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THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 ─ He refuses to be cowed by authority. He has a low estimation of the police and other institutions. He believes that the moneyed class and powerful in the country often get a free pass. He is prepared to believe the worst about the government, its agencies and its politicians.
When Commercial Crime Investigation Department police officers questioned prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin for alleged sedition yesterday, they came face to face with someone who embodies many of the qualities of the doubting middle-class Malaysian. If Raja Petra’s postings on Malaysia Today have a following in the country, it is not only because he writes without worrying about legal concepts of defamation or sedition, or that he combines expert story-telling with a dash of facts. It is also because many people in middle Malaysia identify with him ─ they share his concerns and suspicions. They believe that the court system favours the rich and connected. That is why the blogger strikes pay dirt whenever he comments about the shortcomings of the judiciary and implies that all is not right at the Palace of Justice. They cheer when he takes on the police and challenges them to arrest him, seeing him as the underdog waging battle against an institution which has been soiled with allegations of corruption and incompetence in recent years. They embrace him when he lashes out against racism and polarisation. Warts and all, contradictions and all, he is like many urban Malaysians. The police are caught between a rock and a hard place by hauling up Raja Petra for questioning over his posting on the alleged links between Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife and Altantuya Shaariibuu, the Mongolian model who was murdered in 2006. If they use the sledgehammer approach against him, it will appear that the whole force of the law is being used to silence one individual. If they do not do anything other than attempt to scare him into submission, they will lose further credibility. It could also embolden others to thumb their nose at the law or other institutions. In any case, he is unfazed by the police attention. “The bottom line is, either they get off my back or they throw me in jail and throw away the key. I could not be bothered one bit what it is going to be. I am prepared for the worst. My objective is plain and simple. Altantuya’s murderers are going to be sent to hell. And I don’t mind going to hell myself to see this happen,” he declared on his website. Police are not the only ones facing a more assertive Malaysian population these days. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, ministers, civil servants and others in positions of authority are also facing a more demanding and more cynical public. This public does not take much at face value and has a deep distrust of anything emanating from government. This is the result of better education, more exposure to international standards and the Internet. The lack of confidence and flourish of cynicism is also the result of mistakes and missteps by the Barisan Nasional government since the 1980s. Every time institutions like the police became embroiled in corruption or was caught in an episode of political interference, it tumbled down several notches in the eyes of the public. The Royal Commission on the Police in 2004 only confirmed what many Malaysians suspected ─ that the men in blue had compromised their high standards and integrity over the years and did not enjoy the confidence level they once did with the public. Worse yet, the rising crime problem has only served to reduce already low levels of respect for police personnel. In the same way, the V.K. Lingam scandal confirmed what many middle-class Malaysians have long speculated ─ that the last resort of justice for the small man had been compromised by the shenanigans of politicians and their fixers. Against this backdrop, it is not difficult to understand why Raja Petra’s reports have gained traction. Or why the authorities always look like the bad guys when they go after him. And this situation is going to persist until the government rebuilds its reputation and credibility with Malaysians, especially those who live in the urban centres of the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor. There are no shortcuts. If there is to be judicial reform, it has to meet the standards of Malaysians and not what is permitted by politicians wary of an independent judiciary. If the Anti-Corruption Agency is to win over doubting Malaysians, it must have the will to go after everyone, prince and pauper. If ministers are to regain the admiration of the electorate, they must come across as sensible and clean. If the government wants to have the respect of its citizens, it will have to earn it. The reservoir of goodwill which it built up over the decades since independence in 1957 is nearly empty, replaced by cynicism and distrust. Until then, Raja Petra and others will have the final and commanding word in any skirmish with the authorities.
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