Satu wawancara selama 24 minit 51 saat. My verdict? The worst performance by any guests on HardTalk – sepanjang saya mengikuti racangan ini. Well, mungkin ada yang lebih teruk, tapi saya tak tertengok. Nasib baik penemuramahnya hanya si Stephen Sackur. Kalau kena dengan Jeremy Paxman yang lebih brutal, mungkin lagi teruk Anwar kena balun. As it's popularly known – Anwar has this reputation of a great idealist. Punyai karisma retorik yang unggul bila membahaskan isu-isu tentang idealisme. Tapi apa yang terpancar dalam wawancara ini – jauh panggang dari pemanggang (bukan lagi setakat jauh dari api!). The 'panggang' itself was not even on the 'pemanggang' – so, dah tentu api bukan saja jauh, tapi belum pun dinyalakan lagi. It was that bad! In fact, I think even the 'opening question', Anwar had clearly got it wrong. L

The entire session, Anwar was visibly uncomfortable and looked 'mentally' unprepared. His response to most questions (esp. in the beginning) was not that natural as if he couldn't 'feel' the issue. I was extremely surprised, how easy he got bullied by Stephen Sackur. Anwar was clearly put in the defensive side, all the time! Did Anwar make any research on how the interview would be conducted – prior to the show? Seemed that Anwar wasn't really ready to cope with Stephen's 'attacking' approach. Nampak macam terkejut pun ada. Anwar was not only struggling to answer factual questions (which we all know has always been his weakest part); he also did equally bad when it came to idealism issues (supposedly his strongest point!). Apa dah jadi? Adakah hukuman jel selama 6 tahun, yang memenjarakan fizikal Anwar, telah juga turut mengurung pertumbuhan minda? Atau barangkali – Anwar is still in a process of searching his long lost momentum (as if the so-called momentum ever exists)? He was definitely not the 'old' Anwar, the one that people used to see and adore.

Anwar's body language was not as animated as usual – and obviously, not as convincing as it should be. I didn't expect him to be 'over acting' (macam zaman pre-penjara) – but, it would be nice to see him with some bold gestures, together with a more relaxed posture. Ini tidak, bahu sudahlah tegak macam bangku. Ketara sangat uptight gilak! Kurang pula gerak-tubuh yang garang dan menguja. The 'strong intimidating persona' he once had – was no longer there. Instead, he looked trying very hard to respond (to every question) in the most diplomatic manner that he could possibly do. Reaksinya kepada soalan-soalan maut begitu datar dan deskriptif. Adakalanya 'lembab'. Langsung tiada tikaman. Tak ada provokasi balik. Juga, tidak ada tampanan-tampanan bersifat paradoks – which Tun Dr. M was extremely good at. I really love Tun Dr. M's 'sharp & witty sarcasm'; and the way he turned every offensive question into his advantage. Lain halnya dengan Anwar. He simply and quite willingly allowed Mr. Sackur to dictate – not only the flow of the interview, but also the mood itself. Kalau para tetamu HardTalk sebelum ini dijadikan perbandingan relatif (whom mostly had a very strong character and presence – setakat yang saya tengok) – Anwar was nowhere to match them. Not really a pathetic performance for Malaysian standard – but it was, when benchmarked by international yardstick! 

10 minit yang pertama (diskusi berkisar dengan gagasan semasa Anwar, iaitu pasca-penjara), saya tengok Anwar sebijik macam pokok lemon yang sedang bersembang dengan tukang kebun. Dia langsung tak beri kontras dan nilai ironi yang signifikan kepada soalan-soalan perangkap si Stephen. Menjawab sekadar menjawab. The best he could do was playing around with some unconvincing rhetoric.  10 minit berikutnya (soalan-soalan bersabit pelbagai isu pre-penjara), Anwar cuba bangkit dengan gaya yang lebih garang. Sadly, he was terribly failed in the attempt to defend his stand or express his idealism. Not only that he was struggling for words, but also for facts! Ini menjadikan Anwar semakin defensif – and this was the time when Stephen Sackur bombarded him with all sort of provoking and tricky questions. Bila dah makin kelam-kabut, barulah Anwar mula menabur fakta-fakta yang lebih empirik. Misalnya, menyebut beberapa statistik, 'nama' dan insiden spesifik. Kenapa masa awal-awal tu cuba nak mengelak sangat untuk sentuh perkara-perkara tersebut?

Sayang sekali, it was just too little, too late (as they usually put it). Anwar dah masuk gaung – and the final 5 minutes (diskusi berkait dengan korelasi dunia Anwar pada era pre-penjara dan pasca-penjara); it was very clear that Anwar was extremely desperate to rebuild his case and project his idealism in the most appealing manner. And yes, it was at this point that Anwar actually starting to present more and more specific examples – tapi sebab dah agak desperado, susunannya bertaburan tunggang terbalik. Apa lagi, Stephen Sackur pun ambilah kesempatan. He attacked Anwar very conveniently from every angle – and Anwar had to end the interview in the lowest note one could imagine. Pity, pity to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Well, things happened, but yet.. life still needs to go on. So, saranan saya dari segi 'teknik orator' dan 'komunikasi' – silalah belajar dari pengalaman pahit ini...

Did Anwar give enough justice to himself with his appearance in the HardTalk (BBC) - as far as performance is concerned? In my personal opinion, a BIG NO. Could the interview play a significant factor in determining Anwar's future in Malaysia's politics? NO, I don't believe so. Does Anwar have a promising path in the Malaysian future politics? I don't know. Saya bukan Nujum Pak Belalang yang cuba mahu membaca masa depan Anwar dalam politik Malaysia. Saya hanya seorang blogger kerdil yang ingin diskusikan apa yang tersurat dan tersirat dalam temuramah yang dimaksudkan. Itu pun hanya menerusi kaca pandangan saya sendiri yang sudah tentunya amat terbatas…