvements. Undoubtedly, the young Malaysians give me hope that even as we appear to be in a state of seeming hopelessness, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel,” added Haris. – October 25, 2013.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/activist-on-a-mission-haris-ibrahim-bent-on-serving-marginalised-40

Seeing ABU, Mahathir resorts to diversionary tactics

This photograph provides a snapshot of Malaysian politics from Mahathir’s vantage point.

This banner was put up outside the USM perimeter wall in Penang to promote the Perkasa forum ‘Transformasi Ekonomi dan Pelajaran Melayu Pulau Pinang’ held at the UiTM campus in Permatang Pauh on the mainland.

Someone then stuck a few ABU (Anything but Umno) stickers at strategic points on the banner.

Mahathir sees ABU

If I was to interpret this, I would say Mahathir (and by extension Umno) has his back against the wall, stung by recent revelations such as the RCI testimonies about the granting of citizenship papers just before the Sabah elections in 1995.

As more and more scandals implicating Umno personalities are revealed, Mahathir can see the writing on the wall, especially the wave of ABU sentiment. This sentiment was especially evident in the huge turnout at #KL112, which must have given him even more cause for alarm.

He then uses racial and religious rhetoric to whip up communal support, in the process falling deeper into Perkasa’s embrace, as this banner eloquently illustrates. In this way, he hopes to keep Umno in power by continuing with the BN’s divide-and-rule rule tactics, thus securing his (and his former cronies’) rotten ‘legacy’.

In this instance, he uses the occasion of the Perkasa event to divert attention from Sabah by suggesting that people should look at how Tunku granted citizenship to those already in the country before Independence.

A classic case of comparing apples (a transparent, above board arrangement that was part of the negotiations for Independence) and oranges (a covert clandestine operation apparently aimed at undermining the democratic process). A classic Mahathir tactic.

Unfortunately for him, more and more people can see through this sort of diversionary tactic.

Source: http://anilnetto.com/religion-and-ethnicity/ethnic-and-inter-religious-relations/seeing-abu-mahathir-resorts-to-diversionary-tactics/

ABU RM25 richer today

Posted on July 11, 2012

1130am this morning, again in anAsalkan Bukan UMNO t-shirt, I flagged down a cab to head out to the workshop to pick up the car and then head out to my ‘sembang’ session with, hopefully, a few taxi drivers.

“You Mr Haris, ah?”, the taxi driver asked.

“Depends. That Haris fella owe you money, ah?”, I asked back.

He laughed, and I laughed with him.

Lim, aged 45, with 3 school-going kids, told me that he had heard me speak at the ceramah at SS2, PJ on the eve of polling day in 2008, and had since then, when he could, tried to keep up with my writings on the blog.

“But now you don’t write so much, ah”, he remarked.

“Busy with ABU, lah”, I explained.

I shared with him what the ABU initiative would be launching shortly as part of our phase 2 work to rid this nation of UMNO and BN come the 13th GE.

1/2 hour later, the meter showing RM24/=, we had reached the workshop.

I pulled out RM25 to hand over to him.

“Boss, you keep the money for ABU, please. I go back today and tell my children their father also help to ABU”, Lim said, smiling.

Given that Lim had told me that he earned an average of about RM100 a day, I was touched by this gesture of support.

“God bless you, Lim. Thank you”, I said, and shook his hand.

The car was ready.

More good news.

No repair bill!

Why?

Hey, I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, ok.

Thanks, bro.

N, the cab driver I had met the other day had text me earlier to say he might not be able to make it there on time as he was sending a fare to Klang, but that he had alerted another driver, R, to expect me and to introduce me to the other taxi drivers there.

Got to the cab stand and found N not there.

R was there, along with 3 other drivers.

All Malays.

All had already heard from N about the work I do in ABU.

And there was immediate hostility from one of them.

Yes, he said, he was an UMNO member and he did not take kindly to me wearing the t-shirt I had on.

I told him that if he could give me 3 good reasons that I could not effectively rebut as to why I should support UMNO in the 13th GE, I would not only strip out of the t-shirt there and then, but would also cease my work in ABU.

The other three started to needle him and tell him that they also wanted to hear from him.

He said he did not have 3 reasons to offer me, but that UMNO had done much for the Malays and that we should be grateful to UMNO.

I asked if he had his own taxi licence.

He said he did.

I asked the other three if they, too, had their own licences.

None of them did.

So I turned back to Mr UMNO and asked him if this was fair.

“Suruh mereka masuk UMNO tapi tak mahu, jadi apa boleh buat? Kalau dah masuk UMNO, pasti dah ada lesen”, he shot back, quite irritated.

“Jadi encik setuju UMNO hanya tolong UMNO, bukan tolong Melayu?”, I asked

“Ah, jangan nak jadi loyar buruk, lah”, he replied curtly.

I laughed and told him I did not have to try and be a ‘loyar buruk’ as I was a lawyer and had practised law for 20 years. Told him that I, too, like cab drivers, needed a licence every year to practise law but, guess what, my licence was not issued to a company owned by minister Nazri Aziz who then in turned allowed me to practise on condition I paid him a daily fee, as do a great many cab drivers in the city.

I asked Mr UMNO how many years now he had his own licence and how many years before that he was sharing his daily income with Nazri?

He got up, said he did not want to talk to me anymore, and walked away.

The other 3 asked me not to mind him.

We chatted.

I flipped open the Ipad and shared with them some of the online alternative news.

Thanks, TK, for the Ipad. It came in handy today.

Did I have any material that I could leave with them, they asked.

I gave them each a copy of the DNBN KUBURKAN BN DI PRU13 dvd and asked them to share it with their friends and relatives after they had viewed it, if they thought there was any good in it that should be shared.

I told them that ABU would be coming out with some printed material for mass distribution and asked if they would help.

I got a resounding “Boleh” from all three.

Told them I had N’s phone number and I would be in touch the soonest the material was ready.

Source: http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/abu-rm25-richer-today/

Going fishing? Wanna land a haul? Wear an ABU T-shirt!

Posted on July 10, 2012

Flew back from Labuan yesterday wearing myAsalkan Bukan UMNO t-shirt. Got dirty looks from some, the thumbs up from others.

Landed at the LCCT, headed home and had to immediately send the car to the workshop.

Sigh!

Another bill on the way!

Had to cab it back to the office.

Still wearing the ABU t-shirt.

Ten minutes into the drive, the cabbie, a Malay, whose age I later found out to be 55, had to ask.

“Encik tak sokong UMNO, ke?”.

I threw back a question.

“Encik sokong UMNO?”.

Saya bukanlah penyokong UMNO, tapi saya takut dengan pembangkang. Takut kuasa jatuh kat tangan Cina”, he replied.

Decided to run by him a reply to a similar situation I faced after an ABU ceramah in Kuala Terengganu earlier this year.

“Awak setuju, tak, rasuah di negara in sudah sampai tahap kritikal?”, I asked.

“Ala, kalau pembangkang jadi kerajaan pun sama. Semua orang politik, kan.”, he shot back.

“Tapi yang berkuasa sekian lama ini UMNO / BN, kan? Yang berasuah hingga kekayaan negara terus lesap, dan harga barang naik sehingga hampir 50% rakyat hidup susah UMNO / BN, kan?”, I asked.

He remained silent.

I asked his age and if he had any grand daughters.

Told me his age and said he had 2 grand daughters.

I asked how old the youngest was.

9 years old, he told me.

I then asked him if he remembered Noor Suzaily Mokhtar.

He said he did not.

I asked him if he remembered the case of a young Malay girl almost 10 years ago who was raped and murdered in a bus by the driver in the morning.

“Ingat. Kejam betul pemandu tu”, he said. shaking his head.

“Pemandu tu Melayu, kan? Bukan Cina, bukan India, kan?”, I asked.

Again, he was silent.

“Ok, saya nak tanya abang. Kalau cucu abang nak hantar sekolah dengan bas sekolah, sekarang ada dua pilihan. Pemandu bas sekolah Melayu yang disyakki ada tabiat pegang-pegang dan sentuh gadis muda, dan seorang pemandu lagi Cina agama Buddha yang tidak ada tabiat ini. Abang pilih mana?”, I asked.

Again, silence, and then he said, “Ok, saya faham”.

Sudah 40 tahun UMNO liwat dan rogol orang Melayu tak cukup, ke? Tak nak  selamatkan cucu kita daripada dirogol dan diliwat UMNO lagi?”, I asked.

Silence.

“Orang Melayu di Kuantan merayu supaya kilang Lynas dihentikan. Kerajaan UMNO hiraukan, ke? Tahi UMNO di Penang siapa yang bersihkan? Kerajaan pimpinan Guan Eng, kan? Sampai bila abang nak terus diperangkapkan dengan politik kaum UMNO?”, I pressed.

“Encik bila nak ambil kereta dari bengkel?, he asked.

I was caught off guard by his question, and asked him why.

“Stesyen teksi tadi selalu ramai pemandu tunggu nak ambil penumpang. Encik singgah sembang dengan mereka, boleh? Mereka perlu dengar ini. Boleh?”, he explained.

I am having lunch with a group of them tomorrow.

Source: http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/going-fishing-wanna-land-a-haul-wear-an-abu-t-shirt/