‘Never explain, never apologise’ goes a refrain that purports to be wisdom for those wanting to make it big in any arena where the rules of the game are hazy.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim yesterday flew in the face of this amoral advice when he explained and apologised for some of the selections he made in the March 2008 general election.

NONE He told some 1,000 PKR and DAP supporters who attended the party’s Lunar New Year open house at Rifle Range in Air Itam that he apologised for mistakes in the selection of candidates at the last GE and shed insight into how it happened and why he was soldiering on.

“It was here in the final days before the election that I had an experience that stays with me,” he began, expertly shifting the crowd from its expectant mood, fierily stoked by earlier speaker, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, to one of contemplation.

“I had spoken to the crowd and had to wind up my speech to go to Bayan Baru for another ceramah. As I hurried with Zahrain (Mohd Hashim, the dissident former PKR MP and now independent) in tow to his car, a lady, probably in her 40s, stopped me in my tracks to clasp my hands firmly in hers.

“She said with concern written on her face, ‘Datuk Seri, take good care of yourself. Take care of our children,’” narrated Anwar.

Anwar explained to the crowd the reason why the lady’s gravity of manner and pronouncement are indelible in his memory.  

“What that lady was saying to me was that this is all about the future, our children’s future. She could see that that was the point of it all – the future, our children’s future.”

NONE Anwar elaborated: “This is not about Pakatan Rakyat gaining Putrajaya, not about Anwar Ibrahim becoming prime minister. This is about how this nation is governed, how its business is run, how its resources are used and how its people are treated.”

By now Anwar had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand: “If you buy fighter aircraft and can’t fly them because their engines are stolen, if you buy a submarine on which RM400 million was paid in commissions, and find that it cannot be submerged in the waters because of some malfunction, what kind of future can your children hope to have in such a country?”

‘We were short on everything’

After setting the crowd to contemplation of the bleakness of the nation’s prospects under BN rule, Anwar spoke of the difficulties PKR faced in the immediate prelude to the last general election.

“We were short on everything – money, suitable candidates, time and conditions in which to campaign. So I had to go with what we had and today some of the choices look pretty bad.

“I apologise for this and I promise that in the next round, our candidates will be clean, strong and interested in not what contracts they can gain but in what they can offer to the people in terms of what is within their rights to expect of their leaders and of this nation.”           

By now even the sultry midday heat could not stop the crowd, mainly assembled under a tent, with others sheltering under shady trees on the fringes, from craning to have a closer look at the makeshift stage where Anwar stood to speak.       

In a final flourish, in exhorting the crowd to be resolute for the changes that a Pakatan government would bring, Anwar cited the unflagging determination of the 7th century Tang dynasty Chinese monk, Xuan Zhuang, who travelled from China to India in search of wisdom.

“The journey was long and full of hazards but this monk was single-minded in his aim. He wanted to learn and he focused on that goal. He made that journey to and fro and came back to tell his people of the wealth of knowledge he had gained.

“Likewise our aim today is to be determined to bring change to this country, not just for our sake but for the future of our children,” Anwar concluded to rousing applause.