New beginnings and the power of forgiveness

THESE mornings I wake up with so much happiness in my heart. Our beloved country is at the crack of a new dawn – a beginning full of hope for the future of our children and grandchildren. None of us could have foreseen this just a few weeks ago when it appeared that all hope was lost and that evil would continue to march on in our land.

We have to thank many for the change that has occurred. Foremost are Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his indomitable wife, Datin Seri Wan Azizah, and their children. This family has demonstrated again to mankind the power of forgiveness.

One cannot begin to imagine how this family could forgive the man who put their father/ husband in jail and chose to work with him for the greater good.

Having listened to the many interviews given by Anwar’s family members, I can just about appreciate the pain they have felt/are feeling.

But if not for the forgiveness they felt in their hearts, we would not have achieved what we did on May 9 when we wiped evil from the Malaysian landscape.

On the other hand, I am convinced that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is a changed man. He has acknowledged his past mis- takes and will take our nation to heights we have never seen.

Without Dr Mahathir, the Malaysian tsunami would not have happened. This elder statesman, who is showing no sign of slowing down at the age of 92 years (he will be 93 in July), is a brilliant strategist.

He has ticked all the right boxes and hit the ground running from the time he was sworn in as prime minister.

It gives me so many reasons to be giddily optimistic.

To quote Gandhi: “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

And to quote Martin Luther King: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”; and Bernard Meltzer: “When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future”; and finally the selfless Nelson Mandela: “They must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Thank you, Kak Wan and Anwar. Surely the rewards of heaven await you for the sacrifices you have put for our nation. DR KANNAN PASAMANICKAM Petaling Jaya