Anwar accuses BTN of releasing "basement tapes" on him

“I would anticipate that BTN in its crooked ways will not dare release all the videos of all the speeches. So what they would do is selective and will quote out of context and release." - Anwar Ibrahim to reporters yesterday

History and Rhetoric. I've watched one of the said 40 tapes of Anwar Ibrahim at various Biro Tatanegara courses. He was already Deputy Prime Minister back then around mid-90s and most of what he was saying was nothing new, really. Some history lessons, the rest rhetoric. It's the same rhetoric and history some of the Umno leaders are churning out today, except that now they are being accused (by Anwar and followers, ironically) as proponents of Ketuanan Melayu or Malay Supremacy. It is up to the Umno politicians to defend what they say. On his part Anwar, I'm sure, will at least stand by his words on the perjanjian keramat between the tuans of this land and the pendatangs. “In the historical context during our agreement in 1957, we gave citizenship to the immigrants (pendatang). Since we have given them (immigrants) citizenship, the question of the Malay’s special privileges should not arise." - Anwar as reported by Malaysian Insider. That's history, not rhetoric.

Several friends from Pakatan Rakyat have called to say that the tape I cut-and-pasted on this blog here was a little under-the-belt. I disagree. I am merely sharing what was already on the You Tube and I did not take any credit for it (I made links to the You Tube and to a blog that has posted the video earlier). The NST and Utusan have reported my posting and TV3 aired part of the clippings during prime time news last night, also based on my posting. If the tape and its contents were fabricated, Anwar would have said so but he did not [click here for report on what he said about the release of his BTN tape]. And if what Anwar is saying is that other Umno leaders were dua kali lima (just as bad as he was), then it is true that we should blame the politicians and not the BTN itself. The politicians include Anwar.

As a Malaysian, I am just glad that if the BTN had indeed been used to promote semangat Melayu, it was done so not at the detriment of race relations in this country. If the BTN was a brainwasher and propaganda machine, it obviously didn't do a good job (otherwise, we would not have Nik Nazmi who attended BTN course as an undergrad would have been "turned"; instead, he became even more resolute to change things from outside the "system" and today is a YB with PKR).

We haven't suffered any racial clashes since the last one in May 1969 despite of all the fiery speeches by Anwar and whoever else at BTN. Despite BTN itself.