The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Lessons from the Jasmine Revolution Posted: 06 Dec 2012 03:53 PM PST DEC 7 — My last stop in my Arab Spring documentary tour was Tunisia. It also happens to be the first country in the Arab region to start revolting and became the inspiration for the rest of the countries like Egypt, Syria and Yemen. The story, if you're not familiar, has become the stuff of legend. A young fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, in the small Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid set himself on fire in protest. He was tired of how he was being treated by government officials who were always confiscating his goods and asking for bribes. He died of his injuries. This caused an uproar amongst the citizens in the small town. The authorities turned violent when attempting to quash the uprising. The news spread and soon the whole country demonstrated. The urban citizens in the capital Tunis who had always been more economically privileged soon realised how their government had been treating the rest of the country. Once the whole country was united in solidarity, the revolution became strong and the dictator President Ben Ali was forced to flee the country and now resides in exile in Saudi Arabia. What is interesting for me is that two years have passed since their revolution, and out of all the Arab Spring countries, they are the ones with the most successful new democratically-elected government. Of course, they have some small problems here and there. The most obvious is economic in nature. The unemployment rate has risen to 18 per cent and corruption still exists. Although there have been small protests around the country, overall, the Tunisian people that I spoke to seem optimistic that everything will turn out okay. I spoke to a wide variety of people, from business owners to market vendors and even students. And even the most pessimistic were, well, optimistic. Although they all felt that the country is in an economic crisis post-revolution, they also felt that it was only natural. Many understood that a revolution didn't mean that things would be absolutely perfect overnight and that the new government definitely needs time to work and to improve things. They also knew that with freedom of expression and religion now being allowed, things were definitely going to get better, if not for them, then for their children. One clothes store owner even mentioned that he will not enjoy the benefits of the revolution in his lifetime even though he took part in it by going to the streets. But he was fast to state that his children and their children, and so on and so forth, will be the benefactors, and that is the main point of the entire revolution. A butcher I spoke to in a market told me that he hated the new government that had been voted in as he believed that they were not doing a good job. But he wasn't bitter. He calmly said that when the next elections came about, he would just vote for whoever he felt would be able to a better job. And that, to him, is the point of the revolution. I also asked some Tunisians about the protests that have been going on in the country and if this reflected the sentiments of the whole country. That also seemed to be another point of the revolution for them. It meant that people had the right to express themselves and it didn't mean that they wanted another revolution, but just to be heard. I left the country feeling very positive and even inspired by what I had seen there, even though I spent less than a week with the people. Now that I am back in Malaysia and am amongst my fellow Malaysians, I feel that although the context and situation of Tunisia and Malaysia are different, there is a lot we can learn from them. I am not calling for a revolution here, since I have previously mentioned that the context and situation is totally different, far from it. But I am calling for Malaysians to keep what is important in their sights and not to forget that we do not depend on the country, but the country depends on us. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Posted: 06 Dec 2012 03:38 PM PST 7 DIS — Begitu tinggi syukur saya melihat Hamas, gerakan Islam yang memerintah Gaza menjadi tetamu dalam Perhimpunan Agung Umno tahun ke 66nya. Apa untungnya buat Hamas saya tidak pasti dan apa pula yang Umno cuba dapat dari tetamunya juga tidak dipastikan. Tetapi setelah lama cuba untuk mendekati Umno, maka baru tahun baru hijrah 1434, baru Hamas diterima oleh Umno. Adakah sesudah Umno ada transformasinya baru terbuka hatinya untuk menerima Hamas sebagai tetamu sedang Hamas sudah acap kali menjadi tetamu Muktamar PAS sejak ia ditubuhkan kira-kira dua dasawarsa lalu. Saya masih ingat sebaik Hamas ditubuhkan hadir di Muktamar PAS wakilnya Azam Tamimi sebagai tetamu PAS untuk memperkenalkan pertubuhannya. Kemunculannya sebagai sebuah gerakan politik Islam Palestin adalah setelah kegagalan PLO — Pertubuhan Pembebasan Palestin — pimpinan Yasser Arafat dari Gerakan Fatah tidak dapat membela masa depan Islam dan umat Palestin. Kemunculannya itu samalah dengan kekecewaan umat Islam Mindanau terhadap MNLF — Barisan Pembebasan Nasional Bansa Moro — pimpinan Nur Misuari lalu membentuk MILF iaitu Barisan Pembebasan Islam Bansa Moro pimpinan Salamat Hashim dan samalah seperti kekeciwaan orang Islam Tanah Melayu terhadap perjuangan Umno mengenai Islam lalu mereka menubuhkan PAS. MILF inilah akhirnya berjalan berjaya memperjuangkan nasib Islam Fillipina Selatan yang perjanjian damainya dengan kerajaan Filipina dicapai baru-baru dengan Malaysia menjadi orang tengahnya. Kehadiran Azam Tamimi masa itu berusaha untuk dengan kerajaan Malaysia dan Umno supaya Hamas diakui dan dibantu sebagaimana ia memberi bantuan kepada PLO dan Mujahidin Afghanistan ketika diduduki Soviet Union. PAS dapat membantu Hamas sekadar yang terdayanya tetapi untuk mendapatkan sokongan kerajaan, Hamas mesti menjalin hubungan dengan Biro Antarabangsa Pemuda Umno yang pengurusinya masa itu ialah Nazri Aziz. Azam pernah membawa penggantinya, Amar sebagai orang yang menghubungkan Hamas dengan Malaysia. Amar adalah adik Khalid Mashal, pemimpin Hamas sekarang. Azam kemudian datang lagi dengan wakil Hamas di Pakistan, Dr Osman juga gagal untuk menemui Umno. Dr Osman beberapa kali datang ke Kuala Lumpur tetap gagal untuk menghubungi Umno. Ketika Pakistan yang menerima perwakilan PLO juga boleh memberi layanan kepada Hamas, mengapa pula Umno tidak boleh memberi layanan yang serupa kepada Hamas? Itulah persoalan dan layanan yang Hamas terima dari kerajaan dan Umno. Hamas muncul kerana mereka melihat PLO yang Fatah sebagai organisasi terbesarnya mulai mengikut rentak yang dikehendaki oleh Amerika dan barat. Pendekatan berdamai dengan Israel yang PLO ambil, pada pandangan Hamas, tidak mungkin mengubah sikap Israil terhadap Palastin. Kerana itu Hamas dirasa penting buat Palestin dan akhirnya bakal menjadi gerakan paling berpengaruh di kalangan umat Palestin. Khalid sendiri pernah datang ke Malaysia. Dia menjadi tetamu PAS. Saya sendiri mengiringnya mengadakan kunjungan ke Terengganu dan Kelantan. Khalid juga tidak dapat menembusi tembok Umno. Betapa jaraknya Umno dengan Hamas dapat dibuktikan oleh sikap kerajaan BN yang menjadi tuan rumah satu sidang antarabangsa di Kuala Lumpur telah menapikan kerusi Menteri Luar Palestin semasa Hamas menjadi kerajaan di Tebing Barat dan Ghaza. Kerusi perwakilan Palestin itu diberi kepada jurucakap luar Fatah yang kalah dalam pilihan raya dan tidak memerintah. Sedang Menteri Luar yang sah dari Hamas sudah ada di Kuala Lumpur. Menteri luar dari Hamas itu penat saja datang ke Kuala Lumpur. Maka sekarang barulah Umno menjadikannya tetamu Perhimpunan Agungnya. Dua puluh tahun Umno mengambil masa untuk mengakui Hamas, satu transformasi yang perlahan. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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