Asian public intellectuals condemn Wong Chin Huat’s detention

Joint statement issued by a group of concerned public intellectuals. The people who endorsed the statement are either past or current recipients of the Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship, given by the Nippon Foundation in Tokyo, Japan.

We, the Asian Public Intellectual (API) fellows, view with grave alarm and concern the recent arrest of a fellow intellectual, Mr. Wong Chin Huat under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act. We believe his detention was related to his call, on behalf of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih), to all Malaysians to wear black on Thursday the 7 May 2009, as a mark of protest against the illegal and unconstitutional usurpation of power by the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Perak.

This action by the authorities, in our opinion, was totally unwarranted and unjust. Chin Huat had done nothing wrong, beyond exercising his right as a citizen to engage in a social movement that is committed to the conduct of clean, free and fair elections. His arrest and detention are an attack by the Government against the fundamental and inalienable right of a citizen, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution. The recent ruling by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur simply proves and confirms that Chin Huat was taking a constitutionally right decision and action.

Chin Huat is a concerned Malaysian, who is highly respected for his scholarship and his active involvement in social work and civil society movements. He is what one would regard as a public intellectual. His arrest has sent a strong signal to the entire publicly-conscious and involved academic community that the space for their participation in civil society is being continually restricted. Dissent is increasingly not tolerated. Any fair and legitimate challenge to injustice and foul play is simply demonised by the Government. We, as public intellectuals, regard this as a grave danger to the future of Malaysia and all Malaysians.

All these put to doubt the slogan of the new Prime Minister, 1Malaysia, People First and Performance Now, and all the values that it stands for. If people’s interests are to be the main agenda, then the right to choose a new state government in order to resolve the current impasse in Perak must be respected. This is the point stressed by Chin Huat, his colleagues in Bersih and most fellow Malaysians.

As fellow citizens and concerned public intellectuals, we are also deeply disturbed over the assault against academic freedom. When a fellow citizen and academic can be locked up for what most fair-minded Malaysians would regard as a legitimate action, this evaluation of the police action is justified. We all know that academic freedom is an essential ingredient in any plan to uplift academic standards. Coming at a time when our countries’ universities have to redouble their efforts to raise standards, this action of the police is demoralising to the academic community in both public and private universities.

We thus call on the Federal Government to drop all charges against Chin Huat. We also urge the Government to walk the talk of opening up the space for all Malaysians to voice their dissent, seek reforms and struggle for justice. On its part, the Government must be open to such voices of dissent and not seek to quell them through using coercion. It is better to address the root causes of dissatisfaction than to rely on the use of force, which can only generate more discontent.

(Joint statement issued on Wednesday the 13 May 2009 by a group of concerned public intellectuals)
Amir Muhammad
Chan Chee Khoon
Lim Mah Hui
Lim Teck Ghee
Mustapha K. Anuar
Nadarajah Manickam
Phua Kai Lit
Shamila Ariffin
Sharaad Kuttan
Sumit Mandal
Tan Pek Leng
Tan Sooi Beng
Toh Kin Woon