Phar Kim Beng's op-ed on Anwar and beyond sounds like a cheer squad chorus: Anwar! Anwar! Anwar!

I believe Anwar's charisma, more than anything else, may have lulled a lot of people when he joined Umno in 1982 (instead of PAS) and partnered Dr Mahathir Mohamed in his vision of Islam.

Of course, he might have changed since his fall from grace in Sept 1998. His bizarre trials and incarceration might hopefully have injected some realism and critique to his past decisions.

Unlike Phar, I will not ride the tide with Anwar for the moment, thank you very much. There is more rhetoric than matter in Anwar's Islam. I have yet to see the progressive side of his version of Islam, either when he was in office or when he was president of the International Islamic University.

I think individuals and civil society groups are really out there doing the much needed work of reformasi. Anwar would do well to actually really listen to all the Malaysians who have been marginalised all this while.