BALING – Today’s youth should reflect on the history surrounding the 1974 Baling demonstration to guide them in life’s struggles, said Pakatan Harapan chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today.
Speaking at an event in memory of the Baling demonstration at Padang Awam Kg Lalang, Mukim Siong, in Baling today, Anwar said knowing its history was important for youth, especially university students, to continue to express themselves for the good of the country and nation.
Anwar, who in the 1974 incident headed a demonstration among university students to voice the sufferings of rural folk and farmers, said that the youth, especially university students, should always feel concern for the rakyat, reported The Vibes’ Bahasa Malaysia sister portal Getaran.
“In that incident, the main issue was poverty. We were young at that time, especially those of us who were in university and had just graduated, and could not bear to see this.
“My friends and I rose to support the farmers. That’s what we call young blood,” said Anwar.
The demonstration broke out on November 19, 1974 and climaxed on December 1, 1974 when some 30,000 people gathered to protest the drop in the price of rubber.
The demonstration was also joined by thousands of university students in the cities.
The price of rubber fell to its lowest, between 60 sen per kati and 15 sen per kati, resulting in rural folk facing great difficulties.
Anwar added that the younger generation should not be content with being among the elite and having comfortable lives, but should instead fight for the people.
“When the people suffer, this should be voiced by the younger generation. If you have education but not compassion and humanity, how are you going to fight?
“Now everyone says they want to fight, but when the rakyat suffer or are impoverished, no one speaks up for them. Many think about themselves instead. Not like in 1974, that was something extraordinary in history when the people themselves rose to fight for the poor,” Anwar said.
He also said the incident startled the government since it occurred only about three years after the launch of the New Economic Order in 1971.
“Because of that incident, I was imprisoned for almost two years. But I am still grateful to the people of Baling and do not regret all that happened.
“Why? It’s because of the Baling demonstration that I learnt the meaning of struggle, poverty, and suffering among the people of Baling.
“This was an important experience because not only did I become aware of economic poverty through university textbooks, professors, or lectures but I saw with my eyes what suffering was all about through the uprising of the people of Baling,” he said. – The Vibes, February 20, 2022
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