For Justice, Freedom & Solidarity

For Justice, Freedom & Solidarity PP3739/12/2007 ISSN 0127 - 5127 RM4.00 2007:Vol.27No.6

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 1 COVER STORY Blogging the bullies and bullying the bloggers It is obvious that the focus on bloggers and the Internet at this present moment is primarily due to the general election around the corner by Zaharom Nain

hatever the myth and WWW cheap talk about greater WW media freedom since 2003, the reality is that the mainstream Malaysian media, with a few notable exceptions, have been emasculated over the past thirty years or so through political buy-ups and undemocratic laws. And this pattern continues.

This has been abetted by ongoing processes of socialisation - aimed at cowering future and present media personnel. This is happen- (Rocky)(Rocky)(Rocky) ing in the tertiary educational institutions training potential journalists and broadcasters and in the numerous media organisations.

Into this sad and pathetic media scenario have come the ‘new media’ of the internet. And with it have come blogs, or more specifi- cally, socio-political blogs - the most recent thorn in the side of not only much of the Malaysian mainstream media, but also their political masters.

For the still-uninitiated, blogs are essentially web journals that can serve to provide commentary on a

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 2 EDITOR'S NOTE

In our cover story, Zaharom Nain explores the world of blogging in Malaysia. Bloggers are providing a CONTENTS real alternative to the mainstream media and coun- tering the distortions and unravelling the propa- ganda. No wonder the authorities are sitting up and COVER STORY taking notice. ••• Blogging The Bullies And Bullying The Bloggers 222 In a colourful centrefold story, Shakila Abdul Manan describes a praiseworthy effort at uncovering the FEATURES untold story of the much-maligned Ronggeng girls while evoking the true spirit of Muhibbah. ••• In The Name Of Merdeka! 777 ••• Merdeka: United For Water 111111 Merdeka survivor Hamid Ibrahim, who witnessed ••• Significant Bumi Gains 131313 the lowering of the Union Jack at the Selangor ••• Oil And Gas Windfalls: Malaysia's Padang, urges Malaysians to remember the very Boon Or Bane? 151515 foundations on which the country was built. ••• Ronggeng Girls Of The Merdeka Era 191919 In our back-cover story, P Ramakrishnan traces civil ••• Payback Time 232323 society’s journey since Merdeka and observes that ••• Judiciary In A Real Mess 33 it has shown remarkable resilience in growing from ••• Civil Service: Improving The strength to strength despite the setbacks it has en- Delivery System 353535 countered. ••• Carnival Of Joy 383838 ••• An Unfinished But Inspiring Journey 404040 Fifty years on, should politicians continue harping on the NEP? Koon Yew Yin points out that the Malays have made their presence felt in the profes- REGULARS sions and so there should be less insecurity all ••• Current Concerns 272727 round. ••• LettersLettersLetters 282828

But our oil and gas resources are rapidly depleting. OTHERSOTHERSOTHERS Enough has been wasted and Tony Pua urges the government to invest now in the country’s human ••• Subscription Form 181818 resources. Enough also has been taken away from the Orang Asli, observes Yogeswaran Subramaniam, and it is now time to give a little back to them. Published by Meanwhile, Angeline Loh serendipitously stumbles Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara on a festival of games for refugee children that turns (ALIRAN)(ALIRAN)(ALIRAN) out to be the closest thing to peace on earth that she 103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, has experienced. Penang, Malaysia. Tel: (04) 658 5251 Fax: (04) 658 5197 Email (Letters to Editor): ALIRANALIRANALIRAN is a Reform Movement dedicated to Justice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on the [email protected] roster of the Economic and Social Council of the Email (General): [email protected] United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomes Homepage : http://www.aliran.com all Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contact the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage. Printed by Konway Industries Sdn. Bhd. Plot 78, Lebuhraya Kampung Jawa, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 3 variety of topics or act as personal bm/) states that the reasons for his diaries. Blogs also have the abil- arrest remain rather hazy since it ity to allow readers to leave com- certainly was more of a fishing ments, hence are interactive. expedition than an arrest based on evidence. Although blog search engine, Technorati, tracked more than 71 His ‘crime’, such as it was, was million blogs worldwide in May apparently that of being suspected this year, Malaysian bloggers are of having access to state secrets, still a relatively small community mation in January this year. namely documents relating to cor- – but definitely growing. ruption allegations made on his The law suits, the first of their kind blog not by Nathaniel himself, but Indeed, blogging is evidently the in Malaysia, galvanised much of by an anonymous commentator. latest urban, largely middle-class, the blogging community in Ma- phenomenon in Malaysia. And laysia and spawned the Bloggers Nathaniel believes that the whole this has raised hackles among cer- United campaign to defend exercise of detaining him was tain quarters, mainly in the BN bloggers and freedom of expres- simply meant to intimidate him coalition. sion. and others. It is difficult to disagree with him, given the way he Over the past year, they have been Much of the mainstream media, was treated. at pains to impose legislation on on the other hand, either remained blogging and to submit the muted or had a field day publish- Followed by Internet as a whole to greater gov- ing comments by BN politicians Raja Petra and wife... ernment control. It appears they and other ‘authority’ figures. would like to punish critical and These officials admonished ‘irre- More recently, on 25 July 2007, outspoken commentators on the sponsible blogging’ and the ‘sub- Raja Petra Kamaruddin was sum- internet, particularly sociopoliti- jective reporting’ of events by ‘un- moned to the Dang Wangi police cal bloggers, for not dancing to professional’ bloggers. They often station in Kuala Lumpur and in- their tune. sanctimoniously assumed that terrogated for eight hours. This mainstream Malaysian journal- was after Umno Information First it was Jeff and ists are, somehow, more trained, Chief and former Selangor Mentri Rocky... professional and, of course, objec- Besar, Muhammad Muhammad tive. Taib, had lodged a police report Knocked about left, right and cen- against Raja Petra’s hugely popu- tre over the past few months, a And then came lar website, Malaysia Today number of these Malaysian Nathaniel... (http://www.malaysia- bloggers, nonetheless, appear to today.net). have rolled with the punches and The assault on bloggers contin- come storming back. ued, certainly more insidiously, The police report lodged by on the evening of 13 July 2007 Four recent incidences, three oc- when Parti Keadilan Rakyat staff curring just over the past month, member, Nathaniel Tan, was ar- illustrate the extent to which the rested at his office by the Special new media - especially blogging - Branch and detained for four days have come under the scrutiny of under the Official Secrets Act the authorities. (OSA).

It arguably began with prominent Nathaniel, in his account of his bloggers, Jeff Ooi and Ahiruddin arrest and detention on his blog Atan (‘Rocky’), being sued by the (http://jelas.info/2007/07/19/ New Straits Times Press for defa- statement-on-my-detention-eng-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 4 Muhammad - now immortalised hurled against him. This was on munity over another, surely it by Raja Petra in his blog as ‘this top of the more predictable ones would be downright ridiculous ex-Mentri Besar with two of sedition and sowing ethnic dis- and plain stupid not to expect re- Muhammad’s in his name’ – record. With hindsight, while these sponses from those negatively af- portedly cited a blog entry in Ma- accusations were quite predict- fected. Responses such as Wee’s, laysia Today on 11 July that had able, the death threats against his for example. allegedly insulted the King, de- family members were really quite graded Islam and incited ethnic barbaric and uncalled for. Notwithstanding the hypocrisy, it hatred and violence. is quite obvious that the attacks We can assert that the Negaraku- on Wee have come about at a time Not surprisingly, no official ku video was certainly not a prod- when patriotic fervour has been charge has thus far been levelled uct of good taste, much thought whipped up to fever pitch as the against Raja Petra. Soon after, or maturity (but, hey, he’s only in 50-44 celebrations take place. It’s however, in yet another farcical his twenties). But when we recall episode involving our ‘law enforc- recently having had much older ers’, Raja Petra’s wife, Marina, political ‘leaders’ spouting even was ‘interviewed’ by the police. more racist bile and wielding the During the ‘interview’, she report- keris while threatening to bathe it edly cited sharia law in refusing in the blood of particular ethnic to answer their questions, pre- communities, the shock, anger sumably leaving more than one and horror expressed by many of potential ‘interviewer’ speech- these politicians at Negarakuku less. begin to ring terribly hollow, their ongoing hypocrisy coming across ... and a Wee uproar clear as day.

The fourth, and certainly more Indeed, when the seeds of (ethnic) widely reported, incident, indicat- discontent have been sowed ing the importance that authori- through the imposition of ethnic ties are now placing on the quotas in almost all spheres of life, Internet, was the brouhaha sur- and politicians constantly preach rounding the Negaraku amateur the supremacy of one ethnic com- rap video.

The creator of the video, Wee Meng Chee or Namewee (http:// namewee.blogspot.com/), a Malaysian communications un- dergraduate in Taiwan, had had the temerity to do a rap version of the national anthem, Negaraku- ku. He added narrative criticising some government policies and the Malay community and placed the clip on the popular video sharing website, YouTube.

The backlash was absolutely amazing, with accusations of trea- son and of the desecration of the flag and national anthem being

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 5 ‘nonpartisan’.

Indeed, being critical, as socio- political Malaysian bloggers constantly are these days, is often enough equated by the authorities with being anti-Malaysia and, wait for it, ‘anti-development’.

But, thankfully, many Malaysians are beginning to see through these myths and mystification.

In this regard, socio-political bloggers of all shades like Raja Petra, Nathaniel Tan, Malik Imtiaz, Amir Muhammad, Jeff Ooi, Marina Mahathir, and, yes, a time when even eating a cake sponsible and not defame; there’s Aliran’s own Anil Netto, provide decorated as a Jalur Gemilang is a need to obey the law. But, by the the necessary counter to much of apparently not kosher. same token, surely laws are meant the spin, especially with the elec- to protect the wronged and not for tions looming. Prelude to election use as a tool of intimidation. And despite all these years of And it is also quite obvious that Seeing through ‘Merdeka’, the harassment and in- the focus on bloggers and the the myths timidation by the bully boys will, Internet at this present moment is no doubt, continue, on the pretext primarily due to the general elec- It is also a bit rich for the authori- of protecting our ‘sensitivities’ tion around the corner. After all, ties and their puppets in the main- and, more importantly, ‘the na- experience tells us that part of the stream media to accuse bloggers tional interest’. process of preparing for the gen- of ‘sensationalism’ and ‘irrespon- eral election here is to make sure sible reporting’ when we see bla- With this in mind, perhaps that all possible curbs on dissi- tant examples of such reporting Nathaniel Tan’s closing com- dent voices are in place. in the daily tabloids. The distor- ments on his four-day detention tion of Wee’s replies to critics of will help us (and surely even the In this context, socio-political his video by a local Malay tabloid bully boys) comprehend the spirit blogging represents a relatively is a perfect example. of these Malaysian socio-political new challenge to the state. With bloggers – quite often young and ongoing media control, these Indeed, the problem with notions not-easily intimidated by obsolete bloggers are indeed a welcome de- of ‘objective’ and ‘responsible’ and barbaric strong-arm tactics. velopment for many, even if the journalism in Malaysia is that authorities are uneasy with them. such notions have become synony- Any assumptions that my experi- mous with being non-critical of ence will dissuade other activists Their contribution lies in the fact the BN juggernaut. Hence, when and citizens of conscience from that they provide added – if not Jeff Ooi was a member of the exerting all (their energy) in up- alternative – information. They Gerakan party, his ‘objectivity’ holding their responsibilities to help to carve that space to expand was never questioned. But when their parents, their children, and on democracy in a country that’s he recently switched to the DAP, to all of Malaysia are sadly, sadly slowly being starved of it. suddenly one mainstream Eng- misplaced. lish newspaper raised the ques- Granted, there’s a need to be re- tion of whether he could remain Merdeka? Merdeka? Merdeka? q

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 6 50TH MERDEKA In the name of Merdeka! Let us remember the very foundations on which this great nation was founded by Hamid Ibrahim

s a survivor of the years between 1957 and AA 2007 I wish to tell you about my memories AAA of Merdeka day and then, put it in the context of some challenges that I think we must address if this nation is to move ahead in a mean- ingful and significant way.

On the day the Union Jack flag was lowered at the Selangor Club Padang, I was there. The crowd of roughly 2,000 – mainly city folks - was very happy. By the next morning, 31 August, when Independ- ence was declared at the Merdeka Stadium, the crowd had swelled to 10,000. And when Tunku shouted Merdeka, Merdeka and Merdeka, their roar tore down the heavens! An air of great expectations of the future hung over the place, an energy that consumed and embraced us all that day.

In his proclamation of independence, Yang Teramat Mulia Tunku Abdul Rahman Al-Haj declared:

PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE

IN THE NAME OF GOD, the Compassionate, the merciful. Praise be to God, the Lord of the Universe and may the blessings and peace of God be upon his messengers……..

Now in the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful I, Tengku Abdul Rahman Putra ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halimshah, Prime Minister of the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, with the concurrence and Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Trengganu, Perak, Malacca and approval of Their Highnesses the Rulers of the Malay Penang is and with God’s blessing shall be forever States do hereby proclaim and declare on behalf of the a sovereign democratic and independent State people of the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu that as from the founded upon the principle of liberty and justice thirty first day of August, nineteen hundred and fifty- and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its seven, the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu comprising the people and the maintenance of a just peace among States of Johore, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, all nations.nations.all (Italics mine)

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 7 The Tunku expanded on the event For example, the American Con- you go to his house, any time of in his 1978 book My Viewpoint on stitution was drawn by the Ameri- the day or night, you see people page 40: cans and the Indian Constitution there, laughing and joking. We was drawn up by Indians. Now needed a man like him at that time, “Independence was a great occa- there are Malaysians of standing because he spread goodwill and sion for celebration in Malaya and – e.g. retired judges, former Bar friendship. Only he could win infor me it was the greatest achieve- Council presidents and leading dependence without bloodshed, ment of my life. As a politician and minds with constitutional law and he did it. He kept the differ- Prime Minister I based my policy experience. ent races happy. on common-sense, fairness and justice with my mind on happi- Tun Dr Mohamed My public service ness and peace for all, believing Suffian on the deeply that a leader must be able Malaysian Constitution Two years before independence, I to give peace to the country and joined the Public Service in 1955 happiness to the people.” Tun was interviewed by Faridah as a stenographer and was posted Hamid for the Malaysian Law News to the Ministry of Agriculture and Federal Constitution (the October 1994 issue). Fisheries. The ministry had only 10 staff – the Minister Our Federal Constitution is the Tun Suffian flecks his commen- (Allahyarrham Aziz Ishak), Sec- only document in the world tary of the Constitution as it retary General F G Fathers, one framed by non-Malaysians. There stands today, with humour. He assistant secretary, one executive were no Malaysians in the Reid relates a story about an English secretary, one personal assistant, Commission whose members professor who went to India to three clerks, one stenographer and were: buy a book. office boy. Now, there are probably thousands in the same Min- • Lord Reid, (British) “The professor asked the shop- istry. When F G Fathers retired • Sir Ivor Jennings, (British) keeper for a copy of the Indian the ministry staff gave him a fare- • Sir William MeKell, (Austral- Constitution and the shop-keeper well dinner at a restaurant next to ian) ; said: Sir, we don’t sell periodi- the Odeon Theatre. • Mr. B. Malik, (an Indian Judge) cals,” his inimitable chuckle and breaking into a laugh. In 1987, I had the opportunity to • Mr Justice Abdul Hamid (a meet the beloved YTM Tunku Pakistani Judge) “Well, our constitution is like a Abdul Rahman at his Residence periodical. Every year, sometimes in Kuala Lumpur. (See photo on The reason for this was that in twice a year, its amended. Half page9) He was very kind to re- 1957, Malaya did not have per- the book on the Constitution has ceive me and my son Nasser. I sons with much experience in been amended, but Parliament handed the Tunku a book on constitutional affairs. Therefore, keeps on amending and amend- Malaysian Constitution and The now after 50 years, I cannot think ing. I can’t keep up, you know, so Malaysian Law Dictionary written of a more ripe time to set up a Com- I stopped for a while.” by me in 1986. It was one of the mission to take a holistic review proudest moments in my life. He of the Federal Constitution and was a humble and most gracious bring it up to speed with how the Allahyarrham Tun Dr host. The meeting was peppered world has changed. After 50 Mohamed Suffian with many instances of laughter years of ad hoc changes to the Fed- spoke to Faridah about as he had a great sense of humour. eral Constitution, we are currently Tunku Abdul Rahman facing a number of problems, such Law reform as Islamic Family Law, Labour The Tunku was adroit at politics Law and Child Act. It is reported and public relations, Tunku was Many people will be surprised to in the media that more than 400 a wonderful man. He is very know that most of our laws are juveniles are held in prisons. clever. Dia tahu ambil hati orang. If Indian Laws , e.g. the Evidence

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 8 Act, The Criminal Procedure Code, Economic State of the Penal and the Contracts Act development Emergency! and so on. In an article I wrote on law reform in Malaysia in the There are some who shout from Although Emergency officially Malaysian Law News, which ap- roof tops that the Malaysian ended in 1960, a number of rules peared in 1992, I stressed the need economy is at its peak and that and regulations continue in the for a permanent Law Reform we are a developed country. But statute books They have not been Commission (LRC), which could all one needs to do is look at the repealed. Therefore, we are even look into outmoded existing laws news and see that this ‘develop- today under Emergency rule. – see and update them. All the Com- ment’ is generally not tempered Governments and Crisis Powers by monwealth countries in the world with sensitivity to the environ- Dato Dr. Cyrus Das CLJ (1996): have LRCs. ment and happens in market centre pockets (KL, JB). Poverty, crime, “Since independence, Malaysia Currently, in Malaysia, this and underdevelopment are com- has been under a continuous state function is performed by one monplace. of Emergency except for the short person in the Attorney-Gener- period between July 1960 and Sep- al’s Chambers. He has no au- What about a fair and just public tember 1964…. The emergency pro- thority to ‘reform’ the law. His service delivery system, a dy- visions of the Malaysian Constitu- power is limited to simple gram- namic education system, family tion are therefore amongst its most matical matters and to consoli- and social values? All you need overworked Parts.” – page 43 date the amendments. Please to do is ask any Malaysian, and visit the following website for they will admit these ‘human’ de- Internal Security further information on law re- velopments are paid lip-service Act, 1960 form commissions. http:// and are on a dramatic decline. The www.alrc.gov.au/links/ government media should also This Act was originally meant for overseaslawreform.htm focus on the kampong poverty. a short period only but it has been

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 9 in existence for nearly 47 years. According to YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman, the ISA was : The Headlines “…designed and meant to be used Corruption in high places. solely against communists … ISA would never be used to stifle le- Fornication behind political fortification. gitimate opposition and silence Unbridled greed breeds more greed. lawful dissent” Moral degradation surpasses – Far Easter Economic Review, All degrees of religious invocations. 3 Dec 1987, No recrimination can taint the reputation To honour the Tunku’s promise Of the corrupted by public prosecution. and to fulfil the above statement, Statutory declaration has replaced recantation. the government should repeal this Deviation and prevarication are the order of the day. obnoxious piece of legislation which was not supposed to be No amount of renunciation and reformation, permanent but only as a tempo- Interrogation and incrimination rary measure and release all po- Can transform a society litical detainees so that they can That does not believe in transparency, also celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Merdeka. And purity of soul to change. We can only expect the pure of heart to respect God’s Crime rate Truths And perhaps then regain God’s Grace again? In 1957, there was practically no crime – but what is the position today? There have even been al- Khoo Soo Hay legations against the ACA chief and the IGP – two people whose character must be above any re- cided judgments on this issue. proach. Currently, the government is also Despite not being a lawyer being sued by many people af- by profession, Hamid If we look at the media daily, we fected. See [2003] 2 MLJA 129. Ibrahim has dedicated see that there is murder, rape, in- much of his life to the law cest and all sorts of crimes includ- In conclusion, in the name of and even at age 75 contin- ing commercial crime (white col- Merdeka, let us remember the very ues to be a student and ana- lar crime). Apart from this the gov- foundations on which this great lyst on legal developments. ernment is losing billions of dol- nation was founded, lest we for- Hamid pioneered legal pub- lars in tax evasion, customs du- get that: lications in Malaysia in ties. The loopholes in the law 1980 and was the founder should be plugged. “The accumulation of all powers of the Malaysian Law Pub- - legislative, executive, and judi- lishers, the Malaysian Law Deaths in police ciary in the same hands, whether News, Malaysian Current custody of one, a few, or many, and Law Journal. He was Con- whether hereditary, self-ap- sultant Editor of the coun- In an article in the Malayan Law pointed, or elective, may justly be try’s first weekly law report Journal, Gerald Gomez, a senior pronounced the very definition of – the All Malaysia Reports. Advocate and Solicitor, wrote that tyranny.” He has also authored nine a number of people had died in - James Madison, ground-breaking law-re- police custody. There are also de- - The Federalist Papers. lated publications.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 10 RIGHT TO WATER Merdeka: United for water A Malaysian inter-faith collective statement on water as a right

e, religious leaders and groups, NGOs, WWW trade unions, residents associations comprising Buddhists, Catholics, Christians, Hindus,Hindus,Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, participating at the inter-faith forum entitled, “United for Water: Religions Speak on the Right to Water”, in Kuala Lumpur today, hereby resolve the following:

1. Water is God’s gift to people, is essential for life and belongs to everyone

Our religions and faiths believe water is sacred and the Creator’s gift to people. Water is life and must be 3. Water conservation, preservation and protection respected. It is used in worship by all our religions is a responsibility of the people and the State and faiths. Therefore, it must be conserved and uti- lised as a basic need for all human beings and liv- Water is a scarce resource. Citizens, the government, ing things on earth. It symbolises life in its pristine stake-holders and businesses should work together form. The right to water is intrinsically linked to the to ensure that water sources such as rivers, lakes, right to life. water catchments and groundwater are conserved, preserved and protected for the present and future 2. Access to water is a right generations.

The human right to water entitles everyone to suffi- cient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and afford- This declaration was signed on 4 August 2007 able water. The use of pre-paid cards and water in Kuala Lumpur by: disconnections would be in violation of this right. ••• Sarath W Surendre, Vice-President of the The State needs to fulfil this right and is responsible Buddhist Missionary Society of Malaysia; to protect and promote this right. Access to water ••• Brother Augustine Julian, on behalf of the therefore cannot be premised on profitability. Peo- Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur; ple should enjoy this right without discrimination. ••• Rev Dr Hermen Shastri, General Secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia; The State should ensure that the right to water is ••• Dr K Kananatu, on behalf of Datuk A represented and realised in the policies of the pri- Vaithilingam, President of the Malaysia vate water sector. Hindu Sangam; ••• Azril Mohd Amin, Vice President of the Fulfilment of the right to water should be consistent Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement with the demands of the Convention on the Rights (Abim); andand(Abim); of the Child (CRC, 1989), the Convention on the ••• Sardar V Harcharan Singh, President of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against the Malaysian Gurdwara Council. Women (Cedaw, 1979), the Universal Declaration It was further endorsed by a string of civil of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) and the Interna- society groups. tional Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966).

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 11 Abuse, misuse of police powers Memorandum to Suhakam

e, the organisers of the thwart civil society efforts to de- It is sad, that after 50 years of in- WWW national event: “United liberate and discuss issues con- dependence the police force is dic- WW for Water: Religions fronting society. In fact the SB held tating public policy. And civil so- Speak on the Human the Masjid Negara at ransom with ciety is at their mercy. Right to Water” are here to file a their disinformation. formal complaint with the We are leading organisations Malaysian Human Rights Com- Furthermore the conduct and ac- in the country, representing mission on the conduct of the Spe- tions of the SB demonstrated that the various faiths and commu- cial Branch based in Dang Wangi they or the parties that gave them nities. We are leaders of our Police Station located in Jalan Sta- the instructions were unhappy communities. We manage dium. that people of all faiths, and races temples, churches and are coming together to deliberate gurdwaras. The police have In our view, the Special Branch and discuss societal issues and opportunistically linked us and/or outside parties manufac- future of the country. with demonstrations and pro- tured information to create a situa- tests. This we find unaccept- tion of fear, uneasiness and uncer- In fact, the conduct of the police able. Thus we demand an apol- tainty leading to the National has promoted their desired out- ogy in order to clear our or- Mosque officials deciding not to come: more suspicion among ganisations’ good name. host the meeting at the National Malaysians. Is this what the gov- Mosque in spite of having earlier ernment desires? We propose that Suhakam organ- agreed to the event being held there. ise an urgent meeting between the Is it possible that the police are police, Masjid Negara officials We find such actions bordering on acting on behalf of business inter- and us in order to unearth the total disrespect and an attempt to ests in the water sector? truth and clear our names. q

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 12 ECONOMY Significant bumi gains

The Malays have made their presence felt in the professions, thanks to the NEP – so there should be less insecurity all round by Koon Yew Yin

refer to the important speech by Tengku II Razaleigh Hamzah in the 2007 Za’ba lec- III ture series on 26 July. That speech should be widely disseminated and made especially available to all politicians, policy makers and leaders of the business and civil service organiza- tions.

In his speech Ku Li rightly emphasised that the NEP was only a temporary “safety net” for Malays as well as others who may have benefited from it. Its intention was not to provide permanent entitle- ments. Rather those who have become successful should not rely on incentives and privileges handed out by the government. This will not only weaken them but it will also deny others who are in greater need of assistance. Especially noteworthy was his point that “misuse of the assistance was delaying the process of producing learned and knowledgeable Malays”.

In fact, after over 30 years of NEP implementation, many Malays have already graduated and are more than capable of standing on their own merit without the safety net.

Where are the large numbers of successful Malays to be found, some sceptics may ask? fessional and Technical Category of employment by the year 2000 and 37 per cent for the Administrative The easiest way to answer this is for the govern- and Managerial Category in the same year. ment to make available the statistics on Bumiputera employment in the higher occupational categories Similarly an accompanying table on Registered Pro- and in the professions. Such a table showing fessionals by ethnicity is revealing. By 1999, Bumiputera achievement was included in the Third Bumiputeras already comprised 28.9 per cent of all Outline Perspective Plan document, 2001-2010. Registered Professionals, and exceeded the 30 per cent mark in five of the eight listed professions, viz: That table showed that Bumiputras had already com- doctors, dentists, veterinary surgeons, surveyors prised 63.5 pert cent of the population for the Pro- and lawyers.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 13 The table on the left shows the Third Outline Perspective Plan 2001-2010 (p.53) great strides that Malays have made as a result of the NEP, bear- TABLE 2-8: ing in mind that they started from Achievements in the Restructuring of Society, 1990-2000 a comparatively low base.

Bumiputera Employment in High Occupational Categories Since 1999, the Government has poured even further enormous re- (% of total employment) sources in Malay personnel train- 199019901990 200020002000 ing so we can expect even higher Professional and Technical 60.5 63.8 Malay representation in the most prestigious and well paying pro- Administrative and Managerial 28.7 36.9 fessions. So what are these num- Accountants 11.2 15.9 bers of Malay achievement in the Architects 27.6 28.9 professional, technical, adminis- Doctors 27.8 36.7 trative, and managerial categories Dentists 24.3 34.5 like today and what are they likely Veterinary Surgeons 35.9 42.6 to be projected to the year 2020 if current trends continue? Engineers 13.1 26.5 Surveyors 44.7 47.8 If this vital information was made Lawyers 22.3 31.3 publicly available, there will be less talk about Malay under- achievement and less insecurity within the Malay community that they are losing out to the other races. In fact they should be justly proud that they are most probably the majority ethnic community in many highly paid and prestigious occupations.

Finally, I would like to suggest that both a copy of Ku Li’s speech and the updated table be widely disseminated so that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and many other political leaders do not need to harp on the continuance of the NEP. To do so would only frighten away many foreign investors and demoralise our younger non- Malay generation.

Perhaps Aliran and other media outlets can help in this effort to educate our fellow Malaysians on the achievements of the NEP. At the Malaysian Press Awards night on 24 July 07, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said that an informed and knowledgeable society is instrumental in ensur- ing the success of our aspiration for a united nation, as envisaged by Vision 2020. In line with this, the media can play an important role in gar- nering the right information for shaping public perception of what the NEP has successfully achieved. q

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 14 ECONOMY Oil and gas windfalls: Malaysia’s boon or bane? With the country’s oil resources rapidly depleting, we need to urgently invest in our human resources by Tony Pua

coffers in taxes, royalties, divi- pendence on our limited oil and dends and export duties last year. gas resources places the country’s Contributions from Petronas and economy at great risk other oil and gas companies op- erating in Malaysia were budgeted Malaysia must not fall into the to make up some 46.8 per cent of trap of what economists call the government revenue for 2007. “resource curse”, whereby coun- This represents a steep increase tries endowed with natural re- from about 30 per cent in 2006 and sources fare worse than those 25 per cent in 2004. These statis- without such resources. The oil- tics indicate Malaysia’s heavy re- rich but poorly developed Middle liance on the oil and gas industry East countries may be contrasted today. with countries with scarce natural resources such as Hong Kong, Malaysia’s abundance of oil and Singapore and Switzerland. gas resources is akin to striking a alaysia is a country lottery. It is a one-off affair and, at Dutch-disease and MMM blessed with abundant some point in time, our reserves rent-seeking MM natural resources. In will run dry. According to Oil & particular, we are thank- Gas Journal, Malaysia held proven This appears to be closely related ful that the country is rich in oil oil reserves of 3.0 billion barrels to the phenomenon known as the and gas, which created Malay- as of January 2007, down from a Dutch disease. The Netherlands sia’s sole representative in the peak of 4.6 billion barrels in 1996. in the 1960s, after the discovery Fortune 500, Petroliam Nasional These reserves will last us for only and depletion of oil and gas in the Berhad (Petronas). For the finan- another 20 years or so. North Sea, was plagued with un- cial year ending March 2007, employment and an unproductive Petronas achieved a record profit What’s worse, Malaysia is ex- manufacturing sector due to the before tax of RM76.3 billion pected to become a net oil im- adverse side effects of such a dis- thanks to record high crude oil porter by 2010 assuming a con- covery. prices, which has jumped from servative growth of 4 per cent in under US$25 per barrel to above petroleum products consump- What is perhaps most worrying US$70 within the space of four tion. Our trade current account for Malaysia, with its reliance on years. surplus has also been boosted sig- natural resources overshadowing nificantly by oil and gas-related the other productive sectors of the Of greatest importance was the products, which constitute more economy, is the resulting “rent- fact that Petronas contributed than 11 per cent of our exports. seeking economy”, in which in- RM53.7 billion to our national The frightful acceleration of de- fluential parties within and with-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 15 out the government focus their ef- that the recent bailout of seven ades, these leakages if left un- forts on securing a a larger share privatised projects has cost the checked will soon have a major of the economic pie instead of cre- government RM11 billion, includ- impact on the country’s economy. ating a bigger pie. ing the Putra and Star LRT trans- This impact will be aggravated by port systems and Malaysia Air- the fact that the other productive Oil and gas, for example, is lines System costing RM7.7 billion sectors of the economy reliant on wealth which does not in itself and RM2.8 billion respectively. human capital such as the manu- create employment. The right to This amount works out to close to facturing and hightech sectors re- manage this wealth, however, lies 70 per cent of the original cost of main insufficiently developed to in the hands of the government of these projects. replace the economic contribution the day. This concentration of from our oil and gas sector. This distributive control over wealth Not included in the above lists are stagnancy is due to complacency leads to vastly disproportionate projects such as the Matrade or neglect. amount of resources spent on lob- building and the Middle-Ring bying and rent-seeking activities, Road II, which had repair bills of Invest in human which will, in turn, reduce efforts RM120 million and RM70 million resources in raising our other productive over their original cost of RM167 sectors as well as human capital. million and RM120 million re- Faced with such a possibility, Associate Professors Ricky Lam spectively. Malaysia must re-think its strat- and Leonard Wantchekon of egy on enhancing human capital. Northwestern and New York More recently, we have seen how The two ministries of education University respectively labelled just completed government must be applauded for their efforts this phenomenon the political projects such as the Immigration to fine-tune our educational insti- Dutch disease. office in Putrajaya, the mega-court tutions to achieve the human capi- complex in Jalan Duta and the tal goals such as the setting up of In Malaysia, we are certainly see- renovated Parliament house re- “cluster schools” as centres of ex- ing the impact of the political quire desperate resuscitation ef- cellence. Education Minister Dutch disease. With rampant forts. Hishammuddin Hussein has also rent-seeking activities as well as recently announced that some 27 political patronage, large Whilst the bailout packages and per cent of the education-related amounts of economic and finan- the repair bills have worked out infrastructure projects under the cial leakages are beginning to sur- to huge sums of money, its impact Ninth Malaysia Plan have either face. Earlier this year, Second Fi- on the economy appears to be been completed or are under im- nance Minister Nor Mohamed minimal at first glance. The coun- plementation. Yakcop disclosed in Parliament try’s gross domestic product (GDP) has continued to grow at a healthy rate of around 5 per cent per annum for the past few years. But the GDP growth rate masks the fact that we have been increasingly reliant on our God-given natural resources for revenue, which has in turn cushioned the impact of wealth dissipation arising from non-value-adding rent- seeking activities.

Hence, we fear that with Malay- sia becoming a net oil importer very soon and with oil reserves lasting only for the next two dec-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 16 But our efforts on hard infrastruc- of our windfall from oil and gas is sources can and should be a bless- ture must be matched equally, if kept under lock and key, with the ing, not a curse. We know what not more, with soft infrastructure sole purpose for investment in must be done. What is missing is such as the quality of teachers, the human capital, over and beyond the political will to make it so.” q rigour in our course syllabus and our typical expenditure on edu- examination standards. No cost cation and training. This way, the must be spared, for example, in funds will be prevented from be- Tony Pua, a former CEO bringing the best teachers and lec- ing expensed to an unproductive and founder of a listed IT turers from around the world to and wasteful rent-driven company and now opposi- teach in our local schools and uni- economy. To quote Economics tion politician, runs a blog versities populated with the Nobel Prize winner, Joseph on education in Malaysia. cream of the crop. Stiglitz, “abundant natural re-

Misguided nationalistic philoso- phy must be cast aside in favour of a pragmatic policy in areas such as attracting the world’s top academics to head our institutions of IF PEACE IS... higher learning. Within our educational institutions, performing If peace is a candle, I'll light one each night. teachers and academics must be granted their due reward, finan- If peace is a hand, I'll hold on so tight. cial and otherwise, as further in- If peace is a bell, I'll make it ring. centives for themselves and oth- If peace is a song, I'll want to sing. ers to continue to excel. It is of great irony that even Malaysian If peace is a gift, I'll open it with care. academics who were never in con- If peace is a treasure, I'll search everywhere. tention for top positions in Malaysian universities are head- If peace is a garden, I'll tend every seed. hunted as vice-chancellors or fac- If peace is a book, I'll have to read. ulty deans at the world’s top universities. But peace is more than all these things, In our quest to develop and retain more than a book or a bell that rings. our human capital, no stone must be left unturned and no sacred It's more than the work of just one or two. cows must be left untouched. Peace is the work that we all must do. Then and only then, will Malay- sia be able to diminish its reliance Peace is a promise we make one another ... on natural resources and depend ... to love and protect, and to care for each other. instead on her people’s creativity, resourcefulness, intelligence and It's a hand waved in friendship, a smile on a face ... productivity to drive the country’s ... a kind word and deed, any time, any place. continued development. While Peace is a promise - it's something we do. oil wells may one day run dry, our population will only continue to For peace is a promise kept always by you! grow and renew itself.

Therefore, it is critical that the -by Jane Baskwill, 2003 Government sets aside or even leg- islates that a substantive portion

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 17 ALIRAN MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION FORM

Mr./Ms. Be aaBe Address concernedconcernedconcerned Malaysian, Occupation Tel. No. Email Subscribe to

Subscription (11 issues per year) Aliran 1 year 2 years RM Monthly Donation to Aliran ...... RM TOTAL Enclosed : Money Order / Postal Order / Cheque RM NOW (No. ) payable to ‘Aliran’. AM 2007: 27(6)

SUBSCRIPTION RATES COUNTRY ONE YEAR TWO YEARS MALAYSIA RM30 RM60 SINGAPORE S$40 S$75 JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND US$35 US$60 OTHER ASIA PACIFIC COUNTRIES US$30 US$52 EUROPE, RUSSIA, CENTRAL ASIA, MIDDLE-EAST US$40 US$71 NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, AFRICA US$45 US$82

GIFT SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM

Please send this gift subscription to : “Liberty Mr./Ms. of thought Address means liberty to communicate Occupation Tel. No. one's thought.” Subscription for 11 issues 1 year 2 yearsyears2 Salvador de Madariage 1886 - 1973 Spanish diplomat, writer, critic I enclose money order / postal order / cheque for the above order amounting to RM payable to ‘Aliran’‘Aliran’‘Aliran’

This gift subscription is paid for and presented by:

Mr./Ms. Send this form and payment to Address ALIRAN 103, MEDAN PENAGA, 11600 JELUTONG, PENANG, MALAYSIA

AM 2007: 27(6) Date Signature

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 18 ARTS AND CULTURE Ronggeng girls of the Merdeka era A praiseworthy effort at uncovering the untold story of the much- maligned Ronggeng girls while evoking the true spirit of Muhibbah by Shakila Abdul Manan

try’s history textbooks and the dominant discourse of nation.

Fond memories

During the staging of the musical drama, the community spaces became the site for all kinds of border crossings and cross-cultural exchange: a multi-ethnic cast and an audience of all age groups. The conversations and lyrics of songs were peppered with Malay, Hokkien and Eng- lish words. The mixed musical and ronggeng ensemble comprised Malay gamelan and he tradition of street per- tled ‘Kisah Pulau Pinang’, which wayang kulit instruments along TT formances widely en- was staged at the Heritage Heboh with the Chinese erhu and shigu, TTT joyed by various multi- Street Festival on 15 July 2006. and Western violin and flute. ethnic communities Dances integrated the cha-cha- some decades ago was recreated Ronggeng Merdeka was organised cha, rumba, inang and zapin. by Ombak-Ombak ArtStudio by Arts-Ed, an arts education ini- through its successful staging of tiative of the Penang Educational The 30-minute musical drama re- the much-talked-about musical Consultative Council in coopera- ceived an overwhelming re- drama, Ronggeng Merdeka. tion with School of Arts, sponse. At some of the locations, Universiti Sains Malaysia and the about 400 people thronged the The drama, staged at five open- Penang Heritage Trust. open-air performance. Not want- air community spaces in Penang ing to disappoint the crowd, the and on the mainland in June 2007, Featuring Penang’s bitter-sweet 30-odd talented young perform- was part of the Anak-Anak Kota or journey from the 1930s through ers, aged 10-20, performed two “Children of the City” heritage the Japanese Occupation up to shows consecutively in Seberang education programme for young the period of Merdeka, Ronggeng Jaya (on the mainland), Air Itam people, Merdeka recaptured the and Armenian Street. multiculturalism of Penang – a It was a sequel to the highly ac- pluralism that is often not suffi- Visibly impressed with the chil- claimed 2006 performance enti- ciently highlighted in our coun- dren’s energy, discipline and

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 19 skills in music, dance and drama, the audience at these locations participated by singing and sway- ing their bodies to the music and dance numbers. Recalling the songs as they were sung in the 1940s and 50s, the senior citizens especially sang along with great enthusiasm. They were also cap- tivated by the instrumental music played by the traditional gamelan, wayang kulit, shigu drum, erhu and ronggeng ensemble.

It was interesting to watch the senior citizens, some of whom were seated on four-legged stools, reminiscing about the good old days, Senior citizens reminiscing about the past nodding in agreement with statements made, clapping, raising their hands and whispering to their friends. The community theatre must have reminded them of their experiences at the tua se kai or entertainment outlets such as Penang’s Wembley and Great World Park during their younger days. Some were choked with emotion during certain scenes - in particular the Sook Ching scene (the massacre of the Chinese by the Japanese) - and tears rolled down their cheeks.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 20 Ronggeng girls: We have to cook and massage our husbands

Unheard voices tended to household chores and, by night, they turned into Ronggeng girls. This work provided them a steady source of income and this is Importantly, this musical drama clearly revealed in the second verse of their theme song: also granted the Ronggeng girls agency and voice, to some extent, Kami Penghuni Malaya to counter views and perspectives Melayu, India dan Cina, that legitimised and perpetuated Waktu siang kerja rumah their marginal status over time. Waktu malam keluar berniaga Menghibur semua di taman Ronggeng girls, especially the Beronggeng-ronggeng ka tua se kai Malay girls, were frowned upon by the religious authorities as they Interestingly, these Ronggeng girls were like any other woman, then paraded on stage in tight kebaya and now. They had several identities: they were not just someone’s and invited men to dance with wife, mother or daughter but they were also working women who them. At that time, Malay news- contributed significantly to the family’s household income and the papers and magazines such as Al- State. Like other women, they were also used, controlled, oppressed Ikhwan* (16 April 1931) expressed and subjugated by patriarchy and men as conveyed in the lyrics be- their concern as they believed that low which the Ronggeng girls parodied on stage: it could lead to moral decay and deterioration. Lelaki balik rumah, ceduk nasi, macam tak ada tangan. Kasut pun kena kami pakai untuk dia This, however, did not deter the Even the cloth we have to choose for them. Ronggeng girls as they had to eke Lengkuk badan, abang. out a living. Ronggeng was also a Tiap-tiap hari tunggu kat rumah profession for these girls as they This trousers will do, abang were accomplished singers and Abang nak kasut inikah? dancers. During the day, they at- Dia pun kerja, kita pun kerja.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 21 owed by the larger issue of Inde- pendence, racial politics and the performance itself. In that sense, it was ironic that in trying to liberate themselves through this performance, the Ronggeng girls remained shackled.

On the whole, the talented young cast, including performing arts students from Universiti Sains Malaysia, and the creative crew deserve commendation. The creative juices came from Tan Sooi Beng, a professor of Ethno-musi- cology at Universiti Sains Malay- sia; Janet Pillai, the artistic director and pioneer in the field of children’s theatre; Ho Sheau Fung, the drama director and experienced actress in the Mandarin theatre scene; and choreographer Aida Redza.

In this musical drama, they had worked not only at recreating the tradition of street performances so emblematic of Penang’s cultural scene some decades back but also at reclaiming Penang’s multicul- tural history through song, dance and drama.

It was a praiseworthy effort at 'I will not betray my friends' uncovering the untold story of the The musical drama also opportunity to provide a critique much-maligned Ronggeng girls foregrounded the pain and suffer- about politics and ethnic division. while evoking the true spirit of ing that they had to endure dur- They challenged racial politics by Muhibbah or goodwill amongst ing the Japanese Occupation and asking why there were so many the races at the various commu- in the struggle towards Merdeka. political parties after achieving nity spaces. The war changed their lives: they Independence when they and the had to bury their kebaya and smear community, as showcased by * The writer thanks Assoc. Prof. their faces with charcoal to make them, provided ample evidence of Mahani Musa, a historian, for infor- themselves ugly. Whilst the men cultural mixing, racial integration mation regarding the magazine, Al- fought the Japanese in the jungle, and harmonious living. Ikhwan. q the women, including the Ronggeng girls, had to look after Although the musical drama at- their homes and families. tempted to centre-stage the Shakila Abdul Manan is a Ronggeng girls, it did not suffi- senior lecturer at Univer- In this musical drama, the ciently capture their tensions and siti Sains Malaysia. Ronggeng girls were also given the conflicts. These were overshad-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 22 ORANG ASLI LAND RIGHTS Payback time Enough has been taken away from the Orang Asli and it is time to give a little back by Yogeswaran Subramaniam

he United Nations Inter- photo by Colin Nicholas TT national Day for the TTT World’s Indigenous People was celebrated on 9 August without too many Malaysians even realising it or, for that matter, knowing its meaning. This sad state of affairs in a way sums up society’s ignorance and apathy about indigenous minori- ties in this country.

Of the four indigenous groups covered in the Federal Constitu- tion, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia (the Constitution uses the term “Aboriginal peoples”) In this article, we will revisit the purposes under Negrito, Senoi are the most underprivileged in ongoing challenges faced by the and Aboriginal Malays (more terms of basic education, health Orang Asli in holding on to their popularly known as Proto- care and land rights and devel- traditional lands, which they Malays) (Nicholas, 2000). Shared opment (whether political, eco- have occupied for centuries, and socio-economic indicators and nomic or social). try to translate these problems in social histories, however, can jus- a form that is easily understood. tify their treatment as one There is no doubt that they are (Nicholas, 2000). in serious need of assistance The term “Orang Asli” and development – but, as a mi- The Federal Constitution ex- nority, this usually comes at a The term Orang Asli or “aborigi- pressly distinguishes between price. Would the possibility of nes” (as used in the Federal Con- Malays, the Natives of Sabah, the losing one’s culture, identity stitution and the Aboriginal Peo- Natives of Sarawak and the Abo- and traditional lands in favour ples Act 1954) means the original rigines and their respective rights. of being absorbed into main- or first peoples of Peninsular Ma- Unlike Article 153 (1) of the Fed- stream society be too high a cost laysia. As at 2003, their total popu- eral Constitution - which imposes to pay? Would we willingly lation stood at around 147,000, a duty to safeguard the special po- make such a sacrifice if we were clearly indicating their minority sition of Malays, the Natives of in their position? Unfortunately status. The Orang Asli, however, Sabah and the Natives of Sarawak for the Orang Asli, they are not are not homogenous peoples but - Article 8(5)(c) of the Federal Con- being asked these questions so a collective term for the 18 ethnic stitution only appears to vest a that they can decide for them- subgroups that are in turn offi- discretion to act affirmatively in selves. cially classified for administrative the protection, well-being and ad-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 23 vancement of Orang Asli rights nal reserve” to be an “aboriginal peal) in 1996 held that the Orang (Lim, 1997). area” (section 6). The nature of Asli common law rights in Malay- these rights are so limited that sia included, amongst others, Orang Asli land rights Orang Asli occupying these “the right to live on their land as in Malaysia gazetted lands have been re- their forefathers had lived and this garded as being not more than a would mean that even the future To appreciate the predicament of mere tenant at the will of the State generations of the aboriginal peo- the Orang Asli in respect of their Authority as the status of the land ple would be entitled to this rights lands, it is necessary to under- can be revoked at any time (Lim, of their forefathers”. The appeal stand the extent of the role of tra- 2007, Yogeswaran Subramaniam, to the Federal Court by the Johor ditional lands to the Orang Asli. 2007). State Government and the other Like most indigenous communi- defendants was dismissed but no ties worldwide who still practice To make matters worse, the record written grounds for the decision a traditional way of life, the Orang in approving applications for were given. Asli do not view their traditional aboriginal reserves has been dis- land as a commodity belonging to mal. As at 31 December 2003, 62.5 Six years later, in the case of an individual whose ownership per cent of appli- allows him for the most part to cations were still deal with and use the same freely. pending (Center for Orang Asli The Orang Asli who practise a Concerns’ web traditional way of life use their site), thus turning traditional land not merely as the Orang Asli their home but as a source of live- into squatters on lihood (e.g. swidden farming, their own land! agriculture, hunting, fishing and, Admittedly, there of late, tourism), a place of reli- are administra- gious practices and cultural her- tive difficulties as itage (e.g. ceremonial and ances- the welfare of the tral burial grounds and the aborigines is a sources), health care (e.g. tradi- federal matter and tional medicines) and social inter- land is a state matter. But consid- Sagong bin Tasi & Ors v Kerajaan action (e.g. balai adats used for ering the fact that the welfare of Negeri Selangor & Ors, the High communal gatherings). They view the Orang Asli (including the res- Court decided that the proprietary land as community property, the ervation of land) is expressly pro- interest of aboriginal people in basis of their cultural identity and vided for under the Federal Con- their customary and ancestral sometimes life itself (Kajing Tubek stitution, such delay is unaccept- land was an interest over land. & 2 ors v Ekran Bhd & 4ors [1996]). able. Add to this the problem of Additionally, the Court also held under-gazetting of Orang Asli that the State and Federal govern- Until recently, the only rights of land, where not all land validly ments owed a fiduciary duty to the occupation that the Orang Asli claimed is gazetted (Nicholas, Orang Asli in respect of their land. had in respect of their traditional 2000), and the Orang Asli are left The defendants’ appeal to the land were contained in the Abo- with a pittance. Court of Appeal was dismissed in riginal Peoples Act 1954 (APA). 2005. Against concurrent develop- Under the APA, the State Author- But two relatively recent cases in- ments in other common law juris- ity may declare any area exclu- volving Orang Asli land have rec- dictions such as Australia, sively inhabited by aborigines to ognised aboriginal rights over Canada and New Zealand and be an “aboriginal reserve” (section land. In Adong bin Kuwau v international standards, the Gov- 7) and declare any area predomi- Kerajaan Negeri Johor & Anor ernment has appealed against a nantly or exclusively occupied by (1996), the High Court (affirmed decision of the Court of Appeal aborigines that is not an “aborigi- subsequently in the Court of Ap- recognising the customary title of

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 24 the Orang Asli. The case is still 7(b)). pending and the Orang Asli anx- iously await the outcome of this Article 8(j) of the Convention on case. Biodiversity 1992, to which Ma- laysia is a signatory, calls for the International preservation and maintenance of standards indigenous traditional knowledge. The loss of rights in respect Article 14 of the International La- of lands and, consequently, the bour Organisation Convention loss of the lands traditionally oc- (No 169) concerning Indigenous cupied by the Orang Asli may re- and Tribal Peoples in Independ- sult in a loss of biodiversity and ent Countries of 1989 explicitly indigenous knowledge systems at provides for the recognition of an alarming rate (Nicholas, 2005). rights of ownership and posses- sion of traditional land and for the What is the big deal? governments of the countries that are party to the Convention to The total area involved in respect guarantee effective protection of of aboriginal reserves (gazetted, sess unique indigenous tradi- these rights. Notwithstanding approved and pending) tional knowledge (e.g. in plant that Malaysia is not a party to this amounted to 127, 698 hectares at and animal life) that has proved Convention, the two decisions the end of 2003 (COAC web site), invaluable to, amongst others, the nevertheless do demonstrate con- roughly 1,277 square km. This is pharmaceutical, agricultural and sistency with international stand- less than 1 per cent of the total biotechnology industries. This ards. land area of Peninsular Malaysia. scarcely documented traditional It goes against good conscience knowledge that is passed from The draft United Nations Decla- that security of tenure for this rela- generation to generation contin- ration on the Rights of Indigenous tively small tract of land is not ues to evolve daily with practice. Peoples, adopted by the Human given to the Orang Asli. They have The total dispossession of the Rights Council on 29 June 2006 already lost so much over the Orang Asli from their lands and a (Malaysia is a member of the Hu- years to make room for others to change to mainstream lifestyle man Rights Council and voted in lead the lives that they lead today. would inevitably lead to the favour of its adoption), provides Furthermore, security concerns gradual extinction of this valuable for, amongst others: during the communist insurgency asset. in the 1950s and 1960s, one of the • The right of restitution of tra- prime reasons for the outdated Orang Asli practising a tradi- ditional lands and compensa- APA, no longer exist. Simply put, tional way of life over their tradition in the form of lands equal there are no cogent reason to pre- tional lands also play an impor- in quality, size and legal sta- serve this status quo if the welfare tant role in contributing to the tus (Article 27) of the Orang Asli is truly of para- preservation of our forests and the • The right not to be forcibly re- mount concern. biodiversity of our ailing environ- moved from their lands with- ment. out the free and informed con- Recognising native title is not only sent of the indigenous peoples a moral or legal issue. There are The argument here is not for the and after agreement on just economic benefits even if the Orang Asli to remain on their and fair compensation (Article Orang Asli choose to continue to lands without “progress” but for 10) observe their traditional lifestyle the Orang Asli to be given secu- • The right of prevention and on their lands. rity of tenure over their land so that redress for any action which those who choose to continue has the aim of dispossessing Other than the obvious contribu- with their lifestyle can do so. In them of their lands (Article tion to tourism, Orang Asli pos- this respect, Article 3 of the United

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 25 Nations Draft Declaration of In- posed resettlement of the ter judgment or will may effec- digenous Peoples explicitly pro- Chewong and Temuan for the tively be ethnocide. A decision of vides that Indigenous Peoples proposed Kelau Dam may have this magnitude is not for anyone have the right to self-determina- actually been involuntary (avail- to make but the Orang Asli them- tion to freely pursue, amongst able at the COAC website). Para- selves. Justice, fairness and any other things, their cultural and graph (d) of the Jabatan Hal civil society in this day and age economic development. Ehwal Orang Asli Statement of would demand it. Policy Regarding the Long Term A sad turn of events Administration of the Aborigine To fairly and justly address Orang Peoples in the Federation of Ma- Asli land concerns, the following Instead of embracing the recogni- laya of 1961 explicitly provides recommendations should be con- tion of Orang Asli customary land that “Aborigines will not be sidered: title and regulating it for the bet- moved from their traditional ar- • The complete review of the de- terment of the Orang Asli, the Gov- eas without their full consent”. cision to introduce the “Felda- ernment has decided to contest its Again, this does not reflect well type” home and farming very recognition in a court of law on the government, which in law scheme to the Orang Asli hav- by appealing against the decision owes a fiduciary duty to the Orang ing regard to the Orang Asli’s of the Court of Appeal in Sagong’s Asli and has to act for their wel- right to self determination case. fare as provided for in the Federal mentioned above. Constitution. • The recognition of Orang Asli This has resulted in even more le- lands through the introduction gal tussles. In April 2007, the With everything in limbo or pend- of specific legislation that Semelai of Kampong Bukit Rok ing in court, what is in store for would regulate such matters. and Kampong Ibam applied to the the Orang Asli in respect of their • The expedient approval and Temerloh High Court for the judi- lands? The Government is in the gazetting of Orang Asli appli- cial review of an eviction order process of introducing a policy of cations that are pending with served on them by the Pahang allocating each Orang Asli fam- a view that they be converted State Government, claiming, ily 2.9 hectares of land to build to titles when the legislation amongst other things, common their homes and plant commercial mentioned above is passed. law customary rights over their crops (The Star, 2/10/06). Despite land. its attractive appearance to the av- Society should not force the Orang erage non-Orang Asli, this policy Asli to join our rat race (Abdul The recent proposed National may result in not only a further Rahman Ismail, 2005). We owe it Arboretum and Kelau Dam loss of more than 30 per cent of to them and ourselves to respect project, which involved the pos- their existing lands but also the their way of life and afford them sible relocation of the Orang Asli, possible annihilation of their tra- the opportunity to choose their still shows the lack of priority to ditional culture and ethnicity. If right to earn a livelihood freely. Orang Asli land rights. No suit- the Orang Asli were to be Enough has been taken away and able resolution was reached re- “herded” into farming and fruit it is time to give a little back. q sulting in the Orang Asli refusing growing for their own “good”, to move and both projects being further drawbacks would include delayed (The Star, 27 March and 6 the gradual extinction of the in- Yogeswaran Subramaniam, April 2007). Instead of listening valuable traditional knowledge of a former practising lawyer to the case of the Orang Asli, poli- the Orang Asli and the loss of the and corporate legal advisor ticians blamed third party “insti- contribution of the traditional with a financial institution, gators” for instigating the Orang Orang Asli to the preservation of current lectures in a private Asli to stand up for their rights our forests and the biodiversity of college and plans to pursue (The Star, 27/3/07). our environment. a doctoral thesis in Orang Asli Affairs. More disturbing perhaps was a Turning the traditional Orang video that revealed that the pro- Asli into farmers against their bet-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 26 CURRENT CONCERNS Stand up; speak up More citizens must defend what is right and just by P Ramakrishnan

enior Cabinet Minister that ours is an Islamic state. The SS Bernard Dompok must founding fathers who negotiated SSS be complimented for his the social contract and the people conviction and commit- of this country who were present ment to truth. In a rare show of then knew exactly what was courage - not common among the agreed upon. Malaya came into ranks of Cabinet Ministers to being on terms mutually negoti- speak up when a gag order is in ated and agreed upon by the We are very concerned that our place – Dompok has chosen to re- founding fathers, who were deter- national unity is still very fragile main true to his conscience by mined to forge a nation based on and under threat - even after speaking up to remind absent- mutual respect for our differences, nearly 50 years of independence. minded ministers of the terms trust and a common destiny. It We are disturbed when politi- under which Sabah and Sarawak was this arrangement that has cians bent on testing their popu- became part of the enlarged entity somewhat preserved our unity larity go overboard in touching on that exists today as Malaysia. thus far. Any deviation from this issues that are sensitive and with- sacred arrangement is bound to out basis. He is absolutely correct in stating have repercussions that would that “Malaysia was not meant to disrupt our harmony and unity. All concerned citizens must speak be an Islamic state” when the up and stand up for the things Malaysia Agreement was signed Najib was only a kid then - barely that we believe in. We must make way back in 1963, i.e. 44 years ago. four years old. He could not have a concerted effort to sideline the This was crystal clear otherwise understood what transpired then minority vocal extremists who are the people of these two states nor appreciate what pledges were hell-bent on disturbing our peace would not have supported the ref- undertaken solemnly in the com- and destroying the harmony that erendum to join Malaysia. mon struggle for nationhood. bind us as a people and as a nation. The vast majority of us who The Malaysia Agreement indeed The Prime Minister, who was old are moderate, tolerant, broad- re-affirmed the nature and char- enough then, would appreciate minded, peace-loving and respon- acter of the nation that came into the process that made it possible sible citizens must take a strong being in 1957 following the social to proclaim this nation as a sover- stand against those who are contract that gave birth to the Fed- eign state and a common abode threatening our democratic way eral Constitution. It was also ab- for all its citizens. He should ask of life by denying our rights and solutely clear then that this nation his classmates as to what they freedom and destroying the insti- was not meant to be an Islamic understood Malaya was meant to tutions that represent the rule of state. be when we attained our inde- law. pendence. He should ask those The Deputy Prime Minister can- people from that generation to sol- We hope that more and more con- not ignore the facts of history and emnly state whether it was even cerned and conscientious citizens existing historical documents and remotely suggested that Malaya will be part of this effort to defend judicial pronouncements to claim was meant to be an Islamic state. what is right and just. q

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 27 leges, perhaps it was Ismail’s eral and open-minded. He may viewpoint, or perhaps it was more have been of the liberalism of his widely held by leaders of that gen- time, but was that any different eration, or perhaps, even, that was from others of somewhat similar the way it was justified in the con- status and social standing of the text of the independence consti- same period? tution, given the misgivings in the UK House of Commons about it. But the speculation that he would After all, wasn’t it Tan Siew Sin have removed the ISA takes the who defended the provision? But cake. If anything, the Tunku was Letters must not exceed 250 then, how do we deal with the actually more bothered about ISA words and must include the entrenchment of Article 153 in detentions than Ismail. Wasn’t it writer's name and address. 1972, when Ismail was very much Ismail who, when asked in Par- Pseudonyms may be used. Send back in government? liament what would happen to letters or emails to Editor (see the detainees if they didn’t con- page 3 for address details). As for Ismail frequenting the caba- fess, replied “Let them rot!”? And, Views expressed need not reflect ret, one doesn’t have to look far to irony of ironies, the Malaysian those of Aliran. If e-mailing, realise that it really says little distributor of the biography – the include message in the e-mail about the man and much about man known affectionately as body itself. the times – the films of P Ramlee “Pak Chong” by many – was an from the 1950s, would tell all, as ISA detainee who spent the better Disturbing review of much as the photographs of the part of his youth in detention un- Tun Ismail biography Sultan and Sultanah of Kedah der an order signed by none other from the same period. We can only than Ismail himself. I found Johan’s review of Ooi Kee blindside ourselves with such a Beng’s book on Tun Dr Ismail neglect of history, to read the Nor should we forget that – for (Aliran Monthly Vol 27 Issue No. man’s behaviours against the those who imagine a golden age 3) rather disturbing. tenor of our times and thus con- of the judiciary – it was the judici- clude that he must have been lib- ary who ousted themselves from One would think that the first judicial review of ISA post-independence generation cases, declaring that mat- was some kind of golden age of ters of national security political giants of a progressive were best left to the discre- democratic tenor. Nothing about tion of the minister and it the ISA; nothing about Operation wasn’t for the courts to con- Cold Store; not a word in passing sider objective evidence. about the much-admired Lim Chong Eu being booted out; a That said, it should be re- gloss over the composition of the membered that Ismail did numbers detained in the after- give a speech in USM math of May 13; nothing about the around 1970 in which he termination of local elections, the acknowledged the contri- decimation of the Labour Party, the butions of various groups, breaking of the railwaymen’s un- including the communists, ion's strike, nothing even to point to the achievement of inde- out that it was Ismail who was pendence. Perhaps the best afraid that Tunku might make that can be said is that the “concessions” at the Baling talks. man moved with the times Just sweetness and light. – a quality that is perhaps all too rare among so many Regarding Malay special privi- of our current generation of

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 28 so-called leaders who, if anything, in films because they have some cause, mysteriously, and without are only too intent to protect their factual basis. anyone being responsible. Since narrow interests while masquer- they exclude human agency, the ading as defenders of the Malay We have to accept that accidents word’s connotations are exculpa- poor. and deaths do happen. Just like tory. all Malaysians, my heart goes out Still, it is a sad reflection of our to the recently bereaved families To call some systemic failure (of times that we should now appar- and friends. public utilities or services) a ently engage in a kind of collec- “woe” is to imply that it is a mys- tive amnesia to imagine a golden The manner in which the accident terious affliction, a metaphysical age of democracy and liberalism happened (though it shouldn’t conundrum, for which nobody is, that never was. have) is not impossible. But, what or may be held, accountable. is shockingly unbelievable is that Whose interests does this impli- Observer the driver of the bus who had been cation, neatly smuggled una- booked more than 10 times for traf- wares by the word “woe” into a Malaysia’s worst fic offences including reckless reader’s response to the reported accident - Corruption driving was still allowed to con- facts, serve? involved? tinue driving! In the face of “woes”, Malaysian In the Tamil movie entitled ‘In- Media can play a role and save citizens are often said to have dian’, the octogenarian hero, who lives by publishing photos of reck- “grouses”, even grouses that the had been a patriotic Indian inde- less drivers against whom war- powerful may from time to time pendence fighter in the 1940s, is rants of arrest have been issued. graciously acknowledge and per- both furious and depressed at the Just an idea! haps, however ineptly, attempt to same time, to see the spate of cor- assuage. But what is a grouse? A ruption rampant in his now free K Puvirajen querulous and ungrounded com- country. He resolves to take the Penang plaint, a petty and ungrateful ex- law into his own hands and cru- pression of unwarranted resent- elly stabs to death even his only A “grouse” about ment, an irritating and pestering son, a road transport department “woeful” usage expression of dissatisfaction. officer who had been the cause of the deaths of 40 school children Malaysian journalistic usage, To call a complaint a grouse is to in a road accident. with its verbal idiosyncrasies, is imply that those who voice it are sometimes strange. simply indulging in immature, The son had accepted a bribe to churlish and gratuitous denun- approve as roadworthy, without Even stranger is the fact that those ciation, not that they may have a inspecting the bus that was to take who seek to offer an alternative legitimate cause of dissatisfaction the children on a picnic. The approach, or speak in a different and complaint. “Woes” are visi- brakes of the bus fail and leads to voice, often (and unthinkingly, so tations of unfathomable fate, un- the tragic loss of 40 innocent lives. it seems) adopt the language of the like the “problems” and “failures” The scene of the accident in that dominant press. They, including arising from human action and film was made to seem so real that Aliran, do so without recognising the workings or otherwise of hu- it had many people, especially the hidden assumptions and atti- manly created systems. Again, women in tears. tudes, even insidious implica- whose interests does recourse to tions, that are built into those all the preferred mainstream usage I had always thought that this too familiar “mainstream” us- serve? It’s not hard to see. particular incident in ‘Indian’ was ages. just fiction. It was only after Similarly, we hear often of “er- watching on TV news Malaysia’s Malaysians love to speak of rant” officials. When something worst road accident that I realised “woes”. A woe is a disaster that undeniably and embarrassingly that such incidents are portrayed descends without discernible goes wrong, it is an errant func-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 29 tionary who is generally blamed. zily accepted, of political books of the party leaders and not “Errant” for the Malaysian main- befuddlement. threaten their positions. To do stream media is the English that, he has to increase his sphere equivalent of the Malay Political corruption, the corrup- of influence and hence be in- “menyeleweng”. But its implication tion of public life, begins with the volved in party politics and poli- is quite different. corruption of language and ticking. For example, if he sees thought. The beginnings of an al- something wrong in the way the To be characterised as “menye- ternative politics involve a cri- DAP is run, will he openly speak leweng” is to be branded a devi- tique of the dominant usages and out and ask for reform? ant, a person of unacceptable the generation of a new language views or tendencies for which the of public debate. To be effective Jeff Ooi will have offender is to be held morally ac- no choice but to forego his free- countable. By contrast, “errant” The imperative need of the mo- dom hitherto enjoyed and toe the implies that the person has done ment, in Malaysia and worldwide, party line. All political parties, something not quite correct but is a “semantically-led political especially those in Malaysia, the less than really serious; that their recovery”. DAP included, indulge heavily in shortcoming or offence is one of politicking aimed at securing po- an amiably erratic character, of Emeritus Professor Clive Kessler sitions as elected representatives personal quirk or eccentricity; and University of New South Wales or within the party. This is the that, as personal peccadillo, it has reality of the involvement in party no implications for and in no way Jeff Ooi’s politics. reflects adversely upon the system freedom lost or procedures or laws from which Therefore, in that sense, Jeff Ooi it is a departure. With reference to”Blogger Jeff doesn’t loose his neutrality, but he Ooi’s move to DAP: ‘Neutrality’ will lose his freedom as an inde- So, even if the politicians and lost?” in the Media Monitor’s Di- pendent blogger. Jeff Ooi may mainstream press keep using ary on your website, I agree with have to pay a price. these favourite terms (as well they the writer’s comments on “neu- may, since the hidden connota- trality”. Basically all good and There is no one road to freedom. tions suit their purposes), why influential bloggers are governed There is a price for all freedom should others with different views by certain aims and ideology. I fighters to pay. Only time will tell. follow their ways? Why would consider the move of Jeff Ooi to join Aliran want to reinforce the se- DAP as a shift in strategy to at- CC mantic “anti-accountability tain his objectives. By joining shield” that those entrusted with DAP, he doesn’t lose his neutral- Open up the banking public office happily wear to pro- ity, which, as aptly argued by the sector again tect them from public opinion, writer, exists only when the offi- even legitimate public dissatisfac- cial media want to discredit those I read with alarm the recent tion? who disagree with the powers- statement by CIMB’s Nazri that that-be. eventually there would be only So, every time you feel tempted to six banks in this country. His talk of “woes” or “grouses” or However, I’m more concerned of call to speed up mergers of “errant” public functionaries, Jeff Ooi’s effectiveness as an inde- Malaysian banks at the 11th please think twice. No, not twice. pendent blogger because from Malaysian Banking Summit Just once should be enough. now on he has to adhere to party cannot be beneficial to the pub- discipline and ideology, especially lic and the Malaysian economy As George Orwell taught us long if he wants to go into parliamen- in general. He may have his ar- ago, the offence here is a dual one. tary politics to make changes. To guments about consolidating These words are not just clichés. do that he has to be a DAP leader, banking services, but in Malay- They are the instruments, often and to put it cynically but realisti- sia the amalgamation of banks, cunningly deployed and then la- cally, he has to be in the good sometimes forced, at the end of

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 30 the 1997 economic crisis by the giving you a car without wheels. Broader perspective EPU is now coming home to Enough of this protectionism. to Negaraku roost at the expense of the gen- Please don’t create another Pro- controversy eral public. ton or MAS situation in which the public is always at the losing end. Malaysian student Wee Meng These mergers, done in unholy Please bring back the 40 banks - Chee a.k.a. Namewee has hope- haste at that time, only mean to- Ban Hin Lee, Kwong Yik, Abra Fi- fully learnt his bitter lesson that it day a dreadful monopoly by a nance, whatever. does not pay to meddle with the handful of banks. This puts the matters that concern a nation’s public at their mercy especially And do you notice something pride and joy. with regard to the excessive else? With fewer banks and pre- bank charges for services, real sumably less competition, our While some newspapers espe- or cooked up by these unscru- economy seems to have suddenly cially the daily Malay tabloids pulous institutions. Bank lost its zest, what with all of them continue to sensationalise this is- Negara is literally sleeping on not wanting to take risks. Bank sue with the aim of making good the job and may not have the re- Negara must answer to the pub- sales, what is frustrating is to note sources to keep checking on lic if these institutions are being how this “Negarakuku” issue has these banks. Over and above run by people capable enough to been politicised, both by the po- that, the public have to put up take Malaysia to greater heights? litical parties and also those clam- with meagre returns. If they lack the creativity and abil- ouring to champion human rights ity, what is the central bank do- values. Some of these banks appear to be ing about it? With inflation, does focusing only on properties it mean that my RM10 savings in For Umno, Wee’s “Negarakuku” which invariably end-up on the the bank is going to be worth RM5 rap is seen as an insult to the auction pages of every major in two years while these unscru- Malays and Umno. How so? Is newspaper in this country. They pulous bankers run off with the Malaysia only home to the used to lend miserly for car loans innumerable fees fleeced off the Malays? Is the national anthem and hire thugs to intimidate cus- public? exclusive only to one particular tomers if they default. They now race? Indeed, for their own politi- prey on teenagers at shopping The short-cut way to avoid giving cal gain, the political parties complexes by having their agents out loans appears to be to ensure shamelessly exploited and misdi- push credit cards to them. The that prospective customers are on rected the entire episode concern- young who get caught up in this the records of the now discredited ing Wee and his lack of respect vicious cycle of debt are getting CTOs. We may have to learn a and patriotism for his homeland. bankrupted before they are 30. Is thing or two from China. Their this what the EPU had in mind banks have a high NPL but their With Malaysia celebrating its 50th when they decided on these merg- economy is roaring to the point of independence anniversary, it is ers? overheating year in and year out. shameful that the political parties The situation we are in now is di- are busy working very hard on It is sometimes amazing how rectly the result of the shortsighted polarising Malaysians using ra- blocks and blocks of condomini- views of the EPU and Bank cial sentiments. They obviously ums with no one living in them Negara. And this is going to cost care little about the true essence are constructed all end-financed the country dearly. If a 1997 hits of Malaysia’s independence. by our banks. Who buys them? us tomorrow, we will be sunk by Who pays the rent? And how do a double whammy of all our For the MCA Youth, they pleaded banks get their returns? There are money in the bank becoming that this Wee saga be done with. enough stories by businessmen worthless with no discernible Why? Is it because the issue in- who complain bitterly about economy to boot. volves a Chinese? banks giving loans to put up a fac- tory but then deciding not to give Z Ibrahim No one bothered to look into the out working capital. This is like Klang issue from a broader perspective.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 31 Here is a Malaysian youngster former ACA chief were not rebut- Thoughts on the ISA who has negative views of his ted convincingly. country, to the point that he has Could you include one more col- decided it is all right to take a As Dr M said previously, even his umn in your ISA Watch list of knock at Malaysia, irrespective of children need to make a living detainees stating the crimes they how distasteful the endeavour and no one will dispute the right have committed/suspected of might be. of our PM’s children to go into committing - and a brief expla- business ventures if they are nation of what JI, KMM and The other concern is that if this above board. But the whole prob- Thai separatists means. boy has reservations about being lem is the question: Are they? Or a Malaysian, he should by virtue what about the alleged interfer- When you say a person is put of being a university student, ence by the “boys” on the “fourth ISA detention without evi- know better how best to vent out floor” in the running of the gov- dence, it sounds cruel. But if his frustrations than to use on- ernment? These are examples of you say a person is put under line technology and belittle the the perception of him not walk- ISA for suspected crime/mur- country globally. ing the talk!! der/drug abuse, then it seems reasonable. For there are situ- If Wee’s actions were not bad Aliran’s portrayal of things fall- ations I can envisage where enough, the ‘champions’ of hu- ing apart in Malaysia at 50 is such negative incidents can be man rights should be more astute pretty pessimistic reading and for associated with a person, but than to offer a knee jerk reaction those of us who call this our only there is no evidence to prove and defend the boy’s actions us- home, we can only hope enough it. If given the authority, I ing ‘freedom of expression’ as Malaysians will put across the would put such persons under their ammunition. No doubt the necessary message to wake the ISA detention for investiga- Federal Constitution (under Arti- BN from the arrogance of enjoy- tion. cle 10.1.a) provides for the free- ing a two thirds majority in Par- dom of speech and expression but liament for so long. Maybe then, You may never understand such insulting your country’s national the right remedial action will be action unless your loved ones die anthem is certainly no way of re- taken. due to the actions of such persons specting the freedom provided. though you can never prove it. Loyal Malaysian JJ Ray Penang One more thing: are you aware of any deliberate effort to use “I will always be fair” psychological means on a person to make him/her a scape- “I will always be fair.” goat for others. For example, since you are so against ISA, Statements like this warm the would you deliberately use hearts of many but how many of psychological means on a per- us really believe they will be trans- son to make use of that person lated into action? It is another ex- in your campaign against the ample of this PM’s style of being ISA? How would you justify great in talk but lacking in sub- making use of an innocent per- stance. son? How would you sleep at night knowing that you have He has had more than four years done wrong to an innocent to show that he means what he person? Would you use your says about having a cleaner gov- children as scapegoats for the ernment. But what do we have to- purpose? day when even the allegations cast against the IGP and the Elcy Thomas Chandy

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 32 JUDICIARY Judiciary in a real mess

o say that the Malaysian How many lawyers ‘passed’ the to the Sharia Court to seek redress TT judiciary is in a real mess CLP through fraudulent means? in the case of a spouse, mostly TTT may indeed be an under- How many such lawyers were el- men, coverting to Islam and con- statement. The cancer of evated to the Bench? Small won- verting his children too without corruption, ineptness and lazi- der then that such fake judges the knowledge of the mother. In ness has spread throughout the pass judgements that go against effect, such judges are asking non- judiciary. both the spirit and the letter of Muslims to do something illegal. Constitutional provisions. Of The Sharia Court was set up to Judges take the solemn oath to course, fake judges cannot pro- handle cases involving Muslims. defend the Constitution but some vide written judgements. Add to Period. With regard to apostasy of them pass judgements that are this the government policy of there is nothing in the Koran that so atrocious. One won- recommends punitive ders how on earth these measures for anyone people got elevated to the opting out of Islam. Bench in the first place! Rather, it is clearly Many are not able to write stated that in Islam judgements after they pro- there is no compulsion. nounce verdict. Obvi- This is confirmed again ously the dispensation of and again by renowned justice speedily is not Islamic scholars and re- their priority. They prob- ligious experts. ably have not heard that justice delayed is justice While the government denied and this has re- extols the virtues of Is- sulted in people languish- lam Hadhari as mod- ing in Death Row for five ern, liberal and progres- or more years. The behav- sive, the stark fact is iour of such judges is totally un- Islamisation of the judiciary simi- that, ironically, since its introduc- ethical, immoral and unprofes- lar to the trend in the civil service, tion, the position of non-Muslims sional. Judges who are unable to in education and in the armed with regard to spousal conver- write judgements have been pro- forces and we get a perfect recipe sion, conversion of children who moted! So the rot continues. for uncertainty in every area of na- are minors, and Muslims attempt- tional life. ing to convert out of Islam has dra- In a recent court case involving matically worsened. malpractice with regard to the The judgments passed in respect CLP, it was revealed that there of a non-Malay spouse coverting The government has remained was a Malay quota for CLP to Islam and converting children deaf and dumb to the growing passes! In addition there was in the process and apostasy cases concerns of non-Muslims. Even manipulation of scores — certain are frighteningly wrong in law. enlightened Muslims are aghast lawyers who obtained a meagre These judges are answerable or at the extreme behaviour of reli- 15 per cent came out successful in accountable to no one and so they gious department officials, Rela the test! Given this scenario, it is get away with “murder” of the personnel and even the police. No pertinent to ask how long this Constitution, the supreme law of attempt has been made to rectify hanky-panky has been going the country. Take, for example, grave injustices through legisla- onsince the inception of the CLP? judges asking non-Muslims to go tive measures or constitutional

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 33 amendments.

The rise in the prominence of the Sharia court came about follow- CemerlangCemerlangCemerlang ing a constitutional amendment in 1988, initiated by a “half-past six PM” who had neither the wis- GemilangGemilangGemilang dom nor the foresight to realise what injustices it would unleash. Later he had the cheek to say that TerbilangTerbilangTerbilang he got away with the amendment! The so-called protectors of non- Muslim interests — the MCA, MIC and Gerakan — as always, dem- Pak Lah jadi Perdana Menteri onstrated that they had nothing Membawa konsep Islam Hadhari between their ears by keeping Rakyat masih mencari-cari their mouths shut and sitting on Tak jumpa-jumpa Islam Hadhari their bums. Kabinet dipenuhi dengan ramai menteri It is about time would-be judges faced an all-party Parliamentary Semuanya sibuk mencari projek terkini Select Committee to be grilled on Pendapat rakyat tidak dilayani their stand such as conversion to Masin-masing sibuk dengan hal peribadi Islam of a non-Muslim spouse, conversion of the children with- Bunyi sedap menggelikan hati out the mother’s permission, cus- Hilang isteri tersayang dah cari pengganti todial rights, rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment and sin- Berbulan madu sehingga hari ini gle mothers. In addition, they Takut terlambat apabila Pak Lah menyedari should be required to sit for a test to determine their knowledge and Amalan rasuah meningkat lagi understanding of the Constitu- Yang disiasat tak pernah ada bukti tion, the supreme law of the land. Yang dituduh pula dapat melepaskan diri If an IQ test can be included, it would improve the selection proc- Pengundi terpedaya semasa membuang undi ess and also determine whether they are fit to be called “Yang Harga barang naik setiap hari Ariff”. Tak nampak pun kemajuan ekonomi Rakyat gelisah, susah mencari rezeki The case of Moorthy, Suresh and Perdana Menteri asyik ke luar negeri Revthy, Subashini, Lina Joy and others clearly indicate the failure of the presiding judges to inter- Jika ini maksud pret the Constitution correctly. ISLAM HADHARI Not many people could conclude Jawablah PAK LAH that the judgments in respect of di AKHIRAT nanti the above cases are just.

Perhaps, the only hope is for the Agong, aided by his brother rul- -Awang Patriotic ers, to dismiss judges who are un- fit for the Bench. q

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 34 CIVIL SERVICE Civil Service: Improving the delivery system

elect people based glass between, to prevent idle chat- civil servants attending meetings SSS strictly on merit. Aban- ting. and courses or on leave are at- don immediately selec- tended to by a competent officer. tion based on ethnicity. Get all government servants, including bosses, to maintain a Implement an open and transpar- Permit no political interference daily record of what was done ent tender system for all projects with regard to selection, promo- during work hours. immediately. Anyone violating or tion or disciplinary action. even bending stipulated proce- Forbid use of ‘tutup’ signs at any dures must be dismissed. Ensure that employees clock-in service counter during working personally and not get office-boys hours. Ensure all counters func- Take the Auditor-General’s Re- or others to do it for them. tion during working hours. port seriously. Bring to book ministers, mentris-besar, chief minis- Make clocking-in and clocking- Forbid use of answering ma- ters, heads of department and civil out for lunch breaks complusory. chines. Civil servants must attend servants mentioned in the report to public queries, complaints for malpractice/corruption. They Ensure that civil servants eat speedily. should be dismissed or demoted. breakfat and lunch in their own For heaven’s sake, stop giving time — not government time. Make it mandatory for bosses to these people pangkat (higher po- Therefore, no government servant reply within three days to public sitions)! q should go for breakfast after complaints in the print clocking in. No one should be media. Bosses must permitted to bring food into an make themselves avail- office. Currently, many govern- able to journalists when ment servants go for their lunch they phone to seek infor- around twelve and use the official mation or clarification. lunch break to sleep or rest! A boss unavailable for comment reflects badly Forbid use of handphones in of- on the efficiency of any fices during work hours. Ensure department. that all handphones are put on si- lent mode and kept in a cupboard Get bosses to decide the until work stops. The amount of day, date and time of government time wasted by staff meetings and courses chatting on their handphones or well in advance and dis- sending sms is phenomenal. play the information Make one office phone available prominently at the serv- for staff use. ice counter for public information. Place staff in government offices in cubicles, with non-transparent Ensure that the duties of

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 35 AN UNFINISHED BUT INSPIRING JOURNEY Continued from page 40

The strike action initiated by the Then May 13 shook the nation and University students Railway Union of Malaya (RUM) our freedoms were curbed. Be- mobilise in the 1960s in the fight for daily cause of the racially charged at- rated manual workers to be em- mosphere, many Malaysians University students were stirring placed as monthly-paid employ- turned away from mono-ethnic and acting as spokespersons for ees was another inspiring exam- parties. the downtrodden, traversing the ple of the struggle for justice for country and campaigning during exploited workers. NGOs emerge the general election. On 1 Decem- ber 1974, more than 30,000 Yet another strike action that had After a lull, the 1970s witnessed a Baling peasants staged a mass a tremendous impact was the different phase in the civil society demonstration to protest against teachers’ strike across the coun- movement. Civil society groups the distressing social conditions try in 1967. Following a steady that were multi-ethnic in orienta- which forced them into abject pov- erosion of the teachers’ salaries tion began to emerge and there erty. Students showed their soli- and benefits from 1948 to 1961, were lively debates around vari- darity with the peasants and pro- teachers belonging to the National ous issues of concern. tested against inflation and cor- Union of Teachers (NUT) boy- rupt politicians. After a mass dem- cotted extramural activities, pick- The Consumers Association of onstration on 3 December 1974 eted, protested at rallies and Penang was vocal on consumer outside the Selangor Padang, worked to rule. Having reached issues and Aliran, which was reg- 1,128 students were arrested and the end of their tether, they finally istered in 1977, was at the fore- the Universities and University resorted to strike action, walking front in articulating issues of de- Colleges Act was then tightened out of classrooms for two and a mocracy and basic human rights. to disallow student politics. hour hours daily from 27 March Because there were few other civil to 6 April 1967. society groups, Aliran found itself People power raising awareness on a host of is- triumphs Women’s movement sues such as accountability, uni- takes root versal spiritual values, human Civil society was indeed on the rights, sustainable development, march. In 1980, the Barisan gov- The first shoots of the women’s social justice, and of course unity. ernment moved to deregister movement sprouted in the 1960s. Aliran citing our press statement Although women were freely re- By now, the seeds that were planted criticising the increased allow- cruited in the labour force, their by the early generation of activists ances for civil servants which it rights as workers were not always began to bear fruit. A plethora of said might confuse the public and respected. Among the early issues organisations on specific issues pose a threat to peace. Numerous that galvanised middle-class and concerns of vital interest be- other allegations and lies were working women were unequal gan to emerge in the 1970s and 80s, concocted and the issue was hotly pay and the global struggle to championing every issue that debated in Parliament. To our eter- uphold the rights of working needed to be tackled. nal gratitude, civil society rose as women. one in our defence, protesting It was an exciting period because against the unjust and unwar- Groups such as the YWCA, the the press was much freer, and ranted government action and Women Teachers Union and the abundant space was available for writing countless letters of sup- Selangor Indian Association civil society. Critical views were port, which appeared in the press. joined forces and played a key role highlighted, not suppressed; and Finally, the matter was allowed to in the formation of the National critical letters to the press were subside quietly. Council of Women’s Organisa- printed, not thrown into tions (NCWO) in 1960. trashcans. The residents of Tambunan and

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 36 Papan also stood up against the grounds. It was powers-that-be to claim their le- this collective gitimate rights. The brave people pressure that of Papan emerged triumphant af- forced the hand ter an unrelenting battle against of the govern- radioactive waste dumped in their ment to finally vicinity in 1983. The following release all of year, the people of Tambunan them. Aliran voted against the Berjaya govern- Monthly, which ment in Sabah in an historic by- covered this election despite the threats and episode and the intimidation. This surprise re- subsequent de- sult paved the way for the toppling velopments, re- of the Berjaya government by the mains today as PBS in state elections the follow- an important ing year. source of reference of that shame- perialism especially in the Mid- ful period. It continues to provide dle East. Curbing scandals and space for civil society views that abuse of power are not heard elsewhere. In June this year, the bonds of solidarity were further strengthened In the mid-1980s, civil society Civil society’s role in challenging when 25 groups in Penang came groups played vital roles to safe- the might of the ruling coalition together to celebrate their common guard our democracy and civil when Anwar Ibrahim was sacked struggle for justice and freedom in liberties. When amendments to from government, detained and a unique event, Pesta Rakyat the Societies Act 1966 were formu- tried on what were believed to be Merdeka. The Pesta, which high- lated giving wide powers to the trumped up charges was yet an- lighted the people’s aspirations Registrar and creating provisions other important milestone in the for a more compassionate and just to declare any critical society as struggle for justice, truth and free- society, was held to mark 50 years ‘political’, nearly 50 civil societies dom. of Independence and 44 years of got together to oppose this move. Malaysia. Because the opposition was so Building solidarity great and uncompromising, the The struggle will continue till vic- government was forced to drop the In the 1990s, civil society groups tory and justice is finally proposal. gradually coalesced in over-lap- achieved. It must be acknowl- ping coalitions on specific issues, edged that it is civil society’s The BMF scandal involving 2.5 harnessing their respective stand on many issues that has billion ringgit would have been strengths into a collective force. checked the excesses of the state, quietly buried had it not been for Not only do they continue to cam- which has had to account for its the civil society demands for the paign against oppressive laws actions and decisions. Without culprits to be held accountable for such as the ISA, OSA, and the these civil society groups, the their misdeeds. Such pressure PPPA, they are increasingly con- state would have ridden rough- forced the government to make cerned about issues that have shod over the rights of its citi- public the findings of the investi- arisen as a result of neo-liberal zens. If not for them, the perim- gation committee. globalisation and the margin- eters of our freedom would have alisation of communities. Coali- collapsed on us – for it is these Similar pressure was exerted by tions have been formed to cam- groups that have been at the van- civil society, which mobilized na- paign against health care and guard of protecting our freedom tional and international opinion, water privatisation and to em- and furthering our rights. q when 106 Malaysians from a wide power marginalised communi- spectrum of society were detained ties. Anti-war coalitions regularly An earlier version of this article ap- under the ISA on dubious protest against militarism and im- peared in theSun.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 37 HEART TO HEART "What comes from the lips reaches the ear, what comes from the heart reaches the heart" - Arab proverb Carnival of Joy A festival of games for refugee children turned out to be the closest thing to peace on earth I have encountered by Angeline Loh

lipping through the A free for all! their finery. There was a small FF photographs I had just boy in a suit and little girls in FFF developed of refugee Looking back, I realise that I lace and ‘chiffon’, but that children having fun on cannot recall hearing any of the didn’t worry them one iota. the grounds of the United Na- children cry or bawl that day. Another little boy in a long tions High Commissioner for Even the babes-in-arms and sleeved shirt clambered up the Refugees in Kuala Lumpur, I the toddlers seemed happy ‘steps’ of the ‘Inflated Slide’ couldn’t help smiling at the and contented. The only with his friends dressed in T- memory of that event. ‘noises’ around were the shirts, only to roll down the shrieks of delight and laugh- slide onto the grass. They were It started fairly early in the ter – the sound of children hav- gradually joined by the morning of 15 June 2007 and ing maximum fun. younger children and ulti- went on to… I don’t really mately some over-grown know what time, as I did not Some of the 250 children were ‘kids’. stay till the closing. Still, the dressed in their best tradi- experience was one I’m glad I tional wear, some in Malaysian Another game was to ‘water did not miss. In my idealistic wear, others in western style bomb’ certain UNHCR staff dreams always, I had always clothes, and some very casu- and volunteers. Quite a number wished the world could be that ally, being well prepared to get of teenagers took part in this! way. themselves messed up and dirty. It was a ‘free-for-all’- that The ‘Tug-of-War’ involved real It is hard to describe the feel- made it rather interesting. kids as well as the over-grown ing of mounting joy and peace ‘kids’. It was interesting to see that makes one’s eyes water - UNHCR staff ensured the chil- how frequently the losing side to see children of all shades of dren had loads of fun. They got its own back and ultimately skin colour, age, shape and organised several games, in- won. The disco-dancing ses- size, from different lands, cluding a ‘Tug-of-War’ and a sion was spiced up when three gathered in one small place disco dance session with food, boys got hold of a blond or having so much fun. It was like drinks and presents for the pink wig and a black one that an international kindergarten, children. had been used by the Clown. a garden of children, where Their natural dramatic creativ- children were the flowers in A ‘Bouncy Castle’ and ‘Inflated ity and imagination just ran bloom. The children, like chil- Slide’ increased the kids’ de- riot. Putting these on they pre- dren in every corner of the light. It was fun just watching tended to be members of a world, were ‘discrimination- the children scrambling onto rock band, switching character blind’, which I believe is their the ‘Bouncy Castle’, jumping up by exchanging the wigs with natural state. World leaders and down and being ‘bounced’ one another and dancing have much to learn from them. around in total disregard of around. It was magnificent,

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 38 delirious fun!

Imagine peace on earth

Seeing the children and their antics made me think of my own childhood playtime with my siblings, cousins and the neighborhood children. We were also children of all races, as we lived in government quarters in the heart of town in Penang.

We were completely unaware of any kind of social, economic, racial or even religious differences. We were also ‘discrimination-blind’. No social or other stumbling blocks or bar- riers got in the way of our fun and games.

Sadly, we have lost our ‘social blindness’ and innocence in our adulthood and now face a reality that we try to protect our children from. Yet one day they too will be faced with this

same reality we have created and passed down. We do not know if faced with this reality, they would lose their childhood prematurely.

I left the grounds of the UNHCR that after- noon with the lines of John Lennon’s “Imag- ine” going around in my head… “Imagine there’re no countries… nothing to kill or die for… And no religion too…”

This precious half-day with the refugee children was the closest experience I have encountered of peace on earth – and it is something I will treasure forever. q

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 39 CIVIL SOCIETY An unfinished but inspiring journey

In the long and winding road towards justice and freedom, civil society has shown remarkable resilience growing from strength to strength by P Ramakrishnan

ooking back at the period Many of the non-governmental plantation labour unions in Ma- LL leading to Independence organisations of today did not lacca, Negri Sembilan, Selangor LLL and the years after that, exist at that time. In the 1950s and and Perak in the 1960s. In fight- we tend to see the pur- 60s, the only civil society groups ing for workers’ rights, it was suit of freedom and social justice that could be identified were the sometimes necessary for the un- largely in the struggle of political unions that looked after the eco- ions to resort to industrial action parties, their associates and na- nomic and civil rights of workers to advance their cause. Unfortu- tionalist movements. generally. They were the ones that nately, these unions were engaged the state to secure reason- smashed in crackdowns against But there were other groups cou- able wages and tolerable working the labour movement. Hundreds rageously involved in the quest conditions for their members. of unionists were detained, many for justice. Their struggle could be of them without trial under the In- seen as the genesis of a civil soci- Active unions ternal Security Act. ety movement as we know it today. The most active of these were the Continued on page 36

Aliran Monthly : Vol.27(6) Page 40