GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH
I was perturbed when I read YB Teresa Kok’s statement that the food under ISA detention is equivalent or slightly better than dog food. It costs RM8 to feed a dog, according to the Malay Mail survey and only RM4.50 to feed on ISA detainees.
I feed my cats and fish premium food such as science diet and would never dream of feeding my pets the food that we are fed here. I actually stopped eating the food here after the first couple of days because it gave me diarrhea.
A couple of nights ago I vomited after eating the food and now I cannot even stand the sight or smell of the trays that they send to our cell twice a day.
I now survive on dates and plain water and I suppose if that is good enough for camels to survive in the Arabian Desert, it should be good enough for me.
I was told camels have a healthy sex drive and I would like to believe it because of the date that is my staple food. Of cause, there is no way I can test this theory until I come safely out of this place.
Actually, food is the least of my worries at this point of time. I am presently in three months solitary confinement and the only pussy I get to see is this mangy cat that somehow has found its way into my cellblock to sleep outside my locked door.
It has not rained since I arrived here a week ago and I was told Kamunting has not seen any rain for the last few weeks.
The heat in the cell is unbearable and the air is very stuffy.
The uncomfortable environment does help to put your mind off your growling stomach.
I am what they call under orientation. This three months’ orientation I suppose is to get me used to the 2 years I am going to spend here.
One of my favorite classics that I used to read in Standard 1 is the Tale of Two Cities, which is about the French Revolution. I can now better appreciate the battle cry “give me liberty or give me death”. They say you appreciate something only after it has been taken away from you. Today, my liberty is at the top of my priority list. But I know it shall not come soon and it shall not come easy and it shall only come if there is a change of government and if the new government fulfills its promise to abolish the ISA.
since the isa detainees ask so much, i wonder if the warden will give oreo, dutch lady milk and some cadbury chocolate for desert, you know wat i mean….
Shit.
Our initiatives to help RPK is not enough if he continues to rot in a cell!
We need more action!
RPK, dont u ever dream that your will be staying in that camp for longer period, because it is going to demolish very soon, and Guan Eng said that he will proposed to Perak state government to acquire that piece of land to build Low Costs house for the perak’s folk, Selamat Hari Raya for the time being at Kamunting, we will celebrate again at STARBUCK, Bangsar Village very soon.
to rpk, his blame should be shifted to some pm wannable. the latter kept on chanting 16 sept, 16 sept, but at the end the day comes and goes. the betrayal, i understand just like in the movie rambo ii when rambo rescued a hostage and reached rendezvous point, the commander betrayed him to the commies…..
Our hearts and thoughts are with you and your family. Selamat Hari Raya to you and family and also to your housemates.
The TRUTH is always Out There!
Greetings!
Selamat Hari Raya, RPK.
He had just done a ‘True’ assignment being saying the “Truth”.
Regards.
Very Sad after reading this article! I can say that RPK used to help PR a lot especially during GE-12 and also DSAI on the sodomy cases and many many cases as well, but seems like PR now cannot do much for him to let him free. It is very sad.
He will not feel happy in Kamunting for this Raya. I wish him Good Health and get out from Kamunting soon.
malaysian gomen has now being the most crueled gomen in ASEAN countries!
Looking at the Myanmar,the Onsan Suci is only ‘detained’ at her own home compound,she still can taste normal food,she cud talk to any journalist or public about her recent situations,or if somebody borrows her a cell-phone,i think she cud call CNN too!
but the sad,worst,unrational,most idiotic things happen to RPK in Malaysia!
I thought phucklah once said:i want to hear the truth!
ok,now RPK is telling the truth,the consequences is:locked behind ISA bars!
Dont worry,RPK,you have made a big sacrifice,we will remember you,and a huge crowd frm multiple races are behind you to turn the present gomen and draconian laws away!
LAWAN TETAP LAWAN!
Have a Happy Raya RPK. Your God will reward you and punish those who have harmed you. Be steadfast, be strong. I hope the incarceration would not be long.
Hope your testosterones will still be with you when you come out. Justice for all. DOWN WITH UMNO!
Dear Raja Petra ,
Dont worry, Be strong…you are not alone in the Hell of Kamunting Camp during this holy month. All Malaysians wish you a safety Hari Raya Aidilfitri and may Allah will always bless you with good health and strong mind. Let the cruel rulers face their sinful action against human mankind will be punished in HELL forever and ever.
Aidilfitri is a month to forgive and strengthen ties, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Does he practices on what he preaches ? NO, all promises uttered by him since 2004 are merely “lip services” to the rakyat. All Malaysians are suffering from prices inflation, poor economy, corrupt leaders, cronies and nepotism diseases, poor governance, high crime rates and political instability.
As long as BN does not change and the leaders continue to be arrogant, greedy and abused power will hurt all Malaysians in many years to come.
YES, Malaysians freedom and liberty are deminishing if the government and leaders fail to change. Many Malaysians rights are taken away indirectly and marginalised by the supreme dominance party for their political self interests to enrich their cronies, families and related parties. The nation wealth was poorly governed and weakly managed that caused severely inflation in Malaysia. RPK said it rightly if there is a change of government today , the liberty of entire Malaysians are at the top priority list from get rid of evil corrupt politicians, repeal ISA, forming IPCMC to clean up PDRM, restore judiciary indepence, open up the contract tenders under CAT system , etc.
Dont worry, Be happy… today Hari Raya Aidilfitri is a day to forgive and forget about the Political Tsunami caused havoc in Malaysia. As Tun Dr M said Malays are “Mudah Lupa” behaviour. Hence, sooner or later, RPK will be forgotten for next 2 years in a cell and surviving on dates and water only. It is really a time for him to call his battle cry for ” give him liberty or give him death”. As all warriors like Hang Tuah, Ghenghis Khan and Napolean proverbs of wars: “CONTINUE TO LIVE TODAY, FIGHT AGAIN TOMORROW, THE ENEMY WILL FACE THE HELL DAY, WE WILL WIN THE BATTLE SOON”.
Raja Petra,
My wife and I went for the candlelight vigil but saw so many policeman cordoning off the whole of dataran merdeka.We drove there but couldn’t get in so we parked our car and took a LRT instead.The fact is Syed hamid is afraid that there will be so many people supporting the abolishment of ISA and asking for your release.Do you hear us stupid Syed?
The Anti Corruption Agency should check on the misuse of money in the government’s detention centres.
Selamat Hari Raya to RPK and family!
It is disgusting to read that the detainees are given food worth only RM4.50 for the whole day. I wonder whether they are given any special food during the festival period.
Why has our government stooped so low as to treat its innocent citizens ( they were not found guilty in any court of law) in the most inhuman way?
It is the PM and his cabinet ministers especially the Home Minister who need to be rehabilitated as human beings. As it is they are an utter shame to the human race.
Millions of ringgit are spent for ‘open house’ Hari Raya celebrations while those incarcerated at Kamunting and other detention centres are given food that is unfit for human consumption. What sort of justice is practised in Malaysia?
I wonder how much the Royalty who is a kin of RPK spend on just one of their meals? Do they even think of him and his predicament brought about by an unjust and corrupt government obsessed with power and personal wealth?
The ‘elegant silence’ observed by the Royalty as to the state of affairs in the country and the unjust incarceration of RPK is deafening.
It is tantamount to being a party to the political shenanigans in the country and condoning a gross, incompetent government.
The rakyat are wide awake but the Royalty is still in deep slumber in Bolehland.
As expected , even if the ACA is carry out an investigation into this misuse of public fund , outcome is already known , which is ” NO ABNORMALITY FOUND ” Ha ……………….
Tomorrow we Penangites who kicked out BN /Gerakan will go visit RPK at Kamunting.
Selamat Hari Raya,RPK. I am sure many,many Msians wud extend the same greetings to you and yr family.We are grateful to you for your enlightening articles.It is mainly becos of this that the impossible happened- PKR took 5 states and reduced the BN 2/3 majority.But BN,being the poor loser, cud not accept the GE12 results.So much so that you and 2 others were incarcerated under the draconian ISA to drown out all opposing voices.
Due to public pressure, the other 2 were given early release.We certainly hope PKR wud continue to put pressure on the unholy gomen(yes, unholy as Islam Hadhari is merely rhetoric, for show only) to give you an early release.
Yes,dog food shud not be served on humans-it is degrading!But instead of checking on Teresa’s commentsre-dog food,he chose to chide the Dept Minister,Murugiah for interfering in his Ministry.
That coming from a muslim minister during the month of ramadan shows the populace what type of ministers we have in the gomen.In TDM’s own words-half past 6 ministers.
PKR pls put more pressure on the gomen.
wow… even my labrador’s daily food are better… cooked chicken breast with rice and vegetables with potatoes.
RPK’s reprieve will sadly have to depend on whether you – Anwar & Pakatan Rakyat – can take over the reins of federal & parliamentary power with your so called “numbers”.
If others take over from Pak Lah, RPK’s predicament will become worse!
What other ways?
You have to look at the avenue of the Rulers, being the fountain of Mercy.
The King, the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri of a State have the powers to grant pardons, reprieves and respites in respect of all offences which ought to include ISA.
Look at article 42 of the Federal Constitution.
However the problem is Rulers can proceed to dispense mercy if Pardons Board recommends.
And your PR controlled state govt(s) may or may not be able do something about who sits on the Pardon Board.
However the road block, as I understand it, is that our Attorney General (AG) also sits on Pardon Board, and the most difficult road block here is, acording to my understanding, that the Pardons Board must listen to and abide recommendation of AG (constitutionally that is). So it may be a dead end here…
I have looked at the other angle whether Rulers being constitutionally head of Islam and Islamic matters could question and overrule police or Home Minister’s view for incarcerating RPK under ISA (ostensibly for insulting Islam) but have come to another road block : the Rulers might have a say only if the offence RPK is accused of is based on Sharia jurisdiction under some Sharia Enactment.
The ISA however is Federal Law and therefore outside HRH’s purview.
Perhaps your constitutional and legal experts can look further into this article 42(3) of Federal Constitution relating to Royal pardons. RPK is related royal family and has many friends within the Royal Circuit, isn’t it so?
Dear RPT,
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. A lot of people are behind you for your unjust detention.
Please hold on. The regime may have removed your voice now, they sure can’t break your spirit to reveal their wrongdoings.
History will tell!
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri YB LKS, RPK and family, and all readers of LKS blog!
Dear RPK, you never cease to amaze we Malaysians though you’re incarcerated! We pray for your release sooner than expected so that we’d celebrate the Raya in its grandest scale!
We salute you, our greatest fighter of freedom, for you make us proud to be Malaysian!
NR is going to be PM soon, which translates to very good news for Abdul Razak Baginda and Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and very bad news for RPK!
RM 4.50 to feed the detainees for 3 meals , my pet dog having that amount for 1 meal , yet the “botak” still ask people not to poke into his business .
Just imagine the food caterer need to make some profit , say RM1.00 for the 3 meals plus the unseen commission , cost of preparation , how much is left ?
The longer the idiots lock up Pete, the higher the chance Pete will be getting his Nobel Peace Prize!
Abdulah Ahmad Badawi and Syed Hamid Albar,
All right thinking Malaysians will hold you responsible for gross violation of human right. Abolish ISA and free RPK and all ISA detainees immediately. You are accountable for abuse of power to incarcerate innocent fellow Malaysians. What you are doing to all the ISA detainees is a crime against humanity. The time will come when you will be punished for your crime and you will have no ground to complain.
Dear Raja Petra,
While it is easy for me to say this, I can understand what your political incaceration means for yourself, your family and the nation.
Solhenitzin once wrote that his stay in prison gave him true liberty because that was when he was free from all the unnecessary things in life, such as food to keep us alive.
Thus, prison, no matter how unjust, was a spiritual experience for him. Let your thoughts be focused on God and how He wants you to play a role in the political reform and cleansing of Malaysia.
May God bless you and liberate you soon. Have blessed Hari Raya.
RPK & Family,
Selamat Hari Raya Adilfitri. Stay strong in the knowledge that the whole nation is with you- the ISA must go! They will be damned for taking your and the other ISA detainnees’ liberty away- all for their own evil selfish power crazed self. The truth and goodness of people like you will prevail over them.
Dear RPK,Time and again this person who put you in ISA had shown himself/herself to be very powerful, but power comes from God, and God will not tolerate it’s abuse for very long, when Mother Nature answers back this person/DEMON is going to crash down to HELL. God is all powerful, HE won’t let the devil play “the all-powerful” too long, rest assured RPK, the way you trust God HE will not leave you neither desert you, you know that too well!
When we witness how the power that be uses ISA as their weapon of governance, more so recently, it reminded us of KGB, MOSSAD, and the Iranian and Iraqi Secret Police of those days.
They are rules by FEAR. That is what ISA is capably of.
DSAI, WHAT HAPPEN YO YOUR PROMISE ???
aiyah! rpk writing from kamunting?
this one “tak senonoh” lah as per BN lah…
so an additional 3 mths’ extension of solitary confinement?
so hopefully DSAI can come into power before then!
melurian Says:
Today at 09: 02.04 (6 hours ago)
since the isa detainees ask so much, i wonder if the warden will give oreo, dutch lady milk and some cadbury chocolate for desert, you know wat i mean….
XXX XXX XXX
melurian
You have a warped and weird sense of humour. It is not even dark, it is just melurian.
Free RPK! Abolish ISA!
Out of sight but not out of mind
Even though freedom right now is mine
Let’s pray that as human beings we’ll all be kind
Even though justice right now appears to be blind
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng – 011008
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Wed. 1st Oct. 2008.
I guess “Give me liberty or give me death” will take some time to be internalised by Malaysians. (Situation is of course changing with freedom fighters like RPK, YB Kit and the many NGOs proliferating today).
Our people are Asians, and Asians political values generally are said to be “authoritarian”.
Since Malacca Sultanate, feudalism was the authoritarian social or political organization found in the Malay world.
Yes we learn something from colonialist masters about human rights written into articles 5 and 8 of our Federal Constitution in 1957 independence, about 50 years ago.
The English on the other hand started fighting for liberties more than 800 years ago.
In 1213, barons and bishops forced despotic King John to sign Magna Carta, the first English Bills of Rights, by which King could not ignore certain basic rights of citizenry. 400 years thereafter the English Parliament also pressured another despotic King Charles I to sign in 1628 the Petition of Rights, whereby King could not force military conscriptions in peace time, could not force anyone to lend him money or imprison men without just cause. Parliament also exerted its will to pass the Bills of Rights in 1689 giving parliamentarians freedom of speech, enshrining certain rights, forbidding King to inflict cruel punishments.
The Magna Carta, The Petititon of Rights and the Bill of Rights were the substratum – the bible – of English liberties, hard fought for by many, beheaded, quartered, tortured or sent to Towel of London to get to where the English are today. They don’t even need a written constitution. The judges of England will protect as custodian their liberties.
Principles of the right to life and liberties were taken from the old world by the Pilgrim fathers to the New World – America – in the Mayflower. And when the American colonies became free from the British, they had brilliant libertarians like Thomas Jefferson to hammer out a written Constitution over there, and Abraham Lincoln to fight white against white for the rights of the black man!
Whilst the English were fighting for their liberties, here in Malacca, Hang Tuah fought and killed his closest childhood companion, Hang Jebat out of complete deep and blind – loyalty for Sultan Mansur even when the Sultan sentenced Hang Tuah to death without trial for allegedly having an illicit affair with one of the Sultan’s concubines. …
You see the difference in cultural and political tradition.
Imagine this.
RPK alone.
No. No. He is not alone.
He has a computer.
RPK with his computer.
And there is more.
RPK, his computer and his blogsite.
Yeh. One more thing.
And his sharp (virtual) tongue – wow sounds almost sexy to me.
Add them all up.
What do you get?
RPK of course. Yes, that complete plumpish fella who speaks his mind with good humour
But Syed Botak said he is a terror.
He threatened the security of the country.
He must be locked away without trial.
Wow. Ask CIA. Ask KGB. And MI6. Have they ever trained any man in the history of their existence who could single-handedly (well almost) threaten the security of a country?
Syed Botak. Is RPK capable of that?
The whole world knows he cant.
I know he cant.
What makes you think he can?
Tell us.
To say that he is a threat to national security is stupid.
Tell us your side of the story.
taiking1, are you sure RPK has a computer? Definitely no access to Net in Kamunting for him to directly operate his blogsite or else why put him there in Kamunting, & I doubt very much access to any computer/notebook. If you visit MT, the posting of RPK’s “Give me liberty or give me death” was posted by one “kasee” on his behalf.
Yes Jeffrey, I am speaking of the time before his arrest.
The complete RPK comprises RPK the man, his sharp tongue, his computer and his blogsite.
And for a government – with the whole machinery and might of law enforcement (police, army and unique to umno, the court) at its disposal – to be afraid of a single fella like RPK just sounds bloody stupid.
I am deeply saddened by the fact that an innocent and upright man is incarcerated unjustly in a prison, having all his rights and liberties taken away from him, having to spend the most important religious celebration away from his wife and children. I am even more deeply saddened by the fact that the people who unjustly incarcerated this man, and we know who they are, committed the greatest sin against a fellow muslim in the most holy month of Ramadan, and are celebrating now without any conscience or guilt. How much more evil and injustice can we tolerate from them? May Allah serve justice soon! My thoughts and prayers are with RPK, all the Hindraf detainees, and all other ISA detainees and their families.
The home minister had insisted that RPK be detained under ISA for writing articles that allegedly insult the religion of Islam, and thus, threaten the security of the nation.
Those articles can still be read on the Malaysia Today mirror website, and I can hazard a guess that many Malaysians had already read them.
So, if the home minister’s allegation are true, there should now be a lot of upset Malaysians who intend to violently vent their anger on the streets and stir up chaos.
Fortunately, such a scenario has not happened, and today we Malaysians are celebrating Hari Raya Aidil Fitri in peace.
So, obviously the home minister’s allegations can’t be the true reason for RPK’s detention, and the only other logical reason has to be politically motivated.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, RPK.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and for your speedy release.
Selamat hari raya from Taiping!
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/9086/phot0445zj5.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/3912/phot0448xc3.jpg
Withour RPK, Life is boring!!!
When Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) was a teenager, his Welsh mother said, “Lets go back to England”. “But Malaysia is our home..I may have been born in England but I will die here in Malaysia and be buried here. My father is buried here. My grandparents on my father’s side are buried here. We all should be buried here in the family plot in Kelang. We all should remain in Malaysia”, RPK retorted.
Mother said, “It’s not dying that I am worried about. It’s the years I have left alive that I am concerned with. What kind of country do you think Malaysia is going to become? There will be no freedom. The government will arrest you anytime they feel like it. You go against the government and they will put you in jail. He police will beat you up. You will never be allowed to do or say whatever you like. You will be a prisoner in your own country. Malaysia will be like Hell on Earth. Get out now while you have the chance…England is a “civilised country where you are free to do and say what you like, where you will not be put in jail if they don’t like you, where the government w ill not brutalise you, where you don’t have to go through the day scared out of your wits….”.
“Oh don’t exaggerate,” RPK said….He added : “When it was clear that I would not follow her, my mother left without me. Many years came to pass. My mother died a few years later and was buried in England…Then one day to my horror, I realised my mother had been right all along. Her prediction had come true though I might not initially have realised it….”
Excerpts extracted from Raja Petra Kamarudin’s foreword in his book “The Reformasi Trail” .
Dear RPK,
Freedom is nothing when we live under the weight of shackles. Shackles are nothing with the freedom that is born out of truth.
Under the past and current government dominated and manipulated by UMNO, generations of non-Malay Malaysians have been living under the shackles of lies, threats, insults and second -class citizenship. We wear these shackles to battle if we ever had to defend our country. We will die with these shackles fighting to defend the land of our birth. We are not really free even though we may be eating 3 square meals a day.
You are free because of the truth you stand for even though you are incarcerated. And you have sacrificed yourself to defend that truth so that we non-Malay Malaysians may be free of these shackles one day.
I hope that the Chinese of this country will never ever be ungrateful dogs and deny your sacrifice. MCA and Gerakan are ungrateful dogs because they deny the truth you speak of and stand for.
May God Bless You, keep you safe and deliver you from the physical and mental hell you are now going through.
Selamat Hari Raya, True Son of Malaysia, Voice of Conscience for all Malaysians regardless of race, creed or colour.
“The pen is mightier than the keris” one man can cause so much fear in UMNO that they have to wrongfully arrest and imprison him. RPK, we salute you!
Correction negarawan Says:
Its not the pen. Its RPK few little ‘fingers on plastic keyboard’ that’s mightier than entire Umno/BN!
RPK, Selamat Hari Raya to you.You are godsend to all Malaysians who are unable to articulate and put their thoughts into paper. For this they have incarcerated you under ISA.You are the conscience off all Malaysians expect the umnoputras. You are a PRISONER OF WAR (cyber-war).As such you should be granted certain rights like under the prisoner-exchange programme. I hereby proclaim that I am now submitting myself into this programme and offer your freedom for mine. I may be one of the many who will be happy to take your place. If the ‘govt of the day’ cannot accept me,then we may have to garner more volunteers by the tens,hundreds,thousands,hundred thousands or more. I am willing to surrender my freedom for yours. You will be able to do more on the outside than I.
Since merdeka, we have a last of all & that is RPK. If RPK don’t make it out, then the whole system is indeed RIP. This terrorist is our last frontier, we do not have much option. We all are the victims of our own choice, RPK didn’t chicken out, he faced it & bite the dust.
If it was others, he or she may have given up donkey years ago, talking about RPK’s choice, Yes ! he could have followed his mum back to UK & become a bum. But rather, he stays & screw around, waking us up & realised that we have been given a slap in the face real hard.
Some of you may not appreciate this man much because of his sleezy tongue, but his message is true & clear. No doubt about that, i rather appreciate a man with his character rather than most of our politicians around. The fate of this country is not determine by god, but by your CHOICE !
These rivals of archangels were no doubt more then a living saint but as apotheosis if u ask me.
They give up everything they had family/freedom and wealth to our beloved country and its future, its time we do something for them.
These colony of kleptocrat had made a big mistakes when they first arrest Pete. The more harm they’ve done on him, the more hatred drawn within my vein agains these evil regime.
I certainly would give a good PUNCH on Najis face and break his nose if i have a chance.
quote: # melurian Says:
Yesterday at 09: 02.04
since the isa detainees ask so much, i wonder if the warden will give oreo, dutch lady milk and some cadbury chocolate for desert, you know wat i mean…. unquote.
Detainng a person for no reason is bad enough. Is it necessary to deny him a decent subsistence? Can’t you see that torture is unnecessary? Don’t you understand it is brutish? Have you no sense of justice, fair play?
These detainess spoke uot all for the good of the nation, and it is not a selfish act.
We distrust the authorities (as much as we distgrust you, sir) and we have reason to never trust it ever again. Showing us the receipt does not prove anything, it does not tell what is really served.
Selamat Hari Raya RPK !!! Hope that you come out strongere and more determined !
Jeffrey
I enjoyed your exposition on the trinity of rights – the Magna Carta of 1213, The Petititon of Rights of 1628 and the Bill of Rights of 1689.
Indeed, the English have waded a sea of blood to reach their isle of liberty, so to speak.
After the American civil war of the 1800s, there was a great debate on how power should be distributed between the centre and the component states in the American union.
It was a debate between the Federalists and the Republicans.
Can you enlighten us on that? Thanks, Jeffrey.
# melurian Says:
Yesterday at 09: 02.04
since the isa detainees ask so much, i wonder if the warden will give oreo, dutch lady milk and some cadbury chocolate for desert, you know wat i mean….
===========
ya ya … how about pizza too huh? tainted cheese found in pizza hut taiwan. then oso, Costco removed Golden Kestrel sandwich crackers from shelves …. melamine tainted oso. but hah, this sandwich biscuit MADE IN MALAYSIA leh!
Taiwan found Melamine-tainted product MADE-IN-MALAYSIA. But our MOH cannot find! Instead, newspapers all blackout this news!
Syed Botak is right to protect Raja Botak by ISA-ing him. Raja Botak safe from all these Melamine-tainted products while the rest of us are exposed to DANGER!
HELP! I want ISA protection too! I don’t want to bet my kidneys eating stuffs contaminated with Melamine.
Is it justifiable to use the ISA against a social activist, a blogger, a politician, and a reporter ?
Express yourself at votingmalaysia.blogspot.com
Simple fact is that we have a duty to be kind to animals because they do not have “free will” so to speak. For criminals who deliberately and calculatingly try to cause harm to society should not be accorded the same kindness and rights. RPK is an ISA-detainee who moved away from his political agenda to one of disparaging and maligning Islam. His writings are very clear to this affect. Only an ignorant or an unjust or an emotional individual would miss this fact.
Tulip Crescent,
Don’t know much about what you asked except in very general/broad sketches. American civil war of the 1800s was itself caused by this issue when Southern States wanted chattel slavery that Abraham Lincoln’s Northern states opposed.
What happens after?
Like our case, US federalism divides power between a central government and 50 states.
How powers would be distributed between center and states – what you call debate between the Federalists and the Republicans – are not, in practical terms fixed but a dynamic, multi-dimensional process revolving around a few cornerstones: the role of constitution, the Supreme Court, the exigencies of the times and challenges of governance as they unfold over the years after the Civil War.
The US Constitution vests federal powers in foreign and military affairs, civil liberties and national economic issues with broad powers left with states on premise that they retain balance of whatever powers not surrendered under laws and constitution to Federal Government.
However, as time passes it does not mean Federal govt plays less and less role (decentralisation): the opposite may be truer.
Whenever dispute on distribution of powers, it will fall on Supreme Court (SC) to decide. I may be wrong but assume the likelier case, SC justices (appointed by President, though aproved by Congress) would tilt towards expanding Federal Power.
This is not necesarily bad intentioned. Sometimes as civilization progresses, and national life more complicated, it is to common weal of all Americans, that on key areas, there is uniformity or else why called it a nation or the united states when they are not united?
There is the need to respond to challenges of the time. For Eg 1930s Depression right through World war II, there was great debate of Capitalism versus Communism, in US there’s need to extol the former’s virtues (ala Adam Smith style) and mitigate bad effects (ala Karl Marx’s version) so there’s need for more welfare policies and programs to be implemented via expanded federal powers during time of Roosevelt’s New Deal & Lyndon B. Johnson Great Society programs.
In 1960s, the national government under Democrats promoted and defended civil rights and liberties. When Memphis University barred Brown (black) from registering, would AG Robert Kennedy send state troopers to the state to escort Brown to register to uphold constitution if Federal law enforcement did not encroach to then state’s?
Federal powers then tend to enlarge – not diminish – in part due to such exigencies as they arise to regulate businesses and industries that span state borders, attempts to secure civil rights, and the provision of social services.
Also in part its attributable to inherent ambiguity and open-endedness of words – what they mean in Constitution is as what Humpty Dumpty tells Alice in Wonderland, whether the one interprets the word is the “master”.
The arbiter of powers and interpreter is Supreme Court whose Justices, you’d recall, are appointed by Executive, the President). If federal government’s appointees are final judge of its own powers then what can one expect?
It not always the case and public sentiments play role in this dynamic process in these vacillations. At times of widespread disaffection with excessive centralization of power and abuses sentiments may shift the other way influencing Supreme Court.
In 1995 United States v. Lopez, the S Court unexpectedly held that the national government had exceeded its constitutional authority by enacting a law prohibiting the possession of hand guns near public school buildings….
Importance of Federal Funding of course plays a part in this tilt ito greater Federal Powers.
In our case our Federal Constitution also bifurcates Federal Lists and State lists. Since PR controls 5 states, I suppose the issues raised here are relevant.
Hope it answers some parts if not all of what you’re interested.
Immediately after civil war with Northern victory, Federalism was strengthened by 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution ending slavery, defining national citizenship, limiting the power of the states in the areas of civil rights and liberties, and, generally, established the supremacy of the national Constitution and laws over the states…From that starting point, Federal govt has strengthened over time.
Jeffrey
Thanks for your speedy reply again.
Actually, in political science terms, Malaysia is a “union” and the United States is a “federation.” The names of our countries are misnomers.
Put simply, in a “union,” the centre is strong and the component states are weak while in a “federation” the states are strong and the centre is weak.
Look at the US again. The counties have their own police officers. Of course, the centre has its own FBI (internal) and CIA (external).
The states employ their own staff. They have a right to hire and fire. Of course, the centre can send federal officers to check on the states.
The Federalists actually wanted the power at the centre limited just to play its role as a central voice. The Republicans or Unionists wanted a “strong” centre.
It is all about where power should be centred. In the American model, power is used to check power, just like the Chinese saying that we use poison to fight poison or the English saying that we use fire to fight fire.
All this has to do with Acton’s view about power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely.
I wish I brought the Federalist papers back to Malaysia.
Jeffrey, anyway, thanks for the discussion. It is appreciated.
And let us go to the candle light vigil. Last week, in Penang, we had about 300 to 400 people in attendance. The crowd was somewhat smaller becauseof theongoing Freedom Film Festival.
Jeffrey
Oh, the Federalist papers are available online. It is in google.
Dear RPK,
Be of good courage. God will see that justice is done. In all things it works for good for those who love God; those that live their life and pursue righteous things which are beautiful in the eyes of God.
i suppose a ‘monk jumped over the wall’ could serve well for you detention guys.
zak_hammaad,
You speak as though RPK is a criminal when he is not even being charged in an open court.
If one is to judge what he writes or speaks then I want to pass a judgment that you are biased and blinded by your own understanding of your faith.
In some other countries, the rakyat would have taken to the streets and violence to demand justice. Here in M’sia, we are such peace loving people that heroes like RPK get to rot in jail.
If what govt said was true that RPK writings incite this and that, why I dont see anything happening after so long that his articles appeared in the website???
Initiatives should be taken by the opposition, “Pakatan Rakyat” to bring issues involving the application of ISA for BN’s agenda i.e. on its critics especially on people revealing the criminal activities of BN, to the World Human Rights committee.
The application of ISA in Malaysia is totally unacceptable in the eye of a democratic nation more so in the eye of GOD!
RPK is a hero in our hearts.
RPK deserved it.
The ISA is a good lesson to him for writing rubbish.
No doubts he is a good writer but he is also a big liar.
only 10% to 20% he wrote is true, the rest are all lies….
LKS.
SHUT UP AND GET SOMETHING DONE LAH.
WHERE IS DSAI????
MISSING IN ACTION?
Yes, RPK’s accusers should face RPK in a civil or religious court over the allegations they have made, but instead, the home minister, probably in being ignorant, emotional or just plain unjust, has decided to assume the roles of judge, jury and executioner, using an antiquated anti-commmunist law at his own pleasure, to put RPK away without trial for an uncertain period of time.
Are RPK’s accusers afraid that during the course of his trial in court, RPK will present evidence which is damaging to them?
If ISA continues to be abused on RPK and other dissenting voices in the present manner, we may never know.