Happy 20th birthday to @n_izzah

Enjoy life, don’t get too stressed out and hey - if you had given your best; don’t worry too much abt what happens next.

Here’s my bday wish (and a thread ha3)

OK opps maybe I should type the full thread first before I hit the TWEET button!

I don't get to see @n_izzah as often nowadays because our path hardly crossed.

The last time was late August - we still caught up with each other every few months, most of the time I was just a sounding board ha3

I first met Izzah in late spring or early summer 1999 in London.

We hosted her as reformasi was unfolding. She was 19 and I was 22, that encounter must have cemented her long lasting impression that I ate people for breakfast.

She came to London again in summer 2002 and I organised a forum for her.

Kelab Umno at the time sent hooligans to disrupt the forum and I had altercations with them & High Comm officials who came to jot down names of students who attended.

Izzah was quite terrified ha3.

When she got married in 2003, my small contribution was to spend a lot of hours cooking rendang tok for her kenduri on behalf of Pemuda Keadilan then.

I was the treasurer and I had always been stingy (we didn't have money anyway), so we gotong royong to contribute a dish

When she first became an MP in 2008, I was still in the private sector. But we met from time to time, especially if she wanted to get a second opinion on any issue.

I recognised earlier on that she had a huge capacity for learning, which most politicians don't have

When I returned to active politics in 2010, she was a mega star ha3.

But each time I decided to run on an anti-status quo ticket in party elections, she had always thrown her hat in the ring in support (although it was politically suicidal for her).

That camaraderie is rare

So it was - for 2 crucial party elections, she chose the path less travelled.

She endorsed me; we campaigned together.

I never thanked her publicly for the courage to defy political convention; usually it's a lot easier to take side with the warlords with money & positions

The party election 2018 was a defining moment for us the reformasi generation of PKR.

We took the plunge into activism when we were late teenagers and had stayed on course since 1998 unwavering.

We had to do what needed to be done, no matter how unpopular it was.

It would have been so difficult for me to carry the burden to call a spade a spade then, if Izzah had not been around by my side.

Her support and presence provided the moral legitimacy needed.

She paid a heavy price for that & we didn't thank her enough.

Unlike me who had the option to walk out, she didn't have as much flexibility.

I do feel bad sometimes that it is as if I abandoned her (and friends) who have to hold the fort, but I also know she's more than capable to lead us.

And so the cycle continues - as I become a private citizen and she continues her role, the best support I can provide is to provide honest non-partisan views from time to time to her.

And to remind her to laugh and to take things lightly.

Most people always say that there are no permanent friends or foes in politics, only shifting alliances.

We will always have differences of opinion, whichever aisle you belong to.

But we should not let a difference of opinion get in the way of genuine friendship.

We are now middle-aged parents.

20 years of slogging it out against the system, from our teenage years to the prime of our youth to being middle-aged parents, is a long time.

I took the time out.

I hope she finds time for herself too & not consumed wholly by politics.

I hope she can look back and be proud of what she had achieved.

Don't get distractors by haters. If they annoy you on Twitter, just block them (ha3, it worked for me).

Each time you feel stressed out, always know that there are people who appreciate the sacrifice you made

Happy 20th birthday and I hope you eat a lot of cakes (ha3) because you can afford to (unlike most others).

I'll be seeing you soon.

Since I am no longer a politician, I can afford to do sweet things like this ha3.