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Posted: 01 Sep 2013 09:01 AM PDT

A foreign woman and her child seen in the convenience shop at Ridzuan Condominium.

The letter from Ridzuan Condo reminded me of all the contempt when people looked at me; of the time I was asked if I was a prostitute because I am African; of all the stories I hear of Africans being arrested even with valid documents and no criminal activity; of people moving away from me, blocking their nose even though I smell like roses; of that look of horror on a girl's face when I tried to help her get to the cashier because she was carrying too much.

Bonolo Martha Mhaphi, MMO

I remember the first day I landed in this country, so excited. I was so happy to see so many different races and I thought to myself YES such diversity will blend me right in and I will never have to feel like an alien object.

I was even more excited to have a full Asiatic experience. I had only seen Chinese culture through kung fu flicks and Indian culture through Bollywood movies I watched as a child. I was getting a three-in-one cultural expose!

All this excitement came to a screeching halt the day I had my first experience with racism; the day I wept from not understanding what I did to deserve this hate; the day my tears were flooded with seething anger because I know I don't deserve such hate.

That is the day I realised my stay here is not going to be easy.

I am not writing this to complain or get sympathy or pity. This is me telling the other side of the story; the other side of the coin that has never been told; only one that can be told by an African — a black woman — proud of my brown skin and kinky hair.

Writing this was sparked by a letter written by Ridzuan Condominium in Bandar Sri Subang following annual general meeting, ordering landlords who have African tenants to terminate their contracts because they are deemed a "nuisance" and their presence is "devaluing" the properties.

It is not only a highly uneducated view on property value, it is also illegal. This would not occur in an African country; no government there would allow a race to be banned from any condominium or any other living area, and there would be an international outcry.

In the case of Africans living in another country, it is the opposite.

Until this letter surfaced, I had loved Malaysia: I always say I grew up here. This is where I spent the crucial years of my development, learning to be independent of my family and being responsible for myself.

That led me to want to stay here and make Malaysia my second home, all the negative experiences aside, because they taught me to be strong and persevere.

It reminded me every time I walked into a store, I would be followed to make sure I didn't steal anything; of people locking their car doors when I pass by.

This letter brought me back to earth, because it seems I had become disillusioned with the reality that faced me. As far as most Malaysians are concerned, I am just another criminal from Africa.

I will always be defined as just African, despite the fact Africa is a continent of one billion people, 54 countries, with over 3,000 tribes who speak an estimated 2,000 languages.

This does not matter. The compression of culture and such diversity is the order of the day. I will be judged based on a handful of bad apples. It doesn't matter who I am or what I stand for, I am after all just another nameless black face.

The statistics are there of criminal activities, there is no denying that. But the question here is: Are Africans accountable for all the crime in Malaysia?

The Malaysian media has played a vital role in painting the African populace with one brush. Their statistics, however, do not show how many students are graduating, how many Africans are victims of crime, and there are many, including myself.

The excuse often made is Malaysians are not well-travelled or exposed; all they know is the imagery, the stereotypes they see in the media. This is an excuse, a very weak one at that. Not only are there millions of homes connected to the Internet which provides vast amounts of information, there are thousands of Africans

Malaysians can talk to and learn something about Africa, the individual cultural values, norms and lives.

I get disgusted at the thought of bringing my mother here for my graduation knowing she might be subjected to racist slurs like 'negro', 'nigger' and 'nigga'.

Even a happy day is overshadowed by this. The only thing on my mind should be the twinkle of pride in her eyes when I walk up the stage to get my degree.

Some Africans say they are 'used' to the racist treatment, but racism should never be accepted. It should never be tolerated and it should never be allowed to occur in any society.

I would have never known Malaysia existed if the university I attend had not come to am educational fair in my country. I would have never come if I have known I would be subjected to racial segregation. I find this extremely ironic in a country that claims racial harmony.

I am a person who deserves dignity and respect as much as anyone else.

Water Crisis: Need for 'Enforcement Ordinance'?

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 08:31 AM PDT

How come the enforcement agencies are blind to these concrete elephants operating in the vicinity of these emergency service areas? The government is concerned about our emergency services enough to ban workers in these services from taking industrial action but somehow is so lax when it comes to illegal operators who pour diesel into the source of our drinking water!

Dr Kua Kia Soong, SUARAM Adviser

Does the water crisis of the last few days call for the introduction of an EO, or Enforcement Ordinance to deal with enforcement agencies which fail to carry out their function of protecting emergencies services such as water supply as well as our environment?

This mocking rhetorical question should not be lost on Malaysians since the government is trying to bring back the Emergency Ordinance, which allows detention without trial because of their failure to deal with criminals.

The analogy is not inconsequential since it exposes the political will and the abject failure of our enforcement agencies and the police in carrying out their job despite the ample arsenal in our statute books to deal with illegal operators and other criminals. Corruption is a prime suspect in all these cases of over sighting illegal activities.

Certainly not the first case of illegal operators

In the latest crisis, diesel spill had resulted in the closure of water treatment plans of Sungai Selangor phase one, two, and three as well as the Rantau Panjang water treatment plan, affecting water supply to Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, Gombak, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor and Kuala Langat.

On January 15 this year, the raw water supply in Sungai Semenyih was polluted because an operator had discharged foul-smelling waste into the river, an act that forced operators Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) to close down the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant for almost seven hours.

The Environment minister told a press conference, "We cannot afford to have incidents of this nature. We need to try our best to enforce (the law), and keep pollutants out of our water supply."

The Sungai Semenyih plant had to be closed from 1pm to 8pm on Monday after pollutants were discovered in the raw water supply. Although the plant was fully operational after seven hours, continued use of water during the shutdown period had emptied out the reservoirs in Bangi, Kajang, Sungai Chua and Semenyih, with disruptions expected to last up to seven days in some areas.

Up to April 2012, there had been at least 13 incidents where water treatment plants had to be shut down for several hours due to the high level of contaminants in the water caused by pollution of the main rivers in Selangor, particularly the Semenyih and Langat rivers. (NST, 3 Nov 2012) According to the National Water Services Commission (Span), the contaminants in the rivers were mainly effluents from industrial activities; poultry farm waste, oil spill and sand mining.

Give us some truth

The reporting of the latest crisis also shows the lack of transparency in informing the public about the truth of the situation. When the crisis first broke out, Bernama reported that it had been caused by a tanker that had overturned, spilling the diesel it was carrying into Sungai Selangor.

It was later reported that the diesel spill had come from a company in an industrial area near Sungai Gong that had a contract to clean trucks, including garbage trucks, and the company had dumped the diesel into a drain, at the river source.

Wise after the event

As in past cases, the authorities do not bring the enforcement agencies to account for their negligence but are wise after the event. It has been reported that the factory in question, 'Muhibbah' had already been compounded 14 times for some RM34,000 but the right question of the factory's existence at the source of the Selangor river itself seems to have escaped the local authorities, Department of Environment, the State Government and the police!

The existence of these illegal operators in the vicinity of the River Selangor had been pointed out to the government officers when the Ministry of Finance facilitated a dialogue with NGO activists opposing the Selangor River dam more than 10 years ago!

Consequently, this gross failure by the enforcement agencies and the police to tackle such criminal activities will be raised if the government tries to justify any legislation that allows detention without trial.

Arab Spring: Death to humanity

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 08:17 AM PDT

If the attack takes place and its results go as planned, many people will say the United States did it for its own interest. If the attacks don't go as planned, then we will blame Washington and never ourselves.

Isn't it ironic that we're so anti-American and yet the first thing we ask for during conflict is American intervention?

Abdulateef Al-Mulhim, Arab News

Since the start of the Arab Spring, we have seen men, women and children get killed by stray bullets, tank shells, scud missiles, attack helicopters and fighter jets.

There are innocent people in Syria under attack by chemical weapons, regardless of which side is guilty of using them, and nothing has been done by world communities. So, what are we waiting for? Are we waiting to see nuclear bombs used to kill innocents indiscriminately?
The Arab Spring erupted in many Arab countries, from Tunisia to Libya and from Egypt to Syria.

Yet I have always maintained that the Arab Spring was dead on arrival although I have the highest respect for people's demands for better living standards, social equality, freedom to think and ask questions and to eradicate corruption.

I also have no fond sentiment for Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and his sons, Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh, Libya'sMuammar Qaddafi and Syria's Bashar Assad, but I wasn't optimistic about the outcome of their departure.

The Arab and Western media welcomed the changes, but apparently, many analysts don't know the complexity of the Arab world.

When you talk to a Syrian from Damascus and a Syrian from Aleppo, it is like talking to two people from two different planets.

A Libyan from Benghazi is completely different to a Libyan from Tripoli. An Egyptian from Cairo would not be welcome in Egypt's Sinai.

A Yemeni from Sanaa considers a Yemini from Aden his sworn enemy. The simple fact is that these countries are already divided beyond imagination.

Ironically, it was those ousted dictators who held these countries together. Yes, dictatorship is inexcusable, but this is the reality of the Arab world. Just look at Iraq after Saddam Hussein. Who would have imagined that many Iraqis now miss the good old days of Saddam? How can people miss someone who was behind the death of at least one member of every single Iraqi family, including his own?

The answer is easy. Arabs are not ready to be ruled by a democratic system and dictatorship is the norm. Somehow, the Arab world always enjoys having a leader with charisma regardless of what he does or doesn't do for them.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Isnin, 2 September 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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