Government on detaining spree

Another Ops Lalang?

(From left) DAP's Teresa Kok, Raja Petra and Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng were arrested Friday under the ISA. (Photo by The Star)

Less than 3 hours ago, Teresa Kok was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Earlier in the same day, Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng were arrested under the same act while three Malaysian newspapers - Sin Chew Daily, The Sun and Suara Keadilan - were issued show cause letters by the Home Ministry. These actions by the BN led government is reminiscent of what happened in 1987 (though I don't even exist at that time), where 106 persons under the ISA and the publishing licenses of two dailies, The Star and the Sin Chew Jit Poh and two weeklies, The Sunday Star and Watan were revoked. Whether these latest events are the prelude to Ops Lalang II remains to be seen in the coming days.

What concerns me that made me sacrifice some of my time (tests are around the corner) to blog about this is the way justice is served. What did these three people do that warrant such treatment? Firstly, let's look at the sections of the legislation that are related to the ISA:

Section 73(1) Internal Security Act 1960: "Any police officer may without warrant arrest and detain pending enquiries any person in respect of whom he has reason to believe that there are grounds which would justify his detention under section 8; and that he has acted or is about to act or is likely to act in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to maintenance of essential services therein or to the economic life thereof."

Section 8 ISA: Power to order detention or restriction of persons. "(i) If the Minister is satisfied that the detention of any person is necessary with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to the maintenance of essential services therein or the economic life thereof, he may make an order (hereinafter referred to as a detention order) directing that that person be detained for any period not exceeding two years."

In short, a person must be a threat to national security in order to be detained under the ISA. Are these three individuals really a threat to security?


Raja Petra

Those who read Malaysia Today would surely know that Raja Petra is known for his "no holds barred" criticism of the government. Yes, his articles published in Malaysia Today are certainly the cause of his detention.

Just a week ago, the Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar said (link) Raja Petra could be charged under the Internal Security Act for comments allegedly insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad in an article entitled "I promise to be a good, non-hypocritical Muslim".

The million-dollar question: How can insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad be a threat to national security?


Tan Hoon Cheng

I'm surprised and shocked that a reporter who is merely doing her job is arrested under the same act. She is apparently arrested over her report on alleged racist remarks by Datuk Ahmad Ismail.

A reporter's job is to cover events happening in the country, and Tan as a reporter has every right to do this. If she is negligent in her job e.g. misquoted Ahmad Ismail, then it's up to Ahmad Ismail to take legal action against her. In fact, it was reported (link) that UMNO Penang was appointing a lawyer to sue her. It seems that the government thinks that the courts are not to be trusted and decided to take matters into their own hands.

The million-dollar question: Who is more of a threat to national security? An unrepentant leader continuing making racist remarks even after the reported event or a reporter just doing her job?


Teresa Kok

Yet again, there is no concrete reason for Teresa Kok's arrest. Teresa Kok has been accused of disallowing azan (calls for prayers) from sounding in mosques in Puchong and Kota Damansara.

The accuser was none other than former Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, who in an Utusan report, urged the opposition Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government not to concede to purported moves by “a certain party” to disallow azan emanating from loudspeakers of mosques in Puchong and Kota Damansara (link). The government decided to take the word of Mohd Khir as gospel truth while disregarding the accounts of Kota Raja member of parliament Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud of PAS (link) and even the mosque involved (link). The person who is a threat to national security should be the accuser who has distorted facts.

The million-dollar question: Who is Dr Mohd Khir Toyo?


Conclusion: The case studies above show that the ISA can be interpreted and manipulated to the whims and fancies of the present BN-led government.

My stance on BN and PR

Last week, I posted a documentary on Anwar's trial and at the same time dropped in some of my own comments about the documentary as well. Judging from the response from Sonia on what I'd written, it seems like I'd given the perception that I'm a hardcore supporter of the Pakaran Rakyat. Her response raised so many questions that I think would be appropriate to be clarified and addressed in a "long" way, that's through a blog post.

So that's about what I'd written. However, nobody commented about or gave an indication that they had watched the documentary, which was supposed to be the main feature of that post. I guess the idea of watching a one-hour documentary turns almost everyone off.


Some Clarifications

First, some clarifications on some of the statements/comments that I'd made.

"Watch the sinister campaign of Mahathir and UMNO to oust the person who dared to fight corruption" (on the documentary)
Made Anwar sound like a hero right? Actually this was the description given on YouTube about this video. I copied it to make the documentary sound more exciting in order to entice people to watch it. Also, the transcript was also copied from the ABC's website, so I'm not responsible for its contents.

"I think the BN government back then - even now - is rotten"
Why is BN rotten? One reason I gave was that the PM a.k.a President of BN-UMNO is given too much power until dictatorship had and will have a chance to rear its ugly head in this democratic country. No doubt that getting rid of Anwar was Mahathir's personal agenda, but the thing is, the other BN leaders are either too weak or too complacent to put a stop to this blatant abuse of power. UMNO members can't do anything to prevent their deputy president from being sacked, while BN component parties can't do anything to prevent this or else they will be accused of meddling in UMNO's internal affairs. Hence there's something wrong ("rotten" as I described it) in the BN coalition that allowed all this to happen.

"BN is too lethargic under the leadership of Abdullah"
PM Abdullah is not a man of his words. Neither is he what he portrays himself to be. When he first came into power he promised many things that are close to the people's heart, like corruption eradication, empowering the judiciary, improving government transparency etc. The resounding victory he got in the 2004 General Election means that he struck the right chord. Sadly, many of his pledges weren't fulfilled. Calls of placing the ACA under the supervision of the Parliament fell on deaf ears with lame excuses given. Government refuses to reveal their contracts with the toll concessionaires when a minister promised to do so.

The 2008 General Election disaster jolted our PM into a considerable amount of action, but everything is still moving too slowly. He proposed that the ACA become a “full-fledged” Malaysian Commission on Anti-Corruption (MCAC), but this is not due until year end. His promise to step down is even more elusive. At the same time the Pakatan Rakyat promised swift reforms touching on the same issues, but who's more believable? Given the BN government's poor record of keeping promises, I'm inclined to believe the Pakatan Rakyat. At least they are more serious in listening to the needs of the people.


Questions, Answers & Replies

Now, I would like to answer questions posed by Sonia.

Are you going guarantee that Anwar would be a better PM? He is quite a racist if you had seen his previous records.
I'm not going to guarantee that he's going to be a better PM. But many people including me give him the benefit of the doubt. So far he has been, like what political commentators say, "pushing the right buttons". And his party was given the mandate by all races to continue what he's doing. He's unlikely to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. As to his previous record as a racist, I have nothing to say about that. What I can say is since PKN was formed ten years ago he had been championing the rights of all races. Some call him a chameleon, but the reality is politicians have to be constantly attuned to the people's needs in order to be a wakil rakyat.

The ideology for DAP, PKR and PAS are different. Don't you realise?
Actually I don't see any difference in ideologies between DAP and PKR. Both are secular, champion issues like corruption, accountability and so on, essentially putting power in the people's hands. PAS also champions the same thing under the Pakatan Rakyat banner but I agree that their Islamic agenda poses a problem. It depends on how they implement their Islamic agenda and whether it's acceptable by the majority of Malaysians. Even the Sultan is unhappy with their religion fanaticism. If the majority of Malaysians especially Malays are unenthusiastic about their Islamic agenda, then they have to drop it sooner or later.

Don't condemn BN till so teruk larr... they deserve some credits. Many changes have been done.
BN has been ruling this country since independence, and I don't dispute the fact that they managed this country quite well - well in the sense that everything is peaceful, the economy is flourishing steadily and everybody is pretty satisfied. But this is when you look at a bottle as half-full instead of half-empty. Imagine that all Malaysians have equal opportunities on this land. Imagine that the separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial is still intact. Wouldn't Malaysia be on par with Singapore and Hong Kong now if BN is truly efficient? Remember, we were on par with them a few decades ago.


Change of Government

A change of government doesn't necessary mean everything is for the better. But for Malaysia where one party is dominant for so long, it's certainly a breath of fresh air. If all's well, a two-party system will emerge that will change the political landscape of Malaysia - no party or politician can afford to be arrogant lest they lose the voter's confidence.

Another thing I don't quite understand is some people's fear of riots when Pakatan Rakyat finally takes over the federal government. Why should this be any different from Pakatan Rakyat taking over 4 state governments? There will surely be no racial riots like in 1969 because those effecting these changes are from all races. In a multi-racial society, people rarely clash with their own race in the bloody sense. There will probably be minor riots orchestrated by BN-UMNO supporters, but anybody with a right-thinking mind will certainly stay away from this. Therefore I don't expect our lives to be endangered like in 1969.


Final Wrap-up

So why not support Pakatan Rakyat just this once to let them have a hand in our country's future? Like Sonia said, it might be better or for worst; we'll never know if we never try. Allowing the Pakatan Rakyat to win will also show that the people is serious about ending racial politics in Malaysia and make BN change their divide-and-rule style of politics. We should risk short term instability for long term stability and progress of our country.

Anwar's sodomy trial

Back in 1998, Anwar was sacked from the post of Deputy Prime Minister by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad. People of my age were only in lower primary school at that time, so we couldn't understand what was going on except that Anwar was no longer DPM. He was replaced by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 1999. What actually happened then that caused his fall from power?

Fast forward 10 years. We're now young adults old enough to vote in the next General Election. As a future intelligent voter, we should know the background of leaders to know their trustworthiness, sincerity and naturally their weaknesses. This weekend (or later), spare some time to see this documentary about the trial of Anwar - the star of Malaysian politics today - in 1999. Watch the sinister campaign of Mahathir and UMNO to oust the person who dared to fight corruption. This documentary was broadcasted by ABC Television in 2000 (more info) .

Malaysia - Trial of Anwar Ibrahim

Part: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Transcript

After an extensive investigation in Malaysia, featuring candid interviews with highly placed insiders, Foreign Correspondent presents compelling evidence that the trial of Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was based on fabricated charges resulting from a deliberate high-level conspiracy to oust him from office.

He was the bright, shining star of Malaysian politics, a leader in waiting. Now he languishes in a prison cell, serving a long sentence for crimes he and his supporters claim were contrived to destroy him politically and personally.

Reporter Evan Williams and Producer Virginia Moncrieff have new evidence and first-hand accounts of an elaborate conspiracy against Anwar and the dark and profoundly cynical effort to make a sham case stick.

Among a number of key players speaking publicly for the first time, a former official in the ruling UMNO party, Raja Kamarrudin, links the conspiracy to destroy Anwar directly to inner sanctum of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed.

"My duty is to give propaganda to speak to the UMNO people that Anwar is not fit to be the Prime Minister," says Kamarudin.

Foreign Correspondent reveals how Malaysian officials, as far away as the United States, tried bribing witnesses to testify against Anwar.

Also speaking for the first time, in a powerful, program-length special, are relatives and associates of Anwar who claim to have been repeatedly stripped and brutalised by Malaysian police as part of a program of intimidation designed to draw false confessions that they had been sodomised by Anwar.

"They want to punch me, they want to slap me and they're very angry, at the time I cannot even say the words 'what do you want from me'. I just feel cold, I feel ashamed because I'm naked then I cried and just stood there," Sukma Darmawan.

In an explosive letter to Foreign Correspondent, from solitary confinement, Anwar accuses Mahathir personally of orchestrating the conspiracy against him to protect his cronies and family.

"Corruption was endemic. On . critical issues like democracy, corruption, my views were well articulated. I was his nemesis and he was terrified that I may pose a challenge to his leadership in the party," Anwar Ibrahim.

After watching this documentary, what conclusion can you make? I think the BN government back then - even now - is rotten, because the PM is given too much power until dictatorship had and will have a chance to rear its ugly head in this democratic country. Therefore, drastic reforms has to be introduced which is promised by Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat. BN is too lethargic under the leadership of Abdullah. We need reforms to be fast-tracked for the benefit of this country. Hopefully they can take over the leadership of this country come Sept 16. Anwar for PM!