Malaysiakini brings back painful but also fond memories of our own struggles in the same direction, some 36 years ago (Victoria Institution - 1964 and Malaya University - 1968).

Many of my fellow activists in these pioneering efforts eventually went on to become Malaysia's leaders in different areas of political and economic life. One such person is featured very prominently in malaysiakini 's brave efforts; none other than Anwar Ibrahim.

Over the Mahathir-Anwar split, it appears that he has become larger than life. In malaysiakini 's brave and laudable efforts to stand behind his political misfortunes (yes he essentially lost the gamble to unseat Dr Mahathir), it must not lose sight of the fact that this is the same Anwar who after being enticed into the regime, turned against the very principles of political democracy that he championed as a fellow struggling student.

As education minister (and later the No 2 man) he actively oversaw the destruction of the once sacred pillar of that 'lone' alternative voice (where he got his own grooming to be a public speaker and student leader) of yesteryear; the Sudut Pidato (Speakers Corner) of the then University of Malaya. So many of Malaysia's current political, professional and economic leaders got their crucial 'training' at this simple corner that once was a national institution.

It is rather sad the way Anwar presided over the active dismantling of his own 'roots'. When teaching at the University of Malaya, I saw the direct consequence of this and other acts of repressing alternative voices, in the form of severe student social and political apathy. At the height of his then political career, Anwar the once radical student leader who championed the rights of the less fortunate at the Sudut Pidato and later beyond, became just another hungry politician (seen often in three-piece suits and taking horse riding lessons, etc.) with no patience nor need for an educated opposition.

This apathy that he helped create has now come to haunt him, and may explain why more tears are not being shed for his plight among the educated elite. Kacang lupakan kulit ; I believe is how such transformation would best be described in Malaysian society.

Now Anwar's political fortunes have taken a fall and he has reverted to becoming a voice of the 'downtrodden'. It saddens me to see an old colleague in such dire straits (especially the jail treatment, etc), but this and more is the price one must expect to pay for lost political gambles in political cultures that lack traditions of legitimate opposition; one that Anwar actively helped create in better times.