Reformasi refers to political movements in Malaysia that first emerged in September 1998. It was initiated by Anwar Ibrahim, then the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, following his dismissal from office by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The movement began during the 1998 Commonwealth Games, which Malaysia was hosting, and initially called for Mahathir's resignation and an end to the Barisan Nasional (BN)'s dominance. Over time, Reformasi evolved into a broader reformist movement advocating democracy, social equality and social justice in Malaysia. At the time, Mahathir had been in power since 1981, and his administration had been criticised for increasingly authoritarian tendencies, particularly following Operation Lalang in 1987. Reformasi activities included civil disobedience, demonstrations, sit-ins, rioting, occupations and online activism, among others.
Building upon the momentum of Reformasi, Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, established the Social Justice Movement (, abbreviated as ADIL) in late 1998. Efforts to register ADIL as a political party were unsuccessful, leading members to merge with the Ikatan Masyarakat Islam Malaysia (IKATAN), a small Islamic political party based in Terengganu. This merger resulted in the creation of the Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN) in 1999. Later that year, PKN joined forces with the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) to form the Barisan Alternatif (BA), which contested the 1999 general election and the 2004 Malaysian general election. The BA aimed to provide a united opposition front against BN, though it faced challenges in maintaining cohesion due to ideological differences among its member parties.
In 2003, the PKN merged with the PRM to form the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), which later became a principal component of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) that made significant electoral gains in the 2008 and 2013 general elections, reducing the BN's parliamentary dominance. After PR dissolved in 2015, PKR joined the newly formed Pakatan Harapan (PH), which won the 2018 Malaysian general election under the leadership of former prime minister Mahathir, an ironic twist given his past role in the events that sparked Reformasi, ending BN's uninterrupted hold on federal power since the 1955 general election. While Reformasi has achieved major political breakthroughs and reshaped Malaysia's electoral landscape, it remains an ongoing movement, with persistent political instability and shifting alliances highlighted by the revival of both old and new rivalries during the 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis and beyond. Some analysts have suggested that the Reformasi reached its logical conclusion, despite the persistence of certain underlying issues, with Anwar's ascension to the premiership in 2022 and the policy directions of his administration.
Name "Reformasi" is a Malay and Indonesian word which is derived from the English word "" or the Dutch word "". It was originally the slogan of a series of social reform movements after the Indonesian people overthrew the dictatorial President Suharto in May 1998. In September of the same year, after Anwar was dismissed from office in Malaysia, it became the slogan of the political reform movement of Anwar's supporters against the long-term rule of the Barisan Nasional. The local Tamil translation of "refomasi" is sense-for-sense translation சீர்திருத்தம் ().
"The Flame Don't Extinguish" The term 烈火莫熄 () is a phono-semantic matching (sound and meaning translation) of "Refomasi". The local Chinese media initially translated the slogan "Reformasi" as 改革 or "reform", and later changed it to "烈火莫熄", which became the Chinese name for this social movement.
It was previously unknown who coined the Chinese translation of "烈火莫熄". It was not until 11 March 2014 that Democratic Action Party (DAP) political speaker Hew Kuan Yao confirmed that the phrase "烈火莫熄" was his. Hew Kuan Yao said that on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1998, when he was the political secretary of then opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, he received a group of executive members from the Chinese Language Society of the University Science Malaysia. They said they were going to the Central Market in Kuala Lumpur to participate in a Mid-Autumn Lantern Parade to support Anwar's reform movement. The students asked Hew Kuan Yao how to attract media attention, and he suggested writing the four words "烈火莫熄" on the small note on the lantern, believing that this translation would attract media attention.
On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 5, 1998, about 200 Anwar supporters held lanterns with the words "烈火莫熄" written on them and marched peacefully in front of the Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur. This incident did attract media attention. The then Kuala Lumpur Police Chief was very dissatisfied with Anwar supporters using the Mid-Autumn Festival to hold a political march. The then Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Ong Ka Ting, also condemned those who had the intention to destroy the traditional Chinese cultural festival. After the slogan on the lantern slips was published, the translation of "烈火莫熄" () was homophonic with the Malay word "reformasi", which also had the meaning of "fire of reform is not over yet". It was regarded as "a stroke of genius" to promote the reform movement. Since then, local Chinese media have begun to use "烈火莫熄" as the official translation of this political movement, and it is still used today.
Stimuli for Reformism As a result of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Malaysian ringgit lost 50% of its value, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) was devalued, property markets buckled, bad loans surged, and the government struggled to find a solution to the crisis. The difficulty in doing so, particularly without recourse to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – the then prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir forbade such an abnegation of sovereignty – which have led to debates on proper policy approaches and an increased awareness of the country's vulnerability to outside economic forces. Mahathir preferred more innovative measures to stabilize the currency and cushion the economy from further speculative measures. On the other hand, Anwar Ibrahim, the deputy prime minister and then-Minister of Finance advocated IMF-style, free-market-oriented corrective measures. The economy eventually began its recovery under measures instituted by Mahathir, but Anwar continued his opposition to Mahathir's measures which eventually culminated in his sacking from all ministerial positions and from the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), and eventual arrest and sentencing to six years' imprisonment for corruption and nine years imprisonment for sodomy.
The movement borrowed their idiom from the campaign in the neighboring country of Indonesia against President Suharto earlier that year, which protested against the thirty-some years of Suharto rule in pursuit of "Reformasi", which successfully ended with his resignation on 21 May. Before his arrest on 20 September, Anwar travelled across the country, giving huge crowds public lectures on justice, the prevalence of cronyism and corruption, the urgency for social safety nets and so on. These groups controlled an expansive grassroots network and were able to garner tens of thousands of mostly Malay youths to support Anwar's cause and his calls for Reformasi.
Opposition parties such as the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) also extended their support. After leading a huge rally in Kuala Lumpur on 20 September 1998, amid the Commonwealth Games and the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Kuala Lumpur, Anwar was finally arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). A number of his followers were also held under the ISA, and hundreds of demonstrators were eventually charged with illegal assembly and related offences.
Demonstrations intensified by the surrounding actions against Anwar - his arrest at gunpoint, assault by the chief of police, widely publicized sexual allegations against him,Anwar's character assassination worsened when a swirl of poison-pen letters hit the scene targeting him. Also, at the UMNO's 18–21 June Annual General Assembly, the book, 50 Dalil Mengapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM (50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Be Prime Minister) mysteriously found its way into the delegate bags of attendees. Though Anwar insisted that the claims in the book were defamatory, some of them resurfaced among the legal charges levelled against him. There was speculation that Anwar had been orchestrating a coup at the June 1998's party General Assembly rather than wait for Mahathir to follow through on his promise to hand over power soon. There, Mahathir outwitted Anwar by, for instance, undercutting Anwar's charges of cronyism by revealing that many came from Anwar himself. However, those were quickly subdued after Mahathir made his official endorsement of Anwar as his successor in the presence of the members of the Supreme Council during the Assembly.Billington, G. G (1998). Malaysia's Mahathir trumps 'anti-corruption' crowd. EIR, 25. and his highly controversial court cases. Thousands took to the streets in protest when Anwar was sentenced to six years in jail for corruption (abuse of power) in April 1999. Police repression was again harsh and 118 people were arrested. Police dispersed protesters with the use of tear gas, chemically laced water and bludgeons, and publicised photographs and lists in the mainstream press of people wanted for interrogation. Apart from direct confrontation in the streets, the government and the opposition maintained an acrimonious campaign against each other, in the mainstream and the alternative media respectively. The latter included the bilingual (English and Malay) PAS newspaper, Harakah, published twice a week, smaller weekly and monthly publications such as Eksklusif, Detik and Tamadun, and several sites on the Internet.
The Anwar factor
In early September 1998, Anwar Ibrahim, who was the deputy prime minister, was unceremoniously removed from his positions in government and UMNO. He was fired for alleged sexual misconduct. Even before charges were laid, Mahathir explained in graphic detail – repeated in stunningly explicit lead articles and banner headlines in the press – that his deputy was guilty of adultery, sodomy, and was trying to cover up evidences of his trysts. However, Anwar was not immediately detained. For 18 days he toured the country, giving extremely well attended public lectures on justice, the purported evils of Mahathirism, the prevalence of cronyism and corruption, the needs for social safety nets and the urgency to reform. Anwar averred that he had been pressing for change from within, and stressed on his role in developing low-cost housing and people-friendly policies while in government. He was largely supported by Islamic NGOs and a wide array of other groups and organizations. Islamist Groups in particular command an immense grassroots network. They were able to rouse tens of thousands of mostly Malay youths to espouse Anwar's cause and his calls for Reformasi. Opposition parties, such as DAP and PAS, have also proclaimed their support.