special

In 1970, as chairman of the university's Malay Language Society, Anwar was one of the leading voices calling for more support of the Malay language as the official language of the country. The discontent was among predominantly Malay-speaking students who found that the disparity between talk and action in the implementation of the Bahasa Malaysia policy, was more pronounced in the university.

"In the 60s, there was a lot of lip service as far as this policy was concerned." Phillip Koh recalls. "Although it was officially acknowledged as the national language, the Malay language was largely ignored and its treatment, frankly, scandalous."

In October 1970, as a sign of protest, a group of students, allegedly led by Anwar, went around the campus and "obliterated all signboards and notices written in English" (from 'allegation of fact #2' in Anwar's 1975 ISA detention order).

This reaction was basically a manifestation of the frustration among students who, having been instructed in the Malay medium, felt that the predominant use of the English language in the lecture halls and books was a form of discrimination against them.

While Anwar had already graduated from UM by 1971, he continued to be the unofficial leader of students on campus. His position at the helm of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) and Majlis Belia Malaysia and the influence he continued to wield in societies like Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar-Pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM), Malaysia's national coalition of Muslim students and the PMUM, ensured that he remained very much a part of student activism until the 1974 crackdown.

'Lincoln lingkup!'

This was the time that Isham came in contact with Anwar. "Although we did not exactly 'hang out' together, we shared a lot of common ground as far as international issues were concerned. While Anwar's approach to issues was more Islamic and mine, socialist, we were on the same platform".

Their first "shared platform" was the 1971 PKPIM-organised mass demonstration against the visit of the Thai premier to Malaysia for the alleged mistreatment by the Thai government of Muslims in southern Thailand. The demonstration, which involved thousands, began at the airport in Subang and continued all the way to the Federal Highway and Pantai Valley. The students were finally tear-gassed and pushed back into the campus. Seventeen, including Anwar, were arrested for blocking traffic.

"It really politicised me," Isham says, as he recalls the incident. It was also the first of a series of demonstrations and protests both Anwar and Isham would work together on, one notable incident being the protest in front of the American Embassy in 1973.

The issue was America's support of Israeli aggression in the 1973 October War (or Yom Kippur War) that culminated with the taking over of the Sinai peninsula from the Palestinians. "When the war began, the student union took a stand immediately and we were convicted that we had to demonstrate. On Oct 13, PMUM organised a demonstration in front of the American Embassy. About a thousand of us were tear-gassed," Isham remembers.