Golf to politics: Teeing off with Haris
Haris Ibrahim talks about the rise of people power, how Ayah Pin ended his law career and his retirement plans.
EXCLUSIVE
If this interview was done more than a decade ago, Haris Ibrahim reminisced, it would have taken place at the luxurious coffee house in the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
But the once fanatical golfer, who played 54 holes on a single day, saw his love for the game diminish because of a gardener.
Like every golfer, Haris had yearned for that elusive hole in one but the garderner’s plight on a sweltering afternoon had left a gaping hole in his heart.
FMT recently caught up with the former lawyer at a humble tea stall, and when the owner emptied a bucket of dirty water behind him, Haris lifted his glass of teh-tarik as if in silent salutation of the irony between his plush past and modest present.
And the 52-year-old president of the fledgling political outfit, Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM), recalled the life-altering lesson which he had learnt from the gardener.
“I was driving past the golf course and I saw a gardener fashioning a crude cardboard shelter for herself in the shrubs… I threw my clubs away that day,” he said.
An unnecessarily dramatic act? Not when it is held up in the light of Haris’ life. Then it becomes almost mundane.
Haris is driven by a fierce intolerance of injustice. It is a trait that has continued to steer his life path which began in the courtroom.
For a while he basked in the reputation of being a legal gun for hire. Then the millennium arrived and brought with it the case of Ariffin Mohamad or Ayah Pin of Sky Kingdom fame.
Little did Haris know that the self-styled prohpet would herald an end to his legal career.
“On Nov 19, 2000 I headed up to Kelantan to see if I could offer help to the four apostates,” he recalled. “There was mayhem in the Syariah Court when they renounced Islam and I witnessed the worst case of injustice that day.”
“Four unrepresented individuals were treated with great hostility and imprisoned because the court refused to recognise their constitutional right under Article 11. After the sentencing, I went to their village and promised to help,” he said.
Miscarriage of justice
In his idealistic eyes, the situation was simple – a miscarriage of justice had occurred but this would be set right once the law took its course. That was to be his first of many bitter jolts.After the umpteenth jolt, Haris finally concluded that the judiciary was no longer serving the people. And in one fell swoop his childhood dream disintegrated.
“I grew up listening to uncles who were lawyers,” he said. “They fired my imagination and inspired me to practise law. But the institutions that are intended to serve the people are now bowing to political masters.”
Haris joined forces with human rights lawyer, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, to launch “Article 11 The Coalition” in January 2006. They were shut down after a mere six months. A friend suggested blogging instead.
Having no idea what a blog was, Haris turned to Google, and found to his bewilderment, hundreds of links to teenage diaries. He immediately dismissed the idea. His crash course in blogging came in January 2007 when he was asked to defend journalist, Ahiruddin Attan, and Jelutong MP, Jeff Ooi.
“They were being sued over their blogs and I couldn’t comprehend how that was possible,” he laughed.
“Then I visited their blogs and was blown away by the content.”
“I launched my blog, The People’s Parliament, in April that year and one thing after another led me to where I am today. But if you had told me 15 years ago that I’d be here, I would have said you were mad.”
And where he is today is right in the heart of political activism.
Last October, he took another firm step forward to become the president of MCLM (Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement). The movement is chaired by another blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin.
MCLM’s mission is straightforward. It aims to field 30 candidates for the next general election under a non-BN party or as an independent. The 30 are an eclectic splash of familiar and unknown faces bound together by a singular promise to serve the people.
Blank cheque
To date four candidates have been announced – Malik Imtiaz, lawyer Sreekanth Pillai, former AWAM president Haslindah Yacob and dentist Dr Nedunchelian Vengu.
“But we are not the third force,” Haris insisted. “That term belongs to the citizens who need to be more involved in the political process. Just casting a vote every five years is literally giving a blank cheque to politicians.”
His first step in fueling people power was seeking viable candidates among the average Malaysians.
The criteria was stringent but clear. The candidates had to be financially secure, involved in social work and open about their choice of lifestyle.
Of the three, the candidates’ venality takes top priority following the PKR defections that scorched the heels of the 2008 tsunami.
“What we are addressing is the risk of being bought over,” Haris asserted. “We’re confident of our candidates’ integrity but circumstances can force a person into difficult positions.”
“So we’ll be conducting financial checks every six months and if we find anything remotely amiss, we will immediately drop that candidate even if it’s the eve of polling day.”
In another twist to political tradition, MCLM will deploy its candidates in selected constituencies by early March rather than at the eleventh hour as is the practice of both BN and Pakatan.
“Forcing citizens to vote for someone they barely know is a great disservice to them (the voters),” he said. “We want to raise the standards in Parliament and we can only do that when citizens know what standards they are voting for.”
While constituency selection is still ongoing, Haris disclosed that they are eyeing Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Perak and the rural pockets of Selangor. And despite receiving five resumes from Sarawak, he is determined to stay within Peninsula Malaysia.
“We have limited human resources,” he explained. “And I think that people in East Malaysia have long felt that the Peninsula tends to dominate and impose itself on them. So we will extend a hand in friendship, offer our resources to them and leave them to manage their own election initiatives.”
Mad hatters running the show
Meanwhile Haris is keeping himself pleasantly busy with table talks between the 900-member strong movement and non-BN parties.
It has won support from Pakatan, although supportive, is wary of a possible grassroots revolt if any of its MPs decide to step aside for an MCLM candidate. But it has promised to tackle the problem alongside MCLM should it arise.
Over on the BN side, several curious Umno members have held quiet conversations with Haris in a move to understand exactly what he is attempting to pull off.
“They’re wary because they’re not sure where this is going,” Haris grinned. “And they also want to know where our funding is coming from and how much we have to determine how far we can go. But what makes them really nervous is that two mad-hatters are running the show!”
Wariness is not the only response that MCLM has invoked. Its detractors have also accused it of playing the spoiler during the next election, a criticism that Haris has tossed out the window.
With a touch of exasperation he outlined a what-if scenario where constituents prefer the MCLM candidate and request that Pakatan reveal its candidate for them to make an assessment. True to its practice, Pakatan announces Mr. X only on nomination day.
“Now between our candidate who has been working the ground for seven months and this new candidate, who is the spoiler?” Haris asked. “To suggest that an independent initiative is the spoiler underlines the notion that the processes belong to the political parties and that we are the intruders.”
“At the end of the day the spoiler is the one who really shouldn’t have been there because he didn’t have a chance or had a lesser chance between the two. We are in here to take BN out but we’re also saying let the best man stand. And if our man is better then be honest about it.”
And then the inevitable question – is he among the 30 candidates? Haris shakes his head. Negative. His reasoning is simple. As a candidate, his focus would be solely on one constituency. As a non-candidate, he would be able to concentrate on all 30 constituencies and its candidates.
“The candidates are strong activists but politically new and will need a lot of guidance,” he pointed out. “I’m of better service this way.” Then he paused and considered a thought before adding.
“But if I was running, I’d take on (Health Minister) Liow Tiong Lai in Bentong. I had a disagreement with him some years back and told him that if I ever had the chance, I would take him on.”
Prosecuting Mahathir
For many traversing the political landscape the road ahead can be an endless stretch, but Haris assured that he has an end in sight. This end however hinges on two prerequisites.
“I want to see a reform government in place and a serious move to prosecute former premier Dr. Mahathir Mohamed in order to reinstate the national wealth that he has hijacked,” he asserted.
“Then I will retire to sell fish in Karak or end up as a tutor on Malaysian citizenship,” he continued with a big smile. “And hope I never have to return to chastise any of the MPs we have put in Parliament. But I will continue to play the role of watchdog. That’s a pledge I’ve made to the rakyat.”
Haris wasn’t joking about the fish. He recently returned to Kuala Lumpur from Karak after selling his Bentong farm on which he lived for six years in blissful solitude.
And while he has accepted the inevitable publicity boost that MCLM has brought him, he has refused to be the sole voice of the real third force.
“We all have this over-glorified perception of ourselves,” he said. “If you want to free the people you have to break this notion of icons. You can look to me for leadership as long as you understand that you’re also a leader. I’m no one’s guru.”
Which probably explains why he doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry. Haris is greatly amused by this. It’s good, he approved, let’s keep it that way.
If he did have an entry though, how would it describe him? Without missing a beat, he quipped. “An overweight sperm passing through this earth waiting to return to mother ship.”
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