Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Historic Debate

I was one of the millions of Malaysians who was glued to the TV this evening to watch the Historic Debate between Anwar Ibrahim & Shabery Cheek on the Rise in Fuel Price in Malaysia. Did you watch it?

Wow! What a Show! Glad I didn't miss it. So, how would I judge the Debate from a purely objective point of view?

To me: Anwar won the Debate, hands down. 
Shabery was no match to Anwar. Seriously.

Anwar was truly in his element: as gentleman as ever, he was cool & composed as he clearly argued his points, supported by data, facts and figures. He explained his proposed mechanism to reduce the fuel price, all in layman's terms so that it could be understood even by pakciks in the kampungs. He resisted the temptation of using the forum to explain his personal issues even when goaded by Shabery. He didn't even waste any time responding to any of the personal attacks leveled at him by Shabery. He continued to stick to his point on fuel price & the management of the Economy. He gave credible and practical solutions. Hats off to Anwar. I give him full points.

Shabery, on the other hand, was only interested in leveling personal attacks on Anwar from the word go. He kept on going into history, not to make any point on the fuel price, but to criticize Anwar's past actions, even mentioning demonstrations led by Anwar as far back as 1974. What has that got to do with the recent fuel price hike? At this stage, especially in this Debate, Malaysians are not interested to hear about Anwar or his past. We want to know about the Government's plans to ease the burden of the Rakyat following the escalating food prices due to the rise in fuel price. Unfortunately, Shabery failed to explain this convincingly. He didn't answer much of the questions posed to him. He didn't clarify the Government's position clearly. By the 2nd session of the Debate, he had lost all credibility & most of his speech was off topic. Even by standards set in Secondary School level debating competitions, Shabery would have lost. It was quite disappointing.

I felt that the Finance Minister should have represented the Government instead. Why did they field Shabery for the Debate? He was clearly not equipped to face Anwar. I guess no other ministers dared to rise to the challenge.

But credit must be given to the Government for allowing the Debate to be aired live on TV for all Malaysians to see. This would never have have happened in the previous government.

Well, that's my take on the Historic Debate.
Let's hope that this will be the first of many more to come!

14 comments:

caramel said...

Mornin;

i did try to watch it....then i saw shabery fumbled over and over again....kept repeating the same words...what he said was not based on facts and merely his incoherent thoughts.....i had expected him to be more prepared but alas....what a dissapointment...i dengan segera tukar chanel and watch sinderela instead......at least i rasa rileks and kurang dosa i mengutuk....

Adillah A Nordin said...

Even my sister opted for Sinderela! Cerita apa tu yek? She is hooked on it!

Anyway, it was disappointing that Shabery didn't prepare thoroughly for the debate. I was waiting for him to explain the government's position & measures to ease the Rakyat's burden. Ini tidak. Balik2 hentam Anwar personally. Macam takde point lain pulak.

He came out looking arrogant next to Anwar who looked more sincere.

Za said...

Hi Dil

I pun macam kakak u jugak..5 mintues into the debate and i dgn kadar segera telah menukar channel utk tgk Sindarela... hahaha...
Yup..I am hooked on it too mainly because of Sharifah Amani's excellent selamba acting and this one particular makcik character that is really hilarious. Hilang stress!!

Za

caramel said...

memula tu i tak tengok gak cerita tu tapi lama kelamaan it got the best of me.......cerita dia simple je...romatik comedy....relaxing.....dah nak habis dah siri tu.......best...u should watch....

Adillah A Nordin said...

Hi Za!
Thanks for dropping in. Actually adik2 I Eda & Win yang hooked on Sinderalla. I takuuuut nak start tengok, nanti tersangkut! haha :-D

I would like to consider myself apolitical - but somehow I do get myself glued to these kinds of political discussions! Just from a concerned Malaysian point of view, I guess..

TC, Dill

Raha,
My sisters Eda & Win will talk about what happened in a particular episode in Sinderella when we are having lunch together, & they completely ignore me! Macam best sangat the series..I dengar jugak ada pasal orang bercinta, komplot & konspirasi etc. Tapi tak paham sebab tak tengok sendiri!

:-)

ms hart said...

Dil, that's why I need not watch...I know, I can always rely on you for news/reviews on this kind of 'thing'..you know...this 'thing'...hehehe... But actually, nak tengok, tapi totally forgot about it what with kid's tution lah etc etc...tapi masa balik lunch break tadi, sempat dengar dari jauh as my aunt tengok the repeat ke apa kat pc. Aiyoyo...dengar pun dah boleh tahu siapa yang ada hakal, siapa yang ada hangin...you get me? uurrrggghh...Cepatlah Dil, I tunggu you ni...heh heh heh...

ms hart said...

..ooopss...Sinderela tu tak abis-abis lagi ke? Tak aci...masa I gila tengok Emil Emilda dulu tu macam kejap aje...

caramel said...

dilla,

u patut tengok the repeat online.....i suka prince hussein dalam cerita tu...tak lah hensem tapi ada character.....semalam punya siri dia nangis because he feels as though he has lost the one one he luvs because of his own stupidity....MEN....in real life pun macam itu dalam movie also potrayed as such.......i tunggu orang nangis 4 me...tapi sampai la ni tak ada pun....yang nangis asyik i je...tak aci sungguh......tengok greys anatomy dulu lah...

Adillah A Nordin said...

Tati,

You must watch the repeat kalau sempat! Terasa masa dolu-dolu tengok PPM Debate. Separuh jalan debate pun dah agak sapa yang menang! Haha..

Pasal Sinderella tu, adik2 I yang gila soap opera tu pun ari tu gila tengok Emil-Emilda. Especially my sister Eda: kan nama dia Emilda. Dia perasan la series tu heroin macam dia kan..

Adillah A Nordin said...

Raha,

Confirm malam ni I start tengok Greys..
Can't wait!

caramel said...

nornin;

hari ni i giler sampai awal...takut stuck dalam jam....masa i lepas tol, polis baru nak mula roadblock.....leganya.....yang tak best i kena tidur dalam kereta....tck takde nak buka pintu 4 me......how was the series? enjoyed it.....

yesterday i gi MPH cari buku yang you kat sama best macam Men are from Mars and Womwen from Venus....men are like waffles and women like spagetti.....dah tak jual kat mph since 2002.........nanti i nak cari online....i got just the person to give...

Adillah A Nordin said...

Hiya!
I will try & look for the book for you too.
Greys was GREAT! I tidor pukul 1.30am last nite. Tengok 5 episodes in a row.. Best!!

Thanks so much, Raha!

:-)

Budak Kampung Kita said...

saya baru nak tanya puan tengok debat anwar vs shabery

Adillah A Nordin said...

Awak tengok tak? Apa komen?