Siti Aishah caught in ideology clash

The Beatles phenomenon and clash of ideologies heightened in the 60s and 70s era had dominated the identity shaping process of the young people in United Kingdom at that time.

And that background could have been the scenario in the mystery of Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab who went missing and later, allegedly was enslaved for three decades, said former Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tan Sri Razali Ismail.

He said the scenario in the UK at that time celebrated differences and that had contributed to the shaping of thoughts of the Malaysian students in student movements.

“At that time, ideology struggles were on a rise. That was the best time for them to obtain information and knowledge of various ideologies. The situation there at that time was ideal for the young people to experience and feel for themselves,” said Razali who is also the chairman of Global Movement of Moderates (GMM)

He was sharing his experiences while serving as Counsellor in the Malaysian High Commission in London (1970-1972) of Malaysian students there at that time.

The geo-political landscape of the world at that time also witnessed vigorous campaigns to bring democracy in a country’s direction and system. This often brought fierce conflicts between the ideologies especially socialism, communism or capitalism which is often fought for by the students.

Razali said what happened to Siti Aishah is not something new in the young people’s socialisation process, especially those who are activists.

“Together with the Beatles music phenomenon at the time, Malaysian students then had no choice but to became part of the era,” he said.

However, Razali said he believed that Siti Aishah was not enslaved as pictured by most people.

“I don’t believe she was made into a slave but I believe it was more of a personal choice. She is an intelligent person,” he said adding that Siti Aishah disappearance episode is a reflection of the young people in the 70s.

Siti Aishah is believed to be one of three women freed on Oct 25 in London after one of them secretly contacted a charity and the other two are a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old Briton.