Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 1 For Justice, Freedom & Solidarity PP3739/12/2012(031205) ISSN 0127 - 5127 2014:Vol.33No.11/12 EDITOR'S NOTE

It has been 37 years since the formation of Aliran and 33 years since Aliran Monthly (initially Aliran CONTENTS Quarterly). • Aliran Monthly bids farewell 3 During this time, we have challenged the dominant discourses of political, socio-cultural and economic • Societal challenges faced orthodoxies and attempted to be a source of alterna- by Aliran Monthly 7 tive analyses. We have encouraged critical thinking • Aliran history: Some highlights 11 and provided space for ‘thinking allowed’. • AM honoured these towering Malaysians 14 Alas, this issue is our final edition. It was only after • The struggle against the ISA 19 much soul-searching but also tallying of costs that we came to this painful decision. In this issue, we • Assault on the judiciary 22 document the history of the AM and the societal • Worsening inter-ethnic relations 23 pressures and political constraints within which • Neoliberal policies burden the we had to operate. people 26 • Globalisation, migrant labour We take this opportunity to thank all our contribu- and the working class 27 tors who faithfully wrote for us without payment. Thanks to them, we managed to produce a monthly • Education: Corporatisation, magazine of quality and relevance for over three flip-flops and declining standards 30 decades. The secret is that we were driven to do so • Sabah, Sarawak and the federal because you, our faithful readers, have told us that factor 32 you always found the Monthly informative and edu- • Damned dams 35 cational, and you looked forward to every issue. • Reformasi to ‘tsunami politics’, Thank you! and to the future 37 Every beginning has an ending; however, in this • Contemporary media: prescribed case, our ending opens up a new era. The last part freedom, proscribed truth 40 of our final edition looks forward to the digital • Looking forward to the digital era 42 Aliran. If you are not yet familiar with our website • Tributes 46 aliran.com, our facebook, our tweets and our e-news- • Thinking Allowed 48 letters, do look us up and follow us faithfully.

On this auspicious occasion, we invite all readers to join us in the struggle for justice, freedom and Published by solidarity for a better Malaysia. Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) Aliran is an organisation for social and democratic 103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, reform. We advocate justice, freedom and Penang, Malaysia. solidarity; comment critically on social issues, offer analyses and alternative ideas keeping in mind Tel: (04) 658 5251 Fax: (04) 658 5197 the national and global picture based on universal Email: [email protected] human rights and spiritual values. We are listed on the roster of the Economic and Social Council of Website: aliran.com the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran Website: aliran.com welcomes 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.33(11/12) Page 2 Aliran Monthly bids farewell

hen something dear to W all of us comes to a close, W it is always very sad. It evokes a lot of memory and brings to mind many memo- rable moments. This is the case with Aliran Monthly. After having been around for 33 years, it will cease to be published.

This will be the final issue of Aliran Monthly. After this, there will be no more hard copies avail- able, apart from what is in our ar- chives. This is a heart-wrenching moment for all of us who have been involved in the production of the Monthly for 33 years. Monthly. In spite of the obstacles from the Home Affairs Ministry For 33 years, the Malaysian pub- and bureaucratic nuisance, we asking us why we had not for- lic was aware of the Aliran have never failed the Malaysian warded copies of our publication Monthly which carried more than public. Aliran Monthly may not as required by law. It was then that 350 cover stories and articles have been published on time, but we found out that we had a per- about human rights violations, we have come out regularly with- mit to print. Since the year was abuse of the rule of law, the de- out fail. Every issue of Aliran ending, and as we hardly had time cline of parliamentary democracy, Monthly was a labour of love. At to put together a magazine, we the marginalisation of the poor times, it was difficult and even came out with this four-pager and the homeless, displaced es- painful but it was nothing com- which focussed on the spiritual tate workers, gender inequality, pared to the joy when the Monthly aspect of life and clearly reaf- urban squatters, religious conflict, was delivered! firmed what Aliran stands for: lopsided development, the selec- tive use of the ISA, the fight against A publication is born To start with let us declare clearly that corruption, the squandering of the Aliran is a multi-ethnic, non-parti- nation’s wealth and many more The first cover was white and the san reform movement concerned with issues - you name it, we have com- masthead was very different. It raising social awareness and foster- mented on all these issues of was a four-page tabloid. It was a ing a common sense of nationhood. grave concern to all of us and to rush job. We didn’t know that we Aliran is therefore not connected with the nation. We have fought the had been given a permit. Probably any political party, trade union, com- good fight through our publica- it got lost in the post and never munity organisation or any other in- tion. reached us. stitution and we stay outside the elec- toral process. For 33 years we have carried on But the fact was sometime in Oc- this good fight through the Aliran tober 1980, we received a letter Then the following year, they did

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 3 not give us a permit. Don’t ask why. It is the privilege of power. It is their right to be arrogant! From Quarterly to Monthly

Then we applied for a permit to publish a Quarterly. The cover conveyed a valid and legitimate message: Criticism is not as crime. Indeed, it is our patriotic duty to criticise whenever it is necessary to do so.

We produced the Quarterly for two years. Each issue contained lengthy, analytical articles. But great tug of war among the Exco tailed a by-election. Umno Baru then, to wait for the next Quarterly members: to raise or not to raise? was on a very weak wicket in took three months. It was far too There would be vigorous debates. Sabah. A by-election at that time long. We felt that we should com- Reluctantly, we raised the price in therefore could have had disas- municate with the public more fre- 1992 by a mere 50 sen! Then the trous consequences for Umno quently. cost of printing went up in the Baru because of the formation of a middle of 1994, and after a lot of PBS-Usno coalition government. So we applied for a Monthly and soul searching, we increased the This coalition had the advantages we were given a permit for 1984. price by another 50 sen. of government machinery and The first copy of Aliran Monthly state resources to clobber Umno was published in January at the You would realise that we were Baru. height of the BMF scandal. Of no prudent business people. No course we had a lot to write! wonder we are in dire straits fi- So the constitution was amended nancially! to prevent a by-election and serve What was the significance of the Umno’s interest. The amend- Monthly? It meant news and A touch of gloss... ments took care of two problems views from Aliran every 30 days and going colour for Umno Baru: Mustapha need instead of 90 days as was the case not resign and there would be no with the Quarterly. It meant 12 is- In 1993 we decided to use glossy by-election. Not only that, in fu- sues (later 11) instead of four for art paper for the cover and the ture there would be no by-election the year. And because of its fre- middle pages. This issue focused if a vacancy was caused either by quency, Aliran Monthly would be on the Constitutional Amend- the death or resignation of an more current and topical. Remem- ments. We didn’t mean to gloss elected representative within two ber there was no internet then! over this important issue! years before the next general elec- tion was scheduled. We were selling the Quarterly and At that time, Mahathir wanted to Aliran Monthly - you wouldn’t be- appoint Tun Mustapha as Federal Then towards the end of 1993, lieve this but yes, just for a ringgit Minister but he overlooked the we went full colour for the first a copy. And to our credit - or oth- then constitutional provision re- time. It coincided with the High- erwise - we maintained this price quiring Mustapha to resign from land Towers tragedy. This issue for 10 long years! the Sabah State Assembly as he featured this sad occasion viv- could not be an assembly member idly, and the title “Malaysians Each time, when there was a need and a member of Parliament at the Mourn spoke on behalf of all to raise the price, there would be a same time. This would have en- Malaysians.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 4 All this while, the masthead was tally, we had reproduced an ar- party elections. Mahathir speak- static. We couldn’t feature our pic- ticle from Asiaweek focusing on the ing about the amendments made tures full page on the entire cover. flamboyant Chief Minister of Ma- it sound as if he had found a cure And so, in 1995, we opted for a lacca in the previous issue of the to get rid of this disease at long new masthead which could be Monthly. Titled “Riches, Romance last! moved around and pasted on top and Rahim, the article touched on of the pictures on the cover. the disturbing allegations hound- Some things ing the Chief Minister, including never change A bombshell allegations of womanising and is dropped accumulating excessive wealth. But money politics has been with The Chief Minister’s press secre- us for a long time. For some rea- The cover featuring Rahim Tamby tary, Khairuddin Hassan, son, money politics during elec- Chik was not meant to be the cover promptly wrote to us, dismissing tions seems okay. Perhaps it is story. This was a last minute the accusations as baseless. In all because when the voters are switch to replace a planned cover fairness, we decided that he bribed in order to remain as a rul- story. What we had wanted to should be entitled to defend him- ing party, it seems it is not corrup- carry was an important issue in- self. The right of reply was tion. volving Al Arqam, which had just honoured. been banned. We had 16 pages of But when delegates are bribed to material on this subject matter. Meanwhile, after a long search we dislodge others from their posi- The artwork was done and the found a printer in Penang to re- tion, then it becomes haram. In this films were made and sent to Kuala place the one in KL who had with- party situation, one’s chances of Lumpur for printing. At that time, drawn. The cover story “Time to being elected are threatened, and the Monthly was printed in KL. Speak Out" was the issue pro- therefore a lot of noise is made duced immediately after the about money politics. But all that Suddenly the printer informed us Rahim issue. noise about money politics is re- that he wasn’t going to print the ally to safeguard selfish interests Monthly any more. According to In 1994, money politics became a and nothing more. him, he took the entire artwork to big issue. It was so rampant that the Special Branch to get clear- amendments were introduced to Rules, of course, do not get rid of ance. It appeared that they told the Umno Baru Constitution to corruption. Rules and regulations him, “If you want to print, go allow for disciplinary action to be by themselves are of no effect in ahead. If you get into trouble, it is taken against members who in- the absence of moral outrage up to you". The printer got the dulged in vote-buying during against money politics. Amend- message. It was time to stop deal- ing with Aliran. This was just be- fore the 1995 general election.

We told him that it was not fair to leave us in the lurch at the last moment. We assured him that we would remove the 16 pages on Al Arqam and substitute other ar- ticles. We pleaded with him to print this particular issue so that this could give us some time to scout around for another printer. Finally, he agreed.

That’s how Rahim Thamby Chik hit the cover of this issue. Inciden-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 5 ing the Umno Baru Constitution why were shares allocated to tween February 1999 and Septem- or legislating new laws will not well-off relatives of leaders of gov- ber 2000, Aliran Monthly was curb money politics. There must ernment? If the whole scheme was printed by no less than eight print- be a revulsion for it. It must be seen introduced to help under-privi- ers! and perceived as something mor- leged bumiputras, why had it ally wrong and unethical. turned out that it only benefited We have had other problems as the rich bumiputeras more? There well. Since the sales of the Monthly There must be the political will to was no reason why rich was good, some unknown per- act. Often, what we get is mere lip bumiputeras should become son/s were supplying copies of service richer from schemes meant to help the Monthly without our knowl- the poor. edge. There was an occasion Exposing when the returns of unsold maga- money politics Eleven years later, we were still zines were more than what we asking the same questions. You had supplied to the distributors! Corruption is part and parcel of must read Aliran Monthly - Malaysian politics. We further ‘’Whose Nation? Whose The advent of the internet affected pursued this topic in another Agenda?’ - to realise the rot that our print magazine badly. People cover story, “Gravy Train of Share has entrenched itself. want fast news, and we were not Allocations." You will be rightly news-breakers and therefore shocked if you were to read it now. We have widely covered the many turned to the internet for up- If you thought that awarding Hindraf rally, the Bersih march to-date reporting. Our analyses 16,000 APs to a single person is and all the various protest rallies. and in-depth reporting tend to be mind-boggling and unjustified, We have written about the “Half- longer than regular news items, you were right. past Six Government of Badawi’s, and some readers turned away as labelled by Mahathir and ridi- from the Monthly because they We agreed entirely with Mahathir culed. We gave coverage to didn’t have time for such longer when he asked why such a huge Mahathir’s Crooked Bridge. Our pieces. number of APs was given to two write up on Karpal Singh was ex- persons and those two persons haustive and well received by the The time has come now to phase passed them to others and col- public.We devoted several issues out the printed version of Aliran lected payment without a sweat. to health care. We have high- Monthly. With falling sales and We have no idea how much they lighted the marginalised commu- dwindling income, it is painful made and how little income tax nities and the abuse of the migrant but inevitable for the Monthly to they paid. workers. bid farewell. The older generation of our Aliran Monthly readers who But did Mahathir raise the same Obstacles are not computer savvy will find questions when other shocking and moving forward this turn of events disturbing - figures were released when he though many of them have wished was the prime minister? What While doing all this, along the us well with our digitisation were these figures and who were way we encountered numerous project. Many of them have been the recipients? obstacles. We had problems find- with us from the beginning. We ing printing firms to take on our apologise to them. The recipients reported included job even though we were reputed Mahathir’s son, Anwar’s brother, to be good paymasters. Printers Finally, let me thank all of you Hamid Omar’s son, Rafidah’s were under intimidation and af- from a grateful heart that cher- son-in-law and Megad Junid’s ter some time refused to print for ishes your support and associa- son and the staggering number of us. This happened at least twice tion with Aliran. shares each received. just before the general elections! - By P Ramakrishnan, We raised the following questions There was an occasion within a Aliran Monthly editor with regard to these allocations: period of less than two years, be-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 6 Societal challenges faced by Aliran Monthly

ith scarcity of resources, W Aliran launched its W modest Aliran Quarterly in 1980 with the primary aim of providing analyses and commentaries of political, social and economic developments that occurred in the country.

It was generally felt that analyses of this nature were crucial and much needed particularly in an environment where the main- stream press was unable or un- willing to do so due to legal con- straints or political pressures from the ruling elite, who own and/or control the press. Financial scandals and political government’s failed attempt to crises litted the Mahathir era, leav- corner the world’s tin market in Besides, not many other local ing many concerned Malaysians the mid-1980s. This blunder magazines in the market offered searching for information and caused an estimated loss of at least editorial content that was analyti- analyses from the few sources RM1.6bn, which left many Malay- cal and critical. Many of these available in the country in their sians concerned. publications focused on enter- endeavour to get a handle on tainment, fashion and other frivo- things that were happening. It is Banning or suspending publica- lous matters. in this context that Aliran Monthly tions seemed to be a favourite mea- played a significant role in keep- sure taken by the Mahathir admin- Furthermore, the internet did not ing the public abreast of what was istration, frustrating publishers make its appearance in Malaysia taking place and commenting on and writers alike. In 1983, the gov- until 1995. This meant that alter- issues of public interest. ernment suspended the monthly native voices were scarce in the magazine, Nadi Insan, published public domain, depriving the gen- The BMF scandal of the mid- by the Institute of Social Analy- eral public of an array of views on 1980s that rocked the country is sis. In another case, the organ of public interest issues. one example. The now defunct the then Parti Sosialis Rakyat Bank Bumiputra not only lost Malaysia, Mimbar Sosialis, was Significantly, Mahathir Mohamed some RM2.5bn in this loan scan- suspended in January 1986 for became prime minister on 16 July dal, but also one of its officers, Jalil having published a critical poem, 1981, marking the beginning of a Ibrahim, who was murdered in ‘Kaum Tani’. Three months later, 22-year rule that generally Hong Kong while investigating the owner of the English language frowned upon, if not criminalised, this financial scandal. daily, The Echo, decided to cease criticism of his administration as publication after he reportedly well as other opinions that were Yet another scandal was the came under heavy pressure from not aligned with the prime Maminco fiasco that involved the the Home Ministry over a period minister’s. RM2 Maminco Sdn Bhd in the of time.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 7 Foreign publications controversy between the were not spared either. government and the The Mahathir adminis- monarchy. The govern- tration imposed a three- ment had to step up pub- month suspension or- lic pressure on the mon- der against the Asian archy to agree to the Wall Street Journal amendments. This epi- (AWSJ) and cancelled sode certainly caused the work permits of its disquiet especially correspondents, John among concerned Ma- Berthelsen and Raphael laysians; the thirst for in- Pura, who subse- formation and analyses quently were served an on this issue was expulsion order. The quenched by the AWSJ irked the govern- Monthly. ment because of its criti- cal reporting of the busi- The court-ordered disso- ness dealings of the fi- lution of Umno as a po- nance minister (related litical party in 1987 fol- to the United Malayan lowing a power struggle Banking Corporation between Mahathir and deals) and the deputy Tengku Razaleigh and home minister as well the subsequent Operasi as the Maminco fiasco. Lalang crackdown on 27 October 1987 sent Faced with a myriad of shockwaves across the issues and problems country. The Umno dis- that had emerged in the society, fully brought the attention of the solution required deep analyses Aliran made the conscious deci- wider public to this episode. and commenting which a publi- sion to turn its quarterly magazine cation such as Aliran Monthly was into a monthly to enable it to reach It is against this backdrop of scan- well placed to undertake. The en- its readership more frequently dals and crises that the Official suing Operasi Lalang, which cul- and with more current topics to Secrets Act was further tightened minated in the detention of more discuss and analyse within the in 1983. The definition of ‘official than 100 individuals and the sus- constraints of the laws of the land. secret’ was widened, and those pension of two dailies, The Star This was the social context when found guilty under the amended and Sin Chew Jit Poh, and two the Aliran Monthly first hit the law would be punished with a weeklies, The Sunday Star and streets in 1984. mandatory minimum one-year Watan – sent a chill down the term jail sentence. This puts a spines of many, especially those The massive civil society protest damper on investigative journal- active in civil society. The Star af- against the Papan Rare Earth fac- ism and the notion of transpar- ter the clampdown never regained tory installation in Perak in 1984 ency and accountability in gov- its former stature as a relatively caught the attention of many Ma- ernment. freer daily. laysians. Once again, people rushed to get information and Prime Minister Mahathir waded Aliran was especially affected by analyses regarding this sensitive into the 1983 Constitutional Cri- this political clampdown given issue, apart from joining a petition sis in an attempt to amend Article that its then president, Dr campaign that was initiated by a 66 of the Federal Constitution that Chandra Muzaffar, and two other few civil society groups to stop the set a time limit for the Agong to members, Brother Antony Rogers factory from producing radioac- veto a law within 30 days. The and Theresa Lim Chin Chin, were tive effluent. Aliran Monthly duti- proposal brought about a huge caught in the political dragnet.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 8 Furthermore, this kind of cation frequency of mass arrests went twice a week was dras- against the very prin- tically reduced to twice ciples Aliran had al- a month, and it could ways fought to uphold: only be sold to Pas freedom, justice and hu- members.This dented man rights. the sales and circula- tion of Harakah. Another constitutional crisis erupted yet again Post-Reformasi, sales of in 1988 in the wake of Aliran Monthly the dissolution of dwindled in the face of Umno. The upshot from the increasing popular- the tension between the ity of Reformasi- Executive and the Judi- drenched websites and ciary was the suspen- news portals such as sion and removal of Tun Malaysiakini, The Malay- Salleh Abas from his sian Insider, Malay Mail post of Lord President of Online and Free Malay- the Supreme Court. Ad- sia Today among curi- ditionally, five Supreme ous and concerned Ma- Court judges who tried laysians. These online to intervene, i.e. Tan Sri publications, plus a Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan smattering of hard copy Sri Eusoffe publications, offer up- Abdoolcader, Tan Sri to-date news and infor- Wan Hamzah mation as well as politi- Mohamed Salleh, Tan cal and financial com- Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and end of the third year when evi- mentaries. Datuk George Seah, were sus- dence suggested that the response pended. (Three of them were later from the general public was wan- Social media, particularly reinstated.) Such was the serious- ing as sales of the majalah de- Facebook and Twitter, also serve ness of this issue that demanded clined. as useful and convenient sources critical analyses, which Aliran of information and commentaries Monthly provided as its sales rock- Sales of Aliran Monthly rose again for the needs of the youthful eted. during the Reformasi era in the internet generation. This later be- late 90s (though not by as much came the media through which In 1991, after winning a legal battle as during the Judicial crisis). Aliran disseminates links to its with the Home Ministry over the Many people were hungry for in- online articles in an effort to reach application of a publishing per- formation and analyses on such out to a new audience. mit for a Bahasa Malaysia publi- a historic phenomenon. Moreover, cation, Aliran published the the internet usage was only just Hence, given the rising popular- much-awaited Majalah Aliran. taking off in Malaysia at that time. ity of the internet and social me- This monthly publication, which dia, and given the declining sales carried translated pieces as well This was also the period when the of its print magazine, Aliran fi- as original material in Bahasa Pas party organ, Harakah – which nally made the tough decision to Malaysia, ran for three years to provided the latest news and com- cease the publication of Aliran cater to the needs of the Malay- mentaries on the Reformasi move- Monthly and go completely digi- speaking audience. Unfortu- ment – became very popular. Even- tal in 2014. nately, the magazine was com- tually, Harakah had to pay a high pelled to cease publication at the price for its popularity: its publi- - By Mustafa K Anuar

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 9 Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 10 Aliran’s History: Some highlights

liran was founded in Penang, in 1977, by Societies to deregister Aliran for speaking out A seven individuals of various ethnic back- against a pay hike for top civil servants. Instead, A grounds: Chandra Muzaffar, S P the incident gave publicity to Aliran and its cause Subramaniam, Ismail Hashim, Gan Teck and made us better-known to Malaysians. Chee, Ariffin Omar, Siew Kam Poh and Nor Rashid. The 1980s was a period of much political ferment. Its early activities included internal education for Aliran worked closely with a few other NGOs to members and friends; organising public forums and protest against amendments to the Societies Act; the the Annual Merdeka Dinner; issuing press state- financial scandals involving the then Bumiputera ments; and publication of pamphlets, books, cas- Malaysia Finance (BMf) and the MCA-related de- settes, Aliran Quarterly, and ultimately, Aliran posit-taking cooperatives; and environmentally Monthly (AM). In these early years, the scope of hazardous projects of Papan and Bukit Merah and Aliran’s work was wide-ranging and the overall the controversial Penang Hill development. focus was on reform of all sectors and issues. Publicity was given to Aliran and a few other NGOs In 1981, an attempt was made by the Registrar of then, because the mass media was more vibrant and

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 11 less controlled. These joint activities led to close ties source of reference and critical analysis of this pe- between Aliran and Abim (then headed by Anwar riod of transition in Malaysia’s political history. Ibrahim), the Selangor Graduates Society, the Envi- ronmental Protection Society Malaysia, the Malayan The early 1990s was yet another significant period Nature Society, the Consumers Association of of change for Aliran. After 14 years as president Penang, the MTUC, the National Union of Journal- (1977-1991), Chandra Muzaffar stepped down and ists, the Bar Council, etc. was replaced by Ariffin Omar who served for two years (1991-93). Thereafter, P Ramakrishnan took In 1984, Aliran set up a permanent office with two over as president and served for 18 long years! full-time staff in Bayan Baru. Aliran also went to Court to win the right to publish Majalah Aliran in The NGO scene in Malaysia was also changing rap- Malay. idly. Many single-issue NGOs (environment, gen- der, human rights, estate workers, consumers, etc) The ferment of the 1980s culminated with Operasi emerged, especially in the Klang Valley. Thanks to Lallang in 1987 and the Judicial Crisis of 1988. In access to foreign donors, some of these NGOs could 1987, more than a hundred Opposition leaders, crit- afford to employ young full-time workers who ics and social activists were detained under the ISA. helped to promote their concerns. This included Chandra Muzaffar, the then Aliran president, and resident in Penang, and two other Against this trend, Aliran, already a more all-en- Aliran members based in KL, Lim Chin Chin and compassing NGO, continued to rely only on volun- Anthony Rogers. teers due to our self-imposed restriction of not ac- cepting funds from foreign donors. Fortunately, sales Apart from these arrests, several newspapers were of Aliran Monthly reached an all-time high during closed. The head of the Judiciary Tun Salleh Abas, the 1980s. In turn, increased sales helped to sup- and two Supreme Court judges were also sacked. port the maintenance of our office and various op- There occurred amendments to tighten existing co- erations. ercive laws and the Constitution, to curtail public involvement in politics and to snuff out existing Reformasi erupted in 1998-99 . Due to the ‘twin cri- democratic spaces. ses’ (the Anwar Ibrahim and the regional financial crises), sales of the AM soared further. This was an Arguably, the AM, during this pre-IT era, docu- exhilarating period for advocates of change and mented the two major events and the follow-up de- political reform as the rudiments of a two-party sys- velopments more closely than other media sources. tem were put into place. A ‘New Politics’ appeared Consequently, the AM has become an important in the offing. To top it all, in November 1998, Aliran

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 12 moved into its own, Rumah Aliran, located in Medan Forum, Media Charter 2000, Water Watch and the Penaga, Jelutong, Penang. Coalition Against Health Care Privatisation.

Little did we realise that the new millennium would Since Reformasi, we have also noted the emergence deal a harsh blow to the progress of the AM. The of a new way of engaging politics, not only via the writing was already on the wall when sales of the use of IT, but via mass street protests as in the suc- AM declined after the 1999 election. And why did cesses of Hindraf, Bersih, Gabungan Mansuhkan this occur? ISA and Himpunan Hijau. Many new ad-hoc civil society groups involving youths, who also resort to Enter Malaysiakini.com, other on-line dailies, blogs the use of social media, have also emerged. but also Astro which provided access to BBC, CNN, al-Jazeera, etc. Many people turned to the new IT At this point, Aliran has embarked on a process of and other alternative sources of news and analyses. digitalising the AM, to enhance our reach to the The sales of AM and other publications tumbled youths and new groups via the website, social me- rapidly. In this regard, we responded by setting up dia and e-newsletters. However, we shall also con- our website in 1997, later known as aliran.com. tinue to write longer analytical pieces and to inves- tigate and discuss the major trends in Malaysia’s Rama continued to lead Aliran during the first de- politics and social-cultural developments as we have cade of the 21st century. Having been around since done for more than 33 years in the AM. Since 2011, 1977, Aliran continued to be held in high regard by we have a new president Francis Loh who had pre- most civil society groups. In addition to our own viously served as Aliran’s secretary for over 20 years. activities, Aliran began to work closely with NGO At this point, Aliran has 191 members. coalitions such as Bersih 2.0, the Anti-ISA Move- ment, Jerit (Network of Oppressed People), Penang - By Francis Loh

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 13 AM honoured these Towering Malaysians

alaysians must emulate M the actions and deeds of M these towering Malay- sians in the cause of ‘Freedom, Justice and Solidarity’!

Ahmad Noor: trade unionist, former Member of Parliament (vol 23 no 7, 2003)

Abdoolcader Eusoffe: Supreme Court judge renowned for his out- standing legal mind. He was sus- pended as Supreme Court judge in the wake of the Salleh Abas ju- dicial crisis (vol 15 no 11, 1995).

Al-Attas, Prof Syed Hussein: out- standing scholar, well known for his writings on ‘corruption’ and on debunking colonial myths and perceptions of ‘the lazy native’. He ended his academic career as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaya. Founding president of Parti Gerakan (vol 27 no 1, 2007). uted most to the advancement of Along Sega: paramount leader of an independent legal profession the last nomadic Penan group in in Malaysia, having served as Upper Limbang, Sarawak (vol 31 President of the Malaysian Bar for no 2, 2011), an unprecedented three terms (vol 31 no 7, 2011). Arunasalam, James: ‘Saint of Sentul’, social activist and com- Azmi Khalid: long-time Aliran munity leader, Young Christian exco member, law lecturer, human Workers leader who combined rights activist (vol 22 no 10, 2002). social justice and spirituality (vol 29 no 11/12, 2009). Balasundram, G: Ipoh-based lawyer who supported Parti Aziz Addruse, Y M Raja: Out- Sosialis Malaysia and struggled standing legal mind who was for the rights of workers and committed to justice and fairness. squatters (vol 30 no 11/12, One of a few who have contrib- 2010).

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 14 Charles Levin, Datuk Rev Gan Teik Chee: founding mem- Brother: long-time Director of St ber of Aliran and its secretary for Xavier’s Institution in Penang many years; a respected lawyer, who encouraged his students and poet and writer (vol 30 no 2, 2010). teachers to imbibe Lasallian val- ues ‘to serve the last, the lost and Ishak Hj Mohamad, the least’ (vol 32 no 9, 2012). Burhanuddin al-Helmy and Ahmad Boestamam: ‘unsung David, V: general secretary of the heroes of the struggle for National Union of Factory and Merdeka’ (vol 29 no 9, 2009). General Workers and later after its deregistration became Execu- Ishak Shaari: founding dean of tive Secretary of the Transport Ikmas, UKM; outstanding Workers Union. Elected to Parlia- scholar-activist who researched ment first under the Labour Party on problems of poverty and and subsequently under the DAP. marginalisation in society (vol 21 Detained under the ISA without no 6, 2001). trial on four occasions (vol 28 no 10, 2008). Ismail Hashim: founding mem- ber of Aliran, master photogra- Fadzil Noor, Dato’: president of pher and visual artist, and aca- Parti Islam SeMalaysia who pro- demician who trained a new gen- moted cooperation among the op- eration of socially aware visual position parties in the 1990s and artists (vol 32 no 10, 2012 and vol subsequently became Opposition 33 nos 4 and no 5, 2013). Leader in Parliament (vol 22 no 6, 2002). Jubal Lourdes: former Exco mem- ber of Aliran who worked tire- Fan Yew Teng: social activist, lessly for his organisation and the unionist, poet and writer, former wider society (vol 22 no 11, 2002) Member of Parliament and state assembly member. He was Karpal Singh: legendary warrior charged with sedition and lost his for justice, outstanding lawyer, pension (vol 30 no 11, 2010). former Member of Parliament, state assemblyman and chairman Fernandez, Irene: Founder of of the Democratic Action Party. He Tenaganita, which championed was credited with more than 600 the rights of women and migrant court decisions (vol 33 no 10, workers. She exposed the mal- 2014). treatment of detainees in Malaysia’s detention camps for Khoo Khay Jin, Philip: long-time which she was charged by the writer for Aliran Monthly, acade- Malaysian government. After mician, scholar activist who was seven years of trial, she was con- awarded the ‘UN Malaysian In- victed to one year’s imprison- dividual of the Year Award’ post- ment, a ruling which was finally humously (vol 32 no 1, 2012). overturned upon appeal. Winner of numerous international Lim Chong Eu, Tun Dr: President awards for her bravery and dedi- of Parti Gerakan who became cation to justice (vol 33 no 10: chief minister of Penang; he over- 2013). saw the rapid industrialisation of

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 15 Tate, Desmond J Muzaffar: “Outstanding Malaysian of the Year” former Aliran exco member, au- awards presented by Aliran thor and publisher of books. “An old warrior who never gave up 1982 - Tan Sri Ahmad Noordin bin Zakaria fighting... responsible and totally 1983 - the Malaysian Worker dependable.” He was especially 1984 - Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon active in the Reformasi movement 1985 - the people of Papan and Tambunan and reported regularly on it for the 1987 - YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman AM (vol 24 no 1, 2004). 1988 - Innocent ISA detainee 1990 - the People of Kelantan Teoh Beng Hock: a political aide to a Democratic Action Party as- the state beginning from the lawyer and politician who was af- sembly member; found dead on 1970s. Respected for his efficient fectionately loved by the ordinary the rooftop of a building adjacent management (vol 30 no 11, 2010). people (vol 30 no 7, 2010). to MACC office after undergoing ‘interrogation’. His death resulted P Patto: multilingual orator and Seenivasagam S P: former Mem- in a groundswell of protest stalwart of the opposition Demo- ber of Parliament for Menglembu against the methods of investiga- cratic Action Party who served and co-founder with his brother tion used by the MACC (vol 30 no as Member of Parliament for of the PPP, which he led into the 8, 2010). several terms and was the BN fold after the 1969 racial riots. deputy secretary-general of the He was the first and only elected Tunku Abdul Rahman, Y T M: DAP. An ex-detainee too (vol 28 president of the Ipoh Municipal the much-loved father of Malay- no 6, 2008). Council (vol 30 no 9, 2010). sian Independence and Malaysia’s first Prime Minister , Pillay, M G G: veteran journalist Sekhar, Tan Sri B C: Director of who went on to become a noted and pioneer and active contribu- the Rubber Research Institute, a critic of the BN in his regular col- tor on the Sang Kanchil mailing top scientist respected by his col- umn ‘Looking Back’ in a local list, the fore-runner of indepen- leagues, and admired by those daily (vol 10 no 12, 1990). dent news portals (Aliran website who worked with him (vol 26 no April 2006). 8, 2006). Usman Awang: Sasterawan Negara, the ‘People’s Poet’ and Rajakumar, M K: a doctor who Suffian, Tun Mohamad: Lord renowned writer who also worked cared not for reward but for de- President of Malaysia’s judiciary to promote social justice and in- mocracy and justice. Chairman of from 1974-1982, arguably ter-ethnic relations (vol 21 no 10, the Selangor Labour Party and his Malaysia’s most distinguished 2001). party’s ideologue who was de- judge ever. A true friend of justice tained for long years. Also cam- and champion of the law, he was Wan Sulaiman, Tan SriSri: One of paigned for health care and edu- at the forefront of the battle against the two Supreme Court judges cational reforms in Malaysia (vol the excesses of the Executive and who was removed in the wake of 28 no 10, 2008). in the defence of the Judiciary (vol the Salleh Abas judicial crisis. 20 no 8, 2000). “An honest judge who knew right Rustam Sani: Aliran member, pre- from wrong” (vol 20 no 2, 2000). eminent public intellectual and Tan Chee Khoon, Tan Sri Dr: outstanding academic (vol 28 no leader of the Labour Party, co- Zaitun ‘Toni’ Kassim: feminist, a 4, 2008). founder of Parti Gerakan Rakyat leader of the Women’s Candidacy Malaysia, and later Pekemas. Initiative who contested for the Seenivasagam, D R: former Mem- Deeply respected by the rakyat Selayang seat in the 1999 elec- ber of Parliament for Ipoh and especially the poor. He was tions (vol 28 no 5, 2008). president of the People’s Progres- dubbed ‘Mr Opposition’ (vol 16 sive Party (PPP); an outstanding no 8, 1996). - By Francis Loh

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 16 AliranAliran winswins thethe NationalNational IntegrityIntegrity AwardAward forfor 20052005

he Malaysian Society for Transparency and had to overcome tremendous odds to continue its T Integrity, the Malaysian Chapter of Trans- work. First there was an attempt to deregister the parency International, (TI-M) presents the society in the early 1980s and then there was the Integrity Award annually to an individual detention under the Internal Security Act of some of or institution who satisfies one of the following cri- the leaders including Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, the teria: founder President, in 1987. This threat of detention without trial alone would have scared off all but the • has demonstrated a determination to fight cor- most committed and selfless of individuals, but in ruption in all its manifestations; Aliran, there were many who persevered in the • whose actions have contributed in some signifi- cause. cant way to the development of a cleaner ethical environment; The printing of Aliran Monthly has been hindered • maintains a constant vigil on the institutions that by the need for a constant change in printers who underpin our democratic systems and values are subject to the Printing Presses and Publishers against business abuses; Act. After one printer did not have his licence re- • who fight public service corruption and promote newed, the threat of losing their licences results in uncompromising standards of public behaviour; printers ceasing to continue printing after a few is- • are members of civil society, professionals, serv- sues. There was a period when Aliran had to change ing and retired public officials who have clearly printing firms eight times in less than two years. It demonstrated their personal integrity, sense of is no wonder therefore that the twenty fifth anniver- public duty, and active involvement in the fight sary issue is regarded as something of a miracle. against corruption. This issue carries a rather poetic description of This year the Integrity Award goes to an institution Aliran: that satisfies all of the above criteria, ALIRAN, a Reform Movement dedicated to Justice, Freedom and ALIRAN represents a consciousness, Solidarity. A certain trend in thinking, In Ideas. Aliran was established in August 1977 as Aliran The flow of its ideas is like the flow of water, Kesedaran Negara, to fill the need for a multi-reli- Water is soft, it is gentle, gious, multi-cultural group, with the principal ob- And yet it is water that erodes stones and rocks. jective of reform of Malaysian society guided by It is the flow of ideas that will eventually overcome the universal spiritual and moral values. Boulders of Oprression.

Three years later, in 1980, Aliran organised a con- Transparency International Malaysia is proud to ference on Corruption and also launched its publi- present to Aliran, The Integrity Award, “for its con- cation Aliran Monthly. Twenty five years later, the tinuing fight for justice, freedom and solidarity and magazine for “creating free spaces and alternative for fearlessly promoting transparency, integrity and ideas” is still being produced. There may well be accountability.” other publications that have lasted even longer, but Aliran’s is a remarkable achievement because it has 9 December 2005

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 17 Cover designs by the late Ismail Hashim

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 18 The struggle against the ISA

s far back as 1987, Aliran society coalition Gerak The watch against repressive A had taken a strong stand Mansuhkan ISA (GMI), which laws continues. against repressive laws held an anti ISA rally which saw especially the ISA . Over tens of thousands converging in - By Prema Devaraj the years as part of the campaign the streets of KL in 2009. With in- against the ISA, Aliran Monthly creasing public protest, the ISA continued highlighting ISA ar- was finally repealed in 2011 fol- rests in AM, and maintained an lowed by the Emergency Ordi- ISA Watch. nance. Again AM covered these landmark occasions and we As an organisation, Aliran issued would like to think that we played press statements over those ar- a role in raising awareness of rested, calling that they be these draconian acts. charged in open court or released unconditionally and participated But all too soon an amendment to in countless candle light vigils. the Prevention of Crime Act Many of these events received cov- (PCA), which was hurriedly erage in AM at a time when the pushed through Parliament in mainstream media largely ignored 2013, raised considerable con- them. cern. AM played a key role in analysing the implications of the Aliran later became part of the civil PCA.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 19 Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 20 Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 21 Assault on the Judiciary

988 will long be remem- court on the instructions of a cli- the sacking of the Chief Justice … 1 bered by Malaysians as ent in a cause celebre, and the rul- Banners with messages such as 1 one of the blackest periods ing by the Court of Appeal that no “Stop the patronage, Stop the rot” in our short history as an person, body or institution could were carried. The then president independent nation born with a dicuss the conduct of a judge, of Aliran said in his statement ‘Re- commitment to parliamentary de- good or bad, except parliament. deem the judiciary: Appoint Royal mocracy and constituitional rule. Commission of Inquiry’: “If we For in that year, the Barisan-domi- Some 300 lawyers marched to the love justice, honour the rule of law; nated Parliament passed an Federal Court with chants of “We if fairness and truth means any- amendment to the Malaysian want Justice!”, donning white rib- thing to us; then we must pay heed Constituition (Article 121) which bons for justice on their black jack- to the saying ‘There is always time was nothing less than a shameless ets but still the judicial downhill to make right what is wrong’.” assualt upon the integrity and au- slide continued. thority of the Judiciary. But many court judgments on key Ten years later, a video clip and issues continue to raise concern The “doctrine of separation of pow- the infamous words “Correct, cor- e.g. the Altantuya case, police ers” that is the Judiciary as a sepa- rect, correct” once again prompted shootings, deaths in police cus- rate and independent branch of State cries of protest over the state of the tody, the Teoh Beng Hock case, the from the Executive and Legislature Judiciary and the ongoing she- Allah decision, and the question was rendered meaningless.... the nanigans of alleged corruption of guardianship of minors in con- amendment has destroyed one of the and malpractice by judges. The version cases. basic fundamental features of the Malaysian Bar called for a royal Malaysia Constitution.... commission into the state of the The watch for an independent, judiciary. principled and progressive judi- And thus began the decline of the ciary, worthy of the people, con- judiciary. The country witnessed In 2007, over 2000 lawyers tinues. the suspension of then Lord Presi- marched in Putrajaya calling for dent Tun Salleh Abas, and as - By Prema Devaraj events unfolded, the suspension of five Supreme Court Judges and then the unceremonious sacking of the Lord President and two Su- preme Court judges.

The downhill slide continued where following Reformasi in the late 1990s, allegations of manu- factured evidence and instruc- tions from above surfaced in court cases. Public confidence in the ju- diciary hit an all time low. We wit- nessed the conviction of Zainur Zakaria, the former president of the Malaysia Bar, in 1998 for con- tempt for having made the mis- take of filing an application in

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 22 WorseningWorsening inter-religiousinter-religious relationsrelations

of religious freedom in Malaysia – only non-Mus- lims seemed to be able to practise this whereas Mus- lims were bound from the day of birth.

Francis Loh in his cover story “Merdeka, modernity and the Lina Joy controversy” further questioned the rights of an individual versus group rights. “In Lina Joy’s case, the Federal Court in a 2-1 decision ruled that Lina Joy does not have the right to move in and out of her religion at her own whim” there- fore, solidifying the fact that that sort of religious freedom is not extended to the Muslim Malaysian community; Article 11, which guarantees freedom of religion, is not applicable for Muslims.

Lina Joy, who had lived as a Christian for over a decade, unsuccessfully battled the courts’ decision in denying her that right as a citizen or as an indi- vidual because granting such permission would undermine the rights for Muslims as a group.

Sadly, Lina Joy is not the only case that exhibited the harsh realities of restricted religious freedom im- posed to anyone ‘labelled’ as a Muslim. We wit- nessed child custody battles involving a parent who had converted into Islam such as in the cases of Shamala Sathiyaseelan and R Subashini (whose n 2007, Aliran Monthly (vol 27 no 4) high- respective husbands converted to Islam) - who were I lighted the controversy surrounding Lina denied their constitutional rights as mothers, when I Joy’s court case which will forever be the Syariah Courts granted custody to their Muslim etched in the memories of Malaysians who ex-spouses. believe in the importance of upholding human rights especially matters concerning freedom of religion. We also saw a growing trend of ‘body snatching’ by This particular case served as a reminder for all religious departments, who claimed the bodies of about the delicate nature of race and religious mat- Moorthy Maniam @ Mohammad Abdullah and ters in our country. Rayappan Anthony. These cases show the utter lack of compassion by authorities when dealing with Born Azlina Jailani, Lina Joy converted to Chris- such sensitive issues and grieving families. tianity at the age of 26 and was baptised in 1998. Although, she was able to legally change her name, In Mustafa K Anuar’s “Embracing humanity, build- omitting Islam from her identity card proved to be ing justice”), the author highlighted the importance an uphill battle. The refusal to allow her to live for human beings embracing respect and equality, openly as a Christian highlighted the harsh reality justly and with compassion primarily for the long

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 23 term goal of achieving social justice, lasting peace Islam is within the realm of Islamic law and the and prosperity. In addition, political leaders and right authority in the Syariah Court militates against the government were also called upon to govern na- the provisions of Article 11 of the Federal Constitu- tions by upholding the spiritual betterment of soci- tion, which provides for freedom of religion. The ety as a whole, irrespective of political, religious and framers of the Federal Constitution did not have in ethnic considerations or affiliations. mind any obstacle in the form of a prerequisite to resort to the Syariah Court before renouncing Islam." Ambiga Sreenevasan, who was then the president He therfore called for repealing Article 121 (1A) of of the Malaysian Bar Council, wrote the “Federal the Federal Constitution which came into force in Constitution must remain supreme” and empha- 1988, and that a nine-member bench reveal the sized that “our Federal Constitution must remain matter. in law, supreme”. Clearly, the verdict of Lina Joy’s case, as announced on 30 May 2007 exhibited oth- What happened in erwise and she reminded that “no court or author- Kampung Rawa? ity should be easily allowed to have implied pow- ers to curtail rights constitutionally granted”. Stories of multi-ethnic disputes have always found a way to pop up every now and then in Malaysia The late Karpal Singh also released a statement re- but during the weekend of 27-29 March 1998, such garding the matter which was carried in the same a dispute peaked and Malaysians witnessed how issue of the AM. He opined that a full bench, rather bad such disputes could be. than a three-person bench should have sat. "...the majority judgment of the Federal Court is far from A riot broke out in Kampung Rawa, Penang which right. Determining whether a person has renounced resulted in the arrest of 185 people, though, there were no reported casualties or any reported desecra- tion of mosques, temples or property. The real causes of the riots were never disclosed and due to a lack of media transparency surrounding the case, many Malaysians were left to speculate on the causes.

The common assumption was that the dispute re- sulted from "the close proximity" between a Hindu temple (Sri Raja Raja Mathuraiveeran) and a mosque (Masjid Kampung Rawa). Another assumption was that the conflict arose due to the failure to abide by rules and regulations concerning the construction of religious buildings, in this case the temple.

But history paints a different story of how multi- ethnic communities were able to co-exist harmoni- ously in the past. Religious buildings had always been situated "side by side" and a visitor talking a tour around the historical enclave of George Town will witness places of worship built close to one another - a testament of religious tolerance upheld by our ancestors.

The first "showdown" between the Hindus and Muslims occurred on 20 March when a group of 200-250 Muslim men, mostly Indian Muslims, con- fronted a group of Hindu youths for “disrespecting the Friday call for prayers”.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 24 A series of little disputes occurred in the following created more tension between the two communities. days, but on 27 March, the situation exploded. Dur- ing the Friday prayers, an estimated crowd of 5,000- The Kampung Rawa incident clearly underlined 7,000 people gathered at the Kampung Rawa “intra-communal sentiments of resentment and ani- mosque. Apparently, they had received information mosity” as a result of inter-religious differences. To (by word of mouth – social media did not exist back prevent this from happening in the future, the Ma- then) that there would be some sort of attack from laysian government must officially recognise the di- the Hindus – a retaliatory attack “for the demolition lemma Penang Indians are faced with and the best and relocation of their temple”. way to do this is by prioritising inter-religious dis- cussions, inclusiveness and tolerance. Needless to say, the situation escalated and spilled over beyond the borders of Kampung Rawa. Several In the same isue of the AM, the article: "Faith, fer- places of worship (on both sides), shops and res- ment and fissures", written by Mustafa K Anuar, taurants were vandalised. Hindu-Muslim clashes provides an insightful footnote; a reminder that “if had also spread out to Seberang Perai and Kedah. the religious leaders had spoken out for inter-reli- Though there were reports of sporadic incidences gious tolerance, they would have affirmed their com- on the 28th, by the 29th things had simmered down munities adherence to a fundamental truth – that is, quite significantly. that a wrong is a wrong, irrespective of one’s faith”. Malaysians need to put aside any discriminatory Throughout the whole ordeal, only two press con- thoughts and uphold mutual tolerance, understand- ferences were carried out to address the issue of ing and respect, ethics that are encouraged by every Kampung Rawa – the first by the Deputy Prime Min- religion. And leaders must speak out too against ister and the second by the Inspector-General of extremism. Police. The lack of authentic information and reports fuelled more rumours and left Malaysians with more - By Syerleena Abdul Rashid questions than answers.

The article in AM sought to analyse the whole situ- ation dispassionately. It showed that the incident involved both Indian Muslims and Indian Hindus, and was likely also influenced by the general elec- tion that occurred in India. Some quarters had been distributing videos tapes that depicted racially mo- tivated attacks associated with the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and this could have been one of the contributing factors that led to the unrest.

Additionally, due to the difficulties in obtaining a Malaysian citizenship and the regular influx of In- dians (both Muslims and Hindus) to Malaysia, a significant number of Indians remained Indian na- tionals. Interestingly, as a way out, some chose to “associate more closely to the Malays to the extent of marrying Malays and even joining Umno”, hence, acquiring bumiputera status and the privileges as- sociated with such "membership".

As a result, other members within the Indian com- munity remained marginalised and were sidelined economically. Subsequently, misrepresentation from political parties only made the situation worse and

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 25 Neoliberal policies burden the people

rom the word go, Aliran sic services especially health care, F has taken a position on water, and electricity, to name a F people-centred develop- few, and how such privatisation ment. Articles have been has had a dire impact on the written over the years cautioning people. the government about the perils of privatisation and questioning Neoliberal policies are coming in the type of development, and for new forms such as via the im- whom. pending Trans-Pacific Partner- ship Agreement and the Goods The capitalistic model of develop- and Services Tax. At the other end ment has seen the divide between of the scale, the progressive taxa- the rich and the poor widen. It has tion system is being undermined given rise to a culture of corrup- via the reduction in the upper tion in a government which has bands of income tax rates, which mixed business with politics. will benefit the wealthy.

The country has seen billions of These will no doubt add to the tax payers money frittered away burden the people are facing and in scandal after scandal. In the last widen the income gap even fur- three decades, AM critically ther. analysed the privatisation of ba- - By Prema Devaraj

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 26 Globalisation, migrant labour and the working class

et’s look back, from this global solidarity is not something Federal Constitution and the Uni- L stage of maturity to our new but something we have versal Declaration of Human L younger days, the early gradually come to know about, Rights (vol 4 no 1, 1984). This was days of Aliran Monthly. and finally accept in this IT era, a a step into the global arena for At this stage, we remember the dream of yesterday but a fact to- thinkers joining the intelligentsia highlights of our lives. Despite its day. of the nation, not a new develop- apparently ‘traditional’ alterna- ment for Aliran, but an tive approach to issues for justice, Back in 1984, when the fledgling acknowledgement of the nation’s freedom and solidarity, AM has Quarterly took flight as a full link to the rest of humankind on to all intents and purposes kept grown Monthly, the earliest issues World Human Rights Day 1983. abreast of the impact of events that of AM maintained strong momen- affect and change, not only Ma- tum as a means of expressing and Globalisation, in the context of the laysian society but the interna- communicating thoughts that AM, was more an analysis of glo- tional milieu. mainstream media, specialist jour- bal social justice and human nals, academic works and other rights issues which did not dis- Globalisation is now a firmly en- texts rarely gave public voice to. count the role of politics, spiritual trenched and real phenomenon values, ethics, and political eco- with the broadening of interna- One of the items that appeared in nomics. This holistic angle is alien tional solidarity expressed openly the AM article which made a last- to those preferring theoretical, by peoples far and wide; most re- ing impression of hope was the apolitical treatises on subjects like cently, the worldwide protest affirmation by students of the Uni- human rights. Aliran Monthly, against the conflict and carnage versity of Malaya’s Law Faculty therefore, has been a unique peri- in Palestine. Looking into the past, on 10 December 1983, of duties, odical, not one simply to stimu- the expression of international i.e. rights and obligations under the late the mind, but one that has not

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 27 shied away from admit- Inadvertently, AM had put ting the existence of the Malaysia on the interna- human soul (see ‘Islam in tional radar, which was Indonesia: where to? - In- realised when AM raised terview with awareness of human rights Adburrahman Wahid; vol violations and environmen- 7 no 5, 1987). tal destruction in Sarawak (‘Europe alarmed over ar- AM boldly went where rest of Penan’, The Euro- few publications would pean Parliament, vol 10 no have gone before. It sought 2, 1990). to cover and uncover thoughts and views that From inception, Aliran were principled, well rea- Monthly kept a space for soned, but less heard or marginalised communities, bandied around by the specifically, workers, and mainstream media. Its indigenous minorities in main writers and contributors of- Elangovan’s compilation ‘Shell’s Malaysia. Among its contributors ten were among the ranks of Role in Fueling Apartheid’ vol 8 were trade unions, trade union- known intellectuals, academi- no 9, 1988). ists, and labour rights advocates cians, teachers, social and politi- (see MTUC’s ‘Uphold the cal activists, politicians, econo- AM’s network, when Aliran itself Rakyat’s Rights’, vol 9 no 1, 1989). mists, judicial personalities, trade needed global solidarity, when in unionists and a range of other 1987 the ISA hatchet was dropped This sector of the working class is people, who took to the dictates of on its president and two other still a flexible category as it in- conscience, rather than that of the members for their openly critical cludes many of the marginalised establishment. stance on issues the government and disenfranchised impover- preferred to be opaque on. The glo- ished communities in the country For Aliran Monthly, globalisation bal outreach of AM elicited global (see K Palani’s ‘Squatters Resist took the form of discourse on the support in our crisis (Operation Oppression’, vol 7 no 1, 1987; a impact of current global trends Lallang: ‘Solidarity Messages to letter on Graduate Unemploy- (see Susan George’s ‘Debt’ vol 9 Aliran; vol 7 no 10, 1987). ment, vol 7 no 9, 1987; and Jannie no 5, 1989) or the link between a Lasimbang’s ‘Fending Alone: significant event relating to Ma- But that seemed only the begin- Schooling for a Kampung Girl’ laysia which had an impact on ning; in 1990, when an applica- vol 7 no 9, 1987). the world at large (see Robert tion for a licence for publication Nash’s ‘Malaysia Incorporated of a Bahasa Malaysia version of In 1989, the Monthly actively Policy turns Sour’ vol 7 no 3, 1987). AM was refused, even by the publicised the denial of the right courts, the international support of electronics industry workers Still the issues discussed by extended by various supporting the Malaysian Trade Aliran Monthly were, in analysis, organisations, politicians and in- Unions Congress (MTUC) to grounded in human rights. For at dividuals was overwhelming and unionise. This was a protracted least two consecutive years, 1987 deeply moving (see ‘Why no per- campaign for workers in the elec- and 1988, an article on apartheid mit’ by Asia Watch, affiliate of tronics industry that was rapidly in South Africa, was never left out Human Rights Watch, vol 10 no growing in Malaysia (see the of AM (see Tong Veng Wye’s 2, 1990; ‘Freedom, Voices of Sup- Aliran Exco’s statement ‘In- ‘Apartheid in South Africa’ vol 7 port’ by The Newspaper Guild, House Unions and the Electron- no 4, 1987; the editor’s comment International Centre of Censor- ics Industry’, 10 March 1989; and on apartheid vol 8 no 8, 1988; the ship, Article 19, Lawyers Commit- a response from the International editor’s ‘Declaration against tee for Human Rights, vol 10 no 4, Workers Federation, ‘Ban on Elec- apartheid’ vol8 no 9, 1998; and R 1990). tronics Unions, ILO asks Dr. M to

AliranAliran Monthly Monthly : :Vol.33(11/12) Vol.33(11/12) Page Page 28 28 explain’, vol 9 no 7, 1989) awareness of existing refu- gee communities and the But the AM did not stop at opening up of the refugee merely giving support; it be- debate between civil society came a vehicle for critical re- groups, the United Nations view and analyses of the refugee agency, and the fed- workings of the establish- eral government (see ments even among trade Angeline Loh’s ‘Sweeping unionists (see K George’s Dirt over the UNHCR carpet’ ‘Clean Up or Get Cleaned vol 27 no 3, 2007; and the Out’ vol 9 no 12, 1989) and Aliran Exco’s ‘Rohingya went on to allow open de- refugees dilemma remains bate on trade union issues unsolved’, vol 27 no 4, 2007). (see ‘Nube replies’ Parts 1 and 2, vol 10 no 3, 1990). But this was not the first time refugee and migrant issues had The Monthly covered a spectrum millennium loomed. Economic been raised in Aliran Monthly. Yet of working class communities, al- and political exigencies intensi- this previous discourse on mi- though the grassroots themselves fied the necessity for people to grant and refugee issues was not were at that time insufficiently lit- migrate for various reasons. an indepth one; it only appeared erate to participate in written dis- in short letters or complaints course, except for the group of With its habitual realism, the AM raised in the ‘Letters’ or ‘Current leaders who had achieved at least did not neglect to take note of and Concerns’ columns (Letters ‘Ap- a secondary school-level educa- critically view these develop- peal for Help for Burmese Student tion. Still, the AM gave voice to ments. From local labour issues, Refugees’ vol 9 no 3, 1989; these communities through the which appeared to be slightly on Chandra Muzaffar’s Current writings of concerned persons, the wane, the focus on migrant Comment, ‘Illegals and Christian rights advocates and activists workers’ issues began to widen. Conversions’, vol 7 no 8, 1987; and who spoke out strongly against With the inflow of migrant labour, N S Sivam’s letter ‘Illegal Immi- injustice and inequality. (see a let- other aspects of human and grants and Refugees in Sabah, vol ter by Arutchelvan Subramaniam labour rights application and 10 no 4, 1990). ‘Plantation Workers Deprived of abuse arose (see Angeline Loh’s Basic Amenities’, vol 10 no 2, 1990; take on ‘Charles Hector’s case: A Aliran Monthly’s journey over the R Elangovan’s ‘Tragedy at Suffolk judicial denial of justice’, vol 31 past 33 years has been in step with Estate’, vol 9 no 9, 1989; Terence no 9, 2011). the evolution of this country and Gomez’s ‘Struggle for Shelter’, vol its inevitable connection with 7 no 9, 1987; and Mary Lean’s Migration issues became more globalisation. The closing of AM’s ‘Famine, Farmers and Food, vol 8 visible, as did the challenges mi- hard copy journal nurtured with no 8, 1988). grants began to face even up to the love and diligence since 1980 is last general election. True to its not the end, but a new beginning, Over the next 10 years, with rapid character, the AM published criti- where wisdom, critical thinking, economic development, the work- cal and crucial questions about humanity, peace and justice are ing class saw far-reaching the state of immigration controls still relevant and necessary, as are changes, intensified by economic (e.g. Aliran’s media statement ‘Re- the core principles of Aliran itself. and political globalisation, which dundant Rela’) and migrant work- Aliran will continue to uphold its brought new challenges originat- ers rights, and will no doubt con- motto of ‘Justice, Freedom, Soli- ing beyond the nation’s borders. tinue to do so. darity’ in cyberspace where think- The migrant trickle, which ini- ing is allowed and free discourse tially seemed to some extent a nov- In 2007, the AM began a wider continues at aliran.com. elty, started to become a river in and deeper discourse on refugee the 1990s, then a flood as the new issues due to the increasing - By Angeline Loh

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 29 Education: Corporatisation, flip-flops and declining standards

ducation has been a re- But in 1991, Dr Mahathir pro- shared her thoughts on these E curring theme in Aliran posed that English be used again changes in ‘Malaysia’s educa- E Monthly throughout its to teach mathematics and sci- tional reforms’ in vol 12 no 8, 1992. 33 years of existence. ences. In fact, a decade later, he proposed, though not seriously In vol 22 no 5, 2002, AM devoted AM has highlighted the flip- for most observers, bringing back almost an entire issue entitled pancy in federal educational the English-medium schools. In ‘Crisis in education: Who’s re- policy and the flip-flops that oc- this regard see two articles by P sponsible?’ to discuss educa- curred especially in the teach- Ramakrishnan, ‘Redefining the tional matters again. The lead ing of the English language. role of English in Malaysia’ (vol story by Molly Lee called for an English had been the major me- 11 no 3, 1991) and later, ‘A na- overhaul of the entire educational dium of instruction in the tional will to mastering English’ system, no less. An accompany- schools prior to 1971. (vol 22 no 4, 2002) for Aliran’s ing story by Maznah Mohamad stand on the two related matters. looked at the politicisation of the Following amendments to the educational system which re- National Education Policy in When the ministry of education sulted in compromising the qual- 1971, English-medium schools increased the number of years of ity of education for the young. were progressively done away compulsory education for chil- with, as the medium of instruction dren from 9 to 11 years, and intro- Yet another article by P switched to BM gradually, first in duced the KBSR and KBSM sys- Ramakrishnan looked into the the primary schools, then the sec- tems into the primary and second- plight of teachers and the state of ondary schools, and finally in the ary schools respectively, Molly teaching while K Arumugam dis- universities. Lee, a renowned educationist cussed ‘The Cinderella of Malay-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 30 sian Education’, namely the whom were ill-prepared for uni- print 2013-2025, recently adopted marginalised and poorly fi- versity, and a general lack of qual- by the Ministry of Education to nanced Tamil schools. ity among the newly appointed address various problems identi- academic staff. Corporatisation of fied including the noticeable de- Under Dr Mahathir, liberalisation, the universities did not address cline in standards in Malaysian deregulation and privatisation of these problems; in fact, the mar- schools. Loh’s article called for Malaysia’s economy increasingly ket values introduced further led decentralisation of the educa- became the norm. In time, his neo- to the erosion of academic values. tional system. An accompanying liberal economic policies had an article by Nicholas Chan reiterated impact on our higher education An accompanying story by Toh the same call. See also the re- system as well. In vol 16 no 1, Kin Woon called upon the state sponses to Loh’s article in Vol. 33 1996, the lead story by Francis governments to play more active No. 9. Loh was ‘Corporatisation of the roles in the educational sector to Universities: The market to the res- complement the inadequacies of - By Francis Loh cue?’. the federal government which, under the Constitution, has pre- Accompanying the lead were rogative over the entire educa- statements by Ungku Aziz ‘The tional system, unlike in other fed- issue is not money but excellence’ eral countries. and Syed Hussein Alatas, ‘Corporatisation No, Yet another feature was Zaharom Liberalisation Yes’. Both former Nain’s ‘Messing around with vice-chancellors of the University Malaysia’s higher education’ of Malaya were extremely critical (Vol. 31 No. 10, 2011). of the policy turn. In the same spe- cial issue, Tan Liok Ee’s ‘The de- The cover story of vol 33 no 8, velopment of education in Malay- 2013 screamed a familiar sia’ provided a comprehensive theme: ‘Malaysia’s education overview within which to locate system in crisis?’ The lead the above discussion. story by Francis Loh dis- cussed the Malay- Higher education was once again sian Education Blue- the focus of our research and analysis in vol 25 no 10, 2005, which proclaimed ‘Crisis in the public uni- versities?’ on its cover page. The lead story by Francis Loh investigated the declining stan- dards which he associated with rapid expansion in terms of the numbers of universities estab- lished, the increased numbers of students recruited, some of

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 31 Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal factor

ight from the beginning, fore no alternative media in exist- R the AM made special ef- ence to speak of, AM reports boldly R forts to address and challenged the mainstream report- highlight issues pertain- ing of developments in the two ing to Sabah and Sarawak, be- states. The AM first reported: cause we strongly believe that Ma- ‘Why Berjaya Lost’ written by our laysians in Semenanjung ought to members in Sabah. A follow-up be better informed of their fellow piece was ‘Kemiskinan di Sabah’ Malaysians in north Borneo. by Ibnu Abbas (vol 5 nos 6 and 11, 1985). In this regard, our efforts benefited from active and informed Aliran ‘Sabah: A Threat to our Democ- members in those two states, plus racy’ (vol 6 no. 4, 1986) was a spe- a few individuals from cial issue dedicated to the BN’s Semenanjung who had developed attempts to destabilise and seize special interests on Sabah and power from the PBS government Sarawak. which had displaced them at the polls. The ‘ISA Arrests in Sabah’ The AM is proud that we inves- by the wives of the detainees was tigated and published not a few reported in vol 10 no 6, 1990; while tion, the article: ‘Probing the larger articles that highlighted the po- Francis Loh raised important issues' (vol 14 no 2, 1994) litical crisis in Sabah, which first questions about the design and analysed why the PBS’s previous resulted in the ousting of the practice of federalism in: ‘Is comfortable majority had turned BN-Berjaya state government by ‘Sabah: One of 13 or One of 3’ of wafer-thin. And after several PBS a newly formed Parti Bersatu the component parts of Malaysia assembly members crossed over to Sabah (PBS) in 1985. This, in (vol 10 no 8, 1990). enable the BN to displace the PBS turn, caused the BN to resort to in Sabah, Anil Netto wrote; ‘What all kinds of measures – street The same author then reported: about the voters’ mandate?’ (vol demonstrations, the use of the ‘Umno goes to Sabah’ in vol 11 no 14 no 3, 1994). ISA and arrests, the wooing over 4, 1991, while in a special issue of of opposition state assembly the AM: ‘The 20 Points and Fed- Francis Loh’s ‘Sabah State Elec- members, the establishment of eral-state relations’, articles by tions, 1999’ analysed how Sabah Umno in Sabah, the buying of Francis Loh as well as by James Umno easily won the election with voters with development prom- Ongkili and Pengiran Othman the monetary, media and party ises, the use of phantom voters Rauf all argued for greater machinery backing of their federal and the redelineation of bound- decentralisation and autonomy counterparts, not to mention the aries with the cooperation of the for Sabah (vol 12 no 11, 1992). gerrymandering of the Sabah elec- SPR - to recover power, which toral system and the widespread finally occurred in 1994. As the 1994 state elections ap- presence of phantom voters (vol proached, the AM reported: 19 no 3, 1999). At a time when the new IT and ‘Sabah goes to the polls: Who will electronic media were still very be the next CM?’ (vol 14, no 1, Prior to the 2004 federal elections, much in their infancy, and there- 1994). In the aftermath of that elec- G Lim wrote ‘Sabah: All quiet on

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 32 the eastern front?’ (vol 23 no 7, Change: analysis of the 1996 2003). A second piece by the same Sarawak state elections’ (in vol 16 author was ‘Sabah: the more nos 6 and 9, 1996). things stay the same, the more they change...’(vol 28 no 3, 2008). In yet In these articles and in ‘Election another article, ‘Sabah: truly Ma- Bribery Exposed’ (vol 17 no 1, laysia’ (vol 25 no 4, 2005), he ze- 1997), Abang Benet highlighted roed in on the problem of poverty the politics of patronage includ- in the state and called for more de- ing electoral bribes. Not long after velopment allocations for the Abang Benet wrote ‘Sarawak: a state if Kuala Lumpur seriously state of Emergency’ (vol 17 no 8, wanted to promote greater inte- 1997) which reported on the haze gration with the peninsula. disaster in the state, an issue he further reported on in ‘Poisonous In anticipation of GE13, aca- smog is back in Sarawak (vol.22 demic Arnold Puyok wrote no 7, 2002). ‘Sabah: Still a fixed deposit?’ (vol 32 no 7, 2012) which On the 2001 state elections, the analysed the potential perfor- AM carried: ‘Sarawak: an election mance of the contesting parties. twice delayed’ by Khoo Khay Jin After GE13, he wrote: ‘Political @ Philip James (vol 21 no 7, 2001), awakening in Sabah?’ (vol 33 no who followed up with his ‘The 4, 2013) explaining that changes taming of the Dayak’ (vol 24 no 6, were in the offing, as evidenced 2004). in the increased votes for the op- position which would have per- Abang Benet wrote ‘Whither the formed better had they suc- People’s Agenda?’ (vol 26 no 3, ceeded in reaching an electoral 2006) just prior to the 2006 state pact and had not contested elections, while Philip Khoo against one another. analysed the electoral results in ‘Political tsunami in Sarawak’. Al- Q Q Q Q Q though the Opposition won only 8 of 71 seats, it polled a most com- Two early articles that focused on mendable 33 per cent of the popu- electoral politics in Sarawak were lar vote, Khoo showed (vol 26 no Francis Loh’s ‘Understanding 4, 2006). Abang Benet next wrote: electoral politics in Sarawak’ and ‘How the BN bullied, bluffed and ‘The Sarawak State Election 1991: bribed its way to victory in money, machinery and media en- Sarawak’ (vol 28 no 3, 2008). sure victory for BN’ vol 11 nos 7 and 9, 1991. It is well known that the Opposi- tion made important electoral Abang Benet then began to write gains in GE13 in March 2008. But for the AM in 1996. As will be seen the so-called ‘political tsunami’ below, he has continued to share essentially by-passed Sabah and his keen observations and critical Sarawak. In this context, the AM analyses of Sarawak politics with carried a series of articles investi- our readers ever since. His first gating and analysing political contributions focused on the state developments in Sarawak even elections held in 1996: ‘Whom is more closely, as the state elections the election for?’ and ‘Winds of approached, first anticipated in

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 33 2009, then 2010, before being held progress in the percentage of votes in 2011. polled, especially in certain rural constituencies (vol 31 no 4, 2011). During this period, the AM car- ried Faisal Hazis’s ‘Muslim As GE13 approached, AM’s au- Melanau strongmen rule in thors anticipated potential issues Sarawak’ (vol 29 no 6, 2009); and electoral results. In ‘Poverty, Sheridan Mahavera’s ‘Divided Inequality and Crocodiles’, Abang people, shared destiny’ and his Benet warned about the “political ‘Interview with Andrew Aeria: and corporate crocodiles in East-West Malaysia Divide’ (vol Sarawak” who have been “feast- 29 no 8, 2009); and reports by Ngu ing – unconscionably – upon the Ik Tien on the Opposition’s vic- lives of the poor” (vol 32 no 6, tory in a by-election for the Sibu 2012). Similarly, in ‘From the parliamentary seat, traditionally Borneo Agenda to a People’s won by the BN (vol 30 no 4, 2010). Agenda’, Faisal Hazis was criti- The wider implications of the cal of Opposition leaders who BN’s loss in Sibu were taken up were trying to win votes on the by Abang Benet ‘Sleepless in cheap by lamenting the state’s Sarawak’ and ‘1Malaysia Hypoc- lack of autonomy from Kuala risy in Sarawak’ (vol 30 no 5, Lumpur, rather than addressing 2010). important problems facing the rakyat (vol 32 no 8, 2012). Almost one-half of Vol 31 no 3, 2011: Sarawak Elections, Moment Q Q Q Q Q of truth for BN’ was devoted to reporting about the upcoming Finally, one-half of vol 33 no 10, elections in the state. Faisal Hazis 2014 was devoted to Sabah and wrote the lead story ‘Making Sarawak. The articles included sense of the forthcoming Sarawak Regina Lim’s ‘Sabah - continuity state elections’. Abang Benet’s or change?’; Arnold Puyok’s back cover story discussed what ‘Sabah autonomy: the winners he termed ‘klepto-capitalism in and the losers’; Ngu Ik Tien’s ‘Les- Sarawak’, i.e. how the state’s sons from Sarawak; and Sara economy was tailored to serve the Loh’s ‘Have you heard of Impian interests of the BN elites and the Sarawak?’ cronies around chief minister Taib Mahmud. The third article by Check out also three articles about Philip Khoo argued that the real federalism: two by Francis Loh: poverty rate in Sarawak was ‘Restructuring federal-state rela- higher than what official figures tions’ and ‘Malaysia’s centralised then suggested. Two other articles federalism’ (vol 28 no 4, 2008) and discussed the problem of rural ‘Decentralisation: the way to poverty and environmental deg- deepen democracy and to pro- radation resulting from excessive mote good governance’ (vol 33 no logging in the state. 1, 2013); and ‘Mission and omis- sion: Urgent need to address and As expected, the BN won again. resolve regional inequalities’ by But in ‘PKR succeeds against all Graham Brown (vol 26 no 7, 2006). odds’, Andrew Aeria argued that the Opposition had actually made - By Francis Loh

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 34 DamnedDamned damsdams

hanks to our correspondents in the Horn- T bill state, the AM was able to carry a series T of articles on the construction of two contro- versial dams, the first in Batang Ai and the second in Bakun, and how these projects had a nega- tive impact on the lives, livelihoods and identities of the Orang Ulu native communities.

Our first article was ‘Government gives a dam to long house communities: the Batang Ai Dam’ (vol 4, no 2, 1984), one of the first voices of protest against the project. A follow-up article was ‘The Bakun Dam’ by Sim Kwang Yang, the MP for Kuching, also an Aliran member (vol 6 no 1, 1986).

Anak Harsis wrote ‘Let them follow their own way: A plea for the Penan’ (vol 10 no 2, 1990) while Tan Chee Beng wrote the story ‘Radu Ayoh: son of Barrio, Kelabit Leader’ (vol 11 no 12, 1991).

In 1992, when logging activities, often in the areas that would be flooded by the proposed dam projects, threat- ened the Orang Ulu communities, we carried a series of three articles by Johan Kenyalang: ‘Our Land and our Life: Sarawak NCR Land Threatened’; ‘Politics on Logging'; and ‘Building a Sustainable Future’ (vol 12, nos 5, 6 and 7, 1992).

During the mid-1990s, the big issue in Sarawak was Bakun. In ‘Bakun Dam’ (vol 14 no 5, 1994) we featured Khoo Khay Jin@Philip James’ probe into the political economy of the mammoth project and highlighted the concerns of the Ad-hoc Bakun Action Committee, which represented the residents of the long-houses whose live- lihoods were being threatened by the project.

The ‘Jailing of Kenyah people’, which largely went unreported in the mainstream media, was highlighted in vol 14 no 4, 1994. Yet another article by Carol Yong discussed ‘Bakun and its Impact on women’ (vol 16 no 2 1996).

In two cover stories subsequently, the AM looked into the money politics of the Bakun project as in ‘The Bakun Business: Political Rivalry and Privatised Patronage’ by Terence Gomez (vol 15,

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 35 no 7, 1995) and ‘Floating the Bakun Shares’ by S P Subramaniam (vol 17 no 4, 1997).

Another issue of the AM featured the decision of James Foong, the High Court Judge, who ruled that the RM15bn Bakun project had flouted environmental legislations (vol 16, no 5, 1996). In the same issue AM also featured PM Mahathir’s criticism of the Court’s decision and his alle- gation that the Malaysian groups who had lobbied against the project were anti-development and traitors to the na- tion for they had allegedly allowed themselves to be ma- nipulated by foreign environmentalists.

As we all now know, despite the court ruling, the Bakun Dam project went ahead though on a smaller scale not least due to the 1997-1998 regional financial crisis. Na- tive longhouse communities were resettled and their lives disrupted. Some were absorbed into the new oil palm plantations that were developed in the areas surrounding the dam project.

Logging also proceeded apace. Ajang Kiew’s ‘Why the Penans set up blockades’ (vol 27 no 3, 2007) ex- plores the continued encroachment into native cus- tomary rights land and the Penans’ clamour that their village forest reserves be gazetted as ‘communal for- ests’.

Ironically, new concerns have emerged. Philip Khoo’s ‘Viability of Bakun Dam project threatened’ explored the dangers of establishing plantations in the 1.5m hectares Bakun catchment area; these plan- tations may now threaten the viability of the dam and the hydro-electric power project! (Vol 27 no 5, 2007).

Perhaps the last word on the Bakun Dam project should go to Along Sega, the paramount leader of the last nomadic group of Penan in the Upper Limbang region. In an interview in 2005, he recalled the lives of the Penan in the region, which he termed ‘our forest’ prior to all these encroachments. Alas, Along Sega died in 2011 (vol 31 no 2, 2011).

Check out also the two articles focusing on the Iban heartland of Batang Ai before a critical by-election held in 2009: ‘Agi Idup, Agi Ngelaban? Will the River Burst the Dam?’ by Philip Khoo@Yi Ge Qiu, and ‘Change at Batang Ai: So near, yet still so far...’ (vol 29, nos 2 and 3, 2009).

- By Francis Loh

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 36 Reformasi to ‘tsunami politics’, and to the future

he year 1998 was when the beginning of a convergence of party system in “Vote for change T the Asian economic cri- civil society groups calling for jus- towards a two-party system” (vol T sis hit the South-East tice, solidarity and democracy, not 19 no 9, 1999), which only Asian region. Malaysia organised and based along ethnic materialised more than a decade was one of the hardest hit tiger lines. later. economies. Not only that, its po- litical regime structures were The following year (1999), AM re- This ferment of civil society con- shaken especially within the ported regularly on the political tinued to make the quest for Umno leadership hierarchy. changes and developments, among them “Reformasi in AM followed the events in 1998 Penang” (vol 19 no 1, 1999), and covered the economic crisis – “Bridging the great divide” (vol as in “The Economy: Rebuild, re- 19 no 2, 1999), and “The State ver- new, rethink (repent?)” (vol 18 no sus The People” (vol 19 no 4, 1, 1998) followed by the political 1999). trial of Anwar “A nation on trial” (vol 18 no 9, 1998) and “Fighting The issue “Judgment stinks to for a cause” (with an exclusive in- high heaven” (vol 19 no 4, 1999) terview with Wan Azizah) (vol 18 covered Anwar Ibrahim's trial no 10, 1998) in the aftermath of and the evolving reformasi; while the conflict between the then “Fear not: Listen to your hearts” Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar (Vol 19 no 7, 1999) covered the Ibrahim, and the PM at the time, political ferment leading up to the Mahathir Mohamad. 1999 general elections.

From reformasi… Ferment

AM did not merely cover the ‘big Malaysian politics began to take issues’; it also managed to report a twist, and hope for regime on the subsequent series of pro- change blossomed. Philip Khoo’s tests and rallies, which ultimately “Thinking the unthinkable” (vol contributed towards the making 19 no 5, 1999) pondered on this of the reformasi movement. That hope for change and discussed period saw the emergence of a vi- the possibility of “A Malaysia not brant and daring civil society governed by the BN?” movement in Malaysia. AM also provided a perspective Civil society had previously on whether the then Barisan organised many rallies prior to Alternatif (BA/Alternative Front) the reformasi period in connection could form the next government with the Baling incident, Operasi in its “What next” (vol 20 no 3, Lallang, and many more. But the 2000) issue. AM even started to 1998 reformasi movement marked ponder over the idea of a two-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 37 change relevant even with the have entered into the everyday for Malaysia” (vol 28, no 2, 2008); subsequent break-up of the BA. lives of Malaysians. In this re- Philip Khoo’s “A new dawn? Not “Can there be reformasi beyond gard, Francis Loh’s “New Politics quite, but a liberation all the same” BA?” by Khoo Boo Teik (vol 22 no in Malaysia” (vol 23 no 6, 2003) (vol 28 no 3, 2008); and later 1, 2002) and “NGOs and non-elec- analysed the meaning and devel- Francis Loh’s “Arrival of New toral politics”, by Francis Loh (Vol opment of New Politics in Malay- Politics undermines the Old Poli- 22 no 11/12,2002) identified the sia, providing a structural analy- tics” (vol 32 no 10, 2012). persistence of civil society sis of this change. organisations, ranging from ordi- Cultural politics nary people to NGOs, in continu- Similarly, Muzaffar Tate’s a “New ing the struggle for justice, sol- Politics and a new party” (vol 23 Alongside this emergence of a idary, and deepening democracy, no 7, 2003) identified a new non- New Politics and its tensions outside the formal political realm. communal approach within party with the Old Politics, AM writers politics while P Ramakrishnan’s also began to probe into the realm Political movements in Malaysia “An unfinished but inspiring of 'cultural politics'. journey” (vol 27 no 6, 2007) traced the journey of the civil society For instance, Khoo Boo Teik’s movement outside the formal po- “The Youtuber’s guide to our mini litical realm. galaxy” (vol 29 no 3, 2009) dis- cussed the persistence of BN’s he- … to political gemony and its “Old Politics” ‘tsunami’ amidst the (new) challenges the BN has faced from the social me- Since 2007, we have seen another dia such as Youtube and the al- marker of political change in Ma- ternative new media. laysia. The articles “Is Reformasi Back?” (vol 27 no 9, 2007); Soon Chuan Yean’s “1Malaysia: “Hindraf phenomenon: Cry of the A deconstruction of Najib’s dispossessed” (vol 27 no 10, myth” (vol 29 no 10, 2009) re- 2007); and P Ramakrishnan’s visited the 1Malaysia concept “Waking up after half a century” and analysed the emergence of (vol 28 no 9, 2008), could be the Malaysian arts space as an- categorised as important histori- other site of contestation against cal pieces that recorded the events the BN-led state. Two interest- that led to the ‘tsunami politics'' ing pieces in illustrating how in the 12th general election in the arts (read: cartoons) have 2008. been a political apparatus that cannot be overlooked were high- These pieces were aptly followed lighted in Soon’s exclusive in- by Khoo Boo Teik’s “The long terviews with cartoonist Zunar 2008: The impact of a community in “Zunar, the multifaceted car- of dissent” (vol 28 no 10, 2008), toonist” (vol 30 no 4, 2010) and which discussed the emergence of “The other side of Zunar: A per- 2008 "tsunami politics" that had sonal note” (vol 30 no 9, 2010). taken root, amidst the expansion and consolidation of a commu- The struggle nity of dissent. continues…

Indeed, subsequent AM issues The struggle for (regime) change analysed the new era in Malay- has not achieved its goal despite sian politics as in “A new dawn the ferment of civil movements

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 38 and the persistence of protests revealed the people’s consistent AM has played a role in provid- against the state. The voices call- hope for (regime) change along ing critical analyses, indepen- ing for a deepening of democracy with the rise of civil society in this dent reports and alternative per- have not subsided either. era of New Politics. spectives for its readers. We be- lieve that these inputs have con- Increasingly the AM has also The issue “GE13: Fear not, go for tributed towards the rise of civil given attention to restoring lo- change” (vol 33 no 2, 2013) pro- society and dynamic changes in cal elections and women’s em- vided an occasion to dialogue Malaysian politics. AM’s powerment as in “Restoring the with readers-cum-voters in the struggle will remain, only that Third Vote: Bring back local elec- run-up to the 2013 general elec- it will not be in print, but dis- tions” (vol 30 no 4, 2010) and tion . seminated via the internet. “Empowering women: Address- ing the gender gap” (vo 30 no 7, What then does the future hold - By Soon Chuan Yean 2010). for Malaysia? Or, who then will provide hope for a brighter fu- As well, the AM gave much atten- ture? AM’s issue on “Malaysia’s tion to the emergence of Bersih and youth: Our hope for the future” the struggle for free and fair elec- by Francis Loh (vol 33 no 6, tions as in (vol 31 no 6, 2011) and 2013) serves as a good round- (vol 32 no 4, 2012). up in pointing to Malaysians’ continued struggle for change, AM also reported on Aliran's pro- via not only formal politics and posals to the Parliamentary Select political elites in party politics, Committee on Electoral Reform but increasingly via non-formal, (PSC) in 2011 in a series of articles non-party and non-electoral under “Electoral reforms: Aliran’s realms too. submission to PSC” (vol 32 no 11, 2012). Indeed, this is the area where we see the ferment of civil society The 2013 general election result ocurring as it continues to confirmed the arrival of a two- struggle for justice, solidarity and party system. More importantly, it democracy.

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 39 Contemporary media: Prescribed freedom, proscribed truth

or all intents and pur- page news of the publication’s prime minister should have used F poses, media freedom 23-29 November 2013 issue re- his right of reply instead. F and, by extension, free- garding the big- dom of expression in spending habits of Malaysia, are still considered to Prime Minister Najib be a privilege, not a human right Razak and wife by the powers that be. Rosmah Mansor. The official explanation The fact that Malaysia has was that the pub- slipped further to 147th spot in the lisher allegedly did World Press Freedom Index of not inform the Home Ministry of 2014 is indicative of this phenom- a change of ownership and re- But then, a few dailies are more enon. To give a broader perspec- fused to respond to two show- equal than others in Malaysia’s tive, Malaysia attained 110th spot cause letters. media landscape. In particular, in 2002, 92nd spot in 2006 and Utusan Malaysia has been known 122nd spot in 2011-2012. The federal government’s differ- to have carried reporting as well ential treatment of different sets of as opinion pieces that are deemed Repressive laws media and journalists has given seditious, ethnically damning rise to lopsided and unbalanced and divisive. Yet, it could do all There are many reasons for this media coverage. On the one hand, this with much impunity and abysmal media performance. For the mainstream media provide without much reprimand, let one thing, repressive laws that more than sufficient and positive alone punishment, from the rul- directly or otherwise govern the coverage of the federal govern- ing coalition. media industry still exist. ment and BN politicians. On the other, online publications such as “Apa lagi Cina mahu?”, for in- The Printing Presses and Publi- Malaysiakini often find themselves stance, was a screaming headline cations Act, although amended having relatively better access to that was splashed on the front recently, still accords the Home PR politicians to the extent that page of the Malay daily (7 May Minister the power to deny pub- they’re seen to be heavily pro-op- 2013) in the wake of the 13th gen- lishing permits to applicants, position in their reporting. eral election when the majority of such as the case of Malaysiakini the Chinese Malaysian commu- seeking legal recourse to publish In contrast, some BN and federal nity voted against the incumbent its print edition. The same ap- government functions have be- BN coalition. In other words, the plied to the case of FZ Daily, which come a no-go area for the alterna- electoral results, which Najib him- was refused a permit. tive media outlets. The negative self described as a ‘Chinese tsu- sentiments of the ruling elite to- nami’ was given a heavy ethnic News weekly The Heat was wards these alternative media is tone by Utusan. found to be too hot to handle by well illustrated by Najib’s filing the government: it was sus- of a libel suit against Malaysiakini An equally oppressive law that pended for more than a month. over its readers’ comments that runs counter to the very notion of It was rumoured that the sus- were critical of him and his Umno freedom of information, that is, the pension was linked to the front- Baru party in early June 2014. The Official Secrets Act, is still in ex-

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 40 istence and enforced. This law of- and make full use of it. In short, The internet: ten serves as an annoying ob- the notion and practice of freedom the way forward stacle to the citizens’ right to ac- of information is still at its infancy. cess vital and important informa- The news portals do make a dif- tion held by government agencies Mainstream media ference by providing some degree especially when the definition of fortunes sag of investigative reporting, incisive ‘official secrets’ is so wide and analyses and commentaries as obscure as to include almost any- In terms of media ownership well as well-informed letters from thing within the power structures structure in the country, it is busi- readers. There are times when of government. ness as usual. Meaning to say, the these online publications are able major media houses are owned by to push certain issues into the The side effect of this law is that organisations that are closely public domain so much so that the journalists have developed an aligned to the powers that be, such mainstream media cannot refuse unhealthy culture of self-censor- as Media Prima (which owns all to report them, such as irregulari- ship, with the consequence of de- the private terrestrial TV stations ties in government contract deals nying citizens the right to obtain and newspapers such as New or corruption allegations. In some information of public interest and Straits Times, Berita Harian, Harian ways, they are able to make the significance. Metro etc), Utusan Melayu group government account for their poli- (which owns Utusan Malaysia, cies and actions. Noble initiatives, but... Wanita etc) and the Malaysian Chinese Association (which owns But the architect of the Multime- This undemocratic situation has the majority shares of The Star). dia Super Corridor, Dr Mahathir given rise to noble initiatives after Mohamad, himself has made the the sea change experienced at the Although these media outlets plea for censorship of the internet 12th general election, particularly dominate the media scene in Ma- because it ‘undermines public by civil society and subsequently laysia, their fortunes are dwin- morality’. The usual mantra of the the ruling parties in Selangor and dling, what with a heavy drop in internet supposedly encouraging Penang riding on a popular wave newspaper circulation and plum- child sex abuse, incest, sex in pub- of transparency, accountability meting advertising revenue. They lic, and LGBT was marshalled by and good governance. An enact- face an increasing challenge from the former premier, who once ex- ment to facilitate the free flow of the internet, particularly news pressed joy in getting intellectual information was instituted in portals such as Malaysiakini, The refuge through his blog and these two states. Malaysian Insider, Malay Mail online newspapers in the virtual Online and Free Malaysia Today, world – after being rebuffed by the But in its 2-8 August 2014 issue, which offer what the mainstream mainstream media. The Heat news weekly reported media refuse to, or cannot, offer. that its reporters in Selangor and Although we’re mindful of the Penang could not get the informa- Even if the mainstream media do ‘paternalistic control’ being tion they sought from these state cover, the reportage would be of a wielded by the Malaysian Com- governments that have passed certain slant that serves the inter- mission of Media and Communi- their own Freedom of Information ests of the BN coalition as a whole. cations as well as the constraints Enactment on 1 April 2011 and 4 For example, the Bersih 2.0 rally imposed by media-related laws, November 2011 respectively. Fur- in Kuala Lumpur that received the internet still offers hope and thermore, a few residents in these much public response was freedom to some degree for people states also encountered difficul- demonised and discredited by whose voices have all along been ties in getting official information. much of the mainstream media as denied or disparaged. Similarly, an illegal, nay violent, gathering we in Aliran feel that the way for- It appears that not much public- that was aimed at creating havoc ward is via the internet, all things ity has been mounted pertaining and lawlessness. Such a por- considered. to the FOI Enactment so that the trayal was designed to ridicule the general public would be aware public’s democratic aspirations. - By Mustafa K Anuar

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 41 Looking forward to the digital era

s the internet gained 17 no 8, 1997). Mahathir era, our online presence A larger penetration in kicked off in the thick of the Asian A Malaysian households Our first press statement posted economic crisis in 1997 and just in the mid-1990s, Aliran online was Mustafa K Anuar’s ahead of the Reformasi era from started its own website in late concern about remarks made by late 1998 onwards. 1997. the then Orang Asli Affairs De- partment director-general who During this period, our articles Then prime minister Mahathir had asserted that some local jour- were read and shared by those Mohamad had pledged to keep nalists and writers seemed to be hungry for credible analysis of the internet free from censorship. echoing the writings of foreign what was taking place. A high- Many groups began to take to the academics about the Orang Asli light was the AM interview with internet to express themselves which contained “nothing but Wan Azizah, which we repro- where previously they were de- lies”. duced online in late 1998. nied space in the mainstream print and electronic media. Our foray into the digitial arena, Initially, when we first started our which came ahead of the advent website, it was hosted on the Our first articles posted online of the popular Malaysian alterna- malaysia.net domain (i.e. were reproductions from Aliran tive news portals today, could not www.malaysia.net/aliran). But Monthly about a new anti-corrup- have been better timed. If the print after a couple of years, we soon tion bill (vol 17 no 7, 1997) and a Quarterly and Monthly was outgrew that domain and moved smog emergency in Sarawak (vol launched at the start of the to a new domain aliran.com and

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 42 an external hosting company. We permanent information about we often collaborate on various are now reliably served by a new Aliran: our brief history, what we human rights and reform initia- hosting company with hardly any do, our basic principles, how to tives. downtime. join Aliran as a member, how to donate, etc Towering Malaysians – These are For the past 15 years, we were articles written for us to pay trib- faced with a conflict: how would Apart from this, one or two ar- ute to Malaysians, usually on the our magazine and website co-ex- ticles are uploaded to aliran.com occasion of their demise, who ist? Would the website supple- daily. These fall into the follow- have contributed to the struggle ment and complement our maga- ing main sections: for justice, freedom and solidar- zine or vice versa? So we experi- ity. By publishing such pieces, we mented. At first, we put only se- Thinking Allowed Online - These hope to inspire younger Malay- lected articles from the AM onto are short, more personal, pieces sians to pick up the baton that has the website. Then we uploaded all from our existing pool of writers. been passed to us in the struggle. the articles from AM on the They may be first-person or eye- website, but a month later. Later, witness accounts, perhaps with Web Specials – This section contain we uploaded them much sooner an element of human interest and excellent articles from elsewhere to aliran.com so that they were some simple analysis. With the on the internet which we repro- more immediate and current. digitisation project, we hope to duce to reach a wider audience in expand this pool of writers even the country. Our online readership grew from further and allow more of our about 150 visitors per day to close members and supporters to ex- At present, our website records an to a thousand visitors daily. But press themselves. average of 1500 visits a day, and eventually, we came to the brutal we hope to build on this to reach realisation that sales of the AM Media Statements – We will con- an even wider audience. were declining because most of the tinue to release media statements younger adults had turned to the regularly on pressing or crucial Aliran Monthly internet for alternative perspec- issues. These will represent the digitisation tives. The AM was losing their at- position of the Exco. Previously, tention and was not as effective these statements were published As part of our digitisation plan, as before in influencing the na- under Current Concerns in the we will scan and place our en- tional discourse. AM. But they now reach a wider tire 33-year archive of Aliran audience as they are shared, re- Quarterly and Aliran Monthly on The production of the AM also ate produced and reported elsewhere. the internet i.e. all our magazine substantially into our limited hu- content since 1980. This will man resources and over the last Aliran Monthly articles (since 1997) ensure that our precious ar- decade especially it was finan- – At first, selected articles were chives of old Aliran Monthly cially a losing proposition. That published but later we published magazines – a national histori- too influenced our decision to all our original content in the AM cal treasure of documentation of plunge wholesale into the digitial on our website. a crucial period of post-inde- media, where we hope we can pendent Malaysia from an alter- reach out to the younger genera- Now that the AM has ended, this native perspective – will reach tion, from whom the leaders of the does not mean that we will stop new generations of Malaysians. future will emerge. publishing longer analytical pieces on current issues. We will We also hope to make our website Our website is now hosted on an continue to do so, but this time more interactive and plan to train open platform that is relatively online, under a new section to be more people to manage our easy to manage internally; thus we created on our website. website and social media out- incur low website maintenance reach. For this, we are looking for charges. Civil Society Voices – These are se- funding. lected statements from other The website itself contains basic NGOs, usually those with whom - By Anil Netto

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 43 e-newsletters: reaching out to members and friends

are soon uploaded to the Aliran website in the hope of reach- ing even more people. Not in- frequently, these e-Newsletters are also picked up by leading news portals and reproduced on their websites, thus enhanc- ing our digital reach even fur- ther.

Unlike our previous occasional hard-copy newsletter of yore, the weekly e-Newsletter is ob- viously faster in reaching out to its readers. It also provides relevant links to certain websites for those who want to seek more information and deepen their knowledge about a particular subject or issue.

The weekly e-Newsletter also highlights certain news items and analyses found in other publications and websites for the benefit of its recipients. Hopefully, this will enrich our The Aliran e-Newsletter was initially conceptualised and readers intellectually so that launched in late 2013 with the objective of reaching out to Aliran any opinion they form on the members and the organisation’s friends via email to inform and issues of the day is well-in- alert them to the pressing issues of the day. formed.

We have two types of e-Newsletters: a daily update and a weekly Each e-Newsletter is written by e-newsletter. the respective co-editors so that each missive has a different The daily update, sent via email, provides subscribers with an tonal quality and a varied introduction to the postings to aliran.com for that day along flavour. We currently have a with a link to our website for the full articles. total of 4,000 subscribers to both our daily and weekly The weekly e-newsletters contain analyses or occassional press email lists. statements made by Aliran members and friends about the is- sues of concern. These items, i.e. analyses and press statements, – Mustafa K Anuar

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 44 Social media: casting the net wider

dia as their primary source of news. It was only logical for Aliran to plunge into social media in our attempt to reach out to the younger generation, and we have undertaken im- portant first steps in this di- rection.

As Aliran embraces a new digital chapter, redesigning the overall feel for its existing social media networks (Facebook and Twitter) be- came more than just provid- ing a visually creative plat- form that could captivate new readers. We wanted to create something that graphi- With the advent of the With the increasing number of cally represents Aliran, our internet and its subsequent internet users, social media has spirit, our voice and our popularity, it was only a become an important fixture in struggles. matter of time when society our daily lives. Indeed, sites like would embrace it as a Facebook and Twitter have be- At present, we have more means to obtain and dis- come incredible tools used to than 3000 Facebook likes and seminate information that shape public opinion and help about 1800 Twitter followers. transcends any politically spread causes around the world. drawn borders. Youths especially use social me- - Syerleena Abdul Rashid

How you can help with Aliran’s digitisation:

• If you are interested in writing, about how we can make our website more interactive. write a short article on a cur- • If you are an avid social media user, talk to us about how we can rent issue of public interest that use social media more effectively to promote our articles among a you feel strongly about. If se- younger audience. lected, it will be published un- • If you would like to contribute financially to Aliran’s digitisation der the Thinking Allowed project, we would welcome a donation: Online section of our website. Articles should be between 350 Account name : Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara and 600 words and should be Account no : 507246118995 emailed to: SWIFT code : MBBEMYKL [email protected] Malayan Banking Berhad, Green Lane branch, Penang, Malaysia. • If you are tech savvy, talk to us

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 45 For 37 years, Aliran has advocated free- dom, justice and solidarity, commented TRIBUTES F critically on social issues based on uni- versal human rights and spiritual val- hen its triumph has ues. I deeply regret that this issue will be the last been completed and as- publication. Aliran Monthly was one of the most W sured and the history of respected periodicals in the country, voice of con- democratic conscious- science in Malaysian society. Aliran were torch- ness in Malaysia is finally writ- bearers for freedom. They never compromised nor ten, Aliran Monthly will be an im- wavered. They struggled heroically for a just so- portant part of the story it tells. ciety to bring about change. We respect and sa- When a different history is writ- lute Aliran for its outstanding contribution, a gift ten, one of times and deeds that to the nation. were so often dishonourable, Aliran Monthly and its tenacious upholding of decent causes will fea- - Sr Colette Selvam, IJ ture in it as a noble contrast to so much else.

- Dr Clive Kessler, Emeritus Professor or over three decades University of New South Wales Aliran Monthly, in print F form, gave us much to reflect upon in its cov- n any vibrant society erage of political and socio-eco- that is complex and nomic issues, and so much to I challenging, there is the laugh over in the popular “Think- urgent need for alterna- ing Allowed” column. tive voices to interrogate the work- ings of power and the state. Having been on the Editorial Board, I value the hard Aliran Monthly’s role in opening work of the volunteers. I remember Rama’s valiant up a space for debate and critical effort to get printers when some printers, for no very thinking has been crucial in the good reason, were afraid of associating with us. I development of the public sphere in Malaysia, and recall the folding of the magazine for the monthly Malaysia is all the richer - culturally and intellectu- send-out by many helpers including the children of ally - for that. Aliran members.

- Dr Farish Noor, author and academician Aliran Monthly now enters the digital age, confi- dent of maintaining its high standards of impartial- ity and critical thinking. ghast I was at the shocking news of the - Dr Wong Soak Koon A cessation of Aliran literary critic and former academic Monthly arising from the lack of financial support. This is a veritable tragedy. For liran Monthly has been the standard-bearer 33 years, Aliran Monthly has in upholding freedom of expression, and stood with absolute courage A serving as the conscience of society. It has and has weathered many a promoted a culture of critical discourse and storm and even mini tsunamis. Its voice from the expanded the space for public debate, articulating wilderness on social, economic and essential what it considers as truth without fear or favour. Its rights ensuring justice, freedom, tolerance and the online successor hopefully will continue with this nation’s adherence to the rule of law will be si- glorious tradition. lent. Who then will take its place? - Emeritus Professor Abdul Rahman Embong, - Rasammah Bhupalan Universiti Kebangsaaan Malaysia

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 46 he present PM of Japan, Abe Shinzo, an ex- e as a Catholic Church have always had tremely belligerent politician, intends to a warm relationship with the members T maximise the profits of huge corporations W of Aliran and we are grateful and sup- and minimise the rights of workers. A simi- portive of the work that you have done. lar situation prevails worldwide. I hope the digital As a pioneering group, in the last few years, your version of Aliran will become a global common plat- spirit has cultivated many NGO groups who form for the people to recover and secure their rights. picked up the courage of Aliran. Congratulations to your future direction of a “digitalised Aliran - Dr Hara Fujio historian of Malaysia and magazine” and do continue to link up with oth- former professor Nanzen University ers for a just society and environment, as the battle is the same for all.

liran is about persons fearless in their criti- – Rt Rev Sebastian Francis, Bishop of Penang cal yet objective analyses of fundamentals A that underscore issues, current events and matters that affect all Malaysians irrespec- liran has been in the tive of race or creed. As they embark on a new phase forefront for the of the digitised Aliran magazine, it is my hope and A struggle of a more prayer that Aliran will continue to evoke and in- democratic, open, just spire egalitarian values in our society. and socially inclusive Malay- sia. Aliran Monthly has pro- - Fr Fabian Dicom, former coordinator, vided space for ordinary citi- Penang Office for Human Development zens, intellectuals and profes- sionals to engage in discourses, challenges and contests. The aim has always been liran has always been a to help nurture a society where differences are good source of indepth accommodated and dissent institutionalised.It is A political information with sadness that the Monthly in its present print and analysis for me. I form has to bid farewell to all. I would like to certainly will miss it. Being of the wish the new digital magazine every success. old generation in 7 series, I pre- fer to read the hard to soft copy. - Dato' Dr Toh Kin Woon, former Penang State ExCo But I certainly welcome its im- member, prominent activist and Aliran member pending technological transfor- mation and hope to continue as its keen follower. have been reading - Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali Aliran Monthly since former professor of anthropology and politician I 1982, when I was still in Form Six. My late fa- ther (former Pas president ver since its first issue Yusof Rawa) was also a close was released in 1980, friend of Aliran’s. I have al- E Aliran Monthly has ways enjoyed reading the AM been a point of reference and have appreciated the ide- for Malaysians seeking indepen- als of justice, freedom and solidarity discussed dent views and analyses of the in your magazine and which you aspire to - ide- social and political issues of the als that I also share. day. By consistently shining a light on the issues affecting Ma- I am sure you will continue to disseminate these laysia, Aliran Monthly’s contribution to the national universal values via your articles on aliran.com discourse has been invaluable. I wish Aliran every Continue the struggle. success as it goes wholly digital. -YB Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, - Christopher Leong, President of the Malaysian Bar MP for Parit Buntar

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 47 ThinkingThinking AllowedAllowed

Aliran Monthly : Vol.33(11/12) Page 48