Kee Thuan Chye THE PEOPLE'SFor Review only Kee Thuan ChyeVICY TOR Few people believed the corrupt and oppressive Barisan THE Nasional government could be toppled. But the people were sick and tired of it. And the scandals PEO surrounding the prime minister. He had brought shame to Malaysia, which became known to the world as a kleptocracy. P This book tells the epic story of how Malaysians took LE'S responsibility for their country and struggled against the odds to change their government. Of how a 92-year-old former THE prime minister who had been an enemy of the Opposition for decades crossed over to join forces with the very man he had VIC Y sent to jail 20 years earlier, and led the charge to topple the party he once loved. T PEOPLE'S Starting with the outcome of the 13th general election in 2013 and then moving through five years of drama, surprises, ironies OR and twists to the climactic 14th general election of 9 May 2018, the narrative grows from despair to hope to euphoria. VICY TOR This book honours the concerned citizens who fought the good fight and contributed in ways big and small to bring about a new Malaysia. How Malaysians What they achieved was truly a victory of the people. saved Country Marshall Cavendish THeir Kee Thuan Chye POLITICS Editions ISBN 978-981-4828-84-0 ,!7IJ8B4-iciiea! 9 For Review only THE PEOPLE'S VICTORY For Review only THE PEOPLE'S VICY TOR How Malaysians saved THeir Country Kee Thuan Chye For Review only © 2019 Kee Thuan Chye Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International All rights reserved This book is dedicated to my wife, No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, Lim Choy Wan, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. and my children, Tel: (65) 6213 9300. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.marshallcavendish.com/genref Soraya Sunitra Kee Xiang Yin and The publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for Jebat Arjuna Kee Jia Liang, any particular purpose, and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. The publisher states that the printer was engaged solely to provide Lim Jack Kin full printing, binding and delivery services for the book and is not responsible for the contents of the book. and all those of his generation who represent the hope and future of Malaysia Other Marshall Cavendish Offices Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA • Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, the comrades for change who protested in the sun and rain, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand • Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, stood up to tear gas and water cannons, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia were harassed by the police and even arrested, Marshall Cavendish is a registered trademark of Times Publishing Limited helped out in any way they could, National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data and, above all, Name(s): Kee, Thuan Chye, 1954- Title: The people’s victory : how Malaysians saved their country / Kee Thuan Chye. the Malaysian people who voted for change Description: First edition. | Singapore : Marshall Cavendish, [2018] Identifier(s): OCN 1056702101 | ISBN 978-981-48-2884-0 (paperback) for without them, there would not have been Subject(s): LCSH: Elections--Malaysia--21st century. | Malaysia--Politics and a people’s victory. government--21st century. | Government accountability--Malaysia. | Political corruption--Malaysia. Classification: DDC 320.9595--dc23 Printed in Malaysia For Review only CONTENTS AC T 1 DESPAIR This is the Time! 10 Do We Have a Winner? 35 Blackouts and Bangladeshis 50 Rallying is the New Black 67 No Day in Court 82 Win Some, Lose Some, Some Win, Some Lose 90 The Worst that Could Happen 105 Acts of Blame, Acts of Shame 117 ACT 2 HOPE The Big Steal 136 Rule By Thieves 165 Earthquakes and Realignments 176 Bravehearts, Stooges and a Comeback Kid 191 Game for Power 203 Nouveau Nonagenarian 212 How to Steal an Election 226 Ready to Make History? 239 ACT 3 EUPHORIA Like Watching a B-Movie Western 252 ‘We Did It!’ 268 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 286 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 288 For Review only ACT 1 DESPAIR 11 For Review only THIS IS THE TIME! allowed to stay in government, the outlook for the next five years could be unbearably bleak. It was time to vote the whole lot out. “Ini kalilah!” roared the change-seekers at PR’s campaign stumps, THIS IS THE TIME! asserting that this was the time to do it. They would turn up by the thousands at many of these ceramahs (rallies) to show solidarity, listen to the speeches and feel upflited, convinced that the Opposition could win. At Gelang Patah, one of the constituencies in the southern state of Johor, as many as 70,000 people swarmed the car park of a shopping On May 5, 2013, hopes ran high that by the end of the day Malaysia would mall on May 1, blowing vuvuzelas and cheering the PR leaders who have a change of government. Even before polling stations opened at 8am, spoke. Two nights later, an unprecedented 100,000 people filled up the throngs of voters were already queuing up, many of them eager to make Esplanade in Penang, shouting “ubah!” (change), breaking all records of that happen. rally attendances. This was the day they had been waiting for, five years after the watershed When a PR politician on stage shouted, “Ini kalilah!”, the supporters 12th general election (GE12) in 2008 when the Opposition pact stunned yelled back, “Change the government!” The camaraderie was powerful; Barisan Nasional (BN) by denying the incumbent ruling coalition its campaigners and supporters were in sync. customary two-thirds majority in Parliament and capturing five of the 11 Outside of the hustings, calls for change resounded on social media, but state governments in Peninsular Malaysia. it was not all just talk. Individuals and groups reinforced it by taking action. Now, with the Opposition having exposed the once-mighty BN’s They organised events to help PR parties raise funds, influenced fence- vulnerability and also unified itself as an entity going by the name of Pakatan sitters to attend PR rallies, mobilised friends to sign up and be trained Rakyat (PR), or The People’s Pact, it looked ready to take over the federal to be polling agents for PR candidates for election day. They helped to government at this 13th general election (GE13). Malaysians disgruntled indirectly campaign against BN by circulating e-mails exposing BN’s with the ruling coalition felt cheered. excesses, corruption and abuse of power, or by posting comments on media BN had ruled for 56 years since the country attained independence websites condemning in strong language the incompetence and the lies of from the British in 1957. Its brand of politics had come to be dictated government ministers. more strongly than ever before by its dominant party, the United On Facebook, like-minded ones adopted as their profile photos the ubah Malays National Organisation (Umno), which had become self-serving, hornbill mascot (launched by one of PR’s component parties), as if giving arrogant, divisive and corrupt. This had compromised the ability of the themselves a group identity as comrades for the same cause. Those with other component parties in the coalition to function as effectively as more resources created and produced short videos to spread the message of they should. change in a more direct and effective way. With Umno firmly in command, BN had turned out to be indecisive in its administration, lavish in its spending, indifferent to racial harmony, ‘Remember to ubah, ya?’ oppressive in its exercise of power, and more. If the coalition were to be The comrades for change were frank about the side they would vote for and 12 13 THE PEOPLE'S VICTORY For Review only THIS IS THE TIME! had no qualms about declaring it openly. They rebuffed the maxim about alleged to contain phantom voters; reform postal voting; introduce the use keeping their vote secret and proudly stated their stand to get others to join of indelible ink; allow all political parties free access to the media; and put their cause or engage in communion with fellow Opposition supporters, an end to electoral fraud. even if they were strangers. Tens of thousands of concerned Malaysians spilled onto the streets of Once, I was in a taxi going home from the airport when the driver and Kuala Lumpur’s city centre to support Bersih’s calls. Many more overseas I started talking about politics. As the elections were coming up, it seemed came up with initiatives to support the cause, and when Bersih appealed the natural thing to do. I was not surprised that the driver complained for a large turnout of voters at GE13 because this would be the only way to about the Government. Actually, he did most of the talking as he spoke defeat cheating or fraudulent manipulation, they made plans to fly home out against the cash handouts the Government was dispensing, obviously and vote.