COMMENT Jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim shares the same birthday as my son.

They belong to two different generations of Malaysians. One represents the future generation of Malaysians, while the other represents a generation that has been demanding change for over a decade.

Whatever my son’s generation will suffer or get to enjoy depends on the sacrifice of this generation.

Many of us, watching the development on the 1MDB and realising that Anwar is no longer there to shoulder the big responsibility of speaking up on our behalf, are now taking upon ourselves to demand change for the betterment of Malaysia.

Whispers in the wind

This is at least what the people in the corridor of power failed to realise when they threw Anwar in jail. I have been saying it time and again, but no one wanted to listen, and Anwar was thrown into Sungai Buloh prison despite the opportunity to have him pardoned.

Street rallies are not for many of us. Reluctant as we may be, if it is for the future generation, many of us are willing to stake it all, now or never.

Most of us, like Annie Ooi (‘Auntie Bersih’, photo ), do not carry weapons, but we are all Adam Adli, Safwan Anang, Mandeep Singh, Fahmi Zainol, Syukri Rezab and Hishamuddin Rais, who are arrested, intimidated and some thrown into prison.

To most of these courageous young people who have sacrificed themselves, there is a lot to learn from their courage just as they, too, must have been inspired by the frail Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi.

We have our local Gandhi in the person of A Samad Said (Pak Samad) who recently joined the Democratic Action Party (DAP) to show that Malays are now joining the struggle to further strengthen the parliamentary democracy of this country.

In my opinion, it is Mohd Nazifuddin, son of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who should be ashamed of his father who is the cause of the loss of investors’ confidence in this country, the recent freefall of the ringgit and the drop in the country’s reserve by 16.6 percent.

If Najib is innocent as he claims to be, why do the police have to keep the evidence seized from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC)? Why does the entire investigation team probing into 1MDB and the public accounts committee (PAC) have to be disbanded, and former attorney-general Gani Patail removed unceremoniously?

A more honourable man would have gone on leave and allowed the investigation to carry on.

Blessing in disguise

On Anwar’s birthday, I wish to say that we could all see injustice in the politically motivated actions that sent him to jail.

Anwar was apparently framed, accused of sodomy and despite the evidence that ran contrary to the accuser’s story, the appellate court overturned the High Court’s decision, and the Federal Court subsequently upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision.

Many of us could see, for example, how the case was pushed all the way to the apex court, although scandals such as the Port Klang Free-trade Zone (PKFZ) and now the 1MDB, are being side-tracked.

On hindsight, with the 1MDB scandal and developments in PAS, I think it was good that the then-Pakatan Rakyat had not taken over Putrajaya. God is able to turn the time bomb that the 1MDB had sat on into the reason for the downfall of the very people involved in its creation.

Whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap. Politicians with power in their hands should realise that they are responsible for their own actions and they will eventually reap what they sow. They should not blame the people for their own faults.

What we are now seeing is an apparent split within Umno. All this is happening without even Anwar having to put his little finger to dig into the 1MDB scandal; otherwise, Anwar would have been accused of being an Israeli or a FBI agent, and the theory of an Arab donor would have appeared more plausible.

While Anwar may be languishing in Sungai Buloh prison, the country is marching into a new era. The battle line has been drawn between those who want change and those who prefer to remain in the status quo under the rule of Barisan Nasional.

I pray that more will heed the urging by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang who seeks to align the forces together towards a common objective. The time will come when eventually we will show who is more powerful, the rakyat or the corrupt politicians. Let this be a lesson to future politician wannabes.

What matters

Those who are on this side of the battleground know that besides Najib, there are not many likeable or capable candidates within Umno to replace him. Those who are loyal to Najib have to face a bigger dilemma after Anwar was sent to prison.

Instead of having to defend Umno against the enemy that is outside, now they have to face the enemy from within. It is the ‘enemy’ from within that is strongest and even newly-minted Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi is rightfully concerned with, after he accepted the No 2 post against the backdrop of Muhyiddin Yassin’s removal.

Zahid can continue to intimidate the people with his blitzkrieg, but his enemy from within will use it to further weaken his position.

On their own, the opposition could never remove Najib except through the polls, but when Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s camp of the once-powerful veterans starts the attacks from within, both Najib and Zahid would have to run for their lives.

Dr Mahathir is apparently unhappy with Najib’s decision to remove the party elections for the next 18 months. They will have to resort to other means. Therefore, while Anwar may remain in jail, he may see more cracks happening without having to do anything.

When it comes to the next general election, I will not be surprised to see that the vote swing will be even stronger, compared to what we saw in the past two general elections in 2008 and 2013.

Ultimately, it is not the two hundred odd divisional leaders who will decide whether Umno can remain in power; it is the people (the rakyat) who will decide what they what they want to do with their votes.

Crudely speaking, Dr Mahathir knows that with Najib and his men still in power, it will not do much good to Umno or the entire BN coalition. Perhaps, Umno has to suffer defeat for once in order to learn to be humble and serve the people.

Far from over

A war is won through a series of battles. There will be times when one side may lose a battle or two, but eventually, I believe the rakyat will win the war if the leaders continue to use heavy tactics against the people.

Although I accept criticisms for the article I wrote that our democracy is at the ‘adolescent’ stage , my point is that it is the adolescents who are hardest to handle. The way the Umno-led government handle this ‘adolescent’ nation will determine the future relationship between the rakyat and the BN, not forgetting it is the younger generation that are pushing for change.

No one can dispute that since the advent of the Internet, the otherwise apathetic Malaysians have become increasingly aware of the scandals that affect the country’s economy.

To now cap the pressure building within the pressure cooker will only lead to worse repercussions for those who choose to abandon wisdom in the way they govern the country.

Since the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced in April this year, I noticed that more people are giving BN the thumbs down. The GST is a ‘daily’ thing for all of us.

Some of us may ask why, despite three rounds of Bersih rallies, which attracted the support of even Malaysians from around the world, and a major Hindraf rally that shocked the nation when they took to the streets, we are still not making much progress in having clean and fair elections or meeting the demands of our communities.

My answer is: Anwar Ibrahim. Since 1998, when Anwar was sacked, we were all watching the injustices he had had to bear. Then, we saw him being set free by former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (thumbs-up in the name of democracy), only to be thrown into prison a second time. Those who did not support him in 1998 due to indifference are now with him.

From my observations, street rallies whether in Malaysia or even during Mahatma Gandhi’s time are organised to expose the true colours and the hypocrisy of the ruling regime. In all these street rallies, with the exception of a few, the people were met with the iron fist, chemical laced water and tear gas.

There were also a number of other major rallies that were held over the past two decades, but not one as big as the Indonesian reformasi which removed the dictator Suharto and the People’s Movement which forced then-president Ferdinand Marcos and his flamboyant wife Imelda ( photo ) to flee the Philippines.

God does not have to use the same method all the times, but He will continue to honour the faith of the people all the time. Faith of even the size of a mustard seed moves mountains.

The rule of ‘reap what you sow’ is universal. Najib will reap what he has sowed over the years - however you wish to interpret it - but Anwar’s struggles are far from over.

From within the prison walls, he is still keeping himself up-to-date with what is happening outside the prison walls. His imprisonment has attracted attention from world leaders around the world, and I believe this is what has emboldened many of the rakyat who want to see justice being upheld.

Therefore, on the auspicious birthday of Anwar bin Ibrahim, I wish him a special and sincere greeting, “Selamat Hari Jadi!” Keep your spirits high, as the rakyat of this country are with you for the sake of the future generations!

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.