Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Docile academics and the case of Prof. Aziz Bari
- Cadangan penyelesaian kepada kemelut bahasa Malaysia
- What Do We Expect of Condemned Human Rights Violators?
- Who Will Bear Responsibility?
- Bones to pick with Rahim Noor
- Apologise Now!
| Docile academics and the case of Prof. Aziz Bari Posted: 26 Oct 2011 06:41 PM PDT
Dr Lim Teck Ghee Minister of Higher Education Khaled Nordin, in his speech announcing the establishment of the National Council of Professors, reminded Malaysian professors to not only be "super gurus" in focusing on their respective careers but to contribute their expertise and participate in national life. The recently established professors' council comprising over 1,500 professors in the public universities did indeed weigh in on a national debate not too long ago, namely, 'Was Mat Indera a communist or a patriot?' Academics such as professors and professor emeritus Ridhuan Tee, Ramlah Adam, Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, Khoo Kay Kim, and their ilk enjoy the academic rights and freedom of expression through their comments appearing regularly in the mass media. Having themselves taken advantage of these rights – in my view, correctly so, and one further assumes they would want to continue to enjoy such freedom – their silence therefore on the action taken by International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) don, Prof. Abdul Aziz Bari, is somewhat of an anomaly. Prof. Aziz Bari has the responsibility to use his expertise to enlighten the public on matters related to his field of interest and scholarship, which extends to commenting on Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah's recent decree in relation to the raid on a Methodist church in Damansara Utama by the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor. Over 140 academics signed a petition supporting Prof Aziz Bari in this and condemning the authorities for coming down on his academic rights and freedom. In addition to the petition signed by academics in their individual capacity, there have been statements from five academic organizations condemning the actions by the authorities against Prof. Aziz. The five organizations are the academic staff associations of IIUM, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Ikatan Ilmuan Nasional (Ilmuan); and the Malaysian Academic Movement (Move), with the last being the earliest to come out with a press statement on Oct 19 decrying the actions taken by the authorities. But where is the voice of the National Council of Professors on this developing controversy? Or for that matter other prominent academic organizations such as the Malaysian Social Science Association. And what about the rest of the numerous academic staff associations as well as other professional organizations spawned by and working in the burgeoning number of public and private universities in the country? Prof. Aziz Bari presents an important test case of academic freedom. Yet the majority of staff associations and many thousands of individual academics have not put their names to the petition or voiced their support for Prof. Aziz Bari and in defence of the cause of academic freedom. The silence of the great majority of the country's academia – individually and collectively – can be attributed to various reasons including:
What is especially noticeable is the silence from some of the most vocal academics whose views on race, religion, history and politics, etc. are much sought after by the mainstream media. One assumes that they should want to provide feedback in their own areas of expertise without fear of being victimised by the authorities or being hauled up under the Universities and University Colleges Act; Aku Janji; or other regulations. One also assumes that they would be in sympathy with Prof. Aziz Bari and should be among the first to protest against the harsh and unacceptable actions taken. But perhaps their silence is because they think Prof. Aziz Bari deserves being punished whilst they themselves have special immunity from the treatment meted out to other academics that dare to speak out against the status quo. However now is not the time for the rest of the traditional 'silent majority' (over 35,000 academics in the public universities and possibly similar numbers in the private universities) to become deaf and mute. If they have not done so, it is not too late for them to declare their support for academic freedom by adding their names to the signature campaign which can be found here. Prof. Aziz Bari was doing exactly what the Minister of Higher Education was calling for, that is, for academics to descend from the ivory tower and contribute their knowledge to national issues. All academics should stand by and with Prof. Aziz Bari. We should also all be aware of the truism: 'If you don't exercise your rights, if you don't show the government that you value those rights, eventually you will lose them.'
|
| Cadangan penyelesaian kepada kemelut bahasa Malaysia Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:51 PM PDT
Sebagai seorang penterjemah bahan audiovisual dan seorang yang berminat dalam perihal bahasa (apatah lagi bukan dari golongan yang bergelar Bumiputera), saya ingin meluahkan kebimbangan dan rasa muak saya terhadap kontroversi PPSMI, penggunaan bahasa Inggeris dalam sekolah dan "krisis identiti" Bahasa Kebangsaan (nak panggil apa, bahasa Melayu atau bahasa Malaysia?) yang semakin hari semakin sesat daripada menemui jalan penyelesaian, apatah lagi di tengah-tengah Bulan Bahasa Kebangsaan. Demi memuaskan seramai mana pembaca, saya menggunakan istilah "Bahasa Kebangsaan" untuk merujuk kepada satu bahasa yang dipanggil bahasa Melayu atau bahasa Malaysia oleh masyarakat Malaysia yang berbelah-bagi, yakni bahasa yang digunakan dalam surat ini. 1. "Sengketa" sesama bahasa Pada pengamatan saya, didapati segelintir penyokong dasar itu mengeluarkan kenyataan yang seolah-olah menghina Bahasa Kebangsaan dan bahasa-bahasa ibunda yang lain, misalnya dengan mengatakan bahawa Bahasa Kebangsaan kita tidak berdaya maju terlalu banyak meminjam perkataan bahasa lain sejak dahulu kala. Itu tidak boleh dinafikan tetapi bukankah bahasa Inggeris banyak menyerap perkataan dari bahasa Latin, Yunani dan Perancis? Bolehkan dikatakan bahawa bahasa Inggeris lebih kuat meminjam perkataan asing berbanding Bahasa Kebangsaan kita sendiri? Tingkah laku sedemikian yang ditunjukkan oleh puak pro-bahasa Inggeris itu bukan sahaja nyata tidak membina dan tidak mendatangkan manfaat kepada diri mereka, malah saya boleh menganggapnya sebagai dosa besar yang amat sukar diampunkan kerana hina-menghina ini hanya boleh memburukkan ketegangan hubungan sesama masyarakat pelbagai budaya, di samping menghilangkan rasa minat untuk belajar bahasa Inggeris di kalangan mereka yang tidak fasih. Saya yang mengakui fasih berbahasa Inggeris pun berasa amat malu dan kecewa dengan sikap mereka yang kelihatan tidak waras. Lebih buruk lagi, golongan muda yang mudah terpengaruh dengan hasutan sebegini akan didorong untuk melupakan bahasa sendiri dan mengutamakan bahasa Inggeris ketika berbual dengan anak cucu pada masa akan datang. Dengan ini, ramailah "mat saleh celup" yang lahir dan semakin menularnya pemikiran "zero-sum", yang mana Bahasa Kebangsaan dan bahasa Inggeris itu dianggap tidak serasi dan hanya salah satu boleh diambil sepanjang hayat. Kadang-kadang saya berpendapat bahawa pelaksanaan PPSMI ini sengaja tidak dirancang dengan betul oleh pihak berwajib sehingga membuat sesetengah rakyat kita (terutamanya golongan luar bandar) merasa benci kepada bahasa Inggeris, setelah sekian lama disogokkan dengan drama-drama tempatan yang sesetengahnya kuat berbahasa rojak yang lama-kelamaan merancui Bahasa Kebangsaan sambil meninggalkan gambaran buruk tentang bahasa Inggeris kepada mereka. 2. Pengaruh bahasa Inggeris tak terkawal? Kegusaran terhadap pengaruh negatif bahasa Inggeris dalam kebudayaan sedunia jika tidak dikawal juga pernah diluahkan oleh ahli-ahli linguistik yang berasal dari England dan Amerika. David Graddol dalam kertas kerja "The future of English" (1997) terbitan British Council, berpandangan bahawa penyebaran bahasa Inggeris yang terlalu berleluasa hingga mengancam bahasa-bahasa lain boleh disamakan dengan penebangan hutan secara eksploitasi, sehingga mampu mendorong masyarakat dunia supaya menentang peluasan bahasa Inggeris yang dikaitkan dengan kemusnahan kepelbagaian budaya, pencabulan hak asasi manusia, imperialisme budaya global dan menjadi-jadinya ketidaksamaan sosial. Dalam sebuah wawancara bersama Riz Khan di saluran Al Jazeera English pada Oktober 2010, Robert Phillipson, seorang ahli linguistik yang terkenal kerana sering membincangkan "imperialisme bahasa Inggeris", berhujah bahawa tekanan yang dirasai masyarakat di Singapura untuk menguasai bahasa Inggeris semata-mata demi mengukuhkan daya saing ekonomi membuat separuh jumlah rumah tangga di situ mengetepikan bahasa ibunda dan bertutur dalam bahasa Inggeris dalam rumah. Tambah Phillipson lagi, ramai golongan elit Arab menghantar anak-anak mereka ke sekolah antarabangsa yang amat menekankan bahasa Inggeris sehingga anak-anak itu kurang fasih berbahasa Arab, serta mengakui ramai juga golongan belia Arab di rantau Teluk yang "merojakkan" bahasa Arab dan Inggeris gara-gara tiadanya dasar kerajaan yang kukuh untuk memartabatkan bahasa tempatan sambil memperkasakan penguasaan bahasa Inggeris. Masalah mengimbangi bahasa oleh masyarakat kita nyata banyak persamaannya dengan kegusaran yang diluahkan oleh saudara-saudara Phillipson dan Graddol. Hujah-hujah mereka ini wajar dipertimbangkan oleh kedua-dua pihak pro-bahasa Inggeris dan pro-Bahasa Kebangsaan/ibunda dalam perjuangan masing-masing. Jika kita melihat pendekatan mengajar bahasa ibunda dan bahasa luar negara di negara-negara maju khusunya di Eropah dan Asia Timur, mereka tidak mementingkan berapa lama masa yang diperuntukkan dalam jadual untuk mata pelajaran bahasa tersebut, sebaliknya mereka menekankan mutu dan kekayaan sukatan pembelajaran di samping menjadikan sistem pendidikan berteraskan kefahaman dan pemikiran kritis dan bukan sistem penghafazan yang diamalkan di negara kita. Jika orang Jerman cepat dan mudah menguasai bahasa Inggeris walaupun hanya mempelajarinya di sekolah selama tidak lebih tiga jam seminggu (tanpa mengajar mata pelajaran lain dalam bahasa itu), apatah lagi kurang pendedahan kepada bahasa Inggeris dalam media massa disebabkan dasar Bahasa Kebangsaan yang tegas di negara itu, mengapakah setelah terlalu lama belajar bahasa Inggeris dan juga belajar Sains dan Matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris, di samping banyaknya bahan-bahan yang berbahasa Inggeris di corong radio dan kaca TV, penguasaan bahasa Inggeris rakyat Malaysia masih lemah? 3. Menyelamatkan bahasa kita Pejuang Bahasa Kebangsaan juga sama bersalah kerana terlalu mengharapkan sistem pendidikan untuk memartabatkan bahasa, tanpa menyedari bahawa peranan Bahasa Kebangsaan di luar pagar sekolah agak luntur sekarang berbanding zaman dahulu. Sekalipun kerajaan kelak terpaksa akur kepada kehendak pihak pro-bahasa Inggeris supaya PPSMI dan sekolah berpengantar bahasa Inggeris dipulihkan, masih ada banyak cara lain yang berkesan untuk melestarikan dan memajukan Bahasa Kebangsaan baik di dalam mahupun di luar sektor pendidikan. Saya melihat bahawa acara Bulan Bahasa Kebangsaan masih di takuk lama, iaitu hanya menyasarkan murid-murid sekolah dan sektor awam dan mengetengahkan acara-acara berlagu, deklamasi pidato dan puisi tanpa memikirkan langkah-langkah yang asas dan proaktif untuk menyergahkan Bahasa Kebangsaan dalam kehidupan seharian. Antara cadangan-cadangan yang boleh saya kemukakan untuk menambahbaik martabat Bahasa Kebangsaan ialah: 3.1. Membetulkan penggunaan bahasa Penggunaan bahasa rojak, bahasa cacamarba dsb. dalam media massa (termasuk Internet) perlu dibendung, tetapi bukan dengan mengawasi dan menghukum terus mereka yang membuat kesalahan (kerana sememangnya ia agak keras), sebaliknya dengan mendidik seluruh masyarakat, terutamanya golongan ahli politik, usahawan dan seniman selaku golongan tokoh ternama yang paling cenderung berbahasa rojak, tentang kesan buruk bahasa rojak kepada Bahasa Kebangsaan dan bahasa Inggeris dalam jangka masa yang panjang. Bahasa yang ingin berkembang maju Seperti yang saya telah katakan tadi, bahasa rojak bukan sahaja merancui Bahasa Kebangsaan dengan kata-kata serapan Inggeris yang tidak perlu serta menjejaskan keutuhan tatabahasa, malah ia juga meninggalkan gambaran yang buruk kepada rama rakan-rakan kita khususnya di luar bandar yang dikehendaki menuntut ilmu dalam bahasa Inggeris, seolah-olah bahasa antarabangsa itu merupakan anasir yang mengakis dan mengancam kelestarian bahasa ibunda. Proses penyerapan istilah bahasa asing untuk memperkaya kosa kata Bahasa Kebangsaan wajar dilakukan secara sistematik dan melibatkan penelitian menyeluruh seperti menyemak sama ada wujudnya istilah sedia ada dalam kosa kata. 3.2. Memartabatkan bahasa dalam Internet Laman-laman web tempatan yang ditujukan khusus kepada pengguna Internet tempatan (iaitu yang tidak begitu berguna kepada pengguna antarabangsa) wajar memberikan perhatian yang sekian lama ditunggu-tunggu kepada Bahasa Kebangsaan, terutamanya sektor peruncitan, perkhidmatan, kewangan dan perbadanan bukan kerajaan yang menyasarkan pengguna pelbagai kaum. Ini wajar dilakukan dengan menyediakan pilihan Bahasa Kebangsaan kepada mereka yang mengehendakinya, lebih bagus kalau dijadikan bahasa asali (default). Saya pasti, ramai penduduk Malaysia khususnya penduduk pekan dan luar bandar merasa kecewa jika melihat tanda-tanda Bahasa Kebangsaan diperlekehkan. Mujurlah laman-laman dari luar negara seperti Google, Facebook dan Twitter menyediakan pilihan Bahasa Kebangsaan, ini memperlihatkan seolah-olah orang Amerika lebih prihatin terhadap Bahasa Kebangsaan berbanding rakyat Malaysia sendiri. Portal berita alternatif yang selama ini berjuang demi kebebasan akhbar tidak wajar melupakan tanggungjawab mereka untuk melestarikan Bahasa Kebangsaan. Khusus buat The Malaysian Insider, Malaysian Digest Free Malaysia Today, janganlah bermalas dengan sekadar mencampurkan Bahasa Kebangsaan ke dalam lautan artikel berita berbahasa Inggeris, sebaliknya bukalah portal berita berbahasa kebangsaan sepenuhnya yang tidak berada dalam bayangan portal berbahasa Inggeris yang sedia ada. Yang sudah berbuat demikian, syabas diucapkan, tetapi adalah lebih elok untuk portal versi Bahasa Kebangsaan diberi nama yang berasingan dalam Bahasa Kebangsaan daripada berkongsi nama dengan versi bahasa Inggeris. 3.3. Memperagakan kekayaan kosa kata Masyarakat wajar melatih diri supaya menggunakan sebanyak mana istilah-istilah yang disediakan oleh Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, terutamanya istilah teknologi maklumat kerana semakin ramai pengguna komputer dan telefon pintar. Sepatutnya komputer-komputer kita dilengkapi dengan perisian yang berantaramuka (interface) dalam Bahasa Kebangsaan, siap lagi dengan penyemak ejaan (spell-checker) Bahasa Kebangsaan yang terpasang sedia (tidak seperti Dewan Eja Pro yang perlu dibeli dan menyusahkan golongan berpendapatan rendah), barulah Bahasa Kebangsaan nampak martabatnya. Akan tetapi, saya memahami bahawa ada sesetengah istilah yang agak lari dari maksud istilah asal dan boleh menimbulkan kekeliruan (contohnya, default diterjemahkan menjadi "lalai" oleh DBP) ini pun masih boleh dibetulkan dengan memberikan kritikan dan cadangan membina kepada badan pemantau bahasa tersebut (berbalik kepada contoh tadi, saya syorkan "asali"). Ada baiknya juga DBP distrukturkan semula dan diperbaharui menjadi sebuah badan pemajuan Bahasa Kebangsaan yang bebas daripada pengaruh politik yang rakus seperti yang dialami sekarang. 3.4. Memajukan penterjemahan Bidang penterjemahan buku dan karya sastera wajar dimajukan lagi hingga sejauh mana yang mampu, bukan semata-mata untuk memuaskan kehendak mereka yang tidak fasih berbahasa Inggeris, malah sebagai langkah untuk menunjukkan kemampuan Bahasa Kebangsaan untuk mengungkapkan gagasan-gagasan yang dizahirkan di negara luar. Negara-negara Eropah yang kecil dan sedikit jumlah penduduknya berbanding negara kita seperti Belanda, Denmark, Norway, Sweden dan Finland tidak menjadikan kekurangan penutur asli bahasa masing-masing sebagai alasan untuk tidak menterjemahkan bahan-bahan dari bahasa yang lebih besar kepada bahasa masing-masing, sebaliknya menggunakan penguasaan bahasa asing sebaiknya untuk mempergiatkan industri terjemahan kepada bahasa ibunda masing-masing. Tengok, dah fasih berbahasa Inggeris pun masih nak baca bahan terjemahan, inilah sikap yang wajar dicontohi untuk menyelesaikan kemelut bahasa di negara kita. Institusi pendidikan tempatan yang mengutamakan bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa pengantar (misalnya sekolah dan maktab swasta) wajar menubuhkan kelab-kelab Bahasa Kebangsaan untuk memupuk rasa cinta kepada Bahasa Kebangsaan di kalangan pelajar tempatan di samping menarik minat pelajar luar negara kepada bahasa kita. Antara kegiatan-kegiatan yang boleh dilakukan oleh kelab-kelab sebegini ialah menterjemahkan rencana-rencana Wikipedia dari bahasa Inggeris atau apa sahaja bahasa asing kepada Bahasa Kebangsaan secara berkumpulan di samping melakukan kegiatan kokurikulum yang berketengahkan Bahasa Kebangsaan seperti seni pementasan drama dan permainan kuiz. Mari kita tengok sejauh mana kita boleh menterjemahkan drama-drama karya Shakespeare ke dalam nuansa Bahasa Kebangsaan. 3.5. Alih suara Semua rancangan televisyen dan filem import yang dikhususkan kepada kanak-kanak, termasuk yang bahasa asalnya bahasa Inggeris, wajar dialih suara (bukan sekadar diberi sari kata) ke Bahasa Kebangsaan sebagai langkah yang penting untuk memupuk cinta anak muda kepada Bahasa Kebangsaan. Selain itu, dengan industri televisyen kanak-kanak yang tidak terlalu mendewa-dewakan bahasa Inggeris, ini sedikit sebanyak mengikis tanggapan bahawa bahasa Inggeris merupakan anasir imperialisme budaya. Amalan mengalih suara animasi buatan Disney dan sebagainya kepada bahasa-bahasa ibunda telah sekian lama diamalkan di kebanyakan negara di dunia, dan ini tidak serba sedikit menghalang anak-anak muda daripada menguasai bahasa Inggeris di masa hadapan. Sama seperti hujah amalan penterjemahan bahan bacaan tadi, inilah tradisi yang diamalkan untuk memupuk budaya sihat "junjung bahasa sendiri, kendong bahasa luar" di kalangan masyarakat luar negara. Jika tidak percaya, carilah "disney multilanguage" dalam YouTube, barulah anda faham maksud saya. Tiada salahnya mengedarkan filem dan rancangan televisyen import dalam bahasa asal pada pokoknya, tetapi dalam bab tontonan kanak-kanak dan golongan muda, adalah amat wajar untuk pengedar filem menayangkan filem-filem tontonan seisi keluarga (family film) dalam versi alih suara Bahasa Kebangsaan di samping versi bahasa asal dalam pawagam, dan juga mengedarkan DVD filem-filem berkenaan dengan runut audio Bahasa Kebangsaan di samping bahasa asal dan bahasa-bahasa lain. 4. Kata akhir Demikianlah antara cadangan-cadangan bernas yang saya ingin sampaikan kepada seluruh masyarakat, sama ada mereka prihatin terhadap permasalahan yang dihadapi oleh Bahasa Kebangsaan atau tidak. Maaflah jika anda mendapati saya terlalu memberati Bahasa Kebangsaan kerana sesungguhnya inilah tujuan utama surat ini, tetapi jika anda membaca dengan teliti saya turut mengharapkan cara-cara yang terbaik untuk meningkatkan penguasaan bahasa antarabangsa tanpa mengundang masalah kepada Bahasa Kebangsaan dan jati diri bangsa. Kita sudah terlalu banyak membuang masa untuk memikirkan nama yang sesuai untuk Bahasa Kebangsaan kita tanpa mengambil tindakan yang membina untuk memastikan kemandirian bahasa ini dalam arus pengglobalan (globalisasi) yang deras. Tunggu apa lagi? Jangan memandai cakap sayang bahasa, buatlah sesuatu tanpa terlalu bersandar pada dukungan kerajaan. Hendak seribu daya, jangan seribu dalih! Saya berharap agar tuan editor bersikap cermat jika mendapati surat saya begitu panjang lebar sungguh dan perlu disunting kerana setiap satu patah kata dan ungkapan dalam surat ini adalah penting kepada keseluruhan erti mesej yang disampaikan. Sekian, terima kasih. Yang benar, ORANG AWAM
|
| What Do We Expect of Condemned Human Rights Violators? Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:27 PM PDT
By Dr Kua Kia Soong, Director of SUARAM He should therefore be the last person in this country to talk about human rights because he was condemned as a most despicable human rights violator for beating up the former Deputy Minister who was in his custody. Obviously, his short sentence (two months?) has not served as a deterrent to his scorn for human rights. All the detainees who have died under police custody have likewise been deprived of their fundamental human right to safety of the person. What this country desperately needs is a human rights wave to make our country ratify the Convention against torture and other forms of ill-treatment and the International Covenant on Civil and political rights so that human rights violators including the police and political leaders do not get away with impunity but are given the most severe deterrent sentence. Dr Mahathir knows full well how he used Operation Lalang for his political purpose in 1987 when Team B of UMNO had applied to the courts to declare the UMNO elections (the one in which Mahathir's Team A had won by the skin of their teeth) null and void. During the white terror following the mass arrests, the Lord President was sacked and other Supreme Court judges suspended. The rest is history and it allowed him to continue as Prime Minister for at least 15 more years! Yes, Dr Mahathir violated fundamental human rights of at least 106 Malaysians (including myself) in 1987 by detaining us without trial for his political purpose. He cannot wash his hands of this gross violation by pointing to the US violations in Guantanamo Bay. Human rights defenders condemn both these violators. Yes, Mahathir's record of human rights violations belongs to the same league as the US record in Guantanamo Bay. The only difference is of course, while the US violates the human rights of non-US citizens, Dr Mahathir has violated the human rights of Malaysian citizens. In the light of the Arab Spring, all autocrats – current as well as spent ones – should be prepared to answer for their human rights violations sooner or later!
|
| Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:24 PM PDT
By Lim Kit Siang Who must bear responsibility for the deception and sleight-of-hand delaying tabling the 2010 Auditor-General's reports on the annual and continuing "horror of horrors" of government financial hanky-panky, mismanagement and misappropriations of public funds until after the general debate in Parliament on the 2010 Budget (except for the official Ministerial winding-ups) is over? Is he the Prime Minister or Chief Secretary? Or nobody need be held responsible for this gross parliamentary disrespect and deception? |
| Posted: 26 Oct 2011 04:07 PM PDT
By Stephen Ng via FMT I am truly shocked when former Inspector-General of Police Rahim Noor said that human rights movement is like Communism. It raises a lot of doubt about his credibility as a former top cop, judging by what he had to say about the human rights movement, and this sadly once again reflects badly on the person and office of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed who appointed him to the post as IGP. When I read Rahim's statement in the press, I thought to myself, "There could have been other top cops who were more qualified than Rahim. Why were they sidelined? Why did Mahathir choose to put someone who lacks the brain to ask intelligent questions to become the top cop in the country?" Let us analyse what he had to say. Rahim was quoted saying at a recent meeting in Kuala Lumpur: "Now, it's the human rights wave… Before that, it was the wave of Marxism, Socialism…" The reason why many people like me, who have heard and read about the brutality of Communism in USSR and China during the Cold War, will not hesitate to chide this former IGP is that it makes absolutely no sense in the way he had equated human rights wave to Communism. As the proverbial saying goes, "Like frog underneath a coconut shell", perhaps, it is only true in the Malaysian history of which he is familiar with, that we experienced the threat of Communism from China previously, and now, in the views of Rahim, the so-called human rights movement – just because Malaysians are generally fed up these days with what they see in the local politics, and are questioning the government more than what they used to be. In the Information Age, one cannot help but read and respond, unless those days when the mainstream media was the only channel of information. Honestly, who would not speak up when one is fed up with the gutter politics such as the Datuk T's sex scandal and, more recently, the Papa Gamo's allegations involving the son of Lim Guan Eng, being played up by ugly Malaysian politicians and their brood of vipers? If merely stating an opinion, like what Mat Sabu of PAS and Aziz Bari of UIA have done, can be misconstrued as "human rights wave" and they being prosecuted or given a show-cause letter, what has become of our country? Another country under a dictatorship similar to that of Muammar Gaddafi? I hope not! If indeed, Malaysia, like Libya, would have to be liberated! If it takes Bersih 3.0, Hindraf or even the next general election to liberate this country from such dictatorship, I guess the time has come when people who share my sentiments will not hesitate to give it the last push. Enough is enough! Human Rights Charter Human rights movement has always been there. When Abraham Lincoln fought against slavery in the 19th century, he was fighting for human rights. When Martin Luther King fought for the rights of the black Americans in the 20th century, he was basically saying that black or white, everyone is equal in the eyes of God the Almighty. Because of human rights movement, the blacks today enjoy better privileges and equal opportunities in America. Because of the recognition given to everyone's right to education, our first three prime ministers were given the opportunity to be educated by the British colonial masters. Even the country's fourth prime minister was educated in an institution set up in Singapore by the colonial masters. It is all the result of having the Human Rights Charter in place, or else most Malaysians would still be living on tree tops! In his speech, Rahim also alluded that the Communists were the Chinese, and there were Malay leftists who were misled by the "wolves in sheep's clothing". I wish to reiterate that when Rahim was probably running naked around in his kampung, one of my grand uncles was there to fight the Communists. In fact, he was murdered by the Communists, leaving behind two orphaned children, only to be looked after by a widowed auntie of theirs. To add salt to the wound, while Rahim is remembered for his assault of former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, a fact established by the Royal Commission of Inquiry, one of the two children of this brave young Chinese man who fought the Communists became the CEO of a major independent power producer in the country and continues to contribute towards the nation's growth in the energy sector. Around the same time, another grand uncle of mine who could have lived a good life in Malaya decided to return to China to fight against the communists. He was a military truck driver. When Mao Zedong took over China, my uncle had to stay back in China because he was no longer allowed to return to Malaya until the early 90s when he visited Malaysia for the first time. He has remained there until today. During the Japanese Occupation, the Malay rulers had no powers as rulers of their own homeland. During World War II, the Japanese army, like the Nazis, did not recognise human rights. In fact, anyone who dared to question them was immediately shot to death in public places or had their heads rolled. It was against such backdrop that the Human Rights Charter was drafted and later adopted by the United Nations. Since Malaysia is a member nation of the UN General Assembly and recognises human rights, is Rahim saying that Malaysia is also a country with Communist inklings? Firing stray bullets Malaya, during the British rule, had resisted against the Communists. Therefore, I do not see any logic in what was said by Rahim. If the British had fought against the Communists, therefore, they must be good. Why then did Rahim rile against the British and the United States for being the "spiritual home" to the religion he calls "human rights wave"? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (see http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ ), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec 10, 1948, pre-dates even the Communist era of Mao Zedong, who only became the chairman of the People's Republic of The charter was drafted by Dr Charles Malik (Lebanon), Alexandre Bogomolov (USSR), Dr Peng-chun Chang (China), René Cassin (France), Eleanor Roosevelt (US), Charles Dukes (United Kingdom), William Hodgson (Australia), Hernan Santa Cruz (Chile) and John P Humphrey (Canada). It is not as though the United States and the United Kingdom dominated this entire thing called the Human Rights Charter. If anything, we are told, the Human Rights Charter was only drafted as the result of the experience of the Second World War, where innocent civilians suffered in the hands of Nazi war criminals in the same manner in which Anwar suffered a blue black eye in the hands of men like Rahim. By making such bizarre statements, Rahim has joined the fray of politicians who continue to fire strayed bullets instead of engaging with their opponents on intellectual discussions to prove they are more capable of running the country. By saying that we are now seeing the human rights wave just because Malaysians are generally more vocal these days, it is as good as saying that former prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, had communist inkling because in 1974, he visited China and shook hands with Chairman Mao Zedong when both UK and the Americans were still having Cold War with Communist China. Looking back, suffice it to say therefore that, if the current wave is the human rights wave, the previous administration under Mahathir was the Communist and Socialist wave, simply because under the dictatorial rule of Mahathir, none of his dissidents could openly challenge him without being thrown into prison. Rahim, for goodness' sake, if you had faded into obscurity, no one would have remembered your brutality in the manhandling of Anwar.
|
| Posted: 26 Oct 2011 02:16 PM PDT
By Lim Guan Eng, CM of Penang Both my wife and I are outraged at the continued attacks by BN leaders on the lies about my young old son outraging the modesty of his girl classmate, causing him to be transferred to another school and that I had even paid RM200,000 to the girl's family to hush up the matter. I had wanted to let the matter rest after my young son, who is not even 16, was proven innocent. My son was clearly a victim of morally despicable and barbaric lies when proven that: - |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan