Candlelight vigil for Teresa tonight

Candlelight vigil for Teresa Kok tonight 7pm at DAP PJ HQ.

Public is welcome. Please pass the word around.

No 24, Jalan 20/9, Paramount Garden,

46300, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: +603-79578022/79578127

(see
map
)

The vigil is being held just before the DAP CEC Emergency meeting on the ISA arrests. At 8.30pm, another vigil will be held at Bukit Aman for all ISA detainees.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 13 September 2008, 1:39 pm and is filed under
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Candlelight vigil for Teresa tonight

Candlelight vigil for Teresa Kok at her Seputeh service centre at 7pm.

The address is 28-3A, 4th floor, Sri Desa Entrepreneur’s Park. Jalan 1/116B, Off Jalan Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur.

Please pass on the message.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 14 September 2008, 11:09 am and is filed under
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Free Teresa, Abolish ISA!

Please forward to all Malaysians:

http://www.petitiononline.com/freetkok/petition.html

The Barisan Nasional Government has on the 12 September detained Member of Parliament for Seputeh, state assemblywoman for Kinrara as well the senior state executive councillor for Selangor, Sdri Teresa Kok without trial under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA).

She has been accused of stirring up racial sentiments by instigating residents to petition against mosques in Kinrara and Kota Damansara to lower the volume of their speakers. Teresa has denied these allegations and both mosques have come out to deny these accusations. There is hence absolutely no basis for this arrest.  She has already threatened to sue Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, the former Selangor Menteri Besar and Utusan Malaysia for making and publishing these unfounded allegations.

The arrest of Sdri Teresa Kok,Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the Hindraf 5 as well as others is hence arbitrary, high-handed and a mockery of democracy. By labelling Teresa and others as threats to national security without any shred of evidence is a travesty of justice and a gross violation of human rights.

The petitioners hence resolves that the BN government should not use draconian powers under the ISA to cling on to power and demands the immediate and unconditional release of Teresa, Raja Petra, the Hindraf 5 and other detainees. In addition, we the petitioners demand the immediate repeal of the ISA to prevent abuses that oppresses the fundamental liberties of each and every Malaysian.

As loyal and upright Malaysians, sign the petition today!

http://www.petitiononline.com/freetkok/petition.html

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 14 September 2008, 6:29 pm and is filed under
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Habeas Corpus application for Teresa Kok tomorrow; International-level Campaign will be launched

The habeas corpus application to free DAP National Organising Secretary, three-term MP for Seputeh and Selangor Senior Exo for Investment, Trade and Industry  Teresa Kok from  arbitrary and wrongfully detention under the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA) would be filed at  Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex in Kuala Lumpur at 12.30 pm tomorrow.

The application will be filed by Teresa’s lawyers, DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh and Central Executive Committee Member and MP for Puchong Gobind Singh  Deo.

Let all friends and supporters of democracy and freedom show up at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex tomorrow to demonstrate our support, sympathy and solidarity with Teresa at this hour of trial –  both for her and the nation.

A three-prong international-level “Free Teresa Campaign” will be launched in the next few days to secure the support of parliamentarians in ASEAN, the  Commonwealth and the World Parliaments for her immediate and unconditional release.

It is no exaggeration to say that public confidence in the Abdullah administration, which had been going south without pause since the March 8 “political tsunami”, has taken a sharp plunge in the past 48 hours since the flagrant and cynical abuses of power in the recent spate of ISA arrests.

Although senior Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng has been released after less than 20 hours of ISA detention, while Teresa Kok and Raja Petra Kamaruddin are still under incarceration, Tan’s release has not in any manner mitigated the nation-wide outrage demanding the repeal of the ISA and the punishment of those responsible for such gross excesses of power and abuses of human rights.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Tan had been detained under the ISA for her personal safety.  Hamid deserves to get into the Malaysian Book of Records for coming out with a reason for a government action which is unanimously rejected and laughed at  by Malaysians and the world for being “utter bunkum”.

If Tan had been detained under the ISA for her own safety, isn’t Hamid being most irresponsible bordering on being criminal and endangering her life in releasing her after 20 short  hours?

Will the Home Minister direct the Penang Police to give Tan 24-hour police protection because of her unique status as the only ISA detainee arrested to protect her safety?

Furthermore, how can other Malaysians avail themselves of the ISA facility to get police protection?

(Speech by at the Candlelight Vigil for  ISA detainee DAP MP and Selangor Senior Exco Teresa Kok at her Seputeh service centre, Jalan Kuchai Lama. Kuala Lumpur on Sunday 14th September 2008  at 7pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 14 September 2008, 6:25 pm and is filed under
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Meeting with Speaker Pandikar Amin tomorrow on MP Teresa Kok’s ISA detention on totally baseless grounds

I will meet the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia in Parliament tomorrow  over the detention of DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the actions which should be taken  by Parliament over an MP’s arrest on totally baseless and non-existent grounds.

Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said yesterday that Teresa was detained under the ISA as she had
questioned
 the sensitive issues such as the azan (call for prayers for Muslims) and that could cause ill-will and disharmony.

This allegation was first made by the former Selangor Mentri Besar,
Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Toyo
, which was then sensationalised by
Utusan Malaysia
.

Teresa  had made an immediate denial that she had tried to disallow azan in Kota Damansara Sri Serdang and Puchong Jaya.  The mosque committees in both areas have endorsed Teresa’s denial with the
Masjid Kota Damansara
officials explaining that a damaged ampliflier had resulted in the calls to prayer to be made without the aid of a PA system while
Masjid Kinrara
mosque committee said Teresa had never set foot in Masjid Kinrara and was not involved in the azan petition issue in the area.

The PAS MP for Kota Raja Dr. Siti Mariah Mahmud had also
lodged a police report
 against Khir on Thursday for his statement published in Utusan Malaysia on Tuesday, as it was “maliciously intended and aimed at raising the anger and anxiety of Malay Muslims”.

The police has no basis whatsoever therefore to detain Teresa under the ISA for the baseless and non-existent grounds linking her to any azan controversy.

As an active political leader, how can Hamid repeat the baseless claim of the police about Teresa’s questioning the azan issue as anyone following the news whether in the printed or electronic media would know that it was the irresponsible and sole concoction of Khir Toyo and Utusan Malaysia?

The competence and professionalism of the police is suffering another fatal blow – after the scandal of the 20-hour ISA detention of senior Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng –  when they could detain an MP and Selangor Senior State Exco on completely frivolous and non-existing  grounds, known to anyone who follow current news.

As a responsible Home Minister, he should have called up the police officer responsible for Teresa’s arrest to demand explanation wny the ISA had been invoked against a Member of Parliament and State Exco on completely non-existent grounds and even to take disciplinary action against the police officer concerned for such irresponsibility, incompetence and  gross misuse of powers.

I want to discuss Teresa’s ISA arrest with the Speaker as it is not just about the violation of an MP’s individual human rights and parliamentary responsibilities, but the  utter contempt of Parliament shown by the Police and the Executive when an MP could be silenced and Malaysians deprived of their elected representative and spokesperson on completely non-existing  grounds!

The United States yesterday summoned Malaysia’s top envoy in Washington to protest its crackdown on dissent.

In response, the Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim
warned
 the United States not to interfere in the country’s domestic affairs.

Rais should know that in the present world of 2008, where human rights is recognised as an universal one, no country has the right to shut out  international scrutiny, criticism and censure for gross human rights violations – and this applies to Malaysia as well as to the United States.

The United States must face the present-day international reality of being subjected to criticism by foreign governments and leaders including from Malaysia for  any gross human rights violations such as the Guatanamao Bay human rights scandals.

Similarly, Malaysia cannot claim immunity from scrutiny, criticism and even censure from foreign governments and leaders for local human rights blemishes, like the recent spate of crackdown of ISA arrests and threats to media freedom.

It would be more worthwhile for Rais to invest effort to remove the causes justifying the United States criticism of Malaysia for the latest bout of human rights violations by getting the Cabinet to free immediately and unconditionally Teresa and RPK (also the Hindraf Five and other ISA detainees in Kamunting) as well as to cancel the show cause letters to three newspapers instead of issuing a  meaningless warning  to the United States.

(Speech at the Serdang/Kajang DAP Dialogue for branch leaders and local councillors at the Oriental Crystal Hotel, Kajang on Sunday, 14th September 2008 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 14 September 2008, 4:34 pm and is filed under
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Set Raja Petra free – this true defender of Islam and the rights of many

by
Azly Rahman

To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish’d.

       — from William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Saudara RPK,

I hope they are treating you well, in this holy month of Ramadhan that is turning our nation into our Ramallah.

I write in a state of being free while you languish in sadness incarcerated by those  in their dying days breathing painfully.

They say that you are anti-Islam and anti-government.  The are wrong on both counts.  You are a great defender not only of Islam but of other faiths. You are a great defender of a sane government yet to be installed and one that will gladly set you free.

They are fearing not you nor the voices of conscience no longer in the wilderness; they are fearing themselves – their Inner Self – that they are answering to in their scramble to satisfy their greed for material wealth and lust for power.

They have not made you a bankrupt, RPK. They themselves are drowned in riches that will bury them.

Sdr. RPK. I hope your incarceration will be  brief. So too will be of the others.

The rakyat feels that the present government will not be the one freeing you. A new one will.

Below I reproduce a tribute to you I wrote sometime ago.

—————————————————

There is so much sadness in our nation as we bemoan the imprisonment of a voice of conscience manifested in this individual called Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

There is so much anger in our consciousness as we wonder what justice denied can do to us as we see the rot in our cultural values and political lives — right in front of our eyes, feasted through the media.

Raja Petra is seeking deep in his inner self and journeying deep into the archeology of his consciousness and into the history of his self and his ancestors, seeking solace and guidance in what next to be done in this world in which the self argues and revolts against systems of oppression. His psyche and the journey of his soul perhaps bring him to a hill in Melaka some several centuries ago — a place where the legendary philosopher-king and the Bugis warrior stood on a hill riddled with bullets from the advancing Dutch colonials. Raja Haji died standing .

Raja Petra is a gifted human being who is showing us what Henry David Thoreau, the American transcendentalist, spoke about “civil disobedience. He is what the philosopher Karl Jaspers reminded us of the urge to disobey and ideology that has become corrupt to the core and has employed the state apparatuses to silence those who speak truth to power.

Raja Petra is what Che Guevara means to Malaysians, a gung-ho revolutioner whose interest in motorcycles helped him craft his own hugely successful “motorcycle diaries” and helped him symbolize and embody the free-wheeling spirit of Americanism of the “Easy Rider era”.

Raja Petra is the symbol of the yearning in us to break free and to let out these “screams of consciousness” so that we may learn to understand better what actually is the problem with this nation that needs therapy as a consequence of its obsession with law and order it creates and it destroys. It is the Brahma-Shiva-Vishnu of politics that we are seeing at play in the cosmic cycle, this karma of Malaysian politics that is meeting its end of the yuga as consequences to the production of many duryodanas (Durjanas) in the process of birth and rebirth.

Raja Petra is a Bugis warrior who installs kings and umpires and players in this game of politics we all are asked to play for fifty years. He make us conscious of the complexities of power relations, the roles of individuals in installing ideologies, the power of institutions in designing “inscriptions that alienate people” and helps us understand the nature of Malaysia’s interlocking directorates — of who owns what and what are the consequences of these.

Raja Petra is a commander-in-chief of a movement that exists in cyberspace and orchestrates the powerful dialogues that send shivers to the spines of those who cheats in this political game.

Raja Petra has shown us what jihad means and how we must carry on this revolution to its final destiny — a republic of virtue in which philosophy reigns supreme over ideology, whatever the ideology may be.

Raja Petra will be out soon, to carry on the revolution in the consciousness of men and women — a perpetual revolution that forces us to look at ourselves as historical beings and wonder “what have we done to make this country as it is in which justice is denied, delayed, and dictated by the few.”

But there will always be Divine Justice, if one believes in the power of the Divine — in a Just God and God of Mercy and Compassionate who works in mysterious ways and one who works through the agency called human beings — that will make things end well, even if all is not well in the beginning of things.

“Man proposes God disposes”, many have said. In us all, in the humiliation wrought upon this human being called Raja Petra and in the imprisonment of this voice of conscience, lies the mystery of revelation of justice. We shall see what lies ahead. We must, however continue to become makers of history — to protest either silently or out loud either in solitude or with others in pomp and pageantry, protest we must as we are essentially human beings born free with natural rights endowed by the Creator. Borrowing Rousseau, we believe that “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains…”

Protest we must. Investigate we must too. Demands we will orchestrate in order to have corrupt men and women, powers abusers amongst us, and swindling robber-barons amidst us to be brought to justice in the court of law that shall be governed by the people, through the will of the rakyat.

The rakyat awaits your homecoming, a candlelight vigil will adorn the street in front of the prison-industrial complex built by those who designed architecture of structural-violence, unseen by the naked eyes of the rakyat. Like the candles that await Sita Devi and like the candle-lights that bathes Jelaluddin Rumi, the light from the rakyat soothes and calms your bruised spirit in their patient wait for your freedom.

A grandchild of that Bugis warrior prince, a philosopher-ruler, better that many a prince Machiavelli pays tribute to– you are a voice of conscience and you shall be free. Free at last.. free at last…

Hang in there, RPK. This is your bohemian rhapsody.

Hang in there for a few days, weeks, Saudara RPK.

This is my humble gift to thee. May these words renew your spirit.

And the rakyat will not take it to the streets either. They will stay home and watch the soap opera on race and religion played to an audience of none. They will wait and see which government will set you free.

Here is Shakespeare’s piece for thee, in its entirety:

To be, or not to be (from Hamlet 3/1)

To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause: there’s the respect

That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,

The insolence of office and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscover’d country from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pith and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry,

And lose the name of action. – Soft you now!

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remember’d.

IN HONOR OF RPK, TERESA KOK, AND ALL THOSE DETAINED INDEFINITELY, PLEASE POST APPROPRIATE COMMENTS ONLY; COMMENTS CALLING FOR PEACE AND CALM  IN TIMES OF MANUFACTURED CHAOS.

RPK AND THOSE DETAINED WOULD APPRECIATE THIS, I AM SURE. MAY GOD SAVE THIS NATION AND INSTALL JUSTICE AND EQUALITY FOR ALL RACES.

STAY CALM, BE UNITED IN DIVERSITY — THE ISSUE IS NEITHER RACE NOR RELIGION. IT IS ABOUT A PEACEFUL TRANSITION OF POWER AND THE DECONSTRUCTION OF COMMUNAL POLITICS.

—

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 14 September 2008, 11:27 pm and is filed under
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Tan Hoon Cheng makes ISA history – Syed Hamid acquires ISA infamy

Gutsy Sin Chew Daily senior journalist
Tan Hoon Cheng
makes Internal Security Act (ISA) history for being detained for the shortest period under the infamous detention-without-trial law – less than 20 hours!

She was detained in her Bukit Mertajam home on Friday, September 12, 2008 at 8.35 p.m and released at her Bukit Mertajam house at 4 p.m.

She spent the Friday night in the police lockup and the next morning was being taken down to Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur by car but U-turned at Ipoh to return to Penang as “instruction” came for her release.

All for a four-paragraph straight reporting of a speech by Umno Bukit Bendera division chairman Datuk Ahmad Ismail in the Permatang Pauh by-election ceramah on August 23 referring to the Chinese in Malaysia as “penumpang”!

Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar meanwhile acquired ISA infamy for his cynical, preposterous and contemptible explanation and justification for Tan Hoon Cheng’s arrest as well as those of Teresa Kok and Raja Petra Kamaruddin under the ISA.

Albar claimed that Tan was detained for her
safety
 as the police believed her life was “under threat”.

I could imagine former Prime Minister who was also Home Minister for over a decade giving such a preposterous justification – which would be typical of what I had told Mahathir to his face in Parliament about  “Mahathirish perverse illogic”.

But unlike Mahathir, Hamid  is a trained lawyer!

Hamid has  brought the legal profession into grave  disrepute with such preposterous reasoning!

Hamid said the police had acted according to law.

Can Hamid quote chapter and verse in the ISA to educate MPs and Malaysians as to when it was amended to include a  new-fangled objective to protect journalists from  physical “threat”?

But Hamid could not resist providing the real reason for her detention, as reported by
Malaysiakin
:

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar has implied that Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng was also to be blamed for the public furore over the ‘Chinese squatter’ remark.

“The whole thing was started by her, (so) it was best that we talked to her,” Syed Hamid said in reply to a question during a press conference at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman today.

Asked to elaborate, Syed Hamid said the ripple effects from Tan’s article had caused “the polemic and fear” thus warranting investigations by the police.

“That information is from her and it was published. (Since) it has been published, it is best that we get to the bottom of it by getting the information from her.

With such a dumb explanation, Malaysians cannot be inspired by the confidence that the country has a good, steady, level-headed and solid Minister responsible for national security, law and order.

Here is another one of Hamid’s many dumb explanations in his pathetic attempt to justify the ISA arrests of Tan, Teresa Kok and Raja Petra Kamaruddin:

On why Ahmad was not detained for making racist comments, he explained that Umno had already punished him by suspending him for three years and stripping him of his party posts.

Someone can start a hobby to collect these Hamid Albar “gems”!

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 14 September 2008, 10:57 am and is filed under
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Continue Teaching Science and Mathematics in English

by
M. Bakri Musa

In May 2003, five months after the government started the teaching of science and mathematics in English in our schools, the Ministry of Education produced a “study” with the incredulous findings of significant improvement in our students’ achievements!  All in five months!

            Now five years later, research from the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) showed the very opposite results.  What gives?

            Both studies were prominently and uncritically reported in our mainstream media.  That first study was presumably swallowed whole by our policymakers to justify continuing their policy.  Rest assured that this second one too would be used for a similar purpose, as an excuse to jettison that same policy.

            Despite many attempts I was unable to get a copy of that first study.  Nor have I seen it published in any journal, or find any paper credited to its author, raising questions on the credibility of the “study” and competence of its “researcher.”

            To the credit of its authors, this later paper is freely available on the Internet, all 153 pages of it.  Its lead author is an emeritus professor, a title reserved for retired accomplished scholars, with a dean and deputy dean as his coauthors.  Despite its impressive authorship, this study is deeply flawed in its design and conclusions.  It does however, expose many weaknesses in the implementation of the policy, in particular the lack of teachers fluent in English.

Embarrassingly Flawed Study

The most glaring deficiency of this second study is its lack of any control group.  This is basic in any research design.  As the English language policy applies to all schools, you obviously cannot find a control group among current students.  You can however find historical control groups by using the test scores of earlier comparable pupils who had been taught and tested in Malay.

            With some ingenuity we could still have concurrent control groups, for example, Malaysian pupils attending English schools like Alice School and International School.  Another would be adults fluent in English, or even the teachers.  If those adults and students in English schools did equally poorly, then clearly the test is not reliable.

When I look at the test questions, it is not only the teachers who are deficient in English, so too are the test makers!  Some of the questions are convoluted and would challenge even those fluent in English.

The second flaw is that there is minimal statistical analysis of the data.  The pupils were tested and the results simply collated in pages and pages of raw data presented in dull, repetitive and uninformative tables.  The authors must be graphically-challenged; they seem to have not heard of pie charts or bar diagrams.

There is also no attempt in delineating the roles of the many variables the researchers have included, like teachers’ English fluency, parents’ educational levels, and pupils’ geographic background (urban versus rural).  To do that the data would have to be subjected to more sophisticated statistical analyses, beyond the simple analysis of variance used by the authors.  Thus we do not know whether those students’ test scores could be correlated with their parents’ educational levels (a well-acknowledged factor) or teachers’ fluency in English.

There are numerous conclusions based on just simplistic summations of the data, with such statements as X percent of Malay students finding the study of science “easy” compared to Y percent of Chinese or Indians feeling likewise, or R percent of Malay students scoring high versus S percent of their Chinese counterparts.  It seems that Malaysian academics, like their politicians, cannot escape the race trap.

These studies were conducted in January, February and July.  Even the dumbest students knew that those were not the examination months.  They knew those tests “don’t count;” thus skewing the results.  The only way to make them take the test seriously would be to incorporate it into their regular examinations.

Besides, in January and February those students had just returned from their long end-of-year holidays during which considerable attrition of knowledge occurred.  The difference between the racial groups may have nothing to do with academics but on such extraneous matters as how fast they settle down to their studies.

Of the 27 references cited, there is surprisingly no article from refereed journals.  Most (14) are government-sponsored surveys, press releases, and newspaper articles, unusual for a scholarly paper.  There are a few books cited, with the most recent published in 2002.  There is considerable lag time between what is written in books versus the current state of knowledge.  For that you would need journals and attend symposia.

Consequently the researchers’ review on bilingual education is dated.  Contrary to their conclusion, it is now accepted that exposing children at a young age to bilingual education confers significant linguistic, cognitive and other advantages.  The authors’ recommendation that pupils be taught only in their mother tongue and learn a second language later at a much older age is not supported by modern research.

Studies using functional MRIs (imaging studies) of the brain show that children who are bilingual at an earlier age use their brain more efficiently as compared to those who acquire those skills as adults.  For example, when asked to translate between the two languages, “native” bilingual speakers use only one part of their brain while those who are bilingual as an adult use two.

Other cognitive advantages to “native” bilingual speakers include the ability to grasp abstract concepts faster, precisely the intellectual skill helpful in learning mathematics and higher-level science.  The higher scores for non-Malays may well be the consequence of their earlier and more extensive exposure to bilingualism than Malays.

Revealing Findings

The study nonetheless reveals many useful findings.  I fear however, that these nuggets of information would be lost by those who care only for the study’s unjustified conclusion to discontinue the present policy and revert to teaching science and mathematics in Malay.  That would be a retrogressive step.

            This study is only a snapshot; it does not enlighten us as to trend.  It could be that the results would continue to improve.  It is thus presumptuous for the authors to make a sweeping policy recommendation based only a limited snapshot study, and a poorly-designed one at that.

            UPSI in its previous incarnation as Sultan Idris Teachers’ College was a hotbed of Malay nationalism.  This study is less an academic research and more political polemic camouflaged as a pseudo-scientific study to justify its authors’ nationalist bias.  Their data and methodology just do not support their conclusion.

The study found that fewer than 15 percent of the teachers were fluent in English, and that most teach using a combination of both languages.  That is putting it politely.  In reality they use bastardized or “pidgin” English.  If those teachers lack English language skills, how could they teach any subject in that language?  The fault here is not with the policy, rather its implementation.  We should first train the teachers.

In its naivety the government spent over RM3 billion to equip these teachers with computers, LCDs and “teaching modules” to help them in the classroom.  Many of those computers are now conveniently “stolen,” plugged with viruses, or simply left to gather dust as those teachers lack the skills to use them effectively.

The only beneficiaries of that program were UMNO operatives who secured those lucrative contracts.  Had the government spent those precious funds to hire new teachers fluent in English, our students would have been better served, and the policy more effectively implemented.

This study missed a splendid opportunity to find out what those students, parents and teachers felt about the policy.  It was as if those researchers and their field workers (undergraduates in education and thus our future teachers) were interested only in administering those tests, collecting their data, and then getting back to campus.

Surely those parents and teachers had something to say on the policy.  What do the teachers feel about the billions spent on computers?  Are they eager to learn and teach in English or do they harbor nationalist sentiments and resent the policy?  Those surveys would have helped considerably towards implementing the policy better.

A Better Way

I support the teaching of science and mathematics in English.  I go further and would have half the subjects in our national schools be taught in English, including Islamic Studies.  The objective should be to produce thoroughly or “native” bilingual graduates, able to read, write and even dream in Malay and English.  That is the only way to make our graduates competitive.

            I put forth my ideas on achieving this in my earlier (2003) book, An Education System Worthy of Malaysia.  I would start small, restricting the program to our residential schools where the students are smarter, teachers better, and facilities superior.  Work out the kinks there first, only then expand the program.

            I would also convert some teachers’ colleges into exclusively English-medium institutions to train future teachers of English, science, and mathematics.

In rural areas where the level of English in the schools and community is low, I would bring back the old English-medium schools, but modifying it significantly with pupils taught exclusively in English for the first four years (“total immersion”).  Malay would be introduced only in Year V, and only as one subject.

Since Malay would not be taught in the first few years and only a limited subject later on, admission to such schools would be restricted only to those with already near-native fluency in Malay or whose habitual language is Malay.  Further, such schools would be set up only where the background level of Malay in the community is high, essentially only in the kampongs.

If we were to do otherwise, as having such schools in the cities where the level of English in the community is high and Malay low, those graduates would not be fluent in our national language, as during colonial days.  It would not be in the national interest to repeat that mistake.  Besides, the problem of our students’ deficiency in English is most acute in rural areas.  Thus it makes sense to establish English-medium schools there.

There are many challenges to the policy of teaching science and mathematics in English.  One thing is certain.  We will never resolve them if we listen to ambitious politicians playing to the gallery or rely on less-than-rigorous “researches.”

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 September 2008, 8:05 am and is filed under
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Teresa’s ISA arrest letter to Speaker

15th September 2008

YB Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia,

Speaker,

Dewan Rakyat,

Parlimen.

YB Tan Sri,

Detention of MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok under the Internal Security Act on baseless and non-existing grounds-  a grave contempt of  Parliament

Three-term DAP MP for Seputeh YB Teresa Kok Suh Sim was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA)  on Friday, 12th September 2008 at 11.18 pm like a common criminal on  her return to her Kuala Lumpur condominium at the condo entrance and has since been held incommunicado as if she is a Malaysian version of  Osama bin Laden posing a grave threat to the security and stability of Malaysia.

Parliament, as one of the three branches of government and in keeping with the doctrine of separation of powers, cannot take lightly the use of the detention-without-trial ISA against an elected Member of Parliament, as it is not just about the violation of an MP’s individual human rights and parliamentary responsibilities, but a serious assault on the institution of Parliament and the system of parliamentary democracy when an MP could be silenced and Malaysians deprived of their elected representative and spokesperson by arbitrary exercise of police and Executive powers.

This is all the more so when it is as clear as daylight that YB Teresa Kok’s detention was founded on completely baseless and non-existing grounds.

Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has  said that YB Teresa  Kok was detained under the ISA as she had questioned the sensitive issues such as the azan (call for prayers for Muslims) and that could cause ill-will and disharmony.

This is a complete frame-up as there is substantive and  conclusive proof that Teresa Kok had not been involved in any azan controversy.

Parliament never enacted the Internal Security Act to provide the Police with powers to detain persons to undertake a “fishing expedition” to ascertain  the truth or otherwise of  baseless and defamatory allegations against an MP, just as the ISA was never enacted to protect the personal safety of a journalist – the ridiculous excuse given by the Home Minister to justify the farce and scandal of the 18-hour ISA detention of senior Sin Chew reporter, Tan Hoon Cheng.

The azan  allegation was first made by the former Selangor Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Toyo, which was then sensationalised by Utusan Malaysia.

On Tuesday,
9th September 2008, Utusan Malaysia (p. 7)
 under the headline
“Ada usaha larang azan di masjid-masjid Selangor”
, reported:

Ada usaha larang azan di masjid-masjid Selangor

SHAH ALAM 8 Sept. – Kerajaan campuran negeri Selangor diingatkan agar bersikap tegas dengan tidak melayan mana-mana pihak mendesak yang mahukan azan solat di surau dan masjid di negeri itu tidak lagi menggunakan pembesar suara.

Bekas Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Toyo (gambar) membuat desakan ekoran ada usaha pihak yang dipercayai didalangi salah sebuah parti yang membentuk kerajaan negeri itu, membuat petisyen membantah azan di Puchong dan Kota Damansara.

”Bagi UMNO, kita mahukan kerajaan negeri bertegas, jangan mudah mengalah kerana apa yang kelihatan ketika ini PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) seolah-olah mengalah membiarkan sahaja perkara itu berlaku, manakala Pas pula tidak memainkan peranan.

”Ini sesuatu yang menghina Islam sedangkan Islam adalah agama rasmi, mempunyai peruntukan menggunakan Kumpulan Wang Disatukan untuk pembangunan,” katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia di sini hari ini.

Beliau diminta mengulas beberapa laporan mendakwa azan di Masjid Seksyen 5, Kota Damansara yang baru siap dan digunakan menjelang Ramadan lalu, tidak menggunakan pembesar suara dipercayai mempunyai kaitan dengan bantahan penduduk kawasan berkenaan.

Selain itu, katanya, usaha menyediakan petisyen membantah azan seperti itu juga pernah dilakukan sekumpulan penduduk di Puchong sejak Mei lalu.

”Di Puchong dan Kota Damansara, ada pihak mahu azan di kawasan itu dihentikan atas alasan menganggu penduduk.

”Tetapi saya percaya kalau penduduk yang membuat petisyen itu, mesti ada pihak-pihak yang mendorong mereka untuk berbuat demikian.

”Sedangkan kita mengamalkan kebebasan beragama, apabila ada penganut agama tertentu meraikan perayaan mereka sehingga membawa kepada penutupan jalan, orang Islam tidak membantah,” ujar beliau.

The next day, Wednesday, 10th September, Utusan Malaysia published an article
“Azan, jawi, JAIS, UiTM dan ba-alif-ba-ya”
  in the  column “Cuit” by Zaini Hassan, as good as pointing the finger at YB Teresa Kok when he  wrote:

Azan, jawi, JAIS, UiTM dan ba-alif-ba-ya

JANGANLAH anggap apa yang saya tulis ini sebagai rasis atau berunsur perkauman. Dalam suasana negara yang dipenuhi dengan isu sensitif perkauman sekarang, tulisan ini hanyalah sebagai satu ingatan kepada kita semua, terutamanya umat Islam.

Saya amat tertarik untuk merujuk kepada kenyataan bekas Menteri Besar Selangor, Datuk Seri Dr. Khir Toyo yang membangkitkan mengenai ”ada usaha oleh pihak tertentu (di Selangor) yang cuba menasihatkan pihak masjid dan surau supaya tidak menggunakan pembesar suara semasa melaungkan azan”.

Bagi saya petikan itu pelik bunyinya. Bagi saya ia juga amat serius. Tidak pernah dalam sejarah 51 tahun merdeka, rakyat Malaysia sedang menghadapi situasi seperti itu. Selama ini kita – Melayu, Cina, India, Sikh dan lain-lain bangsa dan agama tidak pernah bercakap mengenai perkara itu. Kita hormat antara satu sama lain. Soal agama Islam terpelihara secara suci di dalam Perlembagaan negara. Justeru, petikan semacam itu tidak pernah terlintas langsung atau termimpi akan diucapkan.

Kini, ia berlaku. Ya benar, Dr. Khir bukan buat cerita mengarut. Ia benar-benar berlaku di Selangor. Orang Pas, yang kini mula menguasai jawatankuasa masjid dan surau di situ pun tercengang. Orang UMNO yang masih lagi menganggotai jawatankuasa surau dan masjid pun terkejut.

”Sampai macam itu sekali tindakan mereka,” kata seorang AJK sebuah surau di Shah Alam kepada saya Jumaat lalu. Beliau ialah sahabat lama saya, yang kami bertemu selepas solat Jumaat, lalu mengajak saya bersembang.

Sembang punya sembang, tiba-tiba beliau menyentuh mengenai soal suraunya. Katanya, kira-kira tiga bulan selepas Pakatan Rakyat mengambil alih kerajaan Selangor, seorang Exco kerajaan negeri itu, yang juga seorang Ahli Parlimen dari parti DAP membuat kunjungan ke suraunya. Yang peliknya, YB wanita itu datang pada waktu sebelum subuh.

Tanpa rasa malu-malu atau rasa bersalah, dia menasihatkan pengurusan surau itu supaya tidak melaungkan azan dengan kuat menggunakan pembesar suara, terutama pada waktu subuh. Katanya, ”hasil tinjauannya” pada waktu subuh itu, cuma ada imam, bilal dan dua tiga orang sahaja makmum.

”Kalau ada macam itu jangan kasi bangun oranglah (dengan azan)…” katanya kepada imam yang ada di situ.

Semua yang ada terus ‘terkedu’. Mereka berpandangan antara satu sama lain. YB yang baru tiga bulan menjadi Yang Berhormat itu tahukah apa yang dia cakap. Tidak sensitif langsungkah? Tidak sedarkah dia, kira-kira 90 peratus penduduk di kawasan itu ialah orang Melayu beragama Islam.

Jika diambil pendekatan isu yang berlaku sekarang, saya ingin bertanya, siapakah yang rasis? Siapakah yang perkauman? Dr. Khirkah, sayakah yang menulis Cuit ini? Atau, YB wanita berkaca mata itukah?

Sambil menulis kolum ini, saya menelefon seorang rakan saya, yang juga seorang YB dalam Pakatan Rakyat. Dia mengakui memang berlaku. Hasil perbualan saya, beliau berkata: ”…bukan teruk lagi, dah jadi kurang ajar”.

Persoalan saya lagi, mengapa situasi seperti ini sudah mulai berlaku. Saya tidak mahu mengulas lanjut, biarlah pembaca budiman membuat analisis dan pernilaian sendiri.

Nak dijadikan cerita, tindakan YB wanita itu tidak habis di situ saja. Dia juga, dikatakan sedang ‘memaksa’ Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) menurunkan semua tulisan jawi di semua papan tanda jalan di Kuala Lumpur.

Sekali lagi ini cerita benar. Ia disahkan sendiri oleh rakan saya, YB dari Pakatan Rakyat itu. Sebagai ganti untuk menurunkan tulisan jawi itu, dia menuntut dinaikkan tulisan Cina dan Tamil bersama-sama tulisan rumi.

”Yang ekstremnya, YB wanita itu siap bawa ‘sample’ berserta spesifikasi papan tanda jalan tulisan Cina dan Tamil itu untuk ditunjukkan kepada pegawai DBKL,” kata rakan saya itu lagi.

Seperti yang saya tanya di atas tadi, tidak sensitifkah YB wanita itu? Jawapan saya ialah, dia memang sengaja tidak mahu sensitif.

Melihatkan kepada senario ini, barulah kita tahu, siapa sebenarnya yang ‘menyuapkan’ ke mulut Menteri Besar Selangor, Khalid Ibrahim mengenai cadangan supaya diambil 30 peratus peruntukan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) untuk digunakan bagi kegunaan agama-agama lain. Sekarang kita juga tahu siapa yang ‘memegang tali’ untuk menyuruh Khalid membuat kenyataan supaya pintu UiTM dibuka kepada 10 peratus penuntut bukan Melayu.

Yang jelas kita semua tahu, siapakah orang itu yang ‘berkobar-kobar’ membangkitkan isu babi Sepang, sebaik saja dia melangkah kaki menduduki bangunan SUK Selangor, tempoh hari.

Dan, sekarang baru kita juga tahu, suasana bercelaru yang sedang berlaku – yang terbaru mengenai isu perkauman atau rasis itu memang dirancang – secara sengaja, oleh pihak-pihak tertentu yang mahu melihat suasana negara dan rakyat Malaysia tidak tenteram.

Akhir kalam, semoga Allah menyelamatkan kita semua. Amin.

YB Teresa Kok  had made an immediate denial that she had tried to disallow azan in Kota Damansara Sri Serdang and Puchong Jaya.

The mosque committees in both areas have endorsed YB Teresa Kok’s denial with the Masjid Kota Damansara officials explaining that a damaged ampliflier had resulted in the calls to prayer to be made without the aid of a PA system while Masjid Kinrara mosque committee said Teresa had never set foot in Masjid Kinrara and was not involved in the azan petition issue in the area.

The PAS MP for Kota Raja YB  Dr. Siti Mariah Mahmud had also lodged a police report against Khir on Thursday for his statement published in Utusan Malaysia on Tuesday, as it was “maliciously intended and aimed at raising the anger and anxiety of Malay Muslims”.

The police has no basis whatsoever therefore to detain YB Teresa Kok  under the ISA for the baseless and non-existent grounds linking her to any azan controversy, as the police should have all the information to show that there is no basis for the azan allegation against YB Teresa Kok  24 hours before she was detained under the ISA.

As an active political leader, the Home Minister cannot be ignorant of news whether in the printed or electronic media to know that the azan allegation against YB  Teresa Kok were the irresponsible and sole concoction of Khir Toyo and Utusan Malaysia.

Parliament and MPs also cannot pretend ignorance of the completely baseless and non-existing grounds for the azan allegation against YB Teresa Kok, raising grave questions about the efficiency, independence, impartiality and professionalism of the Police and Home Ministry in launching the ISA strike against Teresa Kok.

Parliament must take immediate action to protect the rights of MPs from arbitrary, unlawful and undemocratic attacks against MPs and the institution of Parliament.

Among the measures which Parliament  can take under the circumstances are:

Convening of emergency meeting of Parliament on YB Teresa Kok’s detention under the Internal Security Act.

Convening of urgent meeting of the Privileges Committee to protect the dignity and privileges of MPs and Parliament from any arbitrary, unlawful and undemocratic attacks.

Possible actions against Khir Toyo and Utusan Malaysia for imperilling the parliamentary role of YB Teresa Kok.

An emergency motion as the first item of business when Parliament reconvenes on October 13, 2008 even before the start of the debate on the 2009 Budget.

I write to ask YB Tan Sri as Speaker to take all necessary action to protect YB Teresa Kok and the institution of Parliament in the face of these arbitrary, unlawful and undemodratic threats to the system of parliamentary democracy in Malaysia.

Yours sincerely,

(Lim Kit Siang)

DAP Parliamentary Leader

MP for Ipoh Timur

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 September 2008, 11:46 am and is filed under
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“Free MP Teresa Kok” Parliamentary Caucus

Too busy to blog  since the media conference in Parliament at 11 am yesterday on the letter to the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia on Teresa Kok’s detention under the Internal Security Act, with several events crammed one after another including  the following events:

1.	Habeas corpus application for the release of Teresa at the Kuala Lumpur High Court;

2.	First visit of Teresa by her parents at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur since her ISA detention on Friday (Sept. 12) night at 11.18 pm.

3.	Candlelight vigil at Kinrara, Teresa’s state assembly constituency.

4.	Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia Day rally at Kelana Jaya Stadium.

Before rushing off to airport, must blog about the convening of a meeting of MPs from all political parties which I announced in Parliament House yesterday to form a “Free MP Teresa Kok” Parliamentary caucus.

The inaugural meeting of this parliamentary caucus will be held in Parliament tomorrow, Wednesday, 17th September 2008 at 3 p.m and I hope that regardless of race, religion or political affiliation, MPs (and Ministers) will come together tomorrow to demand MP Teresa Kok’s immediate release in our capacity as a parliamentarian.

MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan is the co-ordinating secretary convening the inaugural meeting tomorrow for the establishment of the “Free MP Teresa Kok” parliamentary caucus.

Let all MPs (including Ministers) come together for the first time in the nation’s history as an MP transcending race, religion or party.

Hope to see Datuk Zaid Ibrahim at the caucus meeting tomorrow!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 September 2008, 7:06 am and is filed under
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Zaid Ibrahim to attend – “Free MP Teresa Kok” parliamentary caucus inaugural meeting tomorrow

MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan, co-ordinating secretary convening the inaugural meeting of the “Free MP Teresa Kok” parliamentary caucus in Parliament tomorrow (Wednesday 17.9.08) at 3 p.m. has informed me that Datuk Zaid Ibrahim will attend.

I phoned up Zaid from Kota Kinabalu where I am attending a Sabah DAP forum “Malaysia – Towards a New Era” and the first Minister in the nation’s history to have resigned from the Cabinet on a point of principle confirmed his concern for the incarceration of MP Teresa Kok under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and that he would attend the meeting of the proposed “Free MP  Teresa Kok” parliamentary caucus.

I hope to see Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs, as well as the Speaker and Deputy Speakers,  attending the meeting to demonstrate the maturity of the Malaysian Parliament where Parliamentarians can distinguish between parliamentary and party considerations and unite on a single footing to advance the cause of a first-world Malaysian Parliament.

At the very successful DAP Sabah forum, which was attended by some 1,000 very enthusiastic Sabahans yearning for “916 sky-change”, I called on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi  to give a categorical public assurance that he would gracefully, peacefully and democratically accept and effect a transition of federal power if Pakatan Rakyat has the support of the majority of the 222 MPs in Parliament – to tell the nation and the world that Malaysian democracy has reached a new maturity at par with first-world Parliaments where changes of government are accepted in a matter-of-fact manner based on who has got the parliamentary majority and not be the cause of panicky reactions warning or inciting chaos and unrest.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 September 2008, 7:20 pm and is filed under
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“Free MP Teresa Kok Parliamentary Caucus” formed

The “Free MP Teresa Parliamentary Caucus” was formed in Parliament this evening with the support MPs  of the three Pakatan Rakyat parties and the just-resigned Minister for Prime Minister’s Department, Senator  Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

The Caucus’ immediate agenda includes:

•	Seek the support of Parliamentarians in ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) for the immediate and unconditional release of MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok from Internal Security Act (ISA).

•	A meeting with the Deputy Inspector-General of Police on Teresa Kok’s detention and her condition of incarceration and health concerns.

•	Visit of Teresa Kok.

•	Motion for urgent debate on Teresa’s ISA detention when Parliament reconvenes on October 13, 2008.

Although the release of Teresa Kok from ISA detention is the immediate objective  for the setting up of the caucus, MPs who attended its inaugural meeting are agreed that the Caucus should also work for the releasse of Raja Petra Kamarauddin, the Hindraf Five and all other ISA detainees as well as for the repeal of the detention-without-trial ISA.

Officials of the “Free MP Teresa Kok Parliamentary Caucus” appointed today are:

Joint Chairmen –

      Lim Kit Siang –   Ipoh Timor

      Mohamed Azmin Ali – Gombak

      Kamaruddin Jaffar – Tumpat

Joint Vice Chairmen –

       Sivarasa Rasiah – Subang

        Chong Eng        – Bukit Mertajam

        Salahuddin Ayub – Kubang Krian

Joint Secretaries –

         Fong Po Kuan – Batu Gajah

         Dr. Siti Mariah binti Mahmud – Kota Raja

          William Leong Jee Keen – Selayang

Committee members

          Fuziah binti Salleh – Kuantan

          Saifuddin Nasution bin Ismail – Machang

           Johari Abdul – Sungai Petani

           M. Kulasegaran – Ipoh Barat

           Tan Kok Wai – Cheras

           Anthony Loke Siew Fook – Rasah

          Dr Mohd Hatta bin Md Ramli – Kuala Kerai

          Mahfuz bin Haji Omar – Pokok Sena

          Khalid bin Abd Samad – Shah Alam

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 September 2008, 7:17 pm and is filed under
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“916” symbolised the yearnings of Sabahans for a new Malaysia where they enjoy full citizenship status and benefits as Malaysians

“916” this year has added significance, as it marks not only Malaysia Day but also the yearnings of Sabahans for a new Malaysia where they enjoy full citizenship status and benefits as Malaysians.

In the past 45 years, Sabahans have been denied their full citizenship rights – which is symbolised most vividly by the government failure to declare Malaysia Day on September 16 as a national public holiday.

After 45 years, Sabah’s problems are more than a basketful.

Sabah is a rich state with vast natural resources but the people of Sabah have been denied an equitable share of the wealth of the state.

Not only hard-core poverty, but poverty, should have been eradicated in Sabah by now. Instead, poverty in Sabah is the worst in the country.

Last year, I raised in Parliament the tragedy of the suicide of a 11-year-old Dusun boy from Kinarut, Donny John Dion, because of acute and desperate poverty of his family by hanging himself at home at Kampung Suangon in the Papar parliamentary constituency.

It is a state and national disgrace that  in the 21st century,  11-year-old Donny could be driven to suicide because of the poverty and deprivation suffered by his family 45 years after the birth of Malaysia.

The Sabah Chief Minister should have resigned in shame and disgrace at a scandal like  Donny’s suicide but there had neither been  moral stirrings  nor sense of responsibility by any of the Barisan Nasional leaders whether at state or national level for Donny’s tragedy.

Secondly, there is the problem of an equitable share of Sabahans in the “black gold” in the state.

A Pakatan Rakyat federal government will ensure that Sabah will get 20% of the oil royalty from Petronas and not just 5%, so that greater resources can be  devoted for the development and empowerment of ordinary Sabahans.

Thirdly, the long-standing rampant corruption in Sabah.  The state tops the list of states in the country in terms of corruption.

Fourthly, another long-standing  problem of illegals with Sabahans reduced to strangers in their own land – completely overwhelmed by a larger population of foreigners in the state.   Sabahans have a right to demand the return to the old days when they can feel safe not only in the streets and public places, but even in their homes when they could leave their houses open without  fear of becoming victims of rampant crime.

Fifthly, the marginalisation of the Sabahans, particularly the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut community, depriving them of  the full fruits and benefits of Malaysian citizenship.

In the flurry of “goodies” after the March 8 “political tsunami” to ensure the allegiance of BN MPs in Sabah in view of their sudden “kingmaker” role in ensuring the survival of Umno hegemony and Barisan Nasional government in Putrajaya, among the measures announced by  the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were the appointment of a Sabahan to be Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sabah Malaysia and to head the federal development department.

However, what Sabahans want are not just two “one-off” appointments made more for their immediate political effect  but a systemic change of mindset where Sabahans are given  fair treatment in civil service and political appointments, both in the state and at the federal level, not because of any tokenism or “one-off” show effect but because of their entitlement as full Malaysian citizens.

At the Sabah state level, the Kadazan-Dusun-Muruts (KDM) have been marginalised to become the new underclass in Sabah and Malaysia – a point I had stressed in the last Parliament.

All civil service and political offices, including that of Chief Minister, should be open to all Sabahans regardless of ethnicity or religion, based on meritocracy, competence or public support.

When for instance was the last time that a Kadazan or Dusun was appointed the Yang di Pertua Negeri in Sabah?

Similarly, at the federal level, a Sabahan should have an equal right to be promoted to the highest reaches of the civil service, whether  Secretary-General  of Ministries,  departmental directors or even Chief Secretary of Government!

There are three Federal Ministers from Sabah.  Sabahans are most unhappy with their appointments, as one is in charge of museum, another in charge of the planetarium, while another is in charge of “everything and nothing”!

Why can’t a Federal Minister from Sabah be entrusted with heavy-weight portfolios like Education, Defence or even Finance?

These are pointers to a new Malaysia that Sabahans and Malaysians want from the political changes to  emanate from “916”.

[Speech (2) at the Sabah DAP forum “Malaysia – Towards A New Era”  at Kian Kok Middle School Hall,  Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday, 16th September 2008]

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 September 2008, 7:40 am and is filed under
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No national-level celebration of Malaysia Day 2008 – PM and Cabinet apology warranted

The first item of business in the Cabinet meeting tomorrow should be an apology from the Prime Minister and the Cabinet for no national-level celebration of Malaysia Day 2008 today, September 16, to commemorate the day 45 years ago when Malaysia was born.

If Pakatan Rakyat could celebrate May Day with a 20,000-people rally at the Kelana Jaya Stadium last night, when the Pakatan Rakyat is still the Opposition at the national  level, there can be no acceptable reason why  unlike in previous years, the Barisan Nasional federal government has failed to organise  nation-wide celebration on September 16 today as Malaysia Day this year.

There is no more eloquent reminder to Malaysians, particularly the people of Sabah and Sarawak, than the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s failure to hold nation-wide celebrations for Malaysia Day this year, that Sabah and Sarawak have yet to be fully accepted and recognised as an integral part of Malaysian nation-building and developmental process.

After the March 8 “political tsunami”, it  belatedly dawned on the Prime Minister as well as on  Barisan Nasional politicians in Sabah and Sarawak that the BN MPs in the  two states occupy a strategic “kingmaker” role determining  the survival of Umno hegemony and Barisan Nasional federal government.

The Barisan Nasional suffered a severe thrashing in the March 8 general election, winning 140 seats against the Pakatan Rakyat’s 82.  However, 54 of these BN parliamentary seats come from Sabah and Sarawak – Sabah  24 and Sarawak 30.

Without these 54 BN MPs from Sabah and Sarawak, BN would  be reduced to 86 seats out of 222 MPs in Parliament, evicting the BN  from Putrajaya  and into the Opposition.

But what is the use of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi  and his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak flying almost every week from the federal capital to Sabah and Sarawak when this  unprecedented strategic “kingmaker” role of BN MPs from Sabah and Sarawak dawned after the March 8 “political tsunami”, promising  new billion-ringgit development allocations and plum offices to Sabah and Sarawak politicians, if the federal government is not prepared to accord proper respect and recognition to September 16 every year as Malaysia Day!

Now, Abdullah and Najib are too busy to come to Sabah and Sarawak to celebrate Malaysia Day with Sabahans and Sarawakians!

The Barisan Nasional has stubbornly refused to declare Malaysia Day on September 16 as a national public holiday.

Pakatan Rakyat will do what the Barisan Nasional has  failed to do – and September 16 next year will be a national public holiday if a Pakatan Rakyat government is installed in Putrajaya at  the national level.

This will mean that Malaysia will have two National Days – August 31st as Merdeka Day and September 16 as Malaysia Day.

Malaysia will then join the rank of countries like India and Pakistan which commemorate  two National Days a year as national public holidays.

(Speech at the Sabah DAP forum “Malaysia – Towards A New Era” at the Kian Kok Middle School hall, Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday, 16th September 2008)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 September 2008, 7:24 am and is filed under
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Zaid’s resignation “last nail in the coffin” of  Abdullah’s repeat of reform pledges after March 8 “political tsunami”

Senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s announcement this morning that his decision to resign as Minister in the Prime Minister’s DepAartment is final despite being advised by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to reconsider the move is the “last nail in the coffin” of Abdullah’s repeat of reform pledges after the March 8 “political tsunami”.

It is clear that the detentions of DAP MP for Seputeh and Selangor Senior Exco Teresa Kok  and Raja Petra Kamaruddin under the nefarious and iniquitous Internal Security Act (ISA) were  the last straw causing Zaid to submit his resignation after  a six-month stint in the Cabinet, making him the only Minister in the nation’s history to resign on a matter of principle.

When Zaid was surprisingly appointed by Abdullah to be a Minister after the Barisan Nasional debacle in the March general election, it was clear that Zaid had a special agenda – to retrieve Abdullah’s credibility and legitimacy as a Reform Prime Minister by carrying out reforms in the important sectors of the judiciary, the police and anti-corruption.

Zaid’s resignation is an admission that Abdullah’s repeat pledge of the reform programme after the March political tsunami has come to the end of the road, that:

•	there is not going to be any Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), the key recommendation of the Royal Police Commission to create an efficient,  incorruptible, professional world-class police service to keep crime low and protect human rights;

•	there is not going to be any meaningful Judicial Appointments Commission to restore national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality, integrity and quality of the judiciary – and that for the first time in the 51-year history of the nation, an UMNO Chief Justice will be appointed next month, plunging the country into a new round of judicial crisis and darkness; and

•	there is little hope that an all-out war against corruption would be launched to place Malaysia among the world’s least-corrupt nations

With the recent gross abuses of the ISA –  the scandal of the 18-hour detention of Sin Chew senior reporter Tan Hoon Cheng and the arrests of MP Teresa Kok and blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin – the Abdullah administration has finally given up the ghost about its pretensions of being a reformist government.

When Zaid submitted his resignation on Monday, Abdullah asked Zaid to take two weeks’ leave to think it over, suggesting that Zaid was “exhausted”.

This was a most insensitive and irresponsible comment, prompting many to say that the person who should take two weeks’ leave to think over his role in government and contribution to Malaysian nation is none other than Abdullah himself.

The Prime Minister should take the opportunity to ponder why his popularity has plunged from 92% at the end of 2004 to 42 per cent in July this year, and if an opinion poll is conducted now, he will be struggling to keep his head above water to be above the dismal 25% approval rating.

[Speech (3)  at the Sabah DAP forum “Malaysia – Towards A New Era”  at Kian Kok Middle School Hall,  Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday, 16th September 2008]

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 September 2008, 1:45 pm and is filed under
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“Free MP Teresa Kok Perak State Assembly Caucus” to be formed tomorrow

The Perak Mentri Besar, Datuk Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin’s agreement and announcement that the “Free MP Teresa Kok Perak State Assembly Caucus” would be formed tomorrow to lend support, sympathy and solidarity to MP for Seputeh and Selangor Senior Exco Teresa Kok in her fifth day of detention under the Internal Security Act is one major stride forward for the cause of human rights for Malaysians and legislators.

Following a day after the establishment of the “Free MP Teresa Kok Parliamentary Caucus” yesterday, I call on all states to emulate this pioneering step of the Perak Mentri Besar and State Assembly members to be in the forefront to defend  human rights by forming similar “Free MP Teresa Kok State Assembly Caucus” as all legislators, regardless of race, religion or party affiliation,  whether at the national or state level, should find common cause in the  demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Teresa Kok under the ISA.

When attending the inaugural meeting to establish the “Free MP Teresa Kok Parliamentary Caucus” in Parliament yesterday, Senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim who had resigned from the Cabinet as a matter of principle in protest against the gross misuse of ISA against Teresa Kok, Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng, said he disbelieved allegations that she was either anti-Malay or anti-Islam as her detractors alleged.

Zaid had personal acquaintance with  Teresa Kok when she was the secretary in the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (AIPMC). Zaid was then AIPMC Chairman.

Zaid said:

“I cannot, for the life of me, believe she is anti-Islam, anti-Malay, anti-anything. She’s a wonderful lady. I can’t see how this person can be a threat to public order and national security. I’m speaking from personal experience here.”

Teresa Kok is a third-term MP and I dare say that every Minister in the current Cabinet, whether from UMNO or any other Barisan Nasional component party, would agree with Zaid’s description of Teresa.

I challenge any Minister who would disagree with Zaid’s verdict that Teresa is a “wonderful lady” whom nobody believes could be “anti-Islam, anti-Malay, anti-anything” to come forward to speak up.

If there is none, and every Cabinet Minister in his or her “heart of hearts” agree with Zaid in his description of  Teresa, I challenge everyone of the Cabinet Ministers to explain to the Malaysian public why Teresa Kok should spend another minute languishing in arbitrary,  unjust and unhygienic detention!

Politics has been regarded as a very “dirty” business.  If there is a saint among Malaysian politicians, the person will be Teresa Kok.  And when Teresa Kok could be detained under the ISA, something is very rotten with Malaysian democracy,  governance, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

For the “Free MP Teresa Kok Perak State Assembly Caucus” to be formed tomorrow, there is no better term of reference than to  adopt University of Malaya law lecturer Azmi Sharon’s call that “The ISA must go. There can be no room for amendments.”

In his
Star
 column today,

“Time to get rid of draconian ISA”
, Azmi wrote:

In this light, we can see that the powers provided by the ISA have been severely abused over the decades.

The latest example of course is the arrest of Raja Petra Kamarudin, Teresa Kok and Tan Hoon Cheng.

The reasons for the detention of the three have nothing to do at all with any sort of violent action or even proposed violent action on their part.

In the case of Tan, the justification for her 16-hour detention was so ludicrous and so obtuse, that it beggared belief.

The ISA was not meant to be used as a personal protection device. And pray tell how a 16-hour detention after which the individual was released back into the public sphere can be considered “protection”?

Raja Petra is currently being charged for criminal defamation and sedition.

He is facing the law in open court where he shall be accused and he shall have the opportunity to defend himself or he would have done if he was not locked up right now.

Why on earth is he being detained? Is he planning some sort of armed rebellion? There is no evidence at all to indicate even the slightest hint of that.

And Kok is being detained because some political opponents have decided to accuse her of offending Islam.

If these accusations are false, and there are indications that they are, then there is a term for this kind of behaviour – fitnah.

Fitnah is the most despicable crime committed only by the most despicable of creatures.

I am disgusted by the latest use of the ISA. It is undoubtedly going against the spirit and the intention of the ISA.

The arrest of Raja Petra, Kok and Tan also shows that the law is so open to abuse that we have no other choice but to get rid of it. There can be no room for amendments.

The ISA must go.

[Media Conference Statement (2) at the Perak Mentri Besar’s Office, Ipoh on Thursday, 18th September 2008 at 12 noon]

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 September 2008, 5:59 pm and is filed under
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Abdullah should give public assurance that Anwar will not be detained under ISA

The uncharacteristically stern and   harsh  allegation by the Prime Minister,
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
yesterday that the Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is a threat to the national security and economy who wanted to
“destroy the country and exploit the people’s trust and tarnish the country’s image abroad”
 had sparked speculation that the stage is being set for a Operation Lalang 2  crackdown and Anwar’s arrest under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

All right-thinking Malaysians must deplore in the strongest terms the veiled threat by Abdullah that Anwar would be arbitrarily and undemocratically  silenced as the allegation that Anwar is a threat to national security and economy is a most ludicrous and preposterous one.

I have been twice detained under the ISA, once in 1969 and the second time in 1987, becoming  the guest of His Majesty’s Government for a total of 35 months – and on both occasions, I was accused of being “a threat to national security”!

All the 16 DAP MPs and leaders detained in the 1987 Operation Lalang dragnet under the ISA were all accused of being threats to national security – but these are all baseless catch-all allegations just to justify the abuse of the ISA to silence  critics and dissent.

We were threats to the political security of the Barisan Nasional leaders but it is the democratic and citizenship right of every Malaysian to challenge the political credibility,  legitimacy and authority of the ruling government through the democratic process or we should not  claim that Malaysia practises parliamentary democracy.

Such  democratic challenges do not become threats to national security just because those in power are in fear of losing  the perks of office and power.

Anwar Ibrahim can be accused of posing a grave threat to the political security of Abdullah and the other Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders with his “916 sky-change”  plan, but he cannot under any stretch of imagination be accused of being a threat to national security and economy.

Abdullah should not prop up his political life by resorting to the abuse of the ISA which had been enacted to deal with subversion or organised violence.

The toppling of the Barisan Nasional national government by getting the allegiance  of the majority of the 222 MPs in Parliament to support a Pakatan Rakyat federal government is neither “subversion” nor “organised violence” intended in the Preamble of the ISA enacted 48 years ago in 1960.

In fact, the toppling of the government-of-the-day is part and parcel of the democratic process if the government-of-the-day loses support of the majority of the elected MPs, resulting in a change of government.

In first-word Parliaments and developed nations,  change of government resulting from the withdrawal of support  by the majority of MPs is a common occurrence, which is accepted and transacted without any threat of chaos or disorder with all political leaders participating peacefully in an orderly transition of power.

Malaysia is experiencing the   possible change of federal government for the first time in the nation’s 51-year history, as this  has never happened in Malaysia before.

This does not mean that any change of federal power should not be conducted in a democratic, orderly and peaceful manner.

Since he became Prime Minister, Abdullah has been talking about his dream of Malaysia shedding its “First-World Infrastructure, Third-World Mentality” malaise to join the ranks of first-world developed nations.

Malaysia is presently undergoing a critical test whether the nation can become a first-world developed nation where democratic change of government at the national level is accepted as an integral part of the democratic process as in developed countries in the West.

This is why Abdullah should make a public statement that if the Barisan Nasional government loses majority support and Anwar can get the support of the majority of the 222 MPs, he will gracefully, orderly, peacefully and democratically effect a transition of power for a  new federal government to come into being.

This is also why Abdullah should make a categorical public assurance  that the ISA will not be used to silence and arrest Anwar whether  to foil the “916 sky-change” plan to replace the Barisan Nasional government with a new Pakatan Rakyat government or on the preposterous and baseless ground of being a “threat to national security and economy”.

(Media Conference Statement at the Perak Mentri Besar’s Office, Ipoh on Thursday, 18th September 2008 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 September 2008, 4:18 pm and is filed under
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Call for fresh general election now

The Borneo Post

September 17, 2008

Editorial

Go back to the people

OUR political troubles aren’t over. And, we may be in for an even longer crisis that could lead into political chaos and adverse instability in our fragile multi-ethnic nation.We need a solution, an acceptable, near perfect and more lasting political solution; not one that could solve a problem but create a new nightmare at a time when political and economic difficulties and uncertainties are looming large over us and threatening to make life even more difficult for everyone — from the wage earner to the businessmen and investors and families striving to make ends meet throughout our diverse land.

Superfluous to say that it is imperative we fix our political problems using a more acceptable method that borders on democratic values which is more reflective of the wishes of the majority.

The current unprecedented political crisis that has given rise to a near political mess, does not seem to want to go away with no acceptable solution in sight. Not even if some BN MPs were to defect and cross over to Pakatan Rakyat (motivated by personal reasons, political reasons or promises of money and positions) to allow de facto opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to form the next federal government and become the new prime minister of the many ethnic communities thirsting for good governance.

Anxious Malaysians are witnessing an unacceptable situation where the incumbent prime minister, seemingly unpopular with his economic policies and actions, yet stays embattled with forces within his own party and ruling BN coalition.

By the same token, a weary and wary Malaysian public is not about to fully accept Pakatan Rakyat as the alternative front — unscrupulously and unashamedly trying to topple a democratically elected BN government by enticing and encouraging lawmakers from its ranks to defect to its side, knowing there is a significant section of the society who would show their disapproval.

A government formed through defections and crossovers as pursued relentlessly and with increasing vigour by Anwar, is equally despicable and devoid of democratic values and scruples, as it is without the people’s mandate.

Never mind if Anwar were to offer to hold fresh elections within six months to a year.

Ours is the first-past-the-post political democracy. Even if a party wins by one vote or one seat, it gets to rule. The losers will have to play the opposition role in parliament. When the March 8 general election concluded, the BN clearly secured more than a mandate to rule despite suffering massive seat losses and five states to Pakatan Rakyat.

Thus, there has been no total rejection of the BN (with 140 seats). And, there has been no total support and acceptance for Pakatan Rakyat (with 82 MPs) either. So, it might be wise if we go back to the people. Yes, ask the electorate for a clearer mandate not because the existing mandate is unclear.

Abdullah, who faces calls to step down, and has said he would by mid-2010, can mull the prospect of a new election to break the political impasse which threatens to further dilute the quality of life of each and every Malaysian. He ought to consider advising our King to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections.

We can resolve this political stalemate together, once and for all, instead of allowing it to drag on and frustrate us.

After all BN–ruled Negri Sembilan has signalled it would be willing to dissolve the state legislature if any of its elected representatives were to defect. What better way is there to resolve a political conflict?

By all standards and logic, wouldn’t it be better to go back to the people than to impose an emergency rule for instance, to arrest the slide to political chaos and instability. Wouldn’t it be a better choice to ask the people to decide anew instead of allowing Pakatan Rakyat to frustrate the mandate given earlier to BN? Political democracy is about the wishes of the people — certainly not Anwar’s or the BN’s. Even if the people have had enough of the BN’s “misuse and abuse” of power, they can respond to this through the ballot box which is legal and democratic.

No parties, no politicians, and no quarters should be afraid to face the people. Malaysian democracy after all is by the people, of the people and for the people and this political system has been in place for decades.

With a new round of elections, parliament when it reconvenes — it does not matter if neither the ruling nor the opposition commands a two-thirds majority — should enact an Anti-Hop or Anti-Defection Law to make it illegal to defect from a platform on which a lawmaker is elected.

If a lawmaker so wishes to resign for whatever reasons, it shall be bounden on him or her to first vacate the seat and allow a by-election to take place. Again, it is all about going back to the people who must decide. Fair enough if some of those in our midst are talking about giving Pakatan Rakyat and Anwar a try at power, but they must give the opposition the mandate through a properly held election.

Let the electorate decide if they want to continue the political revolt of March 8. Allow the people alone to tell through the ballot box if they want BN to continue ruling and not through any party or political machinations that are not in tandem with the democratic and electoral processes.

As the nation continues to pray and hope in earnest, for an end to the present predicament, one thing that is certain is that nothing can be so certain, not unless and until we seek the people’s participation in this business of governing.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 September 2008, 7:27 am and is filed under
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Greater unity if race-based parties abolished, says Abdul Aziz

The Borneo Post

September 17, 2008

Greater unity if race-based parties abolished, says Abdul Aziz

KOTA KINABALU: There will be greater understanding and better decision making if all race-based parties are abolished in Malaysia, said DAP vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim.

In fact, it is believed to be the answer to a more united Malaysian nation, said Abdul Aziz who stressed that the new era for the country can only be achieved if one accepts social justice and equality for everyone.

He highlighted this subject yesterday and it eventually became one of the issues discussed during a public forum entitled  ‘Malaysia: Towards A New Era’ organised by Sabah Democratic Action Party (DAP) at Kian Kok School hall here.

Almost a thousand people thronged the hall to listen to the five-hour forum panelled by DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and Sabah Progressive Party president Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee.

Also in attendance were Assistant Finance Minister and Luyang assemblywoman Melanie Chia, Sepanggar MP Datuk Eric Majimbun, Deputy Speaker Frankie Chong, PKR Sabah chief Ansari Abdullah and his deputy, Christina Liew as well as former Parti Bersatu Sabah supreme council member Dr Chong Eng Leong.

“In fact, Umno could still maintain their acronym but it should be United ‘Malaysian’ National Organisation… it should be open to everyone. The party should struggle and fight for the rights of all communities,” said Abdul Aziz, stressing that there should also be equal distribution of development in the effort to curb issues concerning the hardcore poor in the country.

Abdul Aziz stressed that the New Economic Policy, which he had opposed from day one, had been applied inconsistently, and as a result, there is still high poverty in pockets of Sabah and Sarawak.

“Preparations for a better Malaysia begins now. It will remain a dream if we do not do anything. I joined DAP long ago because it was so much easier to be standing out of the system. “Our country can be the best in the world due to strong national integration. I am not saying that we are a great country, but we can be if all these various practices of injustice and racism can be removed. If we can restore integrity of the Police Force, Judiciary and civil servants, I believe there is a great future,” he said.

Stressing that a foundation has to be built towards fairness, justice and human rights, irrespective of race and religion, Abdul Aziz also pointed out that the time has come for a change.

Yong, who echoed Abdul Aziz’s words, reiterated on the windows of opportunity, stressing that since Sabah and Sarawak formed Malaysia, along with Malaya on Sept 16, 1963, this is the only chance for East Malaysia in general, and Sabah in particular, to snap the political autonomy, the 20 per cent oil royalty, redress imbalanced economic development in both states, relive Borneonisation, get Labuan island back and important posts for Sabahans in government departments and agencies, and address the longstanding issue of illegal immigrants.

“Although we (Sabah) have one of the largest representatives in the parliament, it is sad that we do not have MPs who are willing to use this window of opportunity to bring changes for Sabah. Instead of discussing it today on Malaysia Day, the MPs are holidaying in Taiwan,” said Yong.

He said it was not easy to grab political power from the ruling Barisan Nasional on Sept 16, or famously quoted as 916, but that through patience, it would eventually materialise if everyone remains optimistic.

“So I agree that race-based parties should be abolished gradually in Malaysia. We have to understand and respect one another, fully, deeply and truly, especially as we all come from different races, because if we do not, it will defeat the whole purpose of moving towards change,” he said.

Jeffrey, during his session, shared with the public the history that led to the formation of Malaysia, giving facts on the initial purpose and how equal rights should be shared among the three main components – Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya.

“Sabah had actually gained its independence on August 31, 1963, which marked the end of colonisation in Borneo and also witnessed the nationhood and birth of an independent nation … that means we were already a country then.

“We were approached by Tunku Abdul Rahman one day to form Malaysia, along with Sarawak and Singapore. There should be no doubt that we are equal partners … in fact, we did not join Malaysia; we formed Malaysia as equal partners.

“However, instead of being one of the three components of the country, we are today one of the 13 states in Malaysia. How do you expect us to gain wealth and curb poverty? The former prime minister (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad) once told me that we should not teach people what they do not know … this was a way to ensure that the people can be controlled.

In addition, Jeffrey also questioned the government on the fact that Sabah remains as the second poorest state in the country despite the millions and billions of ringgit of allocations from the federal government.

“We have been played by for the last 45 years, so I believe there is nothing wrong to turn the court. We must all show that we want a change of government, and it is not for personal gain, but to salvage whatever we have left,” he said.

In summarising the contents, Lim who described the forum as a gathering of Pakatan Rakyat ‘Plus’, disclosed that what used to be impossible, unachievable and impossible has today changed to possible, achievable and could happen anytime.

“The Pakatan Rakyat has changed the mindset and mental attitude. Many have come to realise that they yearn for a change. With a large number of MPs from the opposition, the BN government has now in fact needed our support to make any amendments,” he said.

According to him, the biggest blow for BN had to be the resignation of de facto Law Minister (Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

Unfortunately, Lim said Zaid’s resignation would bring the end of the re-reforming exercise of both the judiciary and police force.

“He (Zaid) was given the task to handle the re-reform of both sectors. His resignation means that it will never happen. Before the general election we asked the people

whether the change of government was possible, and about 95 per cent did not think so.

“But today, if we ask the same question, some 70 to 80 per cent of the people will agree with us,” he said.

Lim also described East Malaysia as the “king-makers” of BN, and urged that the opportunity be used wisely.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 September 2008, 7:18 am and is filed under
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Malaysia: This Is Only The Beginning

By
Farish A Noor

Recently I found myself in an open discussion with some of my students in the university I am based at in Indonesia. At the tender age of 18, this first-year student demonstrated both the intellectual acumen and political commitment I have come to expect from those twice his age, yet he was just one of the many students whom I am proud to say have come under my care and tutelage. After ten years of teaching experience, I have come to the simple conclusion that my Indonesian students are by far the smartest, gutsiest, honest and dedicated compared to the students I have taught in Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, France and Holland. Why?

That an 18 year old can begin his university life equipped with enough political knowledge and commitment is a testimony to the success of a primary and secondary educational system that got it right. This boy is the product of the post-Suharto educational system of Indonesia, and living proof that the reformasi (reform) movement of the 1990s in Indonesia has succeeded.

Yet the success of reformasi in Indonesia depended upon the quiet dedication of a legion of activist-academics who toiled day and night to dismantle the hegemonic structures of power and knowledge that were developed and consolidated during the three decades of Suharto’s rule. This meant that they had to confront not only the hegemony of the old regime, but also replace much of the human and ideological resources that had been put in place between 1970 to 1998. Ten years later, the results are only beginning to show and it has proven to be a worthwhile endeavor after all.

Malaysia today is at a similar crossroads where Indonesia was a decade ago. With the febrile grip of the Badawi government growing weaker by the day, there is much speculation that Malaysia’s former Deputy Prime Minister and now de facto leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, is poised to take over the reins of power. It is widely speculated that Anwar now has more than forty members of Parliament who are prepared to leave the ruling UMNO party and join his People’s Alliance to take over from the unpopular and discredited government of Badawi. Anwar has written to Badawi and called for a dialogue between the two to discuss a peaceful transition of power: something that has never happened in the course of Malaysia’s 51-year history.

Should such a transition happen, however, it would only mark the beginning of what must be a long and difficult process of reform and reconstruction. Like Indonesia, Malaysia has lived under half a century of hegemonic rule by one party – UMNO – and the ruling coalition it leads. Five decades of UMNO rule translates into five decades of pro-UMNO propaganda that has been normalised as news in the press, official history in school textbooks, official discourse in the workings of the state. This also means that the entire apparatus of the state – from the police and the armed forces to the bureaucracy, educational institutions, economic sector, etc. – have all been stamped with the lingering imprint of UMNO and UMNO’s brand of racialised ethno-nationalist politics.

Taking over the government of Malaysia is just the first step to reforming the country. What many Malaysians do not perhaps realise is how difficult and long the process of reconstruction will take. For instance, the task of re-writing the country’s official history, that has so long borne the bias and slant of UMNO’s ideologues, will be a herculean task in itself. Malaysia’s communally fragmented society will demand representation on all levels in the new curriculum of the national educational system. The Muslims, for instance, may insist on a re-writing of Malaysian history primarily from their Islamist perspective. Other ethnic and cultural minorities may likewise call for an equally sectarian interpretation of history as well. And even if such a comprehensive history could be written, would a new government have the will to see to it that it is taught in schools? Decades of UMNO hegemony has also ensured that a pro-UMNO bias remains in many institutions of the state and to some extent the official ideology of UMNO has been internalised by many members of the bureaucracy. One can anticipate many rounds of furious polemics, protests and counter-protests, and not to mention countless efforts to sabotage the reform process in Malaysia before it even gets off the ground.

Compared to the long road ahead and the obstacles that are bound to be put up in the face of reform, winning power and taking over the government will seem a relatively easy task. Much more difficult will be having to dismantle the structures of power and knowledge that have grown sedimented for so long, and overturning the dominant culture of racialised politics that has divided Malaysian society thus far.

What is required therefore is a spirit of universal citizenship and a commitment to a non-racialised and non-communitarian Malaysia: a task that the present opposition alliance itself is not perhaps ready to take on considering its own communalist make-up, divided as it is between communitarian Islamists and left-leaning democrats. The first and enduring task therefore has to be the inculcation of the value of universal citizenship and civic commitment to Malaysia. Until today Malaysians see themselves as members of the Malay, Chinese or Indian races first, or place their religious identity before citizenship. Yet the creation of a democratic and equal Malaysia relies on that intangible quality known as Malaysian citizenship, a quality that is hard to quantify or define but crucial nonetheless for nation-building. Are there enough of such Malaysian-minded Malaysians who can build a new non-racialised non-sectarian Malaysia? Time alone will tell, but for now the prospect of an unprecedented change of government is the first of many long and difficult steps that has to be taken in the slow birth of a reformed Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 September 2008, 2:55 am and is filed under
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March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up

Got this email from Malaysia’s hard-hitting journalist and playwright Kee Thuan Chye:

“I hope you can mention in your blog that my book,
“March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up”
, is now in bookstores.

“I think it will be in the interest of multi-racialism, justice, fairness and a better Malaysia.”

These quotes from the book’s promotion will catch everyone’s attention:”

Quotes

“If the system is flawed, I believe it should be reformed, not blindly tolerated or accepted with a helpless shrug or defended with excuses—by the powers that be, the media, the man in the street.”

– Kee Thuan Chye

Do you think Penang people are stupid enough to support (Guan Eng)? We Penangites are not stupid.

– Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, said before March 8

An army can come but I know how to fight it out….The people in Sungai Siput are with me. They are my strength. I have strived for them and served them.

– MIC President S. Samy Vellu, said before March 8

The Barisan is peaking now. We let [DAP] shoot and finish their bullets. Now we’re the ones with the bullets and we’re chipping away at their arguments.

– Former Gerakan President Dr Lim Keng Yaik, March 7, The Star

Get a copy. More from the promotion material:

ABOUT THE BOOK

     The day of the underdogs, the real Merdeka, a political tsunami, the perfect storm — by any name, March 8, 2008, will go down in history as a turning point in Malaysian politics. With their votes, Malaysians dealt a blow to the Barisan Nasional government that had held almost absolute power for 50 years. Denying it the all-important two-thirds majority in Parliament and the control of five states has certainly made the political scenario more vibrant.

     Although surprised that there was such power in the vote they cast, Malaysians woke up to the true meaning and practice of democracy. They now face the present reasonably free from fear, free from the spectre of May 13.

     This book is about that historic day and the change that came with it — an expression of hope for a brighter future, with many Malaysian voices speaking their thoughts frankly. There are also eyewitness accounts, interviews with key people, and articles never published before, written by fledgling and established writers.

     Includes exclusive hard-hitting interviews with:

·        Raja Petra Kamarudin,

·        Zaid Ibrahim,

·        Lim Guan Eng,

·        Dr Lim Teck Ghee and

·        Dr S. Subramaniam.

HIGHLIGHTS

     – “How Big Are Your Balls?”, an interview with Raja Petra Kamarudin

     – “The Racial Bias of Utusan Malaysia”, a report by Yip Wai Fong, Centre of Independent Journalism

     – “One Hundred-Odd Days After March 8”, a comprehensive record of events

     – “Enough of the NEP”, an interview with Dr Lim Teck Ghee

     – “Just Call Me Guan Eng”, an interview with Lim Guan Eng

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 September 2008, 7:14 am and is filed under
Pakatan Rakyat
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Politics
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