Malaysia Day : A New Birth?

Happy Birthday, Malaysia (not Malaya). Sorry, I don't even know how old you are.

Here we are on September 16th (Malaysia time), the promised date. Last night, Anwar declared to a 20,000-strong crowd that he "has the numbers" to take over the government. Exactly how that starts to happen is supposed to be revealed today.

In fact, it MUST be revealed, or Anwar's words will turn into a big lie. That's what BN is counting on. But apparently, they're worried enough that they're trying to pull Kedah Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen over to the dark side. So the tug-of-war has begun.

There are high expectations (or dread, depending on which camp you're in) for today. Both the Star Online and Malaysiakini have a stripped-down version of their websites due to high traffic. I just really hope Anwar and friends don't let us down.

Other developments in the past 24 hours:

- The Inspector General of Police released a statement on the ISA arrests, saying they were necessary to prevent racial and religious tensions from spiraling out of control. The statement was totally unconvincing, and instead of reassuring the public, the warning tone seemed to want to sow seeds of fear in people, reminding us yet again of May 13 and Kampung Medan.

- Two "four-eyed" meetings between Badawi and his deputy, Najib, over the past 3 days. Any wonder why the country is going down the tubes when two very flawed leaders listen to no one but themselves? Where are these people's advisers? Those people on the "fourth floor" infamously have their own agenda and seem more like they menghasut the PM instead of giving him sound advice.

- Zaid Ibrahim, the Law Minister, quit. Badawi rejected his resignation, instead telling him to take a 2-week vacation because he might be "tired". Yup, tired of working for an inept boss. Tired of trying to affect reforms in a system resistant to change.

Anwar said he tried to change the system from within too, and the system made him pay. Now, he's trying to change it from without and has made us big promises he'd better fulfill. Let's wait and see if we have something to celebrate.