Anwar, Lim use letters as political tool

Anwar, Lim use letters as political tool

By Ranjan Roy

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Their political voices muted by prison walls, two of Malaysia's most prominent dissidents have struck up an unusual correspondence, exchanging letters from their cells in an intimate dialog about life and politics.

But copies of the letters, distributed to the media and political activists, have also acted as a way of publicizing the shared plight of unlikely pen pals who, though they have rarely shaken hands, now embrace a common cause.

The more celebrated of the two -- ousted deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim -- is being tried on four charges of abuse of office. He faces prosecution on another six charges, including sodomy.

His correspondent, opposition member of Parliament Lim Guan Eng, sits in a dingy cell with only a ventilation hole in the ceiling. His crime: asking why a powerful government politician was not detained in a statutory rape case.

About a month ago former political foes Anwar and Lim exchanged letters of greetings during Ramadhan and the Chinese New Year.

Although the letters have received some notice, Malaysian papers -- which are guarded about criticism -- have largely ignored the correspondence that has been smuggled in and out of the prisons by family visitors.

"In some ways, our incarceration has helped open the eyes of Malaysians to the injustices of our system, and thereby to rouse them from their complacency and encourage them to participate more meaningfully in the political process," Anwar wrote to Lim from his cell.

He quoted Chinese philosophers and wrote about the challenge of transcending "the politics of race to enhancing and protecting the dignity of man."

In his reply, Lim, who is the first sitting lawmaker to be imprisoned, reflected on how the two had been "pulled and pushed by the ebb and flow of history."

"We took divergent paths and were headed toward the opposite ends of the political spectrum. Yet, both of us ended in prison -- victims of injustice and gross abuse of power," said Lim, who began his prison term a few weeks before Anwar was dismissed.

For half a decade Anwar, rising from a Malay Muslim radical base, was heir to Mahathir's office, often governing in his absence.

Lim Guan, a Chinese social activist, followed his father's footsteps into opposing the Malay nationalism that is the foundation of Mahathir's governing party and the system that Anwar represented until his Sept. 2 sacking.

The latest letter came this weekend from Lim on the birthday of his father, Lim Kit Siang, the opposition leader in Parliament.

Nearly a generation ago, the elder Lim was in jail for opposing the government and imprisoned again for 18 months by Mahathir during a crackdown on the opposition in 1987. His son is also serving an 18-month sentence.

In prose dripping with pathos of separation from his 3-year- old son, Lim said: "Like me when I was 8, little Whay Khai cannot understand the journey their fathers have to take."

"However, I hope that little Whay Khai can understand that no matter how much I want to, I cannot come back to him until my journey is complete," he said in the letter carrying birthday wishes for his father over the weekend.

Had they stayed on course, Anwar would likely have ended up dependent on the Malay majority, and as a leader of the mainly Chinese Democratic Action Party, Lim may have received little Malay support.

As they struggle to steer Malaysia away from race-based politics, Lim and Anwar say Mahathir's promise of democracy has been subverted by a virtual gag on public discussion of issues deemed sensitive by the government.

Mahathir's United Malays National Organization has ruled since 1957 in an unequal partnership with parties that claim to be sole representatives of the Chinese and Indian minorities.

While Anwar's case has drawn world condemnation, Lim's case is little known outside Asia.

But last week, an international delegation of lawmakers said Lim's conditions of imprisonment "do not meet relevant international standards".

It was "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," said a statement by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The government shot back.

"Don't expect them (prisoners) to receive accommodation and treatment similar to those provided by three-, four- or five-star hotels," said Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Anwar's successor to the deputy prime minister's office.