An open letter by Imran Imtiaz has been circulating online since it was first featured on Mukhriz Mahathir’s blog. Imran tried very hard to convey one essential message: that the Zaid Ibrahim success story is no different from other lawyers linked to UMNO, that my success was by patronage, patronage and patronage. And so he goes on that there is no point in me talking about merit, or ability, because I was a beneficiary of the same corrupt patronage system like others. To recollect and place into context, I blogged about the issue of Chinese benefitting from the NEP by “using the Malays” who were politically connected. I then asserted that it would be beneficial to the larger community (regardless of race or ethnic group) if our political and economic systems were more merit based and that the selection process was transparent and verifiable by objective means.

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim akan berucap tentang otobiografi terlaris beliau, Saya Pun Melayu/ I Too, Am Malay/ 我也是马来人 (Wo Ye Shi Malai Ren), di BookFest@Malaysia hari Ahad ini dari 3.00-4.00 petang.

Buku ini mengimbas kembali keputusan beliau mengundurkan diri dari kerajaan Malaysia serta pembuangan keahlian Umno beliau, desakan dan usaha sesetengah ahli politik untuk mengetepikan beliau dari rumpun Melayu, kritikan beliau dalam isu Ketuanan Melayu, pandangan beliau berhubung kedudukan Raja-Raja Melayu dari segi undang-undang dan politik, serta analisis-analisis beliau mengenai pentadbiran Najib Razak.

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim will speak about his best-selling autobiography, I Too, Am Malay/ Saya Pun Melayu/ 我也是马来人 (Wo Ye Shi Malai Ren), at BookFest@Malaysia on Sunday from 3 to 4pm.

The book recalls, among other things, his decision to resign from the Malaysian government and being sacked from Umno, the attempts made by his adversaries to ostracize him from the Malay community, his critique of Malay supremacy, views on the Malay monarchy from a legal and political perspective, his experiences in the Cabinet under Abdullah Badawi’s administration, as well as his analyses on Najib Razak’s administration.

YB muda Nurul Izzah harus dipuji untuk mempelawa Perkasa berdialog bersamanya mengenai apakah yang menjadi kebimbangan Perkasa. Beliau bertanya apa punca atau perkara yang dikatakan menjadi kebimbangan Perkasa. Beliau mengulas, adakah orang Melayu sudah hilang kedudukan istimewa mereka, atau apakah kemunduran mereka itu berpunca daripada sebab-sebab yang lain? Nurul bertanya, adakah mereka sebenarnya mempunyai ‘hak istimewa’?

Kesanggupan anak muda ini mengupas perbezaan konsep ‘hak’ dan ‘kedudukan’ (Special position, privileges atau rights) itu mengembirakan saya. Ia menunjukkan seorang pemimpin yang tidak malas berfikir.