School bullying has long crossed the line from childish cruelty to a national crisis. As a mother of four sons — two of whom are neurodiverse — and as a journalist, I can no longer read these stories with newsroom detachment. Every headline feels like a wound. Tears flow when I am writing this.
Sebagai satu demonstrasi jalanan, himpunan Turun Anwar yang berlangsung Sabtu lalu mungkin tidak sehebat perhimpunan ICERD pada 2018, apatah lagi dibandingkan dengan siri protes jalanan di Bangkok, Jakarta atau Manila. Tetapi sama ada yang hadir hanya 100 orang dalam pelbagai rupa dan saiz, atau setengah juta yang sanggup berpanas, berjerubu dan berhujan, hakikatnya ia tetap menjadi satu detik penting yang tidak harus diketepikan – khususnya buat pemimpin Pakatan Harapan (PH) yang juga Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim.
As street demonstrations go, Saturday’s ‘Turun Anwar’ (Remove Anwar) rally may not have the numbers as the country’s ICERD protest in 2018, or the street demos in Bangkok, Jakarta or Manila. But whether it was 100 people in various shades and sizes, or half a million who braved the heat, haze and later, rain, like it or not, it should be a watershed moment for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) folks, especially for their leader, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim.