letter to the PM

at the malam bangsa malaysia in penang recently, at the forum, one of the speaker, dato seri lim chong keat, suggested that the people of penang (at least those present) invite the PM for a dialogue, based on the 4 resolutions adopted at the forum (and therein of course any other matters that might arise). well, after all, the PM is also from penang, maybe he will heed the letter. maybe he will not. someone at haris’ blog commented that the PM might not even read the letter. well, to me it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t read the letter or respond to the dialogue (but of course i hope he will) because we had done our part by sending out this letter to voice our intentions.

remember the open letter to the sultan from martin jalleh? well of course there is this big possibility that the sultan might not see the letter. now and then you see in the media esp. in malaysiakini, people writing letter to the ministers or the PM, like the recent one, an open letter to the PM by beth yap. yes, the targeted person the letters are for might not get to read the letter… but there is hope. yes, the targeted person might get to read the letter but s/he might not act/respond… but there is hope. we got to do something! we got to keep the hope alive!

one of my most admired person, the late mahatma gandi said it well:
(this also applies to the bersih rally, the judicial walk or any actions taken!)

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that"s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from you action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.

ok i had cakap banyak 🙂 on to the original intention of this post – the letter.

____________________________________________________________________

14th November, 2007.

YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Hj. Ahmad Badawi,                      
Prime Minister of Malaysia,                                   
Prime Minister’s Department,                                                                                                                                                     Blok Utama Bangunan Perdana Putra,                       
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,                      
62502 Putrajaya.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

Re : Request for a dialogue

I pray that this letter finds you and your family in good health.

On 3rd November, 2007, my friends from Kuala Lumpur and I hosted a ‘Malam Bangsa Malaysia,  Penang’ at Dewan Sri Pinang, Pulau Pinang that was attended by some 100 anak-anak Bangsa  Malaysia, most of whom were from Penang.

I now write to you on behalf of those participants.

For your information, ‘Malam Bangsa Malaysia, Penang’ was essentially an event to facilitate fellowship  between like-minded Malaysians, all of whom were very supportive of the aspiration of ‘one people, one  nation’ that you and your colleagues in government have been espousing and my friends and I have  been trying to give effect to.

‘One people, one nation’, in fact, was the theme of a forum that preceded a simple meal later that night.

You will be interested to know that in the course of that forum, after hearing the views of 4 distinguished  speakers, the participants unanimously adopted the following 4 resolutions :

· No more race-based political parties

· No more incompetence in Parliament

· Civil society taking ownership of governance of the nation

· No more racial delineation

I will readily confess that I was most impressed by the way these Penangites were able to fully  appreciate immediately some of the most pressing issues that confront us as a nation and unflinchingly  adopt what many today perceive as the only way forward if we are to realise the aspiration of ‘one  people, one nation’. Looking at these resolutions, I think you have every reason to feel proud of the  citizens of your home-state.

The participants also unanimously resolved to meet and dialogue with you, presumably on the 4  resolutions narrated above and on the state of things in the country that are of concern to them. They  mandated me to write to you in regard thereto.

The participants and I fully appreciate that you must have a very tight work schedule at the moment,  given talk that the next general elections could happen at any time and you must therefore have your  plate full getting your team into readiness with a view to repeating, if not improving, on your runaway  success in the last elections.

It is, however, hoped that you will take time out from your busy schedule to make time to dialogue with  these participants. To make it worth your time, perhaps the dialogue could be organised to  accommodate a larger audience, thereby giving more Penangites the opportunity to interact with you.

If, in principle, you are amenable to the requested dialogue, could I propose that the same be held some  time in December, preferably before the next general elections. As you alone are privy to when this will  take place, I shall be most pleased to be guided by you.

I look forward to hearing from your office in relation hereto at your earliest convenience.

I am, as always, anak Bangsa Malaysia,

Haris Ibrahim