by YL Chong
On the second day of the 7th Annual Congress which ended on Sunday, this thirty-something first-term MP for Lembah Pantai Nurul Izzah had the party's members, young and old, and the members of the ‘Fourth Estate’ literally eating out of her warm hands at the main entrance to the party's annual meet with a "Marilah Kita Makan Kek" party at lunch break.
The young mother of two, in my opinion, is an "incidental politician" like her mother Dato’ Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. They were both thrown into the deep end of the pool of politics infested with sharks and crocodiles from mainly Umno in 1988. This was when Datuk Seri Anwar, father to Nurul Izzah and husband to "Kak Wan" (as party members would fondly call the chief) were forced to play a political role just as soon as Anwar was sacked as Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister by then Umno head Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
I had personally met Nurul Izzah when I was still a member of DAP and we were speaking at the same mini stage at a three-storey building displaying a large signboard that said: ‘Pusat Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’ in Jalan Loop, Seremban. It was on an April 14 night to mark the infamous "Black Eye" sustained by the present de facto PKR leader while under the custom of the Malaysian Royal Police. Even then I was pretty impress by Nurul Izzah's social skills, exuding always a warm smile to her young admirers who dub her in the early years following Anwar's incarceration in prison by the BN government as ‘Puteri Reformasi’. She was also outstanding in her oration – inherited from dear daddy, I presume – and soon she was polishing up her PR savvy-ness by speaking in Mandarin to charm the Chinese members who were growing in numbers at PKR gatherings.
Winning the highest number of votes among the four elected vice-presidents in a field crowded by many party elders absolutely marked another milestone in her sure and steady rise in the 12-year-old party. And she planned a most media-friendly event by hosting the "Let's All Eat Cake" party last Saturday afternoon. Surrounded by adoring fans that was not gender or age-differentiated, Nurul Izzah recalled that last Oct 16, a small movement began on Facebook that, in just over a month, became a small phenomenon that had attracted over 260,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook. One month later, the “1M Malaysians Reject 100-storey Mega Tower” group had hoped to take their work one step further beyond cyberspace by marking their one month anniversary on Nov 16 by celebrating with Malaysians by eating cakes at various public places.
"But, as we know, the authorities, be they the police, security guards, or even the university administration had decided that: Eating Cake Is Wrong!" Nurul Izzahsaid.
In thinking aloud, she asked: But is it really wrong? What is wrong: The calories? The absence of Jakim’s halal stickers? The lack of permit to eat cake in public? Or, is it wrong to be open minded to envision a Malaysia that is better, that is more rational, that is more equitable?
"Is it wrong by law to think for one’s self? Surely NOT!" she answered to her own questions addressed to the cheering audience who later fought to pose for photographs with the rising star of a potential prime minister of Malaysia and the first woman at that too.
Nurul Izzah then invited one and all to open and free their minds from the "Politics of Fear and Fatigue", and aspire towards the "Politics of Hope and Liberation". Even though much that has taken place in this country may have kept the people's spirits down, she stated that there is in fact much for the citizens to celebrate and have hope in. Some of the recent positive events highlighted by Nurul Izzah were:
•The release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been faced with Myanmar military regime ceaselessly these past 20 years! How brave and noble her spirit is.
•The peaceful completion of the PKR party polls, even though there is surely much that still needs to be corrected
•The end of a year full and fraught with challenges, yet still productive, which has made us hungry – hungry for positive change, hungry for economic equality and so forth… and also… hungry for the right to eat cake without hindrance or harassment from anyone!
"And so, ladies and gentlemen, I hereby invite you to join me to eat cake in Putrajaya on the Jan 1st 2011!" Nurul Izzah added, prefacing more such joyful events to come with the dawn of a new year.
"Let us start this new year with new dreams, new spirit, and these delicious cakes that will surely give us new energy with which we can realize all these aspirations!" she concluded, readily adjoining to photo sessions to an eagerly awaiting audience. - malaysiandigest.com
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