The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers

32. Anwar Ibrahim

for challenging the Muslim world to embrace democracy.

Opposition leader | People's Justice Party | Malaysia

Two decades ago, it would have been impossible to imagine Anwar pulling together rural Malays, ethnic Indians and Chinese, and Islamists into a coherent political bloc. Back then, Anwar was deputy prime minister in a de facto single-party state that espoused preferential treatment for ethnic Malays. It was a policy that Anwar had pushed from his days as a youth leader right up until 1997, when he denounced his patron, then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, for corruption. He would spend the next six years in solitary confinement on trumped-up charges for that political betrayal. And he would leave jail in 2004 with a bold message for change in a country now at the forefront of the struggle for democracy in the Muslim world. Today, Anwar's political career is blossoming, despite a new, politically motivated indictment. Abroad, he has become an outspoken advocate of religious tolerance.

He sat down with Foreign Policy to talk about his big ideas:

On Muslim countries and the West: You can't just erase a period of imperialism and colonialism. You can't erase the fault lines, the bad policies, the failed policies, the war in Iraq, and support for dictators. That to me is the reality. But what is the problem? When you … apportion the blame only to the West or the United States. They want to deflect from the issue of repression, endemic corruption, and destruction of the institutions of governance.

On his time in prison: I spent a lot of time reading. I decided to focus on the great works and the classics. Friends from around the world were sending books, but it takes months for [the prison] to vet them. There came a book on the Green Revolution at that time. The officer said, "Anything revolution -- out!" even though it was about agriculture. But the books kept coming. The officers were not even graduates, and [the books] were in English. They would say, "Anwar, out of 10 books, can you send back one?" So I would select something I had already read or something I was not interested in and say, "We should reject this."

On politics: Of course, you simplify the arguments [for politics], but the central thesis remains constant. People say, "Anwar, you are opportunistic. How can you talk about Islam and the Quran here, and then you talk about Shakespeare and quote Jefferson or Edmund Burke?" I say, it depends on the audience. You can't talk about Edmund Burke in some remote village in Afghanistan. Then you go to Kuala Lumpur and you quote T.S. Eliot. If I quote the Quran all the time to a group of lawyers, [they will think] I am a mullah from somewhere!

TAHNIAH DIUCAPKAN KEPADA DSAI

SELAMAT MENYAMBUT AIDIL ADHA

Hari Raya Aidil Adha telah di tetapkan pada 27 November 2009 iaitu hari Jumaat.
Surau Al Husna dijangka akan melaksanakan korban sebanyak 5 ekor lembu dan 1 ekor kambing. CORRECTION - 6 ekor lembu dan 1 ekor kambing.
Seperti biasa tentu agak kalut kalau orang tak ramai sebab hari Jumaat. Kena siapkan sebelum pukul 12:00 sebab Zohor masuk pukul 13:00.
Nampaknya tahun ni jadi tukang tengok dan tukang ajar. Kang tak pasal pasal lepak kat wad lagi minggu depan. Insyaallah akan update gambar Majlis Korban tu nanti.
Hasil perbincangan AJK, korban akan dilaksanakan pada hari Sabtu 28 Nov 2009 mengelakkan terkejar solat Jumaat.
Semua akan mula berkumpul dari jam 07:15.

Penyembelihan bermula jam 8:30. Lembu sampai pagi pukul 7:45. Semua selesai 11:30. Pelapis pelapis termasuk anak-anak aku membantu sesangat korban kali ini. Baguslah. Kami cuma memberi tunjuk ajar caranya sahaja.

SERUPA TAPI TAK SAMA

SERUPA TAPI TAK SAMA. Terdapat perbezaan dalam dua gambar di bawah. Sila cari perbezaan tersebut.
Terbaca kisah dalam surat khabar pasal kes suami tikam isteri. Dah berumur, gambar bawah menunjukkan suspek di tangkap.
Ni Gambar dari Utusan Malaysia.

Dan ini dari The Star

Pemilik gedung terkemuka 'Harrods', Mohamed Al-Fayedh ingin menjadi Presiden negara Scotland yang merdeka.

INI AL FAYEDH

INI ADLI AHMED FAYEDH

INI bukan angan-angan Mat Jenin.
Syarat Fayedh cukup mudah: "Rakyat Scotland mesti melupakan keluarga Di-Raja Britain".
Ini kerana semua urusan perlantikan termasuk pelantikan First Minister of Scotland (berperanan sama seperti Ketua Menteri atau Menteri Besar) masih tertakluk di bawah bidang kuasa Raja dan dalam kes ini ialah Ratu England iaitu Queen Elizabeth II.
Al-Fayedh yang merupakan seorang berketurunan Arab Mesir mendakwa beliau sebenarnya berkongsi keturunan dengan warga Scotland.
Fayedh juga berkata dia akan membeli Istana Balmoral milik Ratu dan mentransformasikannya ke sebuah muzium selepas Scotland berpisah dengan United Kingdom.

AKTIVITI HARIRAYA PADA SABTU DAN AHAD

SABTU (GAMBAR TAK SEMPAT AMBIL)
MAJLIS HARI RAYA SURAU AL-HUSNA SEKSYEN 20.
BERMULA PAGI SIBUK PERSIAPAN SERTA KITAR SEMULA.
MENU-MENU ADALAH:
KAMBING PANGGANG (2 EKOR)
RENDANG AYAM
TALAPIA GORENG
NASI IMPIT
LAKSA
CHAR KUEY TEOW - MASAK ON THE SPOT (FAYEDH SIBUK MEMBANTU AYIE)
KUIH MUIH

AHAD - MAJLIS HARI RAYA TABM.
SAMBUTAN KOMPANG MENYAMBUT KETIBAAN VIP
MENU UTAMA - KAMBING PANGGANG 4 EKOR
PEMBERIAN WANG ANGPAU KEPADA ANAK-ANAK DAN PEKERJA BUJANG
HADIAH CABUTAN BERTUAH, KARAOKE DAN PERTANDINGAN MENGANYAM KETUPAT.
SEBAB KENA HANTAR HARITH BALIK, KAMI MENINGGALKAN MAJLIS PADA JAM 13:30.