COMMENT | Faisal as Abim’s president: A retrospective

COMMENT | Everyone will be talking about the new cabinet.

However, another transition of leadership happened over the weekend that will be much less hyped up, but in my humble view, is also of national significance.

This weekend saw a transition in leadership for the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim), from outgoing president Muhammad Faisal Aziz to the new president Ahmad Fahmi Samsuddin.

I have worked closely with both individuals over the past four years of Faisal’s term as president. It has personally been a very meaningful journey for me and hopefully for the nation as well.

About four years ago, when I first started becoming more interested in building bridges between the many segments of civil society that used to be divided along the lines of race and religion, I became quite interested in the things I had read about Abim.

I heard that they were having a muktamar so I decided to attend, sitting quietly at the back, listening to the then-president Raimi Rahim give a speech about Bangsa Malaysia.

I was quite impressed...