Goodnight RPK, You Cunning and Controversial Historian!

 

Pepper's World. Notes to myself

Goodnight RPK, You Cunning and Controversial Historian!

Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) has passed away. Despite many former supporters calling him a turncoat, I continued to turn to his writings and videos to help me understand the murky waters of Malaysian politics and history. He was fearless, reckless, cunning and clever. Often, he stood alone by himself when his friends and supporters ditched him. Yet, he did not cower, he did not waiver. That was something I admired about him.

Raja Petra in his last video before his passing.

Born in 1950, this Malaysian blogger and political activist has been a central figure in many of the country’s recent milestones and heated debates too. Through his unfiltered commentary and fearless critiques of Malaysia’s political establishment, Raja Petra has become a polarising figure in Malaysian society. You either love him or hate him.

For those who do not know him, they will say he is a mercenary for hire – supporting whoever pays him more because sometimes he is pro-Pakatan and other times he is anti-Pakatan. A friend of mine calls him ‘lalang’ – a long grass that sways whichever way the wind blows. In actual fact, Raja Petra is a man of principle. When Anwar was jailed unjustly, he supported Anwar and called for his release. However, when he sees Pakatan doing unjust things, he would call them out. He also has his cunning side: to exert vengeance on people who turned on him, he would join their enemies! In my opinion, he was an expert Marchavelian, often playing politicians for fools!

Raja Petra was born into a family with royal roots in Selangor. His mother was English. Before gaining fame as a blogger, Raja Petra was a businessman. I only know of several he owned while living on the East Coast. One story was how he helped Malay fishermen buy outboard motors for their sampans. Before he came along the fishermen would buy from traders (mostly Chinese ) who would collect RM10 daily towards the payment of the purchase. The problem was the fishermen did not know when to stop payment as they relied on the trader to keep track of it. So the trader just kept on collecting RM10 every day, making the fishermen pay for their outboard motors many times over! Raja Petra started a company to fairly sell outboard motors to the fishermen. It seems he did very well and drove a Mercedes Benz.

His career in journalism began in earnest with his foray into blogging during the Free Anwar campaign. He was tasked to head the cyber arm (then a very new field) of the campaign and started Malaysia-Today with his own money. It was there he established himself as a provocative and influential voice. The blog quickly became known for its critical and often controversial take on Malaysian politics. He often obtained insider information on the hottest topics of the day. Raja Petra used his platform to write about issues that mainstream media often avoided, such as government corruption and abuses of power. I am proud to tell you that one of my Dear Paprika articles was republished in his blog. (https://www.malaysia-today.net/2015/08/11/dear-paprika-what-could-happen-after-bersih-4/)

The blog tackled sensitive topics such as corruption, human rights abuses, and political scandals. Raja Petra’s investigations into the 2006 murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu were particularly controversial. He alleged then Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor’s involvement in the case, which stirred significant public and legal scrutiny. His revelations about the case led the police to arrest him under the ISA (detention without trial). In jail, he refused to eat fearing being poisoned. In the end, he fled to Manchester. It seems, as cunning as he was, he was tricked into releasing fake and false information relating to the case.

In a video, he revealed that only members of DAP came to support him while everyone else avoided him. It seems Ronnie Liu gave his wife money while he was in jail. He also revealed that he had financed the cyber war all by himself when money that was promised to cover the cost never materialised. He felt bitter that despite sacrificing so much to support Pakatan, they did not return the favour when he needed them. Another time, when his friends ditched him, his wife had to make packets of nasi lemak to sell.

Raja Petra’s political stance changed sides several times due to the old adage, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Initially, he was a fierce critic of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and its Bumiputera policy. His blog often aligned with the opposition, advocating for reform and transparency. However, he was a Malay nationalist which many people mistook for racism. There was a period when he championed everything PAS when he was being attacked, citing himself as a lifelong PAS supporter since the 1980s.

He was most critical of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and later Najib Razak, whom he accused of various forms of corruption. However, when Anwar turned on Raja Petra over the issues between the Pakatan allies, he fought back and became anti-Anwar. That’s RPK! Don’t take him on unless you are ready for the fight of your life. He is your friend if you are friendly to him but if you turn on him, he will take you to hell with him!

The political landscape shifted dramatically with the 2018 general elections, which saw the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, led by former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir, achieve a historic victory. Anwar was in jail then. Raja Petra supported this new government. However, when the PH government encountered its own issues, including allegations of corruption and governance challenges, Raja Petra criticised them. That is Raja Petra: principles trump everything else.

Another thing I loved about RPK is his deep knowledge of history, both local and abroad. His understanding of Malaysian history allowed him to provide insightful critiques of contemporary issues. It is certainly because of his deep understanding of historical perspective that he can spot patterns of corruption, power struggles, and systemic problems within Malaysia and those who walk the corridors of power. I enjoyed his political analysis and commentaries, especially when intertwined with historical facts.

In his final years, he turned to making daily Youtube videos in bahasa. I hope they will be transcribed someday because there is a lot of useful and important information in his videos.

Goodnight, Raja Petra! I will miss your daily videos and writings. Thank you for trying to make our country better.