“Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed.”

- Bertrand Russell

COMMENT | Anwar Ibrahim’s definition of what it means to be “liberal” is the kind of strategy that has effectively proven to be futile against the Malay establishment. I have no idea why people are outraged over Abdul Hadi Awang’s letter to Islamic potentates in the Middle East.

Hadi claiming that Anwar and Harapan are liberals, propped up by Zionist and Freemasons, is exactly the kind of mainstream propaganda in this country that the Malay establishments – including Malay political operatives from Pakatan Harapan – have pedalled for decades. Amanah, for instance, wondered if Malaysia was having an "affair" with Israel.

Keep in mind that this “liberal” allegation against Anwar, was used just two months ago by the former prime minister – one time nemesis turned ally – Dr Mahathir Mohamed, as reported in Berita Harian - “Anwar keluar-keluar (UMNO), dia buat parti liberal. Dia nak dapat sokongan daripada DAP, maka dia ajak DAP masuk, PAS masuk. Falsafah dia liberal,” - in which the former Harapan premier added which was why the majority of Malays rejected him and why he (Mahathir) was needed to court the Malay vote.

Anwar plays into this strategy by implying that he cannot accept liberals “who reject faith and morality and 'conservatives' who condone corruption", which is really a dumb thing to say because rejecting religious dogma and stealing money from the rakyat is not the same thing. It is not even in the same league...