Meeting Raja Petra Kamarudin
Fans flocked Raja Petra (left) as he arrived at the DAP ceramah. /JYPix
In a Chinese restaurant along a row of brothels in Brickfields, Raja Petra Kamarudin was having dinner with his wife, Marina, and two close female friends. Sat around a round table on the sidewalk, the ang moh (white) looking “Malay” was charming and had a steady gaze. With a shaved head and donning spectacles, he appeared the intellectual prince of Malaysia Today. What got to me was his easygoing and down-to-earth style. He was definitely not the Sultan of Johor of whacking the golf caddy fame. Actually, Petra was not even like most of the royalty types that hung out in the local clubs and classy restaurants in town. Perhaps the most royal looking part of him was a ring with a huge stone and his watch. Otherwise, I felt he was a true Malaysian in a sense and living testimony that identity goes beyond skin colour. The fact that Petra was probably a PAS sympathiser didn’t add up as he looked so modern. Ah! Stereotypes again.
To shock Malaysians leading up to elections, I wore a PAS pin though I am not a PAS member. I can’t be and neither do I want to be one. Political parties are too restrictive with their constitution and manifestos and all. Also, there are some key things within PAS that I simply can’t agree with but respect as its their culture and their freedom. The most glaring dissonance is the idea of covering up women from head to toe. I like to wear shorts and t-shirts most times with my well-worn pair of Converse sneakers. Especially with the heat, I’m not about to conform to the dress code unless required or in situations where its polite. But that’s their religion. Of course, the other is that I am a Christian.
The PAS pin, which I got from Kota Bahru, caught Petra’s attention. For a moment, I glimpsed a flicker of surprise in his eyes but he didn’t bring it up. Actually, I was waiting to see who will bring it up first. But everyone ignored it. I guess it was not so bizzare that a Japanese-looking woman was wearing a PAS pin.
Petra would be speaking at a few venues that evening. The first stop was a DAP ceramah at the foot of a Monorail station by the river in Brickfields. Then off to the main venue at Lembah Pantai (PKR) and perhaps even to Klang for Ronnie Liu at 11pm.
Some other friends joined us. While they chatted, I ate quickly as I was famished. I hadn’t eaten the whole day. Was just so busy. I live on cigarettes. And caffeine, which may explain my headache.
They too didn’t comment about my PAS pin. Darn! My atttention seeking ploy wasn’t working. But later at the DAP ceramah, the DAP people did look at my PAS pin. Ha ha ha ha. Especially Fong Kui Lun, incumbent and candidate for Bukit Bintang. Ha ha ha ha. They were worried and probably looking to see if I had a DAP pin next to it. Actually, I would have wore all the pins but I only had PAS. The other pin that I could have worn was my Victoria Junior College pin, which I found again this morning after many, many, many years. Just to rile the politicians up, you know. After all, I am not a member of any party so I can wear as many pins as I like. LOL
When we walked into the ceramah crowd of about 1,000, everyone rushed to shake RPK’s hands, snap photos or just to meet him. Everyone roared as he came on stage and over the talk, they cheered and laughed. He spoke in fluent English and Malay, smoothly changing between the two. He placated the mostly Chinese crowd’s fears about PAS and reminded us that we should not be threatened by BN’s reminders of May 13. Even as it started to drizzle, people remained riveted to the ground and almost none moved to leave. Instead umbrellas were brought out.
The crowd of course looked at my green PAS pin. Maybe they thought I was a tourist. 
Also had a green t-shirt and green eye-shadow just to rub it in…..Ha ha ha ha…….
Nurul Izzah arrived with much fanfare as usual. The flags, the crowd, the noise. But she seemed unfazed. And more energetic than the other night at Flat Sri Pahang.
The DAP and PKR alliance appears to be working fine. Somehow PKR is more acceptable to the Chinese. Although it’s essentially based on Islam.
It’s an exciting time. Seeing the crowd size. Their response. The talk on streets, in the coffee shops. But in these last two days, one comment is much repeated: “Whether crowd size will translate to votes, we will have to wait and see.”
In God, we trust.
PS. RPK, I couldn’t really sum up in the brief time I spent with him. Also, perhaps post-election, we’ll have an interview.
Dear Jed~
Nice of you to write about Raja Petra. The wind of change is blowing. Raja Petra is one of the finger that triggered all typhoon.
I’d wish you were around here Penang Last night. The Han Chiang school turn out was hugh. Some estimated at 60,000 people. I was there braving the rain, no celebrities, no free buffet dinner, no fancy looking shelter,no ang pao, just plain opposition speakers, some good, some poor, some young , some old. But the turn out itself is big one silent sign of protest. Not just typical auntie, uncle or working class, but I met many young professionals.
We were told it must be the biggest ceramah ever in the country.
Penang is ready to change this 8th March.. Is Malaysia ?
Woody
WOW. How nice if our MSM actually prints such photos instead of the one-sided BN crowds….How many were paid? I wondered….BN also needs to entertain the rakyat cos there have nothing to talk about it seems….I was so amused by the Chinese acrobatics at the Gerakan function…
Greetings Jed!
Yes, we are fighting against a powerful enemy in the present government and everything thrown at them, came back many times over, but with people in the like of Raja Petra we are blessed. He is a gem to us people who fight for truth, rights and fairness and I am very sure at the end of the day with GOD help shall prevail against enemies of the downtrodden.
God bless you from me and my family.
Thanks!
Good experience!
Unlike the other day my mum told me she’s going for the free dinner from the government for teachers.
Upon asking what the dinner is about, she said: “the campaigning one lah”
No prizes for guessing who hosted that free dinner.
hi jed,saya ingin menolong jed untuk membawa masyarakat islam dan kristian di malaysia(terutama di kuantan) ke tahap perpaduan yang lebih baik. apa yang boleh saya buat?
Doa.
Pray. Not trying to be funny. 
Berkawan. 
Make friends. Terbuka. 
Be open. 
It will be a tough task, all the best. 
Dear Jed,
you’re a Christian - so, why fret over the need to cover from head to toe?
myabe when you get the chance to interview Raja Petra, you could ask his opinion about what PAS actually want for the womenfolk in Kelantan
Dunno. Polite.
Ha ha ha 
Good idea, will ask Petra.
“Especially with the heat, I’m not about to conform to the dress code unless required or in situations where its polite. But that’s their religion. Of course, the other is that I am a Christian.”
If u in the military , u don’t expect the civies to be involved in routine marching drills do we? How come there’s no pic of u wearing in the PAS Pin. Would love to c with PAS pin and eveything else “green”….. eheheehhehh. BTW,cigarrettes not good though (muahhaah… after i’ve stopped smoking d last 8 yrs after burning the chimney 27 yrs prior..) Keep writing dudette n happy trails!
Fair comment what Jed.
Hi Jed,
Its nice for you to highlight PAS’s struggle to make a better society out of Malaysia….He he he.. I dont think its so surprising now that a Chinese or a Japanese looked person to wear a PAS badge…. There were many apeks and nyonyas who wear PAS Tshirts and proudly flying the moon flags and pakciks and makciks wearing DAPs tshirts and badges during the last nomination day…. Its so amazaing how Malaysians from all walks of lives united under one aim i.e to make CHANGE
Wasalam.
Good. Tell it to the “oldtimers”, you know what I mean.
PAS suffers a really bad image here in KL due to the MSM. Continued one-sided “commentaries” doesn’t help….Thank God for the Internet. The BN can no longer control us with their LIES….
Dear Jed,
Thanks for the write up on RPK. I am just sick of reading our main newspaper and tv station. All the news are so one sided and I hope the opposition will win big in this coming election. Hopefully we will not be treated like second class citizen in our own country.
Vince
Raja Petra rocks!
Tell everybody, on the faithfull 8th March, cast your vote quietly, go home, wait for the result. No matter what will be the outcome, there should never be any fanfare or celebration. Be at peace and let nature takes its course.
Jed
I met RPK’s children/blood relatives one weekend in 2000/01 at the Dairycrest warehouse in Coventry. They were either about to start or just finished their shift. Members of royalty doing an honest, decent blue collar job to self-finance their studies. They epitomise a breath of fresh air.
aMiR
hai jed!
just wanna tell u.. i love ur writings..i love husam.. i love RPK..
and most of all..
I love u!
keep it up girl
Never meet raja Petra before, but hear alot about him. just asking.. is he husband to marina Mahathir ?
Not that I know of. It’s a different Marina I believe…..But it may be. Didn’t look like her….
Jed Yoong!
I assume you must be the same Jed Yoong who previously blogged under the moniker “Freelunch”?If you are one and the same, then it is surely a pleasant surprise to accidentally hop by and see you are blogging again.Ah, what’s the word for it?…’serendipity’ if I’m not mistaken.
Anyway, have to compliment you on your postings.The angles you take are interesting.And as importantly, your blogs background colour are much more retina friendly.But on second thought, that’s probably due to the fact that you have a photo of somebody very aesthetically pleasing on the top right corner…with or without a Pas badge!
Ps- sorry didnt really commented on anything relevant to the posting but since this is my first time here,i thot being cordial was more appropriate.
Thanks!
Yes. Serendipity… 
Hope to see you again….Did I meet you on Rocky’s blog?
Dear Jed,
any idea where will Raja Petar be giving ceramah tonite?
LETS VOTE FOR CHANGE, FOR THE RAKYAT
thanks
Let me find out. You may check Malaysia Today.
RPK’s wife Marina is NOT Marina Mahathir but rather a different Marina ie a Chinese Muslim convert.
I think this article should title ‘Jed and her PAS pin’.
Aww…..
Ha ha ha….
Hi,
My father is an Indonesian muslim, mum a buddhist Thai. I migrated to Malaysia from Singapore in 1984 and ‘easily’ got a dark blue IC then. I should say that corruption in govt depts were rampant already.
I became a Muslim,practised the religion with help from local mosques but married a Chinese from Kuala Lumpur 3 years later.Life wasn’t good for us till now for we felt racially discriminated in our neighbourhood,at work,in school….We paid our taxes promptly,never approached the govt for financial help,contributed to many charitiable funds etc..but still the neighbourhood UMNO would not accept us due to our opposing religious beliefs,the MCA did not approve our membership due to our muslim names.We did not try MIC since our skin ere totally different.
So I think that if there’s a change in the political situation here,then it will change our minds to migrate since we have already got our GREEN CARD approved last December.
Yes, it’s the irony that it’s easier to get permanent residency or citizenship in developed countries. Regarding the discrimination, that’s Barisan Nasional for you.
KICK THEM OUT!
Jed Yoong!
Yes, i use to comment on Rocky’s.Since I’m new,and do intend to participate in the future, is there any house rules on commenting or engagement?Do’s or donts? For instance, reading at a glance, all the comments seem to be written without resorting to sms style shortcuts. Is this a coincidence or is it requirement? I dont mean to be pedantic, but i subscribe to the adage “the guest is always a slave to the host”.Hence, as a guest i cant take anything for granted.
Salam
Ha ha ha. Hi Mat Rempit! It’s been some time. Anyway, basic rules are no profanities, racial slurs, be polite, don’t spam.
Tks and hope to see you more often.
Tks for your comment. This is not a religious/Christian blog. If you want to talk about Christianity, pls hop over to Scott Thong’s blog. Cheers.
If Anwar is Darth Vader, RPK must be Master Yoda.
The force is strong with Master RPK. Wise man is he. With his light sabre pen, the Emperor’s evil deed he exposed. Padawan learners many he has. All over the Internet galaxy, evil and injustice they fight.
i went to tok guru nik aziz’s talk one day (only malay students attended the talk)… he clearly mentioned islam prohibits racial discrimination. if PAS rules… no more NEP. everyone will be supported regardless they are malay, chinese or indians. due to BM media manipulation that can fear the malays…PAS did not make this stand public. VOTE FOR CHANGE ON 08/03
yes i guess he rocks lol
Cheers Jed!
I had my opportune time that I met him (YM RPK or Pete) on one evening while I was having dinner. We have yet to catch up for a drink perhaps when he is more free. Cheers to you, Pete.
Pete is a really warm person. He listens attentively when in conversation.
My hat off to you.
There is a comment by ‘A true Malaysian’ in Malaysiakini on an article titled ‘Malays versus malaise’. The comment is :-
On Malays versus the malaise
A True Malaysian: I strongly agree with the statement that ‘Only the Malays can cure Malaysia of the Umno/BN malaise’. Malays, being the majority race of the country, are needed to lead Malaysia out of the race based politics played by BN. Malaysia cannot go far and compete with the rest of the world if majority of them are still hinged on a Ketuanan Melayu mentality make famous by Umno.
We can see the trend of this shift in mentality among the Malays. It is really heart-warming to see Rocky Bru supports Jeff Ooi, Zorro supports Chegu Bard, Haris Ibrahim and Raja Petra help out in DAP ceramah. I believe these individuals do not regard themselves as Malay, Chinese or Indian, but as a true Malaysians that will protect every Malaysian’s rights.
I am tired of BN’s brand of racial politics. I sincerely hope everyone of us can put a stop to this and I pray that the Malays can lead us towards true sense of multi-racial politics in Malaysia.
_________________
Everyone of us should read this malaysiakini article and I hope to see Penang Malays lead us towards true sense of multi-racial politics in Malaysia.
RAJA PETRA PREDICTS, BARISAN SHAKES…
Barisan Nasional is running scared. According to intelligence agency reports, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Kedah and Penang will fall to the opposition.
Even Johor, which has never seen a single seat fall to the opposition thus far, may see the loss of ten seats or more. That would have been unheard of even just one year ago. On last count, the opposition may capture up to 90 seats in Parliament. It needs 75 seats to deny Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament.
http://sobnation.wordpress.com/2008/03/08/raja-petra-predicts-barisan-shakes/