Lecture by Anwar Ibrahim at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Manila Aug 5, 2011
If I may begin with Indonesia's poet laureate, the late Chairil Anwar:
"Sometimes within these dank prison walls
A warm fragrance fills the air
And I forget the drudgery of my being
Floating instead, higher and higher
Above the present, totally unaware…"
They say that art imitates life, and that it true most of the time but sometimes as captured in this short stanza, life seems to imitate art. I say this of course from personal experience, as I myself have many a time come face to face with such a situation – as I'm sure those who have had the privilege of being incarcerated for an extended period would have experienced it too.
So, while in solitary confinement when these reveries were rudely broken by the uncompromising sting of the mosquitoes, I found myself grabbing hold of Rizal's Noli Me Tangere, indeed a worthy companion particularly for political prisoners. Or Rizal's other master piece, El Filibusterismo. Speaking of leadership, who, for example, cannot but be moved by the profound sentiments articulated in just this short passage, one which I'm sure all of us are familiar with, but bears repeating:
"Within a few centuries, when humanity has become redeemed and enlightened, when there are no races, when all peoples are free, when they are neither tyrants nor slaves, colonies nor mother countries, when justice rules and man is a citizen of the world…."
Freedom and justice and an end to tyranny, these are the recurrent themes which no leader worth his salt should ever lose sight of. Above all, the courage of conviction to pursue one's ideals to the very end. And so it was to such a cause that Jose Rizal was steadfastly committed.
Not unlike Rizal, Ninoy Aquino too had that unflinching courage of conviction. And both paid the ultimate price for it. One by firing squad, the other by firing assassins. Both sacrificed their lives on the altar of the greater good, for the people and above all for humanity. Both their martyrdoms ignited the fire that would galvanize the people to fight against tyranny and oppression for freedom and justice.
This may well be a tall order but the moral to the story of these two heroes whose humanity transcends their race even nationality, is that great leaders should be able, willing, and ready to seek justice for the people at the expense of their own lives.
Many can have intellectual prowess and many too can be great orators; but without the capacity to say "I am prepared to meet my Maker, if that is what it takes to take my people from oppression and suffering" most of us will remain leaders only in name. For where is that courage of conviction that is able to separate ourselves from our egotistical designs? By what measure can we use to tell ourselves that yes, we are true leaders and not leaders merely by default?
Again, justice, freedom and the war against tyranny, these are themes that would resonate with all civilized societies. Now more than ever before, when the winds of change are sweeping across the deserts of the Middle East and stirring up thunderstorms in various parts of Southeast Asia, these themes must remind us that power cannot and must not be used for personal gain. And this lesson is totally in sync with the bigger picture when we talk about the influences of Rizal and Ninoy.
To my mind, our leaders could do well to remember that the idea of the dignity of man which indeed was a major theme in Rizal's writings is an idea which translated into the language of today, is a theme which has now been enshrined in the concept of fundamental human rights. Ninoy too in his journalistic essays made it clear that tyranny of men over his fellow men was an affront to our dignity. Regardless of race, creed, or culture, or even wealth, this theme is certainly something that all those who cherish freedom and justice can relate to.
Then there is the school of thought particularly current in ASEAN member nations that says that political stability is something that ought to be protected even more than human rights. To this we say that political stability by itself is meaningless if it is not utilized to widen the practice of democracy and to enhance the institutions of civil society. If political stability is touted purely on the platform of economic prosperity, then autocrats and dictators can get away with murder.
This is the tyrant's refrain, a time-honoured tool to be employed every time the people clamour for greater freedom. But as we are beginning to witness, the extended warranties on these tools have expired and the rising tide for freedom and democracy cannot be stopped.
While in the past, the blame was rightly on the colonizers, having attained independence, we have only ourselves to blame for the tyranny we have imposed on ourselves – the despotism, the autocracy and even the dictatorship that we have witnessed in the past three decades in almost all the ASEAN countries.
The use of the word revolution may cause some leaders sleepless nights no doubt but revolutions may come about without a shot being fired. For example, the People Power Revolution is clear testimony that effective regime change can be carried out through non-violent means. No doubt it is usually preceded by violence committed by the powers that be – leaders clinging on to power and the violence they unleash on the people but why blame it on the people?
Though it is true that not all such regimes resort to violence in dealing with the people's grievances, strong arm methods continue to be deployed in an attempt to silence dissent. The Asian values mantra of societal stability and paternalism remain the convenient excuse to drive home the argument that authoritarian systems were better suited towards achieving economic objectives.
Western notions of human rights and freedom were a stumbling block in the eradication of poverty and the path to modernization and global competitiveness. This ideology of a strong paternalistic government being the better alternative to liberal democracy however has received a severe blow in the recent elections.
The numbers trumpeting enhanced GDP growth, standards of living and competitiveness have lost their dazzle. Because what use are these numbers if social inequities continue to divide the voices of dissent are not allowed to be heard? Hence, in the last elections in Singapore, the theme of social justice ran deep in the campaigns by the opposition parties.
We have seen how Thailand has had her democracy come under siege many times. Thanks to the ASEAN creed of non-interference in the domestic affairs of its members, the question of legitimacy of the just voted out administration had never been raised. If only that administration had learnt the basic lessons of Rizal and Ninoy, they would have known that pretending that you're regime is legitimate doesn't make it so.
Why go so far, some may ask. Yes, it is true that even after People Power, the forces of reaction threatened to turn back the clock. A few years ago, we saw the possibility of democracy being allowed to vanish by a stroke of the pen. Of course, the people did not let it happen because you take your freedom and democracy very seriously. Indeed, the struggles of Rizal and Ninoy, and if I might add, of Cory too, have not been in vain.
And just more than a decade after the EDSA Revolution, the people of Indonesia rose against the tyranny of Suharto's dictatorship. Blood was spilt and shots were fired but by and large apart from the atrocities committed prior to the revolution, this was again non-violent. In any event, it was not some kind of revolutionary mob – as the powers that be are wont to tell us – that caused the violence. It was once again those hell bent on clinging on to power that had wanted to strike fear in the people in order to stem the tide of Reformasi.
Today, Indonesia's democracy rests on a sound footing where the checks and balance on governance are getting institutionalized. Rule of law generally prevails while institutions of power are held to account as can be seen in the increasing number of corruption cases. Yet, it suffers from the same ASEAN malaise – the so-called policy of non-intervention based on the principle: "I'll stay out of your backyard, if you stay out of mine".
Coming closer home, we find democracy being used as a façade for the aggrandizement of power and wealth. It is a strangle-hold on all the institutions of power – the police, the prosecution, the anti-corruption agency and the judiciary.
Safeguards placed in the constitution are treated as inconsequential as judges interpret the law not according to well established principles but directives issued from up high. So here again, the lessons of Rizal and Ninoy are lost. We know that democracy crumbles when the judiciary caves in under the pressure of the executive and the legislative branches of government. But the writing on the wall is clear – the highest judicial position has been given to someone who used to be a senior member of the ruling party. How then can we expect judges to be independent of political authority when appointments to high judicial office are conducted in such audacious fashion in blatant disregard of basic principles of governance?
Good governance remains illusory where the judiciary is unable to function with impartiality and courage of conviction. When the judiciary continues to display signs of perversity in their judgments in cases between the state and the people, in matters which affect their fundamental liberties, good governance flies out the window.
Addressing the multicultural texture of our societies, issues of freedom of religion and conscience loom large. There is the question of the legitimate expectations of minorities to have their rights and liberties safeguarded against encroachment. The balancing of minority interests with the majority requires ingenuous commitment from both sides as represented by their respective community leaders. The empowerment of one cultural group at the expense of another in any society would only lead to a clash of interests. These are not academic issues that can be solved merely through intellectual cogitation. They are pressing issues that have serious consequences if left unchecked.
Here, another enduring lesson from our heroes is the need to transcend cultural specificity. Just last week, someone holding high office in government, twittered some very offensive words to attack my character, something I must confess it is not so out of the ordinary. But unfortunately in doing so, she also sullied the good name of Rizal calling him names which should not see the light of day. In one fell swoop that personal attack on me has exposed her bigotry and cultural jingoism.
The source of the attack – on me – was apparently my so-called track record of participating in forums such as these and in particular my penchant for paying tribute to Jose Rizal. This is very sad and most unbecoming. It is indeed shocking that in this day and age, there is still this sense of cultural superiority among people which makes them feel that they are more civilized than others.
Now if there is yet another lesson for the powers that be in ASEAN, it is that a vibrant opposition is essential as the bulwark against the tyranny of absolute power. They must allow the Opposition to flourish as the people's conscience, because they hold them to account when they go astray and to remind them that power is trust, not might. I see it happening here, and also in Indonesia, even Thailand. But alas, I can't say the same about the situation back home.
The persecution against Opposition leaders is unprecedented in the history of ASEAN. Character assassination continues unabated even as they are being dragged to kangaroo courts to face completely unsubstantiated charges. Some are incarcerated without trial, some are incarcerated after a sham trial and some are incarcerated after having been released from incarceration.
To the perpetrators of such tyranny we call on them to search within themselves and as Rousseau once said, "listen to the voice of our conscience in the silence of the passions."
Some may listen but there are others yet who will not heed the call for reform in governance, or the electoral process, or for freedom and democracy. And there are some who make a show of it by engineering ingenious public relations programs, and spending millions of dollars of the taxpayers' money to gain access to international media to make themselves look good. Well, they can spend all they want, but truth is not a commodity that can be bought or sold. As they say, you can't fool all of the people all the time.
So, at the end of the day, when we set them against the freedom calculus of Rizal and Ninoy, these leaders come off as far below expectations, if not altogether unmitigated disasters. As governments that come to power not by free and fair elections but from foul and unscrupulous means, they fail miserably by any measure. But as ASEAN moves on and more and more of its member nations embrace freedom and democracy not just in name but in practice, the prospects are more than likely that these errant states will find themselves increasingly isolated and one day will succumb to the tide of reform. Let us hope that that day will come sooner rather than later.
Thank you.
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