Malaysia Politicans Bond In Their Zeal for Reform : From Prison Cells, an Alliance for a New Era 
International Herald Tribune
February 10, 1999
Thomas Fuller

When they both had their liberty, when they had power and meteoric careers, rarely were their names mentioned in the same breath. But today, from inside their spartan prison cells, Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng have found a bond, solace for two fallen politicians.

They exchange letters — one each so far — about legal reform and their shared vision for the country's future, a far cry from the days when discussing such matters together in public would have been a major political liability.

Their letters have been distributed among social activists and members of the political opposition, people who hope that the correspondence provides, in a small way, the antecedents of a new era of politics in Malaysia.

"Through it all, despite our differences, I sense that we both share the same reforming zeal — reforming the political system to make government more accountable, to make democracy more participatory and make our political culture more ethical and moral," Mr. Lim wrote to Mr. Anwar last month.

Mr. Anwar wrote: "I am sure that you are aware that since our misfortunes, even housewives and schoolchildren have begun to question whether there is democracy and justice in Malaysia."

In the days when they were free, Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng had ambitions and careers as different as their Malay and Chinese ethnic backgrounds.

Mr. Lim was a feisty social activist, considered by many to be the most articulate government critic, challenging the leadership openly and often. Mr. Anwar was a portrait of the establishment, the heir to the top job in governmentbefore he fell out of favor with his boss, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad.

Mr. Lim writes his letters from a 3-meter-by-2.5-meter cell. There are no country-club prisons in Malaysia's penal system. Common criminals are warded side by side with members of Parliament. Prisoners are given a blanket and sleep on the concrete floor or with a thin mattress.

Mr. Anwar, who is under medication for a stomach ailment, is being kept in the medical ward of a prison a few dozen kilometers away.

Mr. Lim writes about the "Great Divide of race and religion" in Malaysia and looks to the day when political parties in the country will no longer be based on ethnicity. Mr. Anwar writes about the "oppressive" powers of the political elite: "Our forefathers fought against colonial power for freedom and justice and NOT to be replaced by indigenous oppressors. It's quite paradoxical for the so-called ardent nationalists to use the same draconian colonial laws to stifle dissent and opposition.

" To be sure, there is more than a good dose of political grandstanding in their letters. But there is also perhaps something more simple: kinship, exchanging letters with someone in the same predicament.

While the age of the Internet and fax machines has humbled the notion of the ordinary letter, in the seclusion of a prison cell, inmates are as pleased to get mail as a homesick child in summer camp.

"They mean very much, very very much," said Syed Husin Ali, a political prisoner for six years in the 1970s, referring to letters in prison. "Every time the warder comes around with mail he will be shouting from a distance, 'Surat! Surat! Surat!"' Letters! Letters! Letters! "And everyone will rush to the front of the cell, each waiting eagerly to receive one."

Both men discuss their court cases and the reasons for their incarceration.

Mr. Anwar, 51, was dismissed by Prime Minister Mahathir last September and was charged with sodomy and corruption. He has been denied bail.

Mr. Lim, 39, is serving an 18-month term for publishing and distributing a pamphlet that criticized the government. He started his sentence last August.

Taken together, the ordeals of the two men have changed the way Malaysians view their government. Mr. Anwar's arrest led to street protests and a general unease among the often well-traveled, well-educated Malaysian middle class.

"In some ways," Mr. Anwar wrote Mr. Lim, "our incarceration has helped open the eyes of Malaysians to the injustices in our system, and thereby to rouse them from their complacency and encourage them to participate more meaningfully in the political process."

Mr. Lim went to prison after a judge refused to overturn his conviction for printing and distributing a political pamphlet that a lower court had ruled seditious. The pamphlet criticized the government's decision not to press statutory-rape charges against a former senior government official.

The pamphlet questioned why a schoolgirl involved in the scandal — she was 15 at the time — had been detained in the case but not the official, who was then regarded as a protégé of the prime minister's.

After hearing the final ruling, Mr. Lim stood stone-faced in the dock, surrounded by weeping women: his wife, his mother and other family members. He gave his wife everything he would not need in prison — car keys, wallet and suit coat. He placed his national identity card in his shirt breast pocket and turned to face a group of reporters crammed against the wooden railing of the dock.

"I will hold up the handcuffs that will be placed upon me not as a symbol of shame but as a symbol of pride and honor," he said in a quivering voice. "My political career may have been terminated, but my political struggle will go on." The sentence disqualified Mr. Lim from Parliament for five years from the date of his release. He was handcuffed and led away.

A few weeks after Mr. Lim began his jail term, Mr. Anwar was dismissed, a move that shocked the country. Mr. Anwar was considered the man who would lead Malaysia into the 21st century.

The ousted deputy prime minister fought his dismissal with protests around the country, climaxing in a demonstration of tens of thousands of people in the center of Kuala Lumpur. He was arrested and beaten by the police, leaving him badly bruised.

A week later he was charged with sodomy and corruption.

His trial is nearing completion, but there is more to come.

"There are other charges against him that have not yet been proffered," Mr. Mahathir said recently. "Whether he is acquitted or not, he will have to face more."

If Mr. Anwar is convicted he might join Mr. Lim at Kajang prison in a similar cell. Mr. Lim seems to think so, anyway.

"Prison authorities here in Kajang are making feverish preparations for your cell even though your trial is still continuing," Mr. Lim wrote Mr. Anwar.

"One is curious," he added, "how they can be so certain of your impending conviction."

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