On a clear day you can blog forever ([info]shanonshah) wrote,
@ 2008-09-13 01:43:00
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Current mood: infuriated

The Insanity Starts Accelerating
I am terrified that the ISA is being used again. Terrified and disgusted. And I am wishing that Toni was still here to help me think this through, to respond, to find strength, and to let my conscience defeat my fear.

She'd want me to be true to my conscience. As she was to hers. Always. And I know what her conscience would have said about the ISA. I know because I heard her articulate it once during a gathering at Wisma Peladang, during the 2004 General Elections. She said, "The ISA is the filthiest, most disgusting piece of legislation that citizens of this country have to endure." Toni, I am publishing your words now, to draw strength from them, and to offer strength and solidarity to others who need it. I will be sleeping badly tonight, but I hope the memory of your legacy guides me into more effective action. Soon.

Here is what Sisters in Islam said about Raja Petra's arrest yesterday under the ISA:

SIS calls for Immediate Release of Raja Petra Kamaruddin from the ISA Detention

12 September 2008

SIS calls upon the Malaysian government for the immediate release of Raja Petra Kamaruddin who is currently detained under the draconian Internal
Security Act.

As a member of the Abolish ISA Movement, SIS reiterates our strong opposition against the use of ISA under any circumstances.  This draconian law that allows a citizen to be detained without trial not
only violates a person's fundamental rights, but is also against the basic principle of democracy upheld in Malaysia.

 
As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Malaysian government should in fact ensure for Raja Petra Kamaruddin to exercise
his basic right to be presumed innocent until prove  guilty, the right to legal counsel and for him to exercise a citizen's basic right for a fair trial in an open court.

---- Statement ends ----

But the rakyat shall prevail. We must prevail. All of us who are against detention without trial for anyone, anyone at all, especially those we most vehemently disagree with, must make our feelings known. In whatever ways we can manage. No matter how small, or how big, it is how we express our collective conscience now that matters.


(10 comments) - (Post a new comment)


(Anonymous)
2008-09-14 04:12 pm UTC (link)
The recent events and high handedness of our government makes me ashamed to even call myself Malaysian. The reporter gets locked up for telling the truth, while the true perpetrator is almost martyred as a Malay hero. 'For her own protection', my foot.

And there's the matter of Teresa Kok's detention. Over the past couple of days, there's still nothing more to it in the news other than a mention of some petition over a mosque. Has the government made any attempt to elaborate the statement, or was Teresa allowed to say her piece? At this time, no to both counts.

How these authoritarians sleep at night baffles me. The most disgusting part in all of this is despite all the outcry we're making right now, it'll all be forgotten in a couple of weeks or so.

Goodness knows how many steps backward we've taken as a nation in light of these recent 'developments'.

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[info]shanonshah
2008-09-14 05:10 pm UTC (link)
I agree it's sickening. But Malaysians like *you* make me proud to call myself Malaysian. It'll only be forgotten if Malaysians like you and me allow it to be forgotten. I don't think we'll allow it to be forgotten. Or rather, we cannot let it be forgotten. So now it's good to also retell stories about Lallang, about Reformasi, about so many other events that have brought us to where we are now. I've been accused of being a naive optimist, but I believe that anger such as ours can be productive, and can be a catalyst for change if we infuse this anger with unshakable principles and ethics, and a lot of caring and affection for each other.

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(Anonymous)
2008-09-15 03:26 am UTC (link)
A real problem we have as Malaysians in general is our tidak apa attitude. Sure, we're all outraged now, but people are afraid of change. They'd rather stick with a known evil than take a chance on change. It's easy to understand why: nobody wants to be the generation that traded one monstrosity for another. Given the sorry state of politics in our country now, who's to say that won't happen?

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[info]shanonshah
2008-09-15 06:29 am UTC (link)
I think it's more useful to think about the *kind* of change we want. I admit to being one of those who is cautious about what kind of monstrosity we might be legitimizing if we give carte blanche to the Pakatan Rakyat to take over government. However, I am also as infuriated and disgusted with the BN government as any concerned Malaysian. But I have made a decision to mark explicitly my role as a private citizen who is concerned about the state of the country, and to commit to making civil society more vibrant, instead of supporting political maneuvres and political parties. I believe it's a more difficult path to walk, but I've decided to focus on building the strength and independence of public institutions and spaces - the media, the arts, civil society groups and initiatives and so on. Because when civil society is strong, political parties have less room to misbehave, and they will naturally get down to the business of governing, instead of masquerading as some sort of messianic saviour.

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(Anonymous)
2008-09-15 01:07 pm UTC (link)
You're absolutely right, and I agree that when it comes to politics, it doesn't have to be one or the other. Just because you don't agree with the current government doesn't automatically make the opposition the better choice. If I were to be hopelessly optimistic, I wish our elected representatives will just stop living in their fantasy and do their jobs.

I agree with your stand that the media, arts and other representative groups can do so much to empower people. But sadly in Malaysia, even this is not free from the fickleness, and at many times, the sheer pettiness of politics. They're used when they give a good light to the government, then brushed aside when the light reveals skeletons in the closet.

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[info]shanonshah
2008-09-16 03:14 am UTC (link)
The thing on our side is that the collective IQ of the ruling elite is actually quite low at the moment. And they do succumb to pressure. I refer to both the BN and the Pakatan Rakyat.

For example, when there was public outcry about the blocking of Malaysia Today by the Multimedia Commission, the Cabinet then decide to unblock all websites. Granted, the ISA arrests happened the very next day, but I think this is more indicative of a split within certain factions in the current regime. This is most definitely not an excuse, but I think intra-Umno strife is the ugliest it's been since 1987. (Or some might argue 1998.)

On the other hand, notice how Anwar has had to moderate his position so many times regarding the Sept 16 crossovers? It went from 'crossovers from BN to Pakatan' to 'BN MPs merely have to express confidence in Anwar' to 'BN MPs merely have to express no-confidence in Abdullah' to 'we guarantee fresh elections within 6 to 12 months'. It means that public opinion works with the Pakatan as well. They can't afford to put a foot wrong at the moment, because Anwar is merely power-in-waiting. The bravado with which they have announced their takeover plans conceals the real infighting within Pakatan Rakyat - I know for a fact that there is a strong, confident block within the PAS conservatives that is waiting to scuttle Anwar's plans and install someone more to their liking as PM instead.

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(Anonymous)
2008-09-16 11:12 am UTC (link)
It's a pity our King and Raja Nazrin have no direct influence over our government, since they serve so well as our nation's conscience. I think it's a good thing that both the ruling government and opposition are keeping each other from being too comfortable, but I just wish both sides will snap out of their election mood and really earn the trust the rakyat has given to them.

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[info]shanonshah
2008-09-16 01:23 pm UTC (link)
I agree with you. But I suppose I am wary of appealing to the influence of the monarchy as well. We have some good monarchs who are making their views known, like Raja Nazrin, but I remember a time in the 1980s when prominent members of the royal family were making headlines for all the wrong reasons. And it was very hard to take them to task simply because of the way in which the monarchy was institutionalised at that time. I we are blessed now to have people like Raja Nazrin in the monarchy, just as we were blessed to have had people like Zaid Ibrahim in Cabinet. But I still believe that certain sectors of civil society have to become more vibrant and vocal in our demands for real democratic reforms. We have civil society groups like Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) actually SUPPORTING the use of the ISA against Teresa Kok, Raja Petra and Tan Hoon Cheng! That is really an insult to me as a Muslim. But then there are also civil society groups who are opposed to the ISA, but then allow themselves to become rubber stamps for the Pakatan Rakyat, including not making any noise when PAS gets up to mischief in Kelantan, Kedah and Selangor. I think that defeats the purpose of having civil society altogether. In the context of a democratizing Malaysia (which still has to deal with a discourse on Islam that is highly chauvinistic and repressive), I think civil society groups have to fiercely defend our independence from the influence of any political party at the moment, be they from Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Rakyat or even Parti Sosialis and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (even though I must admit I have a soft spot for PSM and an even softer spot for PRM).

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(Anonymous)
2008-09-16 01:37 pm UTC (link)
And that's the problem isn't it? Civil society groups do not have the freedom to operate in a way that's truly conducive to them. I understand guidelines must be adhered to, but what use is a group to represent a minority if its voice is only going to be muted, or worse, twisted into a parody of the ideals they mean to represent?

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[info]shanonshah
2008-09-17 04:14 am UTC (link)
Ah, but this is where we can get creative in subverting the repression :-) I have ideas, but have been too busy to flesh them out. But, oh boy, are there possibilities!

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