I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to revoke the “green light” for the mass arrests and prosecutions and to pull back from the brink of the precipice of a major crackdown on human rights and democracy which will push back democratization and liberalization for decades.
Many are asking whether the country is on the eve of a second Operation Lalang when there was a major crackdown on human rights, fundamental freedoms and democracy in 1987 with mass arrests under the Internal Security Act and the closure of four newspapers which was followed by the “mother” of all judicial crisis in 1988 causing irretrievable damage to the independence and integrity of the judiciary.
Abdullah made the promise to protect and promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law when he became Prime Minister just four years ago and I call on him to step on the brakes to prevent the country from careening down the slope of a major assault on human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Former Deputy Prime Minister and the first Suhakam Chairman, Tun Musa Hitam, has provided a solution to prevent the country plunging down the slope of a new “dark age” for human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
In an interview with New Sunday Times, Musa has made an eloquent call for Malaysia to be one of the first developing nations to show respect for the human right of freedom of expression by allowing peaceful assemblies and demonstrations.
Asked “Is Malaysia ready for peaceful assemblies”, Musa gave the refreshing and confident reply: “Yes, Come on, we have been independent for 50 years.”
Musa is right when he made two important points, which should be serious thought by the Prime Minister and Cabinet on Wednesday.
Firstly, the fallacy of equating “demonstrations” with “violence”.
Musa rightly pointed out that Malaysia should move forward and away from the mentality equating “demonstrations” with “violence”, and he made proposals for peaceful demonstrations to be allowed by the government, with the responsibility for ensuring that the demonstrations are peaceful also being placed on the organizers.
Secondly, Musa’s rebuttal of the repeated TV claim and dismissal of demonstrations as “Ini bukan budaya kita” (This is not our culture).
Musa said: “I’m sorry for ridiculing this, but where is there a budaya (culture of violence) anywhere in the country? Do you think violence is a French budaya? Indonesians? Filipinos?”
Abdullah and the Cabinet should also heed Musa’s sobre views and appraisal of the national situation, particularly his frank views that the problems faced by the Malaysian Indians are “genuine”, which are part of national problems, and that the Indians are feeling “desperate” as they are not satisfied with the representation by the MIC which are considered ineffective.
The following observations by Musa particularly bears heart-searching by the Cabinet on Wednesday:
“Of course, everybody has complaints. The Malays have complaints. But the Tamils are such a minority and they don’t form an important force, so people don’t seem to pay too much attention to them. But they need this attention.
“This is a question of attitude. I am so happy that the prime minister actually directed the MIC to look into the matter. But they should not have been told by the prime minister. It should have been an on-going thing. Maybe they need to have a good fresh look at themselves.”
What is sad and tragic is that the MIC has led the national campaign to deny what the majority of the two million Malaysian Indians feel strongly, that they had suffered long-standing marginalization whether politically, economically, educationally, socially, culturally and religiously resulting in their becoming the new underclass in the country.
Samy Vellu and the other MIC leaders are very outspoken in denying the allegations of Hindraf leaders about “ethnic cleansing” and genocide of Indians in Malaysia. Why are they not prepared to be equally outspoken by admitting and declaring in the Cabinet, Parliament and government the fact of long-standing marginalization of Malaysian Indians which warrant a new government policy for a New Deal to end the marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians and all marginalized groups in Malaysia?
Khairy Jaban will say “Musa, awak diam diam, nanti saya tangkap awak”.
Guess who will AAB listen to? KJ or Musa?
Musa said: “I’m sorry for ridiculing this, but where is there a budaya (culture of violence) anywhere in the country? Do you think violence is a French budaya? Indonesians? Filipinos?â€
By MUSA
To answer your question, the answer is Yes, Yes and Yes. All these 3 countries have to resort to violence to change, main reason, the goverment refuse to acknowledge something is wrong and the people get fed up with it.
What will Musa label these arrests and prosecutions by AAB?
“Elegant suppression”?
Maybe Mahathir was right. When asked why he remained PM for so long, 22 years, he had once said that there was no one readily to take over from him then as they did not have the necessary “experience”.
So Pak Lah, the “elegant” one must still be learning the ropes. He is still lacking in “experience”, so he fumbles along.
Hindraf legal advisor has given press statement to asiantribune.com.
full text http://www.indianmalaysia.com
December, (Asiantribune.com): Sami Velu is a proxy of the UMNO led Government. In exchange for the salary, the royal awards and also some Government contracts he may gets, his job is to cheat the Indian community. His full time job is to cheat the Indian community and short change the Indians. (….more)
strange, never hear anything from ex PM on these recent events.
Peace Demonstration in not our culture but it’s a PRACTICE of 1st WORLD countries… but in Malaysia peaceful demonstration being demonised by UMNO… and pengampu AG sue people by listening to hearsay… which mean our Kangaroo Court is as good as ladang kambing…
Pak Lah, wake UP lah…
if you’re not COMPETENT just admit it… and RESIGN…
dont waste taxpayer bloody money which you’re collecting now…
dont show your stupidity in the world arena and my beloved Motherland become laughingstock…
cheng,
Mahathir is being silenced and held hostage by Kera Jahat coz there are too much to lose for Mahathir’s sons and cronies.
Dear Rakyat,
Dont be surprised,Tommorrw NST or MUsa issue a memo,saying the interviewer made mistake in rewriting the whole thing.Musa will claims he never meant to say such a thing.AAB just made him Chairman of Sime Darby(50 ribu masuk….easy money..another special privilege)
Takkan dia nak lawan Tokeh!!!!
I agree with Musa on this(if THIS what he meant)
“This is a question of attitude. I am so happy that the prime minister actually directed the MIC to look into the matter. But they should not have been told by the prime minister. It should have been an on-going thing. Maybe they need to have a good fresh look at themselves.â€
What have this JOCKERS been doing all this while.50 years.
MIC -Malaysian Indian Corrupt Party.Umno’s office boys/Messangers.
What a shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
aiyaa…backtracking is the hallmark of Malaysian politics la..just ask Dewa-Money!
But the best part of Musa’s interview was when he said something to the effect of ‘don’t ask me, I’m not in the govt’…
and therein lies the truth…they all find their voice when they are out of public office….otherwise its ‘ How high sir?’
How can a minority group speaks for itself in this nation divided by racial lines and the majority is in power to look out for themselves.
The BN formula does not work, when a minority group has to beg for crumbs, something is seriously wrong.
Interview of former Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) chairman Tun Musa Hitam about the rights and responsibilities that come with freedom of expression, and how we should try to allow it.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/SundayInterview/20071209153926/Article/index_html
The only “budaya” that the BN is adopting is the “budaya” of telling lies & suppressing the freedom speech
EVE AOSF A SECONDS SOPAERATION OP LALLANG
When the powers-that-be annot cope with thier faulauresd. They resort to repressions. On the eve of a second Operation Lallang, it is instructive toa rememeber what our DPM said when the first Op Lallang took place
http://www.jeffooi.com/2006/10/ops_lalang_nst_may_harm_najib.php
PM Abdullah is such a confused, listless and clueless man – it’s so pathetic to see him on TV and to hear his almost inane remarks and speeches.
This man knows not what he is doing, knows not where the nation is going and knows not that he knows not!
Endangered Hornbill,
Right on, well said and well described!
My New Year wish- Tg Razaleigh as Prime Minister & Datuk Zaid Ibrahim as Deputy PM. Hidup Kelantan.
Don’t forget Musa Hitam came up the same way Mahathir came up – they were both labeled ‘Malay ultras’. Convention has it that future Prime Ministers are drawn from the ranks of former heads of UMNO Youth. They first are given the education portfolios to prepare them for the number one position. Abdullah Badawi and Anwar Ibrahim are the exceptions rather than the rule. Anwar was recruited directly from the opposition party PAS and Abdullah Badawi was a reluctant politician having been a career civil servant for many years.
Musa Hitam is a visionary leader with international stature and a crafty politician – an ideal candidate for the number one post next to Tengku Razaliegh, until Mahathir changed all that.
Musa did right to resign as DPM when he saw that Mahathir’s authoritarian ways were not winning him new friends but were making new foes for him. But what he failed to factor in into his calculations was the fact that Mahathir was not about to throw in the towel and had found a new ally in Najib who changed camps at the last minute in return for a promise that he would one day be DPM and then PM.
Musa’s relationship with Abdullah Badawi has finally paid off as he is back on center stage. He would be well advised to walk the fine line until he knows which way the wind blows.
That is vintage Musa Hitam that I know.
You know what game they are playing, there’s the bad guys and here some good guys, they are all in UMNO, but the Indians are terrorist.
They are playing Injuns and cowboys??
“This man knows not what he is doing, knows not where the nation is going and knows not that he knows not!” Honrnbill
I don’t think Jeanne shares your opinion.
i respected Tun Musa but he had his time and he not a fighter. As least DSAI is willing to fight but not Musa …. they both have a common enemy ..namely TDM.
I have no doubt there is going to be a crackdown and its a mistake. Abdullah think he can mimick Dr. M but there is a BIG DIFFRENCE. When Dr. M came into power, he never promised anything. Badawi did. So in the end what we will have is a PM that breaks his promise.
To the Chinese he will sound like what Dr. M did to Suqiu and in the end, he could not get support from the Chinese after that. But compared to what Dr. M did to Suqiu, Badawi is breaking a lot more promises and this time, its to many people across the board.
No one is going to trust Badawi if he cracks down on Hindraf and others using ISA. Not even those who support him now. They will also notice how he breaks his promise.
What does that mean? It means that the religious right and the corrupt will push their agenda much more agrresively after this. If the economy should slow down, I can see huge megaprojects that burns a hole in national accounts. PKFZ will be nothing compare to what will happen then. Also, I won’t be surprise if the religious right will make another push for Islamic state. The UMNO election after the GE will be marked by record breaking money politics.
Hindraf is to Badawi what Iraq is to George Bush. He is making a mistake that will end his administration unceremoniously.
Normally a leader derives his power from his strength as a leader but Abdullah Badawi derives his from his weakness as a leader. He is a consensus seeker who is prepared and able to tolerate a lot of ‘nonsence’ from his ‘supporters’.
Four years is a long time, AAB is getting old each day, so give him a break. Forgetfulness is his PRIVILEGE and Weakness is his RIGHT!
Arrests, stopping street marches and media blackouts will kill democracy in Malaysia. Badawi must be a brave leader and of course fair to let democracy march on. That’s the only little thing that he can do for Malaysians since coming into power 4 years agao. Otherwise, he will be seen as a seat warmer for the next true staesman who will take over his position.
If he wants to saty for many more terms, be a brave man. One day, the citizens of Malaysia will grow tired with street marches as he himself make progress to correct the imbalance in Malaysia democracy.
How we wish the Prime Minister is not voted only by the Umno goons but by the rakyat!
Pak dah marah la! jadi semua kena buat baik baik, kalau tidak, nanti kena rotan (ISA) la!
Pak sedang susah susah buat bubur kasi makan. Buat Pak panas hati pulak, budak ni semua tak nak dengar cakap aku. Ada bubur cukup la! Apa nak lagi! Nak rotan ka?
Nanti bubur pun tak kasi makan baru tahu! Apasal budak Hind. Bersi, Loyar, ni nakal sangat, aku dah cakap jangan cabar, tak mau dengar! Nak kena rotan baru tahu ka?
Cakap ni cakap tu, budak budak mana boleh urus rumah tangga.
Tak puas hati ka? boleh keluar dari rumah ini!
Siapa suruh Pak Mus cakap sama aku, kalau Pak Mus lebih tahu, apasal dulu Abang Tok Dr. Ma tak suruh dia urus rumah ini. Abang Tok Dr suruh aku pulak. Jangan harap Pak Mus boleh selamat awak!
Here is a news that I recently read in India :
“NEW DELHI (AP) – Teachers in a village school in western India sprinkled cow urine on several low-caste students to purify them, a news report said Saturday.”
Now, I consider the political leaders in Malaysia who is denying the discrimination on the minorities as the low caste. Perhaps Samy Vellu can lead the pack. I suggest all of them not only get sprinkled by the urine of Tun Musa Hitam and Lim Kit Siang but also take a sip of these two true sons of the nation.
Long live justice.