E Contrario

Shih Ming Te (施明德) and his wife Chen Chia-Tzun (陈嘉君) paid Dr Wan Azizah a visit this morning 15 March. They arrived at Anwar’s PJ Office at about 11:20hr. They were warmly welcomed by more than 30 party leaders and members. Many came to admire the great man who had endured 25 years of imprisonment.

Before his trip to Malaysia, Shih expressed his interest to meet Dr Azizah as well as Anwar. Anwar expressed his great regret for he was overseas and was unable to personally receive Shih.

However Shih was very glad to meet with Azizah again. Shih said he met Azizah 8 years ago in Warsaw. At the time she was heavily burdened with the pressure. Now Azizah looked cheerful and it was a sign the old shadow has been cast away.

Azizah and Shih had a lively exchange. Shih said that one of the main purposes of his visit was to introduce his wife to Azizah, so far she could acquire Azizah’s strength and virtues.

I met Shih earlier at the talk organized by Nanyang Shang Poh. It was an exciting talk. Shih talked of his experience in the struggle for democracy. His life is in fact the journey of democratization in Taiwan.

His visit to Malaysia was not only an eye-opening experience for many Malaysians, I believe his speech inspired people. And hopefully some of the Malaysians would be motivated enough to speak up and make a stand. Many among the audience felt he was talking about this country rather than Taiwan. Taiwan had undergone an arduous process of democratic transformation from authoritarianism, a trail very similar to our situation. Much we can learn from his activism.