Feature
Baru-baru ini Datuk Zaid Ibrahim telah mengumumkan hasratnya untuk bertanding di parlimen Kota Bharu dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang. Tinjauan rambang di beberapa tempat santai di ibu negeri Cik Siti Wan Kembang itu menunjukkan Zaid masih merupakan personaliti popular di kalangan pelbagai lapisan masyarakat di bandar itu.
Walaupun terdapat reaksi balas dari pimpinan UMNO Kelantan dan juga Kota Bharu yang melihat Zaid sebagai calon yang menjadi cabaran kepada mereka, PAS pula dilihat lebih tenang dengan perkembangan itu.
Mingguan Era (Era) cuba menyelami sanubari bekas Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dan bekas Ahli Parlimen Kota Bharu itu untuk mendapatkan reaksi beliau bagi manfaat pembaca.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 — Datuk Zaid Ibrahim took a swipe at Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Muslim leaders today for claiming to be moderates but cancelling Erykah Badu’s concert tonight because of her “Allah” tattoos.
“The truth is, these leaders are not even sure what kind of Muslims they are. The truth is, the BN is not even sure what ‘moderate’ means,” he charged in a blog post today titled “How about this for a moderate BN”.
It took Datuk Zaid Ibrahim several weeks to transform Islamist party Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (Akim) into a multi-racial liberal party Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita).
Within six months after rebranding the old party earlier this year, Zaid is ready to unveil the party's new manifesto that touches on a wide range of issues from leadership qualities to ways to achieve true unity to promoting transparent governance.
The manifesto, that also touches on educational, institutional, economic and political reforms, will be launched on June 30.
In an interview with The Star, Zaid talks about political realities and the infinite timeline that is needed to institute reform.
This speech was originally prepared for Projek Amanat Negara 2011 organized by the United Kingdom and EIRE Council for Malaysian Students which was held in London on the 9th of April. Due to a last minute change in the event lineup, Datuk Zaid was instead invited to a forum on governance with other panelist.
Greetings and salutations,
You’ve asked me here to play soothsayer on the future of Malaysian politics. To perhaps, make predictions. To tell you how it’s all going play out. But the fact remains that our politics has always been startlingly predictable. The names and faces sometimes change - not always - but the same events keep recurring.
But you know this already. You have lived it. You have been a crucial part of our political history.
Abstract of speech delivered by Dato’ Zaid Ibrahim at the Mensa Annual Gathering on the 20th March 2011. For full text of speech, please refer here.
Today I want to talk about the importance of a liberal democracy for Malaysia if we are to sustain our growth and our success story.
Let’s look at the issue in a wider context. A vibrant democracy promotes a free market of ideas. As democratic citizens, we should be confident enough of our own critical thinking faculties to evaluate challenging ideas. What the authorities are doing is imposing protectionism on our sphere of reason.
Full text of speech prepared for Mensa Annual Gathering, 20th March 2011.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I thank you for your kind invitation to have me share my thoughts on where our country’s vulnerable democracy is headed. Today I want to talk about the importance of a liberal democracy for Malaysia if we are to sustain our growth and our success story.
Recovering our democratic bearings will help us rise above the destructive ethnocentricity that currently permeates the politics of this country. For instance, just this week there is the controversy surrounding the seizure of imported bibles in Bahasa. If we apply the principle that in a democracy the minorities require the protection of the majority, and such minorities having their rights entrenched in the Federal Constitution, then the embargo and the restriction imposed would not have been necessary.
* The following is an excerpt from a speech I delivered on 29 Jan 2011 in Sarawak.
My sincere gratitude and appreciation to leaders of Sarawak National Party (SNAP) for inviting me to deliver a speech on the state of the Opposition in Malaysian politics today. As leader of a new party, albeit a small one -- Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (KITA) -- I have emphasized repeatedly that we need to have a credible opposition, because only credible leaders will regain the trust of the people of Sarawak.