Are we not Indian enough?

Shyam forwarded an email from Ananthi, a Rhodes scholar, now reading for her PhD at Oxford which eloquently articulates the Malaysian Indian dilemma which should be compulsory reading by the Prime Minister and the entire Cabinet as well as all Malaysians:

Dear friends,

I feel so outraged, angry, hurt and impotent seeing the photos of the police’s (government’s) reactions to Sunday’s rally. In Batu Caves for instance, the protesters were literally boxed into the temple grounds and had water canons and tear gas shot at them. It looks totally unprovoked, except that I suppose it contravenes the court order obtained to ban the protest. But the reaction of the police should not have been to do what they did – that was an unprovoked, unjustifiable use of force.

Somewhat paradoxically, I am very grateful that this is finally happening. That the Indians have found their voices. The temple demolitions could have been the best thing to happen for our country and community in terms of seeing a grass roots agitation to topple the clearly illegitimate status hierarchy and power differential in Malaysia.

I read Malik Imtiaz’s article and I think it is good. Same for Haris Ibrahim. I only wish that people would STOP saying that they have a problem with the Indians fighting for Indian/Hindu rights. That they should be fighting for the collective poor’s rights. I am afraid I find this kind of reasoning completely devoid of logic or historical foundation. The Indians have been the most marginalised group in this country. Have there been millions of Malays who have been marginalised and who fall below the poverty line? Yes. But as a group, the Indians stand out as having received the least favour and the worst treatment over the last 50 years, BECAUSE they are Indian. So as a group they coalesce (finally) and stand up to fight for their rights, and then you have all these Malaysian liberals who would have this low status, disenfranchised group fight for the rights of ALL? When the discrimination against the Indians has been based on their group membership, suddenly we want them to put this aside, rise above it and say ‘let us fight for all the poor’?. This is seriously flawed thinking. It panders to an ideal without taking into account the reality on the ground. People are constrained by their experiences – the people of Malaysia have been taught over and again to see themselves in terms of their racial groups. Thus a reaction to the racism they have suffered is NOT a deracialised response. That would be neither possible, nor given our history, even desirable. Malaysia is all about race and as long as that is the case, people must coalesce around such groupings. Once we can, at a higher level, dismantle racial politics, policy, education etc., then we can ask that people stop thinking of themselves as Indians and more as Malaysians.

I don’t like that Hindraf has made this a Hindu issue – I think introducing religion into an already racially charged atmosphere is a very incendiary thing. And doing this means that the support of non-Hindu Indians will be absent for this cause. Having said that, Hindu reactions are not out of place given the more extreme Islamic tendencies of this country since the 1980s and the more recent destruction of temples. Seeing the images of the destruction of the temple in Shah Alam was a very painful experience. And that’s the thing about religion – its simultaneous sanctity and primacy -even when we do not buy into a particular faith- make it an incredibly emotive issue around which to gather people to action.

The last 3-4 days have been very difficult for me emotionally because I have felt hopelessly helpless sitting here in Oxford spending hours poring over spss output sheets rather than being involved on the ground back at home. I have no doubt in my mind that I would have been at that rally on Sunday. It has more to do with just protecting the right to allow people to express themselves and protest (though that is very important). It has more to do with the fact that we, as upper middle class Malaysian Indians have not done enough to show our solidarity with less socio-economically successful Indians. Of course we engage in important charity work which tries to raise the educational and socio economic standing of the Indians. We give to temple funds. We pay for individual Indian children to be fed and educated. But we are always giving a helping hand up – trying to elevate the Indians to where we are. I do not for a minute dispute that this is an incredibly important thing to be doing. But on Sunday we had the opportunity to stand alongside -shoulder to shoulder with- our fellow Indians rather than above them and I feel that many of us lost this perhaps once in a life time (though I hope I am wrong about this) opportunity. Times like this are not ones to debate over the particular words used or issues mentioned – I find it somewhat absurd that this rally would have had as one of its central aims submitting a letter to the Queen of England. For me that perpetuates us in our roles of a time that we should have long transcended. But that said, I think it would be duplicitous of me not to join in the march because of these issues.

Because I, like many of you, know that that is not what this rally was about.

It was about being neglected, about not having a seat at the table to bargain, about having a national and communal leadership that we do not trust and is utterly discreditable. It is about saying no to being the forgotten Indians, and not enough of us in our comfortable houses, those of us who managed to work the system to our benefit – stood with the other Indians, who are not so different from us.

I don’t mean to attack any of you personally. Perhaps some of you did march. Or perhaps some of you didn’t because of compelling reasons. But the fact remains that many of us who were able did not, because we don’t identify ourselves with these poorer versions of ourselves. I worry that we are not Indian enough in a way that counts.

Best wishes from a bleak and distant place,

Ananthi

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 2 December 2007, 8:41 am and is filed under
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                This entry was posted on Sunday, 2 December 2007, 5:44 am and is filed under
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Hindraf demo – PM should heed “cry of desperation” of Malaysian Indians at marginalisation

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi flew into a
royal rage
yesterday at the Hindraf allegation that the Malaysian Government was carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of the Indians in Malaysia.

Abdullah was referring to a Hindraf
memorandum
 to the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown asking for  the intervention  of the UK government over the “ethnic cleansing” of Indians in Malaysia.

This Hindraf  memorandum to Brown was dated 15th November 2007,  the same day as the demolition of the Mariaman temple in Padang Jawa, Shah Alam, Selangor.

I did not know about this Hindraf memorandum until I read about  it on the blog,

http://rockybru.blogspot.com/
, on Monday, 26th November 2007 and I do not agree with such an allegation.   I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of the 30,000 Indians who rallied to the Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 25th November 2007 were not aware of  the Hindraf memorandum to the British Prime Minister and that they would not have agreed with the term.

Abdullah should not just rage over the Hindraf allegation of  “ethnic cleansing” but must  pay heed to the “cry of desperation” of 30,000 Indians from all over the country at  last Sunday’s Hindraf demonstration over the marginalization of the Malaysian Indian community –  political, economic, educational, social and cultural.

I recommend the heart-searing email by a Malaysian Indian,
Ananthi
, who is currently a  Rhodes Scholar in Oxford University for reflection by the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and all Barisan Nasional leaders for them to understand why law-abiding and peaceful loving Malaysian Indians have rallied in support of the Hindraf demonstration — not over any  accusation of “ethnic cleansing of Indians in Malaysia” but to call for an immediate halt to the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysians Indians which have reduced them into a new underclass in the country.

Ananthi did not fully agree with all the things said and done by Hindraf.  She said however  that “it would be duplicitous” for her not to support last Sunday’s  Hindraf rally, adding:

“Because I, like many of you, know that that is not what this rally was about.

“It was about being neglected, about not having a seat at the table to bargain, about having a national and communal leadership that we do not trust and is utterly discreditable. It is about saying no to being the forgotten Indians, and not enough of us in our comfortable houses, those of us who managed to work the system to our benefit – stood with the other Indians, who are not so different from us.”

Ananthi’s agony was the agony of the 30,000 Malaysian Indians from all over the country who congregated in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Prime Minister, Cabinet, Parliament and government — that they do not want to continue to be the “forgotten” and marginalised Malaysians.

It is sad and tragic that a week after the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration, there seems to be neither  awareness nor consciousness in top government circles that this unprecedented and largest gathering of Malaysian Indians  must be treated as a “wake-up” call by the Cabinet and government policymakers to adopt  immediate measures to formulate a New Deal for Justice to Malaysian Indians to end their marginalization from the mainstream of national development.

The government response to the “cry of desperation” of the Malaysian Indian community to end their marginalization is one so rooted in denial or  so puny that they have  only aggravated the sense of alienation and deprivation of the Indians as a forgotten and marginalized community.

MIC President, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said on Thursday that the Prime Minister had asked the MIC to set up a
special committee
to analyse and address socio-economic problems faced by the Indian community.  He also announced that  the MIC will set up a
hotline
 as soon as possible to handle all problems faced by the Indian community.

These responses are so ridiculous and laughable that they only illustrate the  continuing  government irrelevance and MIC impotence in ending the marginalization of the Malaysian Indian community in the country.

Samy Vellu would have set up scores if not a century of committees to study the problems of the Indian community in his more than 28 years as MIC President and Cabinet Minister — and if they had been totally useless in checking the marginalization of the Indian community, how is another MIC committee going to make any difference?

The whole idea of a hotline to resolve the problem of the Indian community is utterly absurd as what is needed are structural, institutional and policy   changes in government and nation-building strategies — which no number of hotlines can achieve.

Tomorrow, the MIC Cameron Highlands Member of Parliament  S. K. Devamany is to
appear
before  Deputy Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chief whip, Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his remark in Parliament that the Hindraf demonstration, which he put at 50,000, reflected government failures in nation-building.

I had berated Devamany for his Aljazeera interview the day before during the Hindraf demonstration in belittling and questioning the bona fides of the tens of thousands of Malaysian Indians who had gathered in Kuala Lumpur to convey their “cry of desperation” for justice  to the government.

I had told Devamany that he should apologise for the contemptuous language he had used when referring to the tens of thousands of Indians who had turned up in Kuala Lumpur to support the Hindraf demonstration to prove that he was not being opportunistic.

However, if Devamany is prepared to stand by his parliamentary remark that the Hindraf demonstration was proof of the government’s failures in nation-building and “a cry of desperation” by the marginalized Indian community which must be heard and acted on by the government, then he must be supported by the MIC President, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and all other MIC members of the administration — whether Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Secretary or MP.

In fact, Samy Vellu and all MIC  members of the administration should accompany Devamany to meet Najib to demonstrate that they support Devamany that the Hindraf demonstration showed the government’s failures and was a  “cry of desperation” of the Indian community for justice and that the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was wrong in labeling the demonstrators as “crooks”

(penyangak)
.

Furthermore, the MIC team  should extract a commitment from  Najib that Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting will give top priority to address the “cry of desperation” of the 30,000 Indians at the Hindraf demonstration  by putting on the agenda  a New Deal for Justice to end the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 2 December 2007, 12:36 pm and is filed under
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Extremist demands for removal of cross and demolition of Christian statutes in mission schools

There is  growing intolerance and increasing extremism in Malaysia  which are inimical to successful nation building and the latest instance is  the demand for the removal of the Christian cross and the  demolition of Christian statues in mission schools.

I raised this issue in Parliament this morning during the winding-up  of the Education Ministry in the 2008 Budget committee stage debate by the Deputy Education Minister, Datuk Noh Omar and expressed my concern why the Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had not said anything to dissociate the government from such extremist demands.

During the policy debate on the 2008 Budget on Oct. 29, 2007 the Barisan Nasional Member of Parliament for Parit Sulong, Syed Hood bin Syed Edros, supported by the BN MP for Sri Gading, Datuk Haji Mohamad bin Haji Aziz called for the removal of the Christian cross and the demolition of Christian statues in the mission schools.

The loyalty of mission schools was questioned, with the baseless  allegation that they refuse to observe Aidilfitri public holiday and close the schools. There was even the preposterous accusation that the mission schools were administered by churches outside the country, including  the Vatican.

I asked Noh Omar whether he is aware that the extremist demands by the two BN MPs have created a furore, particularly on the Internet, and why the Education Ministry was condoning such extremism by its silence when such statement should be denounced without equivocation.

I also reminded the Deputy Education Minister that it is wrong and mischievous to assume that Muslims studying in mission schools are potential apostates, when mission schools had made great contributions in nation-building and produced many Malay leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Education Minister himself, the Perak Raja Muda Raja Nazrain Shah and the Sultan of Selangor  who had been products of mission schools.

There was no satisfactory reply from Noh Omar.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 3 December 2007, 6:01 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia’s Identity Crisis

TIME

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007

By Hannah Beech/Kuala Lumpur

Revathi Masoosai should be the perfect embodiment of Malaysia. Her ethnic Indian parents were both born in the ancient port of Malacca in 1957, the very year the colony of Malaya gained independence from the British. Her father was Christian, her mother came from a Hindu family, but they both officially converted to Islam, the religion practiced by Malaysia’s majority Malays. Yet Revathi does not feel welcome in her ethnically and religiously diverse homeland. According to Malaysian law, Muslims can only marry other Muslims. Revathi, who was actually raised in the Hindu faith, had fallen in love with a Hindu man. But because of her parents’ earlier conversion, she was deemed a Muslim and a judge refused to change her religious status. Revathi’s marriage was never recognized by the state, nor was her daughter’s birth. Earlier this year, an Islamic Shari’a court ordered her to spend six months at a Faith Rehabilitation Center, where she had to wear a Muslim headscarf and pray five times a day. “The constitution says there’s freedom of religion in Malaysia, but I have not felt that freedom,” says the 30-year-old homemaker. “How can they force me to believe something I do not believe? What has happened to my country?”

Malaysia commemorated 50 years of independence this past summer, but the celebratory pageantry masked an underlying identity crisis. In many ways, the country is a success story, the very model of a modern Asian nation. Buoyed by oil revenue, capital Kuala Lumpur bristles with skyscrapers and industrial parks, while a massive administrative capital called Putrajaya has risen from what were palm-oil plantations two decades ago. In September, Malaysia’s first astronaut blasted into space, his flight mirroring the nation’s ambitions. Poverty has been reduced from half the population at independence to just 5% today, as an affirmative-action policy created a prosperous Malay middle class that had never before existed. In Asia, only the nations of Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Brunei rank higher than Malaysia in the U.N.’s Human Development Index. Most impressively, while other multiethnic nations like Yugoslavia, Sri Lanka and Rwanda fractured into conflict, Malaysia has largely kept peace between groups that include Muslim Malays (about 50%); Buddhist and Christian Chinese (roughly 25%); Hindu, Sikh and Muslim Indians (less than 10%); and indigenous peoples, who abide by many faiths including animism (around 10%). “Our biggest achievement is that we have not only survived but we have progressed and thrived,” Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told TIME in a written statement in August.

Yet for all these accomplishments, Malaysia is suffering from midlife anxiety. Increasingly, the nation’s diverse ethnicities live in parallel universes, all Malaysians, yes, but seldom coming together as they once did for meals or classroom discussions. Religion, too, has divided the nation, as some Malaysians assert that a conservative strain of Islam is causing a segment of the faith’s worshippers to withdraw from a multicultural society. Malaysia’s economy is being challenged by regional competitors, with many questioning the future of the affirmative-action scheme that has served as the country’s financial bedrock. At the same time, a nation that once prided itself on its robust institutions is finding these foundations eroding. Little wonder, then, that up to a million Malaysians, mostly the white-collar talent needed to keep the economy humming, have simply abandoned the country since independence; by the government’s own estimate, 70,000 Malaysians, the majority ethnic Chinese, have renounced their citizenship over the past two decades, although far more have emigrated without officially giving up their nationality. Many local companies are leaving, too, investing so much offshore that as much money now leaves Malaysia as is attracted to it. “There’s no question we accomplished a lot over the past 50 years,” says Ramon Navaratnam, president of the Malaysia office of Transparency International, the corruption watchdog. “But if we don’t face up to [our] problems, we will not be able to sustain the same level of success over the next 50 years.”

Minority Report

The man who must minister to Malaysia’s malaise is Abdullah. When he was handpicked for power four years ago by longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah was dismissed as a political lightweight. But Abdullah surprised even his harshest critics. He vowed to combat corruption, liberalize the press and restore the reputation of a judiciary whose independence had been repeatedly questioned during the latter part of Mahathir’s 22-year rule. To underscore Malaysia’s commitment to economic efficiency, Abdullah initially scaled back several of Mahathir’s prestige megaprojects, including a money-losing national auto company and a massive dam in Borneo. The son of a moderate Muslim cleric also brought a measure of spiritual authority to the ruling coalition, which had been fighting the rise of an Islamic-based political party that attracted Malay votes even as it alienated non-Malays. “The important thing is that everyone’s rights are protected,” Abdullah told TIME. “Malaysia is the country that it has become because of the contributions of all the different races and people that populate the country.”

But honeymoons don’t last forever. Abdullah will almost certainly win re-election in polls expected early next year, because of the well-oiled political machine of the governing National Front, which has dominated the country since independence. Yet the 68-year-old PM’s tenure is dogged by the same ills — alleged graft, inefficiency, ethnic and religious rivalry — that he had promised to combat. Questions about Abdullah’s leadership came to the fore earlier this year when his deputy, Najib Razak, stunned the country by defining Malaysia as an Islamic state, going so far as to say the country had never been secular. (The nation’s constitution is unclear about the issue, stating both that Islam is the religion of the federation and that freedom of religion is guaranteed.) Abdullah told TIME, “We are not a secular state, but neither are we a theocracy.” But such hedging seems unlikely to satisfy all constituencies. Liow Tiong Lai, the head of the youth wing of the Malaysian Chinese Association, part of the usually cohesive National Front coalition, asserted that Malaysia was indeed a secular nation. Bernard Giluk Dompok, a minister in Abdullah’s Cabinet who is Christian, concurs. “If we define Malaysia as an Islamic state,” he told TIME, “the implication is that non-Muslims do not belong.”

Abdullah points out that the ruling coalition is composed of parties representing various ethnic communities. “We have adopted a power-sharing formula for over 50 years now, so every community gets a seat at the table when it comes to governing the country,” he told TIME. “Everyone participates, and everyone’s voice is heard.” Many non-Malays don’t agree — and their sense of alienation starts early. Government primary schools that used to be essentially secular now feature Islamic prayer halls. Today, only 6% of Chinese parents send their children to such schools, while in the 1970s more than half did. Chinese students have a much harder time securing places in Malaysia’s public universities because of quotas, so those with sufficient funds head overseas. Many do not return. Those who do find workplaces are increasingly divided along ethnic lines. “[In the 1970s] there was a bar at Parliament, and we would all socialize together,” recalls Lim Kit Siang, the Chinese head of the opposition Democratic Action Party, who has served off and on in Parliament since 1969. “Now, everything is separate, and non-Malays feel like second-class citizens in their own country.” Many ethnic Indians, whose economic gains have lagged behind those of Malaysia’s other communities, feel the same way. On Nov. 25, thousands gathered under the shadow of Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers, the world’s tallest twin buildings, for a rare protest to call attention to what they believe is an unwillingness by the government to address the root causes of their marginalization. The demonstrators were dispersed by tear gas; the day before, three rally organizers had been arrested on sedition charges, but were later given a conditional discharge.

A Gap in Wealth

If Malaysia’s races are separating, it is partly because of the legacy of the New Economic Policy (NEP), an ethnically based affirmative-action plan instituted in 1971 to create opportunities for the economically disadvantaged Malays. During colonial times, Chinese traders were favored by the ruling British, and they controlled much of the economy upon independence. Malays and indigenous peoples — collectively known as bumiputras, or “sons of the soil” — wanted to redress that economic imbalance. The NEP, which offers preferential treatment to bumiputras in everything from education to politics, has lifted millions of Malays into the middle class. But some analysts argue that the NEP has outlived its usefulness and has been hijacked by a Malay ruling élite that uses the race-based policy to secure sweetheart deals for themselves while leaving poor Malays in the dust. Indeed, the World Bank estimates that despite Malaysia’s impressive $10,000 per capita annual income, the country is burdened with the largest income disparity in all of Southeast Asia. “The Malays are being let down by their own people,” says Transparency International’s Navaratnam, “because the rich are getting richer while the poor are staying the same.”

Leading the political charge against the NEP is a Malay, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. In 1999, Anwar was jailed for six years on sodomy and corruption charges that human-rights activists characterized as politically motivated. Now he has emerged as de facto leader of the opposition People’s Justice Party, which is campaigning to dismantle the race-based NEP and replace it with a class-based scheme that would, say, help poor Indians while preventing rich Malays from taking handouts they don’t need. Anwar blames the NEP both for breeding corruption and decreasing competitiveness, since many lucrative state contracts are reserved for bumiputra companies. “Globalization does not treat kindly people who feel as though they must be protected because of injustices from colonial times,” says Anwar. “If we don’t want to be displaced by an up-and-coming country like Vietnam, we must play by the rules of the global game.”

Local rules need to be followed, too, if Malaysia is to continue attracting foreign investment. In September, two Shari’a court officials were detained over corruption charges. In the same month, 1,000 lawyers and activists, including the country’s Bar Council president, took to the streets to highlight what they consider deteriorating judicial independence and integrity. Their protest was galvanized by a video clip that appeared to show a well-known lawyer helping fix top bench appointments. (The government says it will set up a royal commission to investigate the video.) “I used to be proud to say I was a Malaysian lawyer,” says Karpal Singh, a prominent human-rights lawyer. “But now? The system is getting worse.”

Indeed, the courts may actually be exacerbating Malaysia’s divisions. Revathi’s case is only one of several that have challenged the complicated legal system set up by Malaysia’s founding fathers. The country employs a dual-track structure in which Muslims are bound by an Islamic Shari’a court on issues such as family law, while non-Muslims are governed by civil courts. For many years, overlapping issues, as in the case of intermarriage, were quietly negotiated by both courts. But now, Shari’a courts are increasingly refusing to accept conversions out of Islam, arguing that apostasy is illegal in the Muslim faith. At the same time, civil courts have become less willing to rule on religious issues they say are the domain of the Muslim legal system. In a landmark case earlier this year, the nation’s highest court decided that it had no jurisdiction to deem a person non-Muslim, because that is the Shari’a courts’ prerogative.

The mainstream press has avoided the topic because of a government directive ordering media to maintain “peace and harmony” by blacking out debate over Islam’s role in the state. The censorship disappoints journalists who were pleased when Abdullah initially allowed for more freedom of expression than predecessor Mahathir. In October, Malaysia received its worst-ever ranking in the worldwide press-freedom index compiled by watchdog Reporters Without Borders, falling by 32 places to No. 124. The drop was due, in part, to two separate cases in which a blogger and a publisher of an online newspaper were both pulled in for official questioning. “There’s lots of intimidation toward people who speak out,” says Steven Gan, editor of the online publication Malaysiakini. “Instead of saying, we’re all Malaysians who need to unite and equip ourselves against our competitors in a globalized world, the government is pursuing divisive politics and making the media the scapegoat.”

Back to the Future

Malaysiakini has continued its aggressive coverage. The online paper has been particularly influential in investigating massive cost overruns in the building of a free-trade zone at Port Klang, not far from Kuala Lumpur. The latest official figures show that the project has ballooned to about $1.4 billion, more than double what was projected in 1999. Critics contend that graft has plagued the project, undercutting Abdullah’s much-vaunted anticorruption drive. “Thus far, Abdullah’s promises to curb corruption remain just that: promises,” says Ramasamy Palanisamy, a former professor of politics at the National University of Malaysia. At the same time, the PM, who once earned plaudits for cutting back Mahathir’s excesses, has signed off on several megaprojects, including a reinstatement of the controversial dam in Borneo.

Concerns about corruption could strengthen the political opposition. The Islamic Party of Malaysia gained control of two of Malaysia’s 13 states in 1999 after convincing voters that fighting graft was a fundamental Muslim virtue. The party lost power in one of those states three years ago but is predicting a rebound in next year’s polls. Anwar’s party is optimistic, too, and has been campaigning on a clean-government platform. Realistically, neither opposition party is strong enough to challenge the ruling coalition. But even a few lost seats would be an embarrassment to a governing élite that has controlled the nation since independence.

Under the rule of the National Front, Malaysia has come a long way. Looking back at the past 50 years, Deputy Prime Minister Najib, himself tipped as a possible future leader of Malaysia, told TIME: “We have arrived. It has been an era of transformation in more than one sense: physical, social, economic.” But if the next half-century is to be as uplifting, Malaysia will have to heal the divisions that are now all too evident in its society.

— with reporting by Baradan Kuppusamy/Kuala Lumpur

                This entry was posted on Monday, 3 December 2007, 7:35 am and is filed under
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Zero-negligence in hospitals and not Chua Soi Lek’s “medical mistakes inevitable”

The Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek’s statement in the press yesterday  that
“medical mistakes are inevitable”
however careful the doctors are is most regrettable and must be deplored by all MPs as it  is tantamount to giving a blank cheque for hospital negligence endangering lives and welfare of the people seeking medical treatment.

We claim to want to be a first-world developed nation which is not matched by a first-world mentality and mindset, such as making an important distinction between mistakes and negligence in hospital.  The former is understandable and acceptable but  the latter, i.e. negligence,  is totally  unacceptable and unforgivable.

Tragic cases like the baby girl Lai Yok Shan who lost her left forearm because of a chain of negligence at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang or a private hospital nurse Kalaiyarasi Perumal, 44, who went through the nightmare of a pair of forceps left in her abdomen after an operation at the Sultan Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru cannot be accepted as unavoidable incidents.

Yok Shan was born two months premature on July 23, 2007  and kept in an incubator and on a ventilator. When her condition deteriorated, it was decided to give her strong antibiotics which could only be administered intravenously.

A trainee doctor who received instructions over the telephone from the specialist doctor on duty administered the injection. The trainee doctor inserted the needle into muscles and tissues instead of blood vessel in the arm. This caused the baby’s arm to be infected.

It is clear that there is a chain of irresponsibility and negligence resulting in Yok Shan having to lose her arm, involving the trainee doctor, the specialist doctor, the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, the Ministry of Health and even the panel of medical specialists announced by Chua on August 9 to save Yok Shan’s left arm.

This was because Lai’s parents were told that Yok Shan would  undergo an operation expected to last from two to four hours to amputate her left arm, but in actual fact, no amputation was needed as the blackened arm came off when the orthopaedic surgeon lifted and turned it.

Although the Health Ministry has admitted liability for Lai Yok Shan losing her left forearm, the Minister should give a full account in Parliament as to how such hospital negligence could occur, as this is a matter of public interest and not just a private matter between the Ministry and the Lai family concerned — furthermore we want to  ensure that there will not be a recurrence of such negligence.

Hospital negligence has destroyed the life of Yok Shan who will have to live with this man-made disaster in a life-span of 70 to 80 years.  I call on the Health Minister to ensure that the government pays a proper compensation to Yok San — not a paltry sum of RM60,000 that is now being offered.

Religious teacher  Bashah Mustaffa who was given HIV-contaminated blood during a transfusion  in Jitra Hospital seven years ago has been awarded RM450,000 by the Alor Star High Court and is appealing against the amount.

The Health Minister and the Attorney-General should do justice to Yok Shan caused by  the shocking negligence of the Klang hospital personnel with a compensation of at least RM2 million.

(Speech on 2008 Budget Health Ministry estimates in Parliament on 3.12.07)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 3 December 2007, 4:12 pm and is filed under
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3 critical issues which Cabinet cannot continue to procrastinate tomorrow

There are three critical issues which the Cabinet cannot delay and procrastinate tomorrow, viz:

	A New Deal to end the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians and all marginalized groups;

	Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape scandal and restore the national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and competence of the judiciary; and

	Make public the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC)  Bill.

If there is no immediate announcement of the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, on its composition and terms of reference, the Malaysian public and international community cannot be blamed for coming to adverse inferences about the bona fides and political will of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to come to grips with the nettlesome problem of the 19-year degradation of the system of justice.

Malaysians had been expecting announcements from the Prime Minister about the Royal Commission of Inquiry  since last Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting but the past week had passed with the daily disappointment of no news on the matter.

Although the past week had been overshadowed by the after-effects and shocks of the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration on November 25, with almost daily condemnation  by the Prime Minister of the Hindraf allegation of “ethnic cleansing” of Indians in Malaysia, it is a grave misjudgment for anyone to think that the issue of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape and to restore the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary could be sidestepped and even swept under carpet as a result of  the Hindraf furore.

Let me remind Abdullah that Malaysians expect  positive and concrete announcements about the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow or it will be another blackmark on his administration.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Nazri Aziz has confirmed that the IPCMC Bill will be presented for debate in the current meeting of Parliament and that the Cabinet meeting tomorrow will be the final stage of government approval of the bill.

This will mean that there may  only be a week or so for MPs and the civil society to study the Bill before parliamentary debate , as I would not want to see the IPCMC bill, which should have been set up 18 months ago in June 2006 going by the recommendation of the Royal Police Commission, to be further delayed and deferred to the next parliamentary meeting next year.

In the circumstances, the IPCMC Bill should be immediately made available to MPs after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow so that they have as much time as possible to study the proposed legislation.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 December 2007, 12:02 pm and is filed under
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A Plea for our Malaysian Indians

by
Azly Rahman

The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor–not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules.

 —– Albert Einstein. in “Why Socialism?” (1949)

What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.

   —— Mohandas K. Gandhi

Will Queen Elizabeth II of England pay for the 150-year suffering of the Malaysian Indians? How would reparations be addressed, in an age wherein we are still mystified by newer forms of colonialism — The English Premier League, Malaysian Eton-clones, Oxbridge education, and British rock musicians such as the guitarist-astrophysicist Dr. Brian May of the better-than-the-Beatles rock group Queen (recently appointed chancellor of a Liverpool university)?

Who in British Malaya collaborated with the British East India company in facilitating the globalized system of indentured slavery?

Will the present government now pay attention to the 50-year problem of the Malaysian Indians?

What we need

We need to untangle this ideological mess and listen to the pulse of the nation. We are hyperventilating, from the ills of a 50-year indentured self-designed pathological system of discriminatory servitude of the mind and body, fashioned after the style of colonialism.

We need a crash course in the history of reparation, slavery, and the declaration universal human rights. We need to understand the style of British colonialism as it collaborates with the local power elites of any colony it buried its tentacles in and sucked dry the blood, sweat, and tears of the natives it dehumanizes and subhumanizes. We need to calculate how much the imperialists and the local chieftains gained from the trafficking of human labor — across time and space and throughout history. In short, we need to educate ourselves on the anatomy, chemistry, anthropology, and post-structurality of old and newer forms of imperialism. British imperialism has successfully structured a profitable system of the servitude of the body, mind, and soul and has transferred this ideology onto the natives wishing to be “more British than their brown skins can handle”.

 We need to encourage our children to read about the system of indentured slavery — of the kangchu and kangani and how the Malays are also relegated to becoming “reluctant” producers of the colonial economy. The Malay’s reluctance cost the people the British designation “lazy native”. We need to also learn from the “Orang Asli” and the natives of each state and how their philosophy of developmentalism is more advanced that the programs prescribed under the successive five year Malaysian Plans. A philosophy of development that respects and symbiozises with Nature is certainly more appropriate for cultural dignity than the one we have been subjected to; one that exploits human beings and destroys the environment under the guise of “progress”.

Our history lessons mask the larger issue of traditional, modern, and corporate control of the means of production of Malaya. We see the issue of race being played up from time immemorial; issue of convenience and necessity to the sustenance of the status quo and the proliferation of modern local oligopoly and plutocracy. Our history classes have failed our generation that is in need of the bigger picture; ones that will allow us to see what is outside of our caged construction of historicizing. Our historians, from the court propagandist Tun Sri Lanang to our modern historians written under the mental surveillance of the ruling parties have not been true to the demand of the production of knowledge based on social and humanistic dimensions of factualizing  historical accounts.

 We need study the political-economy of the rubber and canning industry and the relationship between the British and the American empire as industrialization began to take off.

The Indians in Malaysia have all the rights to ask for reparation and even most importantly they have the rights as rightful citizens of Malaysia to demand for equality and equal opportunity as such accorded to the “Bumiputera”. In fact each and every Malaysian regardless of racial origin must be given such rights. Failure to do so we will all be guilty of practising neo-colonialism and we will one day be faced with similar issue of reparation; this time marginalized Malaysians  against the independent government of Malaysia. How are we going to peacefully correct the imbalances if we do not learn from the history of international slavery, labor migration, and human labor trafficking that, in the case of HINDRAF, involves millions of Tamils from the Tamil Nadu province?

Help the Indians now!

I once wrote a piece calling for all of us to help the least privileged of our fellow Malaysian — the Indians. The piece called for the leaders to stop fighting and to help each other as well.

 I wrote a passage on the need to help each other in the spirit of selflessness and collaboration:

“It is time for the other races to engage in serious and sincere gotong-royong to help the poorest of the poor amongst the Indians. It is time that we become possessed with a new spirit of multicultural marhaenism. The great Indonesian leader Ahmed Soekarno popularised the concept of marhaenism as an antidote to the ideological battle against materialism, colonialism, dependency and imperialism. The thought that the top 10 percent of the richest Malaysians are earning more than 20 times compared to the 90 percent of the population is terrifying. What has become of this nation that promised a just distribution of wealth at the onset of Independence?”

Now we have a better scenario — we have the rights group that is beginning to pull together,close ranks, and demand for  their basic human rights that have been denied. Not only their rights to be accorded places of worship and economic justice, but also the rights to look at history and ourselves and interrogate what actually happened and who actually was responsible for the misery, desolation, and sustained abject poverty they have been subjected to.

Not a Hindu problem

It is not a Hindu problem — it is universal problem that cut across race and religion. If we believe in what religion has taught us about human dignity and the brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity, we will all be speaking in one voice rallying for those who demand for their rights to live with dignity.

In HINDRAF, I believe there are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Catholics, atheists, Buddhists, Sikhs, Bahais, Jains, etc rallying for the cause. In other words there are human beings speaking up for peace and social justice. It is the right of each and every Malaysian to lend support to their demands.

We have let the Indians in Malaysia suffer for too long. We ought to have a program of Affirmative Action in place. We ought to have a sound program for alleviation of poverty for the Indians and radically improve their conditions through political action, education, and cultural preservation. We ought to extract the enabling aspects of culture though and perhaps reconstruct the our understanding of the relationship between culture and human progress.

 But can the current political paradigm engineer a solution to the problems of the Malaysian Indians, as long as politics — after 50 years — is still British colonialist-imperialist-oppressive in nature? We have evolved into a sophisticated politically racist nation, hiding our discriminatory policies with the use of language that rationalizes what the British imperialists brutally did in the open.

But our arguments cannot hold water any loner. Things are falling apart — deconstructed. The waves of demands, the frequency of rallies, and the excavating of issues drawn from the archaeology of our fossilized arrogant knowledge — all these are symptoms of deconstructionism in our body politics. It is like the violent vomit of a rehabilitating Cocaine addict undergoing treatment in a Buddhist monastery somewhere in northern Thailand.

We are social beings

 We cannot continue to alienate each other through arguments on “social contract” that is alien from perhaps what Jean Jacques Rousseau the great wrote about some 300 years ago — a philosophy that inspired the founding of America, a nation of immigrants constantly struggling (albeit imperfectly) to meet the standards requirements of equality, equity, and equal opportunity especially in education.

How do we come together, as Malaysians, as neo-bumiputeras free from false political-economic and ideological dichotomies of Malays versus non-Malays, “bumi” versus “non-bumis’ and craft a better way of looking at our political, economic, social, cultural, and psychological, and  spiritual  destiny — so that we may continue to survive as a species of Malaysians the next 50 years?

As a privileged Malaysian whose mother tongue is the Malay language and as one designated as a  “bumiputera”, I want to see the false dichotomies destroyed and a new sense of social order emerging, based on a more just form of linguistic play designed as a new Merdeka game plan.

Think Malaysian
 – we do not have anything to lose except our mental chains. We have a lot to gain in seeing the oppressed be freed from the burden of history; one that is based on the march of materialism. We are essentially social beings, as Einstein would emphasize. Our economic design must address the socialism of existence.

 Let us restructure of policies to help the Malaysian Indians — they are our lawful citizens speaking up for their fundamental rights. Let us help restructure the lives of the poor before they restructure the lives of the rich.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 December 2007, 5:52 am and is filed under
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How many mission schools in the country have the cross removed from school emblem?

Although the Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar said in Parliament yesterday that the Ministry will not remove the cross and Christian statues from mission schools, I have received complaints on my blog of mission schools where the cross had been replaced in the school emblems, such as:

	St. David High School, Bukit Baru, Melaka, the cross had been replaced by a crown.

	Convent Girls School in Muar, Cross was replaced with a cresent moon on badge.

	Methodist Boys Secondary School, Kuala Lumpur

I call on the Education Minister, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein to explain whether it is true that the cross in  the school emblems in these schools have been removed and replaced.

In this connection, I call on Hishammuddin to give a statement to explain how many missions schools in the country have the cross in the school emblem replaced, together with a full list of the schools concerned and the relevant particulars on year of removal and why.

Hishammuddin should also explain whether the Education Ministry would have any objection if the cross and Christian statues are restored for  mission schools where they had been replaced or removed.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 December 2007, 1:56 pm and is filed under
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PM should head Cabinet Task Force to end marginalisation of Indians and all marginalised groups

The MIC Cameron Highlands Member of Parliament S. K. Devamany had let down the 30,000 Indians at the Hindraf demonstration on Nov. 25 with his regret and apology when it is the Barisan Nasional leadership which should express regret and apologise for its denial syndrome in refusing to acknowledge the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians into a new underclass.

These are  the newspaper headlines today on Devamany’s meeting with the Barisan Nasional Whip Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament yesterday over his remark during parliamentary question time the previous Monday that the fact that 50,000 people showed up at the Hindraf demonstration showed the Government’s failure in distributing wealth equally:

Devamany mohon maaf — YB Cameron Highlands kesal dakwa kerajaan gagal bantu kaum India
 —
Berita Harian
;

‘Saya Kesal’
 –
Utusan Malaysia
;

Devamany regrets criticizing BN
 —
New Straits Times
;

Devamany let off the hook by Najib — I regretted my remarks and will be more responsible, says MP
—
The Star
; and

MP says sorry, no action to be taken
  —
The Sun
.
(print edition)

This is the report from
The Sun
:

Speaking to reporters in Parliament Lobby later, Devamany said he met Najib at 10am to explain his remark and the meeting took about 20 minutes.

“He was very nice to me. I told him I regretted the statement,” he said.

“He advised me on what happened. I truly believe that unity, peace and stability are paramount in the country and cannot be compromised,” he said.

On Sunday, MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had done a great disservice to the Indian community and the Malaysian nation when he denied in Sungai Siput that the Indians in Malaysia had been marginalized.

Devamany had  yesterday compounded this disservice with his regret and apology for what he said in Parliament during question time  the previous Monday, putting him back to his comments in the  Aljazeera interview on the day of the Hindraf demonstration on Nov. 25 when he belittled and insulted the Malaysian Indians for taking part in the Hindraf protest.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said that he has “big ears” and is prepared to hear the truth but it is shocking that nobody in the MIC leadership,  whether MIC Cabinet Minister, Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Secretary or MP, is prepared and has the courage  to tell the Prime Minister  the truth — that for decades, the Malaysian Indians have been marginalized politically, economically, socially,  educationally, culturally and religiously reduced them into a new underclass.

Samy Vellu and the MIC leaders in government should tell the Prime Minister and other UMNO leaders in Cabinet and Parliament that the 30,000 Indians  from all over the country who rallied to the Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 was making a valid, justified and legitimate  “cry of desperation” by the Malaysian Indian community for an end to such marginalization — the reason  why they came peacefully and were prepared to brave police atrocity of  tear gas and chemically-laced water cannons to make that important point for the sake of their children and children’s children.

They did not turn up for the Hindraf demonstration because of support of  the allegation of “ethnic cleansing” of the Indians in Malaysia —  as the overwhelming majority of them  did not know about the allegation.

This was the challenge which the Deputy Education Minister, Datuk Noh Omar threw at  me in Parliament yesterday when I had raised the issue of the extremist calls by two Barisan Nasional MPs for the removal of Christian cross and demolition of Christian statues in mission schools — whether I supported Hindraf allegation of “ethnic cleansing” of Indians in Malaysia.

I replied categorically that I disagree with the Hindraf allegation of “ethnic cleansing” but the government must respect the cry of desperation of 30,000 Indians who had gathered from all over the country calling for an end of their marginalization as Malaysian citizens..

Samy Vellu and the MIC leadership cannot continue to  deny the fact of the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians for over  three decades, particularly during the last 28 years when Samy Vellu became MIC President and Cabinet Minister!

Before the launch of the New Economic Policy in 1971, the racial breakdown of the Malaysian civil service comprised 60.8 per cent Malays, 20.2 per cent Chinese, 17.4 per cent Indians and 1.6 per cent others.

In June 2005,  there were 899,250 public servants, of whom 77.04 per cent or 692,736 were Malays. The rest were: 84,295 Chinese (9.37 per cent), 46,054 Indians (5.12 per cent), 69,828 other Bumiputeras (7.77 per cent) and 6,337 of other races (0.70 per cent).

This means that in the past 34 years, the percentage of Indians in the Malaysian civil service had plunged from 17.4 per cent to 5.12 per cent, a precipitous fall of 12.28 per cent  — with Samy Vellu presiding over this plunge of Indian representation in the civil service for 28 of the 34 years!

The 30,000-strong Hindraf rally and the cry of desperation for an end to the marginalization of the  Indian community in Malaysia must be one of the three top agendas for the Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

The Cabinet should end the denial about the marginalization of the Indians in Malaysia and come out with a new policy for a New Deal to end the marginalization of Indians and all marginalized groups in Malaysia.

Specifically, the Cabinet should adopt the following proposals:

	Establishment of a Cabinet Task Force headed by the Prime Minister himself on a New Deal to end the marginalization of Indians and all marginalized groups;

	Conversion of all the partially-aided Tamil primary schools into fully-aided schools;

	An immediate  RM500 million allocation to upgrade the facilities and standards of Tamil primary schools; and

	A one-year moratorium for an  end all demolition of Hindu temples and all places of worship in all states in the country.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 December 2007, 1:36 pm and is filed under
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48 hrs for two BN MPs to apologise for slur on mission schools

The explanation by the Barisan Nasional MP for Parit Sulong Syed Hood Syed Edros
defending
his proposal to remove the crosses and images in missionary schools has compounded his offence, not only  because of his recalcitrance but his totally unapologetic stance.

Syed Hood said he raised the issue to seek clarification from the Education Ministry  based on grouses on the ground.

He said: “Times have changed and I think that we cannot allow Malays to look at the crosses and statues without explanation.”

What type of an explanation is  this which not only reflects his petty-minded but highly offensive attitude  to all fair-minded Malaysians who accept Malaysia as a plural society of diverse races, religions, cultures and languages.

A study of Syed Hood’s  offending speech in Parliament on Oct. 29 will show that he was not seeking clarification but making baseless assertions –as recorded in the parliamentary debate on Oct. 29 in the Hansard (pp142-144):

Tuan Syed Hood bin Syed Edros [Parit Sulong]:
 … Tuan Yang di-Pertua, saya ingin menyentuh satu perkara tentang Kementerian Pelajaran iaitu sekolah-sekolah mubaligh seperti Convent, La Salle, Methodist dan sebagainya. Saya difahamkan Lembaga Pengarah di sekolah-sekolah ini sebahagiannya ditadbir dari gereja-gereja di luar negara seperti di Vatican City. Saya juga difahamkan permohonan untuk membina surau di sebahagian sekolah-sekolah ini terpaksa mendapat kebenaran daripada Lembaga Pengarah yang mana Lembaga Pengarah ini sebahagiannya ditadbir oleh gereja.

Jadi amat memalukanlah, bagi diri saya, tentang pentadbiran sekolah-sekolah ini yang masih lagi dikawal oleh pihak gereja. Begitu juga saya difahamkan tentang iklim sekolah-sekolah tersebut, banyak ibu bapa Islam menghantar anak-anak mereka ke sana, mereka kompelin sebab ada kalanya sekolah dimulakan dengan lagu-lagu gereja. Ini saya tidak tahu benar atau tidak, tetapi ia apa yang saya dapat daripada ibu bapa sendiri tetapi yang jelas di sekolah-sekolah ini terpampang simbol-simbol agama. Saya rasa kecewa di dalam negara Islam, Malaysia ini, kalau saya pergi ke sekolah convent, ada terpampang patung St. Mary di depandepan sekolah convent…

Datuk Haji Mohamad bin Haji Aziz [Sri Gading]
: [Bangun]

Tuan Syed Hood bin Syed Edros [Parit Sulong]
: Silakan Yang Berhormat bagi Sri Gading.

Timbalan Yang di-Pertua [Datuk Dr. Yusof bin Yacob]
: Ya, Yang Berhormat bagi Sri Gading.

Datuk Haji Mohamad bin Haji Aziz [Sri Gading]:
 Bagi saya sudah tidak terkejut, Yang Berhormat bagi Parit Sulong, cerita ini… [Disampuk] Bukan soal biasa. Soalnya kenapa boleh berlaku seperti ini? Satu. Hari Raya yang lepas, saya diberitahu oleh seorang bapa, waktu Aidilfitri disambut, sekolah jenis-jenis ini tidak ditutup. Terima kasih.

Tuan Syed Hood bin Syed Edros [Parit Sulong]:
 Bukan sahaja patung, tetapi Ahli-ahli Yang Berhormat pergilah, tengoklah salib Kristian diletakkan di depan-depan sekolah. Saya tidak faham Kementerian Pelajaran, adakah pegawai-pegawai tidak nampak atau memang dasar kita membenarkan perkara ini. Walau bagaimanapun, saya sebagai orang yang bertanggungjawab kepada diri saya, agama, bangsa dan tanah air ini, saya menyatakan pendirian saya bahawa patung-patung ini hendaklah dirobohkan, salib-salib ini hendaklah dimusnahkan dan pengaruhpengaruh gereja di sekolah-sekolah ini hendaklah dihentikan. Begitu juga dana yang dikumpulkan di sekolah-sekolah ini. Adakah kita mendapat laporan? Kalau boleh kementerian mendedahkan dana sekolah-sekolah ini. Saya difahamkan ada sekolah-sekolah ini juga ditaja oleh pihak-pihak gereja. Dana-dananya datang daripada gereja-gereja dan adakah pihak kementerian pantau sumber-sumbernya? Adakah audit-audit dilaksanakan?

Syed Hood made a very clear call for the removal of the crosses, demolition of the Christian statues and an end to church influence  in mission schools including alleged control by Vatican, questioning their contribution and loyalty to Malaysia.

The two UMNO MPs are given 48 hours to apologise for their baseless, misleading  and offensive statements in Parliament casting adverse reflection on the contribution and loyalty of mission schools to Malaysia or a motion to refer them to committee of privileges will be tabled next week.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 December 2007, 3:11 pm and is filed under
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Let Us Vote this Chief Minister out

This piece by Richard Teo is taken down following  Vehir’s post and Jee’s email that the demolition of the S
ri Penyachi Amman temple in Tambak Paya, Melaka
 had taken place some four months ago, and not two days ago.

As all the posts have also been removed,  posters concerned are welcome to re-post suitably amended points-of-view on other threads.

Many thanks to  Vehir and Jee.  Apologies to all  for this mistake.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 December 2007, 8:49 am and is filed under
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Why AG appeared for charging 26 Hindraf supporters but did not appear for Altantunya murder trial?

The
personal appearance
 of the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Patail at the Shah Alam Sessions Court yesterday to lay charges against 26 Hindraf supporters for attempted murder of a cop has raised many question.

The first question is why Gani Patail thought it important to appear on an attempted murder charge when he never thought  it important to personally handle the high-profile Mongolian Altantunya Shaariibuu murder trial  on its 66th day of High Court  trial in very same court building  in Shah Alam,  although the murder trial of the Mongolian woman has  far-reaching national and international implications in view of ramifications reaching to the highest government level?

Yesterday, the Shah Alam High Court was told that plastic  explosives were placed on three parts of Altantunya Shaariibuu’s body — her head, chest and lower abdomen — before she was blown up when the explosive were detonated simultaneously by using a single detonator connected to all three parts.

Secondly, questions arising from one of disbelief that  as many people as 26 people are being charged for the attempted murder of a cop injured in the Batu Caves fracas in connection with the Kuala Lumpur  Hindraf demonstration on November 25 , a charge which entailed a maximum 20 years’ jail with fine for the 26 persons.

If the Attorney-General succeeds in his prosecution and  in securing maximum sentence, Malaysia will create world history in getting the most number of people sent for life sentence for the attempted murder of a cop — but what a world record!

These troubling thoughts  raise the further question  as to the real  motives of the re-arrest and  new charge of attempted murder  for 26 people — and whether this is conducive to the larger national objective to de-escalate the tensions caused by the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians and  highlighted by the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration on November 25.

Several policemen were hurt in the Hindraf demonstration — including Dadi Abdul Rani,  the policeman named in the attempted murder charge of the 26 people, sub-inspector Chew Choon Peng, Sergeant-Major Harjigt Singh and Lance Corporal Razali Redzuan.  Many more Hindraf supporters were injured.

Such injuries, whether suffered by  policeman or by  Hindraf supporters, could and should  have been avoided if the police had handled the Hindraf demonstration with professionalism and greater respect for  the constitutional rights of Malaysians to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

This is why there should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Hindraf demonstration, carrying out an objective and professional investigation into the police handling of the Hindraf gathering and the long-standing grievances of the Indian community on their marginalization as full and equal Malaysian citizens, whether in the political, economic, educational, social, cultural or religious sphere.

The Attorney-General should suspend all prosecutions until a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Hindraf demonstration has been set up and come out with its findings.  Gani Patail should personally recommend that such a Royal Commission of Inquiry should be set up without any delay.

There is currently a very strange phenomenon in the Barisan Nasional. On Monday,  the MIC MP for Cameron Highlands S.K. Devamany let down the Indian community and the Malaysian people  when he tendered   his regret and apology for saying in Parliament that the 50,000 people at the Hindraf demonstration on Nov. 25 showed the Government’s failure in distributing wealth equally and nation-building.

MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu loudly denied that the Malaysian Indians had been marginalized.

But  leaders of MCA and Gerakan apparently disagreed with the MIC leaders — as MCA National Vice President and Health Minister, Datuk Chua Soi Lok had gone on public record twice as calling on the government to be responsive  to and address  the sense of alienation, discrimination and deprivation of the marginalized Indians.  A Penang Gerakan Assemblywoman had also expressed similar sentiments about the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians.

The question is why some MCA and Gerakan leaders are prepared to admit that there is serious marginalisation among the Malaysian Indians, which is strenuously denied by the MIC leadership, when h MCA and Gerakan Ministers and leaders are not prepared about  the marginalization of the Malaysian Chinese — as they were the  most ferocious in attacking Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew when he made the remark about the marginalization of the  the Chinese in Malaysia not so long ago.

Is this solely because MCA and Gerakan leadership are more worried than MIC leaders about the electoral effects of the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians and their frustration when their “cry of desperation” is totally  ignored  — as there are at least 24 Parliamentary and 38 State Assembly seats in Peninsular Malaysia where Indian voters are more than 10% and can lead to the defeat of Barisan Nasional candidates?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 December 2007, 2:57 pm and is filed under
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Criticism of “ethnic cleansing” no excuse for BN disregard of cry of two million Malaysian Indians for end of marginalisation

I had  met the  Prime Minister  at the beginning of the new Parliament after the 2004 general election to urge him to support the  adoption of  the parliamentary committee system, and although three select committees had been formed so far, it is  most regrettable that a full committee system where every Ministry will be shadowed by a parliamentary select committee as well as the existence of select committees on specialist subjects have not yet come into being.

For the Parliamentary Select Committee on National Unity for which a six-month extension of time is being sought  — it is  essential that MPs are capable of subordinating their political, party and self-interest to the larger national interest if the national unity select committee is to make any meaningful contribution to nation building.

What happened in Parliament yesterday in the debate on my motion to cut the salary of Information Minister, Zainuddin Maidin is a case in point. MPs can agree or disagree as to whether Zainuddin had succeeded or failed in his task as Information Minister but when the Minister made irrelevant and baseless charges, accusing me of challenging the dignity of the Rulers and humiliating the Muslims for supporting Hindraf, it was the height of parliamentary and ministerial irresponsibility.

I know this is playing politics, but this is playing dirty and irresponsible politics subverting  the higher national interest of promoting national unity in the country.

I had made it clear that I never agreed with the Hindraf accusation about “ethnic cleansing of Indians” or genocide and what I had consistently stood for  is that the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration on November 25 was “a cry of desperation” by the Indians in Malaysia about their long-standing marginalization which must be addressed by the  Cabinet and Parliament.

We can  disagree and criticize the Hindraf leaders for making the allegations about ethnic cleansing and genocide, but the government must never lose sight of the central issue of the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians which brought Indians from all over the country to support the Hindraf demonstration, as they did not congregate in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 to support Hindraf on its allegations of ethnic cleansing or genocide but to make their cry for justice to end the marginalization for themselves, their children and children’s children heard loud and clear.

This is best expressed by a Malaysian Rhodes scholar currently studying in Oxford University, who did not fully agree with all the things said and done by Hindraf.

She said however  that “it would be duplicitous” for her not to support  Hindraf rally, adding:

“Because I, like many of you, know that that is not what this rally was about.

“It was about being neglected, about not having a seat at the table to bargain, about having a national and communal leadership that we do not trust and is utterly discreditable. It is about saying no to being the forgotten Indians, and not enough of us in our comfortable houses, those of us who managed to work the system to our benefit – stood with the other Indians, who are not so different from us.”

Have the cry of desperation of the Malaysian Indians about their marginalization been heard?

The Cabinet met yesterday but nothing has come out of it, as if the “cry of desperation” of the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration never existed. Parliament has failed to provide the forum where  the cry of the Malaysians Indians for an end to their  marginalization could be heard and acted upon.

MIC Cameron Highlands MP S.K. Devamany had tried to say something but he was slapped down and had to apologise and express his regret. MIC President and Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has denied that the Indians have been marginalized.

Penang Gerakan State Exco Dr. Toh Kin Woon had been the first to speak out outside Parliament, expressing his disagreement with the Barisan Nasional leadership and urging the government to listen to the cry of the Malaysian Indians in the Hindraf demonstration.

Why are there no Barisan Nasional MPs who dare to speak up for the Malaysian Indians in Parliament. What then is the use of the Barisan Nasional with over 91 per cent of parliamentary seats?

Is the Parliamentary Select Committee on National Unity prepared to address this problem of the marginalization of the Indians?

Its Chairman, Datuk Dr. Maximus Ongkili, has made most regrettable statements about the Hindraf demonstration.

Five days ago, Maximus said aggrieved communities should not resort to “illegal rallies” as there are other avenues they can use.

He said:  “If you want to be heard, use legal means. If you use illegal means, your motives will appear suspicious.”

Is the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department stating a government policy stand that the cry of desperation of 30,000 Indians on behalf of two million Indians in Malaysia at the Hindraf demonstration will be completely ignored, purportedly for adopting “illegal means”.

Maximus went on: “You don’t resort to illegal means unless you have other intentions. In Hindraf’s case, they appeared bent on creating violence.”

He also accused the Hindraf with “the intention to disrupt the peace”.

I want to know whether Maximus  is speaking on behalf of the members of the Parliamentary Select Committee and the Select Committee, and how the MIC member Dr. Nijhar (Subang) can be so spineless as not to express a squeak at such bias and prejudice on the Hindraf demonstration by his Chairman.

Do Maximus, MPs and the Cabinet realize that their criticism of the Hindraf leaders for their allegations of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” can be no excuse to ignore cry of desperation of the 30,000 Indians who came from all over the country to join  the Hindfraf demonstration on Nov. 25 not over “ethnic cleansing” or “genocide” but  for an end to their political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization?

A detached survey of the problem will show that it is  the government and Barisan Nasional  leadership who are responsible for creating the conditions for the biggest show-of-force of the Malaysian Indians in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 as a result of their increasing insensitivity to the plight of the Malaysian Indians as the new underclass.

There were three events which made Indians in Malaysia felt that they were being pushed against the wall in the long-standing marginalization of their citizenship status and that for the sake of their children and children’s children, they had to make their “cry of desperation” heard loud and clear in the Hindraf demonstration on Nov. 25.

These three incidents were:

(i)	the arbitrary, high-handed and insensitive demolition of the of  the Sri Mariamman Temple at Padang  Jawa temple in Shah Alam a few days  before Deepavali;

(ii)	holding of Umno general assembly on Deepavali, the holy Hindu festival of the triump of good over evil;  and

(iii)	the insensitive public attack  by the Umno Youth Deputy leader at the Umno General Assembly berating the Indian news vendors for going off on a national holiday resulting in  no newspapers to carry the UMNO President speech of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi the previous day and his call on the government  to restructure the newspaper  supply chain to avoid it being monopolized by one race.

Now we  have the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz publicly berating the marginalized Indians as “penyangak” (crooks) when he said:

“Some 20,000 penyangak (crooks) who participated in the rally would not jeopardize viewpoint of the entire community.”

Nazri is rubbing salt into the wounds of a marginalized community, the new underclass in the country. He should apologise for his general defamation of the Malaysian Indians, for the 30,000 Indians who rallied to the Hindraf demonstration have better claim to represent the two million Indians in Malaysia than MIC or the Barisan Nasional government.

(Opening speech on the National Unity Select Committee motion in Parliament on Thursday, 6th December 2007)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 6 December 2007, 6:29 pm and is filed under
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Zam – “Eminent journalist” who has “become predator of the press”

As former top journalist, Zainuddin Maidin should have blazed the path and expanded space for greater media freedom. Instead he has done the reverse.

Although the instruments of repressive media control are with  the Ministry of Internal Security, it is Zam as Information Minister who presented the public face of the Barisan Nasional government of such media control. In fact, he is the Barisan Nasional ideologue for media control and censorship.

Last year, Zainuddin was awarded the Eminent Journalist (Tokoh Wartawan) in appreciation of his contribution to journalism in the country.

Who gave away the award to him? None other than the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the Malaysian Press Night 2006 organised by the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) in November last year.

I do not know how Zainuddin dared to accept the award of Tokoh Wartawan when he has become  the “Predator of the Press” as the government’s chief hatchet man to suppress press freedom in the country.

In the last few days, there are already several cases of the screws being tightened to throttle press freedom and the fundamental constitutional right of freedom of expression of Malaysians.

Only yesterday, top  editors of  Tamil and Chinese dailies were hauled to a 90-minute meeting in Putrajaya for the latest dose of brain-washing — not not to highlight stories and photographs relating to the Hindraf rally on Nov 25 and on all other matters involving the coalition.

Malaysiakini
 today, under its report “Ministry clamps down on Hindraf coverage” stated:

“We were basically told not to give prominence to Hindraf,” said an editor, adding that Tamil-language dailies were specifically mentioned for their coverage of the rally.

At the same time, the editors were also told not to publish news that would put the police and the government in a bad light.”

Malaysiakini
 yesterday reported that  several presenters — including some popular ones — had been punished for supporting Hindraf.

It is learnt that seven radio DJs of Minnai FM had been punished, including two presenters working on contract.

This is from the Malaysiakini report – The severe action was for either taking part in the Hindraf-organised rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25 or for giving prominence for the rally and Hindraf on air, added the sources.

Among those sacked or suspended are popular DJs K Meenakumari, K Sillalee and V Jamuna. The latter was a hugely popular contract presenter.

State-owned Tamil radio station Minnal FM has been urged to lift the suspension imposed on several presenters over their alleged involvement in the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally.

Media watchdogs Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) have called for the lifting of the suspension as  they were concerned that suspected involvement in the rally had been used as a basis to suspend the presenters.

Their joint statement said: “The action taken against the presenters only creates the perception that the government is intolerant (of) the democratic rights of its employees.”

The groups said the suspension indicated that Minnal FM viewed as an offence, the involvement of its staff in their personal capacity in public assemblies.

The joint statement  said: “CIJ and WAMI would like to stress that freedom of assembly is a right guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and the radio presenters should not be discriminated against the right due to their professional relation to the government.”

Then there is the ridiculous case reported by
Malaysiakini
 of the song
Seloka Cak Kun Cak
nyanyian bersama Tan Sri SM Salim dan M Nasir kena gam kerana terlalu banyak menyebut perkataan ‘bersih’!

Ini kerana lagu tersebut sering diputarkan ke udara tetapi sejak akhir-akhir ini, ia tidak kedengaran lagi, sehingga menimbulkan persoalan di kalangan orang ramai.

Lagu tersebut ciptaan M Nasir, dengan senikatanya ditulis oleh Seth.

On November 10, there was a 40,000-strong turn-out for the BERSIH gathering in support for electoral reforms for clean, free and fair elections.  The Bersih initiative was so successful that the authorities seem to have developed a phobia for the word “bersih”, as in the sudden coldness towards the song
Seloka Cak Kun Cak
.

Bahagian yang dikatakan tidak senangi itu ialah bahagian korus lagu tersebut yang berbunyi:

Kulitnya
bersih
, hatipun
bersih

Budi yang baik hatinya pengasih

kulitnya bersih, hatipun
bersih

memikul belati tiada yang memilih

Jadikan
bersih
, hatipun putih

Berkata benar bermulut fasih

Jadikan
bersih
, hatipun putih

Biarlah khazanah pintu terpilih

Secara keseluruhannya, lagu tersebut menceritakan sejarah kegemilangan orang Melayu pada suatu ketika dahulu.

Is the government so insecure that it is now afraid of the word “bersih” that a clamp has to be imposed on the song,
Cak Kun Cak
?

(Opening Speech when introducing RM10 salary-cut motion for Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin in Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday, 5th December 2007)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 6 December 2007, 9:05 am and is filed under
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Call on AG to agree to bail for 31 Hindraf protestors – emergency debate in Parliament on Monday

I have this morning given notice to the Parliament Speaker, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah, to move an emergency motion on Monday  on the allegation by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, that Hindraf is linked to terrorists and is canvassing for support from terrorist groups.

It will be Malaysia’s misfortune and tragedy if the government’s sole concern is to indiscriminately demonise the Hindraf leaders over their allegations of “ethnic cleansing” and genocide of Indians in Malaysia which were not the reasons for the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on November 25 and use them as excuses  to completely disregard the legitimate grievances of two million Malaysian Indians at their long-standing marginalization as Malaysian citizens.

I am shocked at the Attorney-General’s role in the escalation of such “denial-and reprisal” response — belatedly charging 31 Hindraf protestors for the capital offense of attempted murder of a cop and objecting to any grant of bail, resulting for all intent and purpose of their being immediately  jailed in Sungai Buloh prison indefinitely for months on end until the end of the trial.

If this is not a travesty of justice, I do not know what is!

Tan Sri Gani Patail must know that as Attorney-General, he is the chief legal officer not only of the government but for all 27 million Malaysians and he must not act in any vengeful, vindictive or bullying manner — something which he seemed to have forgotten in the past two days in his appearance in court over the  prosecution of the Hindraf protestors.

I urge him to reconsider his objections to the granting of bail to the 31 protestors and to agree to their  release on bail pending trial and to take the  personal initiative to submit such an application to the court — or he will be doing a great injustice and disservice not only to the public image of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, but to popular support for the Barisan Nasional government.

My urgent motion for an emergency parliamentary debate on the IGP’s allegation of terrorist links of Hindraf is as follows:

 “That the House gives leave to  Ketua Pembangkang YB Lim Kit Siang to adjourn the House under S.O. 18 (1) to discuss a definite matter of  urgent public importance —  the allegation by the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan that Hindraf is linked to terrorists and  that Hindraf is actively canvassing for  support and assistance from terrorist groups.

“The IGP alleged on Thursday that Hindraf had given a twisted and distorted picture to the international community on the status of Indians in Malaysia, but is the police chief committing the same offence in giving a twisted and distorted picture of Hindraf with its allegation about its terrorist links without furnishing any supporting evidence?

“The IGP’s allegation of Hindraf’s terrorist links without any evidence whatsoever is a matter of grave national concern as it marks the  escalation of the hardline denial-and-retaliation response of the authorities to the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 as a cry of desperation for justice by two million Malaysian Indians for an end to their long-standing marginalization whether political, economic, educational, social, cultural or religious.

“Criticism of Hindraf allegations of “ethnic cleansing” and genocide of Indians in Malaysia cannot be excuse or justification for the  denial-and-retaliation response of the authorities, refusing to heed the cry of desperation by two million  peace-loving and law-abiding Malaysian Indians for a New Deal to end their  long-standing marginalization as equal Malaysian citizens or to make unsubstantiated allegations of terrorist links against Hindraf or for the harsh and  belated decision by the Attorney-General to charge 31 Hindraf protestors for the capital offence of attempted murder of a policeman and objecting to the granting of  bail resulting in their being held in custody in Sungai Buloh Prison indefinitely for months until the end of their trial.”¬ù

I call on MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu as well as all other MIC members of the administration, whether deputy minister, parliamentary secretary or Member of Parliament, to signal their support for such an emergency parliamentary debate on Monday.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 7 December 2007, 10:18 am and is filed under
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Police should also be charged with attempted murder

by
Richard Teo

 Malaysians in general and Indians in particular must be appalled at how the Attorney-General could charge 31 Hindraf protestors for the dubious crime of attempted murder.

      Surely the charge can only be valid if the perpetrator of the crime can  be identified. There is no justification to detain the 31 members if the crime was committed by a single individual. The prosecutor cannot expect the court to believe that the 31 perpetrators were responsible for throwing an object which specifically  caused injury to the police officers.

     How could the prosecutors cast a net so wide and hope per chance that it may catch the culprit from amongst the 31 protestors? Obviously not all of the 31 protestors were responsible for the single injury caused to the officer. Therefore will justice be served if the law punish the 31 Hindraf members just because one of them caused injury to the officer?

    Can our justice be so vicious that 31 individual should pay the price for a crime committed by one individual? That in essence is what the Attorney-general is doing and in doing so he has made a mockery of our judicial system.

    But in reality what was the crime committed by the 31 protestors?

    By the same token, there were several protestors who suffered head injuries when the police fired tear gas canisters laterally at the crowd. Video clips taken on that day  confirmed that quite a number of the protestors suffered injuries as a result. By the

same logic the police officers who fired the tear gas canisters can also be charged with attempted murder.

     Further the clips also showed that in retaliation some of the protestors flung the canisters back at the police thus perhaps causing the injury to the police officers.

    If such a scenario did occur, how could any one be charged with attempted murder? The act of throwing back the canisters in retaliation was merely a natural response to the action of the police in the first place. Is it acceptable for the police to fire

indiscriminately at the crowd with the possibilty of causing injury to them whilst it is against the law for the victims to retaliate in a similar fashion?

    What is perhaps even more shocking is the refusal of the judge to grant bail to the 31 protestors.This literally means that the 31 Hindraf members whose guilt has not even being established will now have to start serving time before the actual trial

commence. Anyone familiar with our legal system will tell you that it will be light years before they will see justice in the court.

     The act of charging the 31 protestors by the Attorney-General, Gani Patail is not only a travesty of justice but serves to confirm the lingering suspicions that the Attorney-General’s chambers and the judiciary are beholden to the executive.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 7 December 2007, 7:40 am and is filed under
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