Anwar, We Want Real Result This Time for Mr. Teoh

Dear Mr. Anwar Ibrahim,

In ancient societies ruled by the feudal system, their helpless subjects could only kneel and express their grievances through petitions to the kings. Prior to March 8 2008, Malaysia opposition, often with only a handful of seats in Parliament, considered Royal Commission of Inquiry as the ultimate political weapon because that was what was available for them. After March 8 2008, with 82 MPs in their wing, should Pakatan still rely only on the same political weapons to make sure late Mr. Teoh Ben Hock does not die in vain?

Establishing Royal Commission of Inquiry and petitioning to Agong are probably political necessity and will satisfy many older generations. However, does anyone, from old or new generation, hold any illusion that Royal Commission of Inquiry and Petition alone are going to produce genuine reform of our political system? The answer is obviously a vehement “NO”. We need Royal Commission of Inquiry and petition, but we need more than that.

I would like to applaud you and Pakatan for providing voices to the masses through organizing “Justice for Beng Hock Solidarity Gathering” in Stadium Kelana Jaya at 4:30 PM this Sunday. We know many will attend by just mentioning the time and place of the event, but even more will stay home. May you, as the leader of opposition, challenge this docile society in no uncertain terms that what you are going to do depending on response of Kelana gathering. I wish you can say something in the line of “If the Kelana gathering attracts only lukewarm response with attendees less than 10,000, I will plod along with the same old Royal Commission and petition and sporadic protest. However, if the response is overwhelming with number of attendees exceeds 50,000, I will immediately seek audience with Najib negotiating a concrete MACC/PDRM reform which consists of law requiring two-third approval in parliament for any appointment of top leaders in MACC. After all, 82 MPs is a substantial percentage of the whole parliamentary seats, and should have substantive say of those important appointments. However, citizens of this nation, please show me your number first in Kelana Stadium”. Put your message in YouTube, we will send it far and wide.


Despite BN-UMNO lost their two-thirds majority, the power of many government institutions is still as concentrated to BN administration as it was before. Such power concentration is especially obvious in police force. I cannot help but hold you to task for chirping off the BN power base and removing the relic of pre-March 8 era. After all, that is what we ask you to do when we give you the mandate of 82 MPs – the biggest mandate ever given to opposition camp.

With a nation in shock over Mr. Teoh’s death, you have become empowered negotiator on behalf of many concerned citizens. We expect you to wrestle power from BN administration through tough negotiation in accordance to the level of mandate you got from the people. We also expect you to leverage your years of political experience to force concession from current administration. I would have said something like this over negotiation table to Najib: “See it is of BN advantage to have Pakatan to share some blame of the future MACC misdeeds. You can have Pakatan to share some blame if Pakatan is included in confirming the appointment and re-appointment of tops leaders in MCAA/PDRM. After all we have 82 MPs and 50,000 attendees in Kelana gathering yearning for such a reform”.

If Najib refuses to concede, could you please bluntly tell us to our faces that “Your prime minister don’t give a shit for voices of 50,000. Your prime minister said 82MPs should not be given any real authority to influence the appointment MCAA/PDRM leaders.” Then you could challenge the previously docile citizens if they can stomach the insult from their prime minister. We can then ready for an even bigger gathering. Further rejections from the prime minister will add even more salt to the wound. You know what I mean from the examples and illustration above. You certainly can do better than what I describe above, but I want to show you many among us are ready to be led. We are looking for a genuine leadership to move the nation forward. You are tasked to do that.

Before I sign off, let me add something about the upcoming Kelana gathering. We come to Kelana Stadium not to show how strong we can be in front of water canons, tear gas, and police. We come here so that you can be our proxy to fight for our right as citizens, one of which has fallen. We come to Kelana Stadium not for only political stunt, but for real result. Were it only political stunt that we were looking for, we could have elected you or Mr. Lim Kit Siang as the sole opposition MP, not the 82 MPs. Show us what you can do with 82 MPs-strong mandate, then we can decide if you deserve the premiership next time.

Regards,
Shiou Loh