The Malaysian Insight

As the 14th general election approaches, The Malaysian Insight looks at new and young politicians who are being groomed by their parties to stand as candidates. One of the biggest grouses among the electorate is the lack of young leaders as the heads of political parties, even in the opposition, are those who have been in politics since the 1980s. Where are the young to take Malaysia forward? The Malaysian Insight speaks to theatre practitioner Fahmi Fadzil about the similarities between art and politics.

 

THESPIAN Fahmi Fadzil is a well-known face in Pakatan Harapan, regularly emceeing the opposition coalition’s events, and is the man behind many a PKR press statement that he sends to media personnel via WhatsApp as the party’s communications director.

He is now seen as one of the young faces PKR is likely to field in the 14th general election, and speculation is rife that he will be the candidate for the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat, replacing Nurul Izzah Anwar, as the PKR vice-president is rumoured to run in Johor or Penang in GE14.

“Let the PKR leadership decide whether I will run as candidate,” he said in an interview with The Malaysian Insight, when asked about the possibility.

Nevertheless, his active work in the constituency fuels speculation that he will indeed contest the seat.

Fahmi said he never regretted leaving his job as a chemical engineer at a Japanese company to be involved full-time in theatre.

Shortly after making the switch, he made another drastic move – this time, into the world of politics. 

He finds the two – theatre and politics – closely related.

“The ‘lust’ of those in power is what makes or breaks a society. Many of my theatre productions illustrate this,” said the writer and performer, who has acted in plays “Second Link” and “Dua, Tiga Dalang Berlari”.

His foray into politics was spurred by his love for art and theatre, as he explored themes of justice and reform through performance and poetry while participating in political demonstrations.

His observation of Malaysia’s tumultuous politics following Anwar Ibrahim’s removal from Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s cabinet, as well as the “reformasi” movement formed in 1998, helped to shape his political beliefs.

Fahmi, who was Most Promising Artist at the 2006 Boh Cameronian Arts Awards, is the son of senior government officials and grew up observing his parents do community work.

At his father’s advice, he turned down the chance to study at the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) after primary school.

“My father didn’t let me take it up. He said he didn’t want his son to grow up in a boarding school. He wanted me to interact with society.”

After completing secondary school, Fahmi pursued chemical engineering in the US in 2001. He was there when the New York World Trade Center attack occurred on September 11, and later participated in demonstrations against the Afghanistan war the same year and the Iraq war in 2003.

Fahmi has been campaigning for PKR in Lembah Pantai since 1999 when the party was still called Parti Keadilan Nasional. He was not a member then but he supported lawyer Zainur Zakaria’s bid to unseat against Barisan Nasional candidate Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

“That was the first time I was involved in a general election. I hung up posters and did other things. When the result was announced, I was disappointed. How could we have lost?”

He then joined PKR as Nurul Izzah’s political secretary and Lembah Pantai branch information chief in 2010.

The 36-year-old, who is still a member of the Five Arts Centre theatre collective, is also deputy secretary-general and PKR Youth vice chief, apart from his role as communications director.

The following are excerpts from his interview with TMI.

TMI: What were your early experiences in politics?

Fahmi: After returning to Malaysia from the US, at the end of 2003, one of the first protests I took part in was to hand over  a memorandum protesting deaths in custody, at the Bukit Aman police headquarters.

I was there to record video. I was just interested in seeing how it would play out, how the situation was.

Among those present were Sivarasa Rasiah (PKR’s Subang MP), Elizabeth Wong (Selangor exco), Xavier Jayakumar (Seri Andalas assemblyman) and activist Fahmi Reza.

The protest started early. I was there at 8am. Around 9.30am, Fahmi Reza was among the first to be arrested, as he was carrying a banner that police considered provocative.

When he was arrested, his shirt was ripped. We tried to defuse the tension, but things got heated, and police asked us to disperse.

Sivarasa was at the front, representing the protesters in negotiating with police. Shortly afterwards, the water cannons came out. Everyone got hit.

I was detained because I was recording Tian Chua (PKR vice-president and Batu MP), as he was getting arrested. I was arrested for recording Tian Chua getting arrested!

There were 34 people in all who were detained at the Hang Tuah police station in front of Pudu Prison. About eight hours later, we were freed.

The experience is bittersweet. I saw the differences between Malaysia and the US. 

Over there, there is respect for freedom to assemble. My first protest in Malaysia, and I was arrested!

TMI: What about your participation in protests during the “reformasi” era?

Fahmi: I was there when Anwar gave his speech at Masjid Negara in 1998. At the time, I hadn’t even finished Form Five.

I went because I wanted to know what was going on. Why were people keen on attending? I did not have an interest in politics then, but it was obvious something was happening. Why were people heading out? Getting arrested, getting beaten…

In the 1999 general election, I helped Zainur in Lembah Pantai. In the 2004 polls, I helped Sivarasa in Petaling Jaya Utara. In 2008, I helped Sivarasa again, but on nomination day, I went down to the ground in Lembah Pantai.

This was because it was close to home, and many of my friends were helping out there. Nurul Izzah was there, and so were many others.

TMI: Why the switch from chemical engineering to theatre?

Fahmi: I worked at a Japanese company as a chemical engineer, for about two, three months. I felt stifled working at the factory, in the research and development department.

I felt that what I had studied and what I was doing in real life were totally different. I wanted to take a break from work.

I then helped friends who were teaching children in theatre. For me, theatre and politics are very similar. Theatre is about putting on a show, a show that reflects reality, or stories about people’s lives.

The “lust” of those in power is what makes or breaks a society. Many of my theatre productions illustrate this.

It’s because of politics that I got involved in the arts. I saw society’s restlessness. There were many questions I wanted to ask. I got no answers from reading the newspapers and watching TV.

So, I overcame this by writing poetry, discussing issues with friends and expressing myself via theatre.

My parents were civil servants during the “reformasi” period. We didn’t talk much about what was happening because my mum was a staunch Anwar supporter, while my dad supported Dr Mahathir.

It was tense in the house. We didn’t talk about politics. Nevertheless, I could see that the way Anwar was being treated was unfair, unjust and cruel.

So, too, was the treatment given to Anwar’s supporters. Mass arrests took place. This was followed by the first sodomy case.

When all of this was happening, I didn’t know how to express myself, or where to go to do so. There was no Facebook, no social media. “Social media” back then was when friends hung out together, in person.

TMI: How did you end up in PKR?

Fahmi: After the 2008 political tsunami, there was still not much online media. No online “show”.

My friends, Mark Teh and Hardesh Singh and I started a programme, The Fairly Current Show. We interviewed people, just asking short questions.

We spoke to many people, from the fishermen near Pengerang about the Pulau Batu Puteh issue, to the former UK high commissioner to Malaysia.

Simon Sipaun, Marina Mahathir and other activists… there were many. One of the people we interviewed was Nurul Izzah.

At the time, I felt that we shared some similarities, maybe the way we thought about things. We were on the same wavelength.

I also thought that she was a young person who should be helped. In 2008, Nurul Izzah, Hannah Yeoh, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad… many of them young people, joined politics.

It was the first time we saw members of the younger generation, aged below 30, running in an election and serving as an elected representative.

Nurul Izzah then invited me to join the party. – December 30, 2017.