The woman who played a key role in precipitating the downfall of Anwar Ibrahim was the surprise "guest speaker" at Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's meet-the-students session last Sunday in London. Ummi Hafilda, well-known for her candy-coloured suits during Anwar's trial, gave an impassioned two-minute speech defending her role in nudging former driver Azizan Abu Bakar to accuse Anwar of sodomy, among other things. LEE TSE YIN was there to report for malaysiakini in this final of a two-part series.

Question time continues. A law student asks what effect Karpal Singh's possible conviction will mean for the judiciary, and if this means lawyers will now have to go through a screening process before they can speak in court to defend their client.

"There is a peculiar belief among certain of us that opposition people should be exempt from the law," Dr M says, "That you should not take action against the opposition because they are the opposition. But as you know in Malaysia, many government ministers have been brought to court, tried and found guilty. One of them was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.

Was there anybody around to say this is not fair? We feel that this is not fair but we didn't say anything because this is what the court decided.

"In Malaysia, Karpal has been saying all kinds of nasty things. In fact he should have been charged for something or other long ago. But he wasn't. But what he said was obviously seditious otherwise the AG (Attorney General) would not want to charge him.

"During the last election, lots of things were done by the opposition, which is not according to the rules of the game. They intimidate people on the day of polling. We said no campaigning but they campaigned all the way. They escorted - er accosted - people who came to vote until they were right inside the polling booth, and yet we didn't protest. Because if we protest, people will say we are suppressing people. So we are at the disadvantage. In Malaysia it would seem that the opposition can break the law, but members of the government cannot even touch anything that may be considered as breaking the law."

Is there a feeling that Umno needs a change to be relevant? Umno is very sensitive to changes among the people, Dr M says, citing the New Economic Policy and Umno's accommodation of other parties such as Gerakan and PAS, for a while. He also takes another swipe at the reformasi movement, which he describes as "a lot of sloganeering".

"Is there a need for reform? We think there is a need for reform. And among the reforms that we need to think about is to free people from the domination of the mind that is exercised by certain people who have made use of religion. They have abused religion in order to dominate the minds of certain people to the extent that these people are no longer able to see other viewpoints.

He then explains how words such as "cronyism" are coined by people outside Malaysia and how they have been latched on by certain politicians - he names PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali and former deputy Anwar Ibrahim - and how these words have become slogans, "without thinking".

It is somewhere after a long non-stop harangue by Dr M about sloganeering and imported words like "cronyism" in the country, when eyes are glazing over, that a woman in a white jacket, red undershirt and thick eyeliner steps forward from the wall she has been leaning against to take the microphone for questions. It is Ummi Hafilda. She wishes both Dr M and Datin Siti Hasmah "selamat hari raya" and asks for two minutes to speak in front of the crowd. This is what she says:

"Saya Ummi Hafilda bt Ali yang terlibat secara langsung dalam kes Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Saya bukan datang dengan Perdana Menteri, saya sudah sebulan tinggal di London kerana urusan perniagaan. Jadi, tidak ada unsur konspirasi dan sebagainya.

"Saya ingin mengambil kesempatan. Sebagai seorang Islam, saya tahu kesan bersumpah. Saya bersumpah dengan nama Allah - wallahi , wabillahi , watallahi - saya tidak pernah diperalatkan oleh Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir ataupun mana-mana tokoh politik ketika membuat surat salah laku itu. Apa yang saya laporkan itu berdasarkan apa yang berlaku empat tahun yang lalu bersama bukti yang saya kumpulkan.

"Saya mempunyai pengalaman terlalu pahit kerana dua tahun yang lalu, Anwar menghantar polis menangkap saya. Saya didera sepanjang malam oleh sembilan anggota polis. Saya terpaksa menarik balik surat itu sehingga Perdana Menteri ditipu. Perdana Menteri telah membuat kenyataan hanya orang gila dan bodoh sahaja yang akan percaya tetapi kuasa Allah mengatasi segala-galanya.

When she mentions Dr M, Ummi looks briefly to him at the podium and the crowd follows her gaze. Dr M is gripping the sides of the podium, leaning on straight arms. His shoulders are hunched, and his head bent down so that his face is unseen. He could be laughing like some in the crowd are indiscreetly, but his hunched shoulders seem to convey an attitude of both frustration and slight embarrassment. Ummi goes right on.

"Setahun kemudian semua bukti dikumpulkan dan sebab itu Datuk Seri mengambil satu tindakan yang begitu drastik demi menyelamatkan negara. Tidak ada unsur pakatan. Saya tidak dapat satu sen pun - ya, Datuk Seri? - daripada Datuk Seri. Apa yang berlaku adalah fakta yang dibentangkan.

"Jadi saya meminta maaf sekiranya majlis ini mengganggu dan sebagainya tetapi saya perlu jelaskan banyak informasi yang salah dalam internet. Terima kasih."

The entire speech comes out in an emotional rush almost screeching when she speaks of being tortured by the police. The tremble in her voice begins with the first sentence and keeps a fine quaver all the way through. The audience is completely gobsmacked. I find my own eyes goggling throughout most of her speech.

When Ummi steps back into the crowd of people, the audience applauds her heartily, eyes bright and faces smiling again. Though Dr M smiles a bit in her direction as she disappears behind a wall of people to his right, his entire body is turned away from her and he jokes cryptically, "Saya takut hal ini jadi walaupun kertas ini putih tapi sebenarnya hitam." Then curtly, he faces the crowd and continues, "OK, soalan?"

No hands are in the air yet as everyone still seems to be recovering from the outburst. Dr M takes off his light grey suit and complains jokingly that London is hotter than even Malaysia, which prompts further laughter from the crowd and the quick arrival of a stand fan from the event organisers, although Dr M waves it away and says he is alright.

After the talk, I went over to Ummi, introduced myself and asked if I could question her a bit. She was a bit guarded but friendly, and agreed. What prompted her to make this sudden speech?

Calmly, she says she just felt she had to make it. She just had to explain to all the students here, after all the lies and gossip about her on the Internet, that she had not been asked to implicate Anwar by Mahathir.

"And what Datuk Seri (Mahathir) did is a good thing the right thing it was a good thing for the nation," she says urgently. Although her voice is impassioned, Ummi's powdered face keeps calm and impassive. There is no further explanation to what prompted her to do this here and now.

When I ask her if there were any websites in particular that she thought had lied about her, she looks a bit lost and says no, it is just lies on the Internet. So she just had to justify her stand against Anwar because of these? Yes, she says, nodding her head. I thank her and she smiles briefly again as I leave.