malaysiakini: National laureate urges intellectuals to take a stand... by Kuek Ser Kuang Keng

National laureate urges intellectuals to take a stand

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng
Jul 3, 2011
12:41pm

Preparing to be arrested as the dragnet for Bersih 2.0 supporters widens, national laureate A Samad Said urged intellectuals to stop being 'carma' but dare to make a stand against cruelty and injustice.

He coined the word 'carma' which is the acronym of 'cari makan' (seeking to profit), during political satirist and cartoonist Zunar's book launch last night at Kuala Lumpur.

"Writers seldom take a stand. Most of them are 'carma' and are always prepared to not take a stand. This has caused all the evil to grow and spread tremendously."

The septuagenarian then directed his criticism against editors of mainstream media which has been demonising the July 9 rally called by Bersih 2.0 in favour of free and fair elections.

"For the mainstream media, Bersih is dirty. I'm also surprised, why these experienced pressmen who have won awards here and there, can smear Bersih. I know they are from the 'carma' group.

"Fortunately there is still a small number of writers who dare to take a stand, who know that Bersih is pure," Samad (left) told the 250-strong audience who packed the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall auditorium under the watchful eyes of several plainclothes policemen.

The launch, which had Samad and Lembah Pantai MP cum PKR vice-president Nuruk Izzah Anwar as guests, was held few hours after police detained six Parti Sosialis Malaysia leaders without trial under Emergency Ordinance because of their "involvement with foreign elements. They were also said to have "subversive tendencies".

Yellow ribbons

Although those who attended the launch, including former PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali and Selangor exco member Elizabeth Wong, were not dressed in yellow, many wore yellow armbands to express their support for Bersih 2.0.

One Chinese man in the audience was spotted wearing the banned Bersih T-shirt under a white cloth. He only showed the yellow t-shirt when taking a photograph with Samad and Zunar.

Unperturbed by the arrests in relation to the Bersih rally, Nurul (right), without naming it, continued to call the public to attend it on July 9.

"Let's join the rally that cannot be named, which will be held one day after our prime minister leaves for Europe," she quipped.

On the crackdown of Bersih supporters, Samad commented that the spectre of the communist bogeyman was purposely revived by the authorities to create a fearful atmosphere in order to pave the way for more arrests.

"Now is the era of intimidation, so that the people are cautious and dare not protest. Obviously the archaic laws have been resurrected to oppress (critics).

"There is an illusion, only two persons have it. I don't need to say who they are because the police is only taking orders (from them). Sometimes the illusion of the police is also extraordinary," he quipped.

Era of arrests

Pak Samad, as he is popularly known, warned that the police's decision to stop negotiations with Bersih2.0 signalled that mass arrests are imminent.

"This means we are entering the era of arrests. Zunar has to be prepared. I also have to be prepared. May God bless me," he said to a round of applause and cheering from the audience.

Last week the police had called Samad to give a statement over hispoem recital during a Bersih 2.0 event. He is being investigated under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 27(5) of the Police Act 1967 which is related to unlawful assembly.

Samad, a celebrated Malay poet and novelist, is no stranger to protest rallies, being one of the big names who joined the March 2009 mass gathering to protest the government's policy on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI).

He was honoured as a national laureate, or Sasterawan Negara, in 1985.

The latest cartoon publication of Zunar (right) titled 'Even My Pen Has a Stand' is published by Kinibooks, a wholly-owned subsidiary ofMalaysiakini.

The book features a collection of his political cartoons which have appeared on the news portal from September 2010 to June 2011 as well as in Cartoonmovement.com, an international cartoon website.

During the book launch last night, Zunar reiterated he will continue to express his critical views against the powers-that-be through his cartoons.

"I'm very happy to attend my own book launch because last year I could not attend. This morning I told my wife to prepare things like a toothbrush for me to enter a detention centre," he quipped, sending his audience into guffaws.

Zunar, whose real name Zulkiflee SM Anwar Ulhaque, was arrested on Sept 24 last year and was locked up for two days just hours before the launch of his penultimate cartoon book.

Prior to that, the government had also banned six of his cartoon books.

However Zunar will miss the July 9 rally as he will fly to Florida, US, today to receive the Award for Courage in Editorial Cartooning from US-based Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI)

TMI: Aku bersedih ... — Dr Nasir Hashim

Aku bersedih ... — Dr Nasir Hashim

July 03, 2011

3 JULAI — 

Bersendirian

Air mata sedih mengalir tanpa izin

Kerana ku lihat

Demokrasi dikebumikan dengan semboyan

keangkuhan

Keagamaan disandi-warakan untuk mencabul

kebenaran

Perkauman dibelai manja demi segumpal

keuntungan dan kemelesetan diri

Kemiskinan dilunak lunakkan dari sistem pemerintahan

Seribu janji dicurah halus untuk menderhaka

kepada prinsip

Senda gurauan diatur rapi untuk membentes

pemikiran

Negara yang harum dilacurkan dengan teladan

bangsat

Sungguh kaku Negara ku yang tercinta ini

Menjadi noktah di pertengahan jalan

Ku . . . . .

Ku . . . . . lihat

Ku lihat . . . . . demokrasi

Ku lihat demokrasi . . . . . tersungkur

Ku lihat demokrasi tersungkur . . . . . merah

Ku lihat demokrasi tersungkur merah

. . . . . di pinggir jalan

cuba melutut

cuba menyiku

cuba mendagu

enggang menutup matanya . . . . .

untuk kali terakhir

Ramai tak membantu

Ramai tak mengerti

Enggan sedar

Semangat ini

berpahatkan pada cinta

bernafaskan pada keadilan

berkorban untuk kebebasan

Selagi diri ini belum menemui lahad

Selagi itulah jiwa ini bertindak

mendedahkan sistem kapitalis

bersama konco-konco politik

yang pincang ini

(ditulis setelah penahanan 6 orang dibawah EO (ISA))

* Dr Nasir Hashim adalah pengerusi PSM dan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Kota Damansara.

malaysiakini: Patriot and Bersih: A tale of two rallies... by Hazlan Zakaria

Patriot and Bersih: A tale of two rallies

Hazlan Zakaria
Jul 3, 2011
2:37pm

COMMENT Growing up, Charles Dickens was my favourite author.

He still is.

His stories are exciting, insightful, witty and rich of sobering social commentary.

His tales tell of the wealthy and poor alike, of the arrogant all-powerful and the disenfranchised powerless.

But for all his seriousness, he had a great sense of humour, if a little moribund. Nothing perhaps illustrates his dry tongue-in-cheekiness than the first paragraph of one of his most revered classic, 'A Tale of Two Cities':

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on it being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

Splendidly done, spectacularly written, the passage is a clever way to place his tale into any time, any place. They speak of truths evident still, such is the timelessness of his work.

Sadly, its echo is heard loudly in our age, in our beloved land. Not as a lesson nor precautionary tale, but a reality that we now face first hand, if we but observe the twin dualities of the rallies;Patriot and Bersih.

Perhaps never in Malaysian history, have the lines been drawn so clear, between the dual truths of unselfish nobility and crass ignoble behaviour.

There exist two rallies hence, one of Bersih's, a mass movement of Malaysians made up of many ilks and colours, and the other Patriot - made up of Malay rights group Perkasa and their colleagues in Umno Youth.

One seeks clean, free, fair elections. While the other sought to preserve that which authorities hold absolute; Their grip on power. I think I need not explain which is which.

'A Marquis of our own'

Bersih has promised peace, while the other warned of violence. The Patriot group spoke of chaos, seething members they can't control, whilst those marching for electoral reforms, have made good conduct their motto.

But the government's spiel and response, is at inappropriate if not strange - punishing the meek with out-of-date powers and letting the belligerent walk free.

"Foreign agents" and "Communists", such bogeymen they resurrect, but the truth is self evident, it is they who initiated misconduct.

A movement for reforms they outlawed, while the champions of divisiveness they greet.

It seems like pre-revolution France, we too have a Marquis of our own, whose actions this past few weeks demonstrate more than just mere disregard, to the plight and voice of the rakyat. What we oft see is the image its likeness paints in our hearts of hearts; A tyranny.

"Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend," observed the Marquis to his nephew Charles Darnay, "will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof, shuts out the sky."

How true and how apt, an intractable authority that refuses to give up the reins nor change. Like the Bastille, our future's safekeeping, may perhaps require the storming of our own castle of arrogance. Figuratively, if not literally. Is it time to bring down the house of cards?

As I pen these words, I cannot but feel a twinge of regret, at the life choices I made. My decision to take on the mantle of observer and join the cadre of journalists. To man the watchtowers of an alternative press, one that is as free and objective, as we can make it.

'Rakyat's hopes and sacrifice'

For as my duties hold, I cannot take to the streets with my brothers and sisters. Such is the curse of my profession, for the privilege of commenting, I must enact boundaries and recuse myself from those that I observe.

But I do have opinions and a clear realisation of what is wrong and right. For that and in this commentary, is my balm to setting things right.

In so far as words have power, as breath of spells can kindle magic, I give my spirit to their cause and bend my mind to their noble deed, for that freedom that well nigh fifty years, have the tentacles of oppression denied us.

For those of us in the free press, we shall do our best to record this momentous time, the hopes and sacrifice of the rakyat. Turning our objective glare unto a government desperate to stop the inevitable. May we be the bulwark against their agenda of untruths.

But be all forewarned, we shall record the misbehavior or appropriateness of each. As Dicken's also warned us, the oppressed can also oppress. This is why we are the fourth estate, for ours is to watch and tell.

I shall end my tale with another quote from Dickens. Quite appropriately from the ending of A Tale of Two Cities. May it be for the activists on the streets and the honest journalists on the ground, that our deeds on that day measure up with the best that we can.

These are the last thoughts of the lawyer Sydney Carton whilst alive, before the greatest act of his sacrifice. As Carton's did, may our deeds birth a better brighter future. For our nation, our brethren and our children, if not ourselves.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."

malaysiakini: Anwar: Arrest of Jeyakumar an insult to Parliament

Anwar: Arrest of Jeyakumar an insult to Parliament

Jul 3, 2011 2:56pm

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has condemned the police's arrest of Sungai Siput member of parliament Dr Michael D Jeyakumar as an insult to “democracy and the institution of Parliament in this country”.

“As an elected member of parliament, he has the right to voice the aspirations of the rakyat who want free and fair elections,” said Anwar in a statement today.

The PKR de facto leader was responding to the placement yesterday of Jeyakumar and five others in detention under sections 3(1) and 4(1) of the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969.

The Emergency Ordinance (EO) is similar to the Internal Security Act, which allows police to detain suspects for up to 60 days.

Section 3(1) provides for the arrest and detention of any person without warrant or trial under grounds contained in 4(1) that the person is acting in a manner prejudicial to public order, to suppress violence, or prevent other crimes for any period not exceeding two years.

PM Najib Abdul Razak today said the EO detentions were due tosuspicions that the six were involved with subversive elements and to prevent more serious incidents from taking place.

Apart from Jeyakumar (far left, in photo), 56, the other members are PSM deputy chairperson M Saraswathy, 58, central committee members Choo Chon Kai, 33, M Sukumaran, 50, Sungai Siput branch secretary A Letchumanan, 49, and Youth leader Sarat Babu, 25.

Anwar, who is Permatang Pauh parliamentarian, also condemned the authorities for slandering the Bersih 2.0 coalition advocating free and fair elections as a subversive movement and its planned rally on July 9 as contributing towards a threat to public security.

“It has been said many times, the Bersih secretariat has stressed that the rally to be held on July 9 will be a peaceful assembly.

“The Bersih secretariat had even sought to negotiate with the authorities so that its demands over elections (reform) can be implemented. 

“But these demands and urgings have been rejected with the utmost arrogance.

“The authorities need not fear with the demands, which it is hoped will bring good to the people and nation of Malaysia,” he added.

Anwar called for Jeyakumar's release and that of other five from detention under the EO and that the government respect rule of law and constitution.

No fear

Meanwhile, Perak PAS condemned the arrests in Kuala Kangsar under Section 27 of the Police Act for illegal assembly when they were found with T-shirts promoting the Bersih rally.

Aged between 19 and 40, they were picked up in a raid at a shophouse in Kuala Kangsar, about 45km from Ipoh yesterday.

State criminal investigation department chief Dzuraidi Ibrahim had said today the suspects were stamping logos on t-shirts, pertaining to the illegal rally, when the police raided the premises at about 10am.

The five had their statements were recorded at the Kuala Kangsar police headquarters before they were released on bail.

The police, said Perak PAS information chief Ahmad Nuri Al-Amin in a statement, looks as if they are looking for evidence to detain people under Section 27, while acting against a basic principle that an act cannot be deemed illegal before it has been committed. 

“The police are actually trying to associate wearing the Bersih yellow T-shirts with sedition, provocation and prejudice against Bersih's peaceful assembly,” said Ahmad.

He called for the release of all persons detained over the Bersih fiasco, while urging the people not to be fearful of exercising their right to peaceful assembly as provided for in the federal constitution. 

Ahmad also asked whether it is not the police's actions that will turn Bersih chaotic.

TMI: Polls - Opposition wins Thai election by a landslide

Polls: Opposition wins Thai election by a landslide

July 03, 2011

BANGKOK, July 3 — The opposition won Thailand’s general election by a landslide today, exit polls showed, paving the way for Yingluck Shinawatra to become the country’s first female prime minister in a victory for a red-shirted political movement.

Supporters of Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, celebrate at her party’s headquarters. — Reuters pic

Television showed Yingluck, younger sister of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, swarmed by flashing cameras and journalists after exit polls showed her Puea Thai (For Thais) party winning a clear majority of the 500 seats in parliament.

“Let’s wait for the official results. I will tell you how I feel tonight,” she told cheering supporters.

An exit poll by Bangkok’s Suan Dusit University, considered the most historically reliable, showed Puea Thai winning 313 seats, with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrat Party taking just 152. Bangkok’s Assumption University (ABAC) put the number of seats won by the opposition at 299.

The red shirts have rallied around Yingluck and accuse Abhisit of colluding with the army with impunity — grievances that have simmered since a 2006 military coup overthrew her brother.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, scored landslide election wins in 2001 and 2005 by appealing to the poor with populist policies, from cheap credit to universal healthcare. Yingluck hopes to tap his supporters.

Abhisit, 46, an urbane economist born in Britain and educated at Oxford, has warned of instability ahead if Yingluck wins. He blames the red shirts for last year’s violence and casts Thaksin as an authoritarian crony capitalist.

His backers — the royalist establishment and urban middle class — want Thaksin to serve a two-year prison term for conflict of interest offences. They say Yingluck is a proxy for her brother and would clear the way for Thaksin’s return.

Abhisit had hoped to win a mandate from the people after coming to power in a controversial 2008 parliamentary vote when a pro-Thaksin ruling party was dissolved by the courts. His Democrats have not won an election in nearly 20 years.

Throughout the six-week campaign, the two sides have presented similar populist campaigns of subsidies for the poor, improved healthcare benefits and infrastructure investment including high-speed rail systems across the country.

The election is Thailand’s 26th since it became a democracy in 1932, ending seven centuries of absolute monarchy. It has since been governed by 17 constitutions and has experienced 18 military coups, either actual or attempted.

Recent opinion polls had suggested Puea Thai would win at least 240 seats, a threshold that is no guarantee it could govern. Most had doubted if either side would secure an outright majority, predicting back-room talks with smaller parties would prove crucial for forming a coalition.

Investors are watching. Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy and a base for vehicle makers including General Motors Co, has struggled to execute long-term planning — from major infrastructure to much-needed economic reforms.

The vote is also a test for Thailand’s courts, which have handed down rulings that have removed two prime ministers, disbanded six parties, jailed three election commissioners and banned more than 250 politicians since the 2006 coup.

Analysts and legal experts say those precedents suggest the courts could ultimately dictate who holds political power in the months after the election.

According to some reports, the Puea Thai camp had been in talks with the generals to find some way of working together should it emerge victorious. Puea Thai would be allowed to govern and the military top brass would remain in place, with early reshuffles limited to middle ranks. — Reuters

malaysiakini: Hisham declares Bersih an outlaw organisation

Hisham declares Bersih an outlaw organisation

Jul 2, 2011 6:22pm

 

 

The Coalition for Clean & Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) has been declared an unlawful organisation effective yesterday, the Registrar of Societies (ROS) said today.

In a statement, ROS director-general Abdul Rahman Othman said the declaration was made by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein under section 5 of the Societies Act 1966.

Investigations showed that Bersih 2.0 was not a registered organisation, he said.

The statement said Bersih 2.0 had been moving actively, creating unease among the people.

It said the coalition had also been spreading pamphlets containing propaganda with the aim of toppling the government.

Its activities had brought about negative impact on the country's image and threatened public order, security, economic prosperity and the country's sovereignty, and undermined harmony among the people, it said. 

 

 

'Bersih create unease among races'

According to a statement by the Home Ministry, the Bersih 2.0 coalition is not a registered society.

“However, Bersih 2.0 has fulfilled the definitions of a registered body under Schedule 1 of Societies Act 1966.”

But it found that Bersih has:

• Moved actively and incited an environment of unease and worry by the peoples of all races in the country.

• Spread seditious propaganda to the people with the purpose of toppling the government through distribution of certain literature.

• Through its activities, have given a bad effect to the image of the country, and can threaten public order, safety, economy and sovereignty of the country, thus affecting the harmony of a multicultural society.

“Henceforth, the home minister has declared the Bersih 2.0 society to be an illegal society under Section 5 of the Societies Act effective July 1.”

Hindraf outlawed in 2008

Bersih 2.0 plans to organise rallies in Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Sarawak on July 9 to call for clean and fair elections.

In October 2008, the Hindu Rights Actions Force (Hindraf) was declared an illegal organisation.

Then home minister Syed Hamid Albar said the decision to outlaw Hindraf was made after facts and evidence that showed the organisationwas being used for unlawful purposes and posed a threat to public order and morality.

Hindraf organised a massive rally calling for a better deal for Indian Malaysians on Nov 10, 2007 - two weeks after 40,000 turned out for the first Bersih rally.

Registrar of Society Act 1966

5. Power of the Minister to declare a society unlawful

(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister in his absolute discretion
by order to declare unlawful any society or branch or class or
description of any societies which in his opinion, is or is being
used for purposes prejudicial to or incompatible with the interest
of the security of Malaysia or any part thereof, public order or
morality.

(2) An order made under this section shall be published in the
Gazette and shall operate to cancel immediately the registration
of any such society or societies, if already registered under this
Act; and no society against which an order made under this section
applies shall be so registered.

(3) The provisions of section 17 shall apply in respect of a local
society affected by the order made under this section.

FMT: Crackdown on Bersih sets alarm bells ringing abroad... by Stephanie Sta Maria

Crackdown on Bersih sets alarm bells ringing abroad

fmt, Stephanie Sta Maria | July 2, 2011

The international community is taken aback by Malaysia's insistence on stopping the Bersih rally.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian government’s vehement opposition to the Bersih 2.0 rally has the international community reeling in alarm and bewilderment over the “uncharacteristic behaviour” of a “moderate, progressive country”.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted that Malaysia has always been perceived as a reasonable country that welcomes dialogue and negotiation.

But the government’s severe crackdown on rally organisers and supporters have now run contrary to this sentiment and is likely to tarnish Malaysia’s reputation within the United Nations Human Rights Council.

HRW’s deputy director for Asia, Phil Robertson, said that none of Bersih’s demands has warranted the spate of arrests, threats of Internal Security Act (ISA) or bringing out the army on July 9.

“For some reason the Malaysian government has decided to make this rally a test of its power,”

Robertson told FMT. “It almost seems like it has a screw loose. It’s very clear that this is a campaign of intimidation.”

“I have heard that a number of foreign diplomats have attempted to pacify the Malaysian government, but the exact details of those talks have been kept confidential.”

“Malaysia is in fact bound by Article 21 of the United Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) to allow this rally. Bersih is asserting its right under Article 21 and that right should be respected.”

Article 21 states that “the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government: this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures”.

Robertson also dismissed accusations that Bersih is politically motivated due to the support by opposition parties. He stressed that even a member of a political party still has the rights of a citizen.

“The issue here is freedom of peaceful assembly,” he said. “If a NGO and a political party decide to walk hand-in-hand, that is their right. The government is just churning out excuse after excuse to stop the rally in the hope that the people will believe at least one of them.”

Thailand is not the bogeyman
The Bangkok-based Robertson also defended Thailand against the Election Commission’s (EC) portrayal of the country as one that is mired in chaos because “people are campaigning for one rejected leader”.

EC deputy chairman, Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, had made this earlier remark to draw parallels between Thai support for ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and Bersih’s alleged support for opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim.

Thailand goes to the polls tomorrow in its 26th general election but Robertson assured that no chaos or violence is expected.

“Malaysia is fond of painting Thailand as the bogeyman which isn’t credible at all,” he said. “The reality is that Thais broadly believe that the country’s electoral procedures are actually good.”

“They believe that when their names are at their polling booths, the confidentiality of their votes will be maintained; they are able to complain if their names are missing and there won’t be any electoral violations like the stuffing of ballot boxes at the eleventh hour.”

He added that Thailand has since invited international observers to monitor its elections. Among these observers are the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and EC chairman, Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

Aziz revealed last night that the EC too is looking into the possibility of inviting international observers for the 13th general election. His statement has been met with both support and opposition but the international community is inclined to applaud it.

“It isn’t unusual for international election monitoring to take place,” Robertson said. “Confidence in the electoral process is fundamental to any functioning democracy. If people believe the election process is unfair, then that perception will pemeate every other aspect of the country.”

malaysiakini: M Jeyakumar should be lauded, not arrested... by Dr Francis HH Ngu

M Jeyakumar should be lauded, not arrested

Dr Francis HH Ngu
Malaysiakini, Jul 1, 2011
1:16pm

I came to know Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj when he was posted as a junior medical officer at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), where I was acting medical superintendent from 1983 to 1987.

Even then, he was most outstanding as a government officer of uncommon social responsibility, providing patient service unflinchingly regardless of heavy workloads. Indeed, Jeyakumar showed his concern for patients well beyond his immediate patient care responsibilities at SGH. 

I recall that as a junior medical officer at SGH, he actively canvassed for:

1. The safety and comfort of patients on long boat journeys, while on referral from Kapit district hospital to Sibu Hospital;

2. Injured workers timely entitlements under the Workers Compensation Scheme; especially timely and more just awards by Medical Boards to injured workers;

3. The legislatively prescribed responsibilities of Socso in the rehabilitation of permanently disabled workers, and the weakness of Socso thereof; and

4. The occupational safety of the mostly Dayak logging workers in Sarawak, or rather, its lack thereof.

This is all the more remarkable as he comes from a comfortable upper middle class family in Penang.

I was disappointed in myself for having failed in my effort to recommend him for 'Perkhidmatan Cemerlang' award.

Nonetheless, he was a personal inspiration to me, and he will always be such.

I have no doubt that it is the highest level of humanity that made him not just a physician, but an uncommon one. 

He has dedicated the last three to four decades of his life as much to his Dayak patients in Sarawak as to the Indian plantation workers, both groups being the marginalised of the marginalised in Malaysian society.

His humanity finds expression in his leadership of Malaysian socialists.

While I may not agree with all the elements of his socialist programmes, my heart is with him as he earns political political persecution upon himself, instead of recognition from the powers that be.

Bersih rally: Najib can find solution acceptable to all,,, by Ramon Navaratnam

Bersih rally: Najib can find solution acceptable to all

Ramon Navaratnam
Jun 30, 2011
4:13pm

 

 

As a Malaysian and a senior citizen, I have, like most Malaysians, become gravely concerned with the escalating unhealthy developments and rising public anxiety over the impeding demonstrations on July 2.

What is at stake are our basic human rights and the need to uphold our constitution, with regard to our essential freedom of assembly and speech.

Malaysians now keep asking why it is so difficult for the powers that be, to agree to give permits for peaceful marches from any quarter, to ask for free and fair elections.

While it is true that we enjoy higher standards of democracy and electoral practices than many less mature democracies, we have to honestly admit that our electoral system is not the best and actually leaves much to be desired and improved.

After all why can't we seek to transform the electoral system to become more efficient and to serve the rayaat better, with the concept of People First and Performance Now?

How can we move more purposefully to achieve our Vision 2020 goals, to become a developed country, with all its wider prerequisites, if we cannot have even peaceful marches to protest against any abuses in our electoral system ?

Even if the police cannot change their mindsets and provide permits to have the peaceful assemblies and marches.

I ask whether they could give the public some fraternal and friendly assurances that they could allow demonstrators to walk peacefully, if the demonstrators undertake to help the police maintain law and Order and even cooperate to apprehend any trouble makers ?

I don't think it's beyond our innovative capacity and our ingenuity, nor is it too late, for the police and the leaders of the demonstrations to work out some acceptable modus operandi ?

Together and in the spirit of national unity we can have a Malaysian consensus, to ensure that the demonstrations can be allowed, but with the full agreement for all to exercise restraint, moderation and patience on all sides?

In any case the electoral demands are fair and reasonable.

I don't think the Government can be against the requests for instance for - clean electoral roles, the reform of postal votes, the use of Indelible Ink, minimum 21 days for campaigning, free and fair access to the media, strengthening the enforcement of electoral rule, the eradication of vote buying and the rejection of "dirty politics".

In fact the rising tensions are quite unnecessary. We are making a mountain of a mole hill. There is too much over-reaction which can lead to ugly outcomes.

Indeed we cannot risk mismanagement of this sensitive situation.

Hence I would humbly appeal to our Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to step into this breach and impasse immediately.

He can meet with the leaders of all three groups that plan to demonstrate, to dialogue and negotiate some consensus that could allow the freedom of assembly, with peace and goodwill on all sides.

The prime minister could also address some of the serious grievances raised by the three groups, immediately and/or on a planned basis, within a reasonable time frame.

We appeal to the prime minister to use his good offices and all parties concerned to show the Malaysian spirit to resolve the differences with peace and goodwill, in the public and national interests, please.

Ramon Navaratnam is of Chairman Asli Center of Public Policy Studies.